Then the Word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Acts 6:7

The Jewish religious leaders were great antagonizers of Christ and His Church. But God was pleased to save “many of the priests.” Here are a couple of observations of how and why God does this:

People can sincerely desire to serve God, but be ignorant of the gospel. Many priests (and other religious people) evidently fall into this category. They are “all in,” but misguided until…

They hear the Word of God. When they hear the truth of Christ and the gospel, what they had hoped they were doing to serve God is revealed as false, and they get converted. I call this a “Martin Luther moment.” Martin Luther was devout and as religious a priests as they come! He was teaching the Bible in a Roman Catholic seminary. As he studied the Bible, by God’s revelatory grace, he realized two things:

He realized that the beliefs, teachings, and practices of the Roman church were contrary to the Bible.
He realized that his religion could do nothing to make him acceptable to God. He came to understand that the only way to be acceptable to God is through faith in Jesus Christ, alone!

The result: Luther was converted, and the Protestant Reformation began! And among the first converts of the Reformation who followed Luther were many Roman Catholic priests and nuns—just like Acts 6:7.

Pray for your religious, but as yet unsaved, family and friends. Pray that each of them would also have a “Martin Luther moment” as a result of exposure to the Word of God!