# When was Lydia saved?



## satz (Mar 15, 2006)

Acts 16:12-15 And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days. And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, *which worshipped God*, heard us: *whose heart the Lord opened*, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.

I am currently reading though Acts and something strange occurred to me;

In the account from Acts of Lydia's conversion, she is described as worshipping God before she even meets Paul. Do we understand her to be regenerate but not yet converted to the gospel? When exactly did the Lord 'open her heart', was it before or after Paul's sermon?


----------



## Puritan Sailor (Mar 15, 2006)

She was probably a God fearer, a gentile convert to Judaism. So she may already have had a saving knowledge and faith, and was just brought to a greater understanding regarding the identity of the Messiah. Or the term "worshipper of God" could have been just a designation of outward profession as a God-fearer and she didn't come to a saving knowledge until Paul preached to her and the Lord opened her heart. I don't think you can pin down at what point she was regenerate in the text though.


----------

