I don’t hear, or read, the word “converted” used much anymore. Rarely, when giving their testimony, will someone say, “I was converted at such and such an age” or, “My conversion was brought about this and that.” We talk about “being saved” or, “coming to Christ” . . . but rarely do we talk about being converted. But if you pause and think about it . . . what a good word . . . what a great description of what’s happened. It has the idea of turning from something, to something . . . of once believing one thing, and now believing something else . . . of having lived in a certain context, only to now be living within a different context. And if anybody knew what it was to be converted it was those priests who, in the days of the early church, became believers.

And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.    (Acts 6:7 ESV)

If there was any group that had been openly opposed to Christ during His earthly ministry, it was the priests. Between them and the Pharisees, they had fought Jesus at almost every turn. Their leaders eventually conspiring to falsely accuse Him, try Him, and execute Him. We know that opposition by the religious caste in Jerusalem continued as Jesus disciples started preaching His resurrection and salvation through His name. But, as was I was reminded by a note in my Bible, the gospel is intended for all peoples . . . even the enemies of the gospel. After all, it’s while all of us were enemies that we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son (Rom. 5:10). And as is evident, the gospel is the power of God for salvation for all who believe . . . even for priests who believe.

And what first drew my attention to this observation is the way salvation is referred to . . . that is, “the priests became obedient to the faith.” The Holy Spirit could have moved the author of Acts to say they “believed’ . . . or “repented” . . . or were “saved” . . . or were “added to the number of disciples.” Instead he is inspired to note the fruit of their belief as the evidence of their conversion.

Those who had once been obedient to the Law now became obedient to the faith. Those who believed, now lived differently. Those who were born again, now aligned themselves to a different law . . . the law of Moses giving way to the law of the Spirit . . . the law which brought about sin and death replaced with the law of life which brought liberty and freedom. Those who had once pursued righteous works as a means to earn God’s favor, now responded to God’s unmerited favor with offerings of Spirit empowered works from a place of imputed righteousness.

They were converted.

What they believed transformed how they lived. Who they followed altered how they acted.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.   (2Corinthians 5:17 ESV)

Converted . . . it might be somewhat of an “out of vogue” word . . . but it’s great Biblical truth.

Praise God for the power of the gospel to convert people . . . to Him be all glory.