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The Lord Opened Lydia's Heart - Acts 16
The Lord Opened Lydia's Heart - Acts 16
When Paul arrived in Philippi there was no synagogue but there were some godly women who were meeting for prayer. As was typical of Paul, he HAD to tell them the story of Jesus. As I read these stories I am constantly wishing that I could have sat with them and listened. We will never know exactly how Paul pieced this lesson together, what scriptures he used, how excited and animated he was in telling this story. What we do know is that this group of ladies were not a bunch of ungodly reprobates.
I mention that because this statement about the Lord opening Lydia's heart is often used to 'prove' the need of a direct operation upon the hearts of the ungodly in order for them to be able to understand and respond to the gospel. I have never seen where anyone actually was willing to affirm that Lydia was a totally depraved person with no ability to understand and worship God. In light of the women meeting TO pray together, such an argument would be nonsense. The fact that it says she was a worshipper of God makes it impossible.
Such women, already worshipers of God, heard the gospel as told by Paul. This is the gospel that is the power of God to save (Rom. 1:16). It is the hearing of the word of God that is able to save your souls (Acts 20:32). It is the hearing of the word of God that produces faith (Rom. 10:17). It was through the word of the messengers of Jesus that people would believe (John 17:20). As in Acts 14:1-2, Paul SO SPAKE that they believed. This is the word of God that is the SWORD of the Spirit, the Spirit that convicts and converts people (cp. Eph. 6:17 and John 16:8-9).
How did the Lord open her heart to pay attention to what Paul said? We are NOT told. Was it direct and without instrument? Was it immediate or was this the culmination of her worship and accumulated knowledge of God from the Old Testament? To argue that it was a miraculous and direct operation of God is not provable. That she was an ungodly, totally depraved individual is however patently false!
It is also of interest that in her 'paying attention to the things spoken by Paul", she was baptized. Again, whatever else Paul instructed her about Jesus and the gospel, it led automatically to a desire to be baptized. What God ‘opened her heart’ unto was believing in Jesus and being baptized in His name! As in Acts 2:42, those who received the word were baptized! The Lord opened her heart to be baptized as Paul taught. You won't read that in many commentaries on Acts today, but you should.
Hugh DeLong
