I was interested by Acts 11:21 today. In the ESV, the verse says: "And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord." The NIV translates that same verse this way: "The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord." What is interesting to me is that it sounds like there is a difference between believing and turning to the Lord. In the NIV, these things are separated as two actions. In the ESV, there is an implication that not all who believed turned to the Lord. It led me to wonder what could the distinction be between the two terms?
I think the question is answered by asking what the great number who believed, believed. The context tells us that they believed the preaching that was brought to them by those who came from Cyprus and Cyrene. In other words, they believed the content of the Gospel message. But, it could be that believing the content of the Gospel message is not the same as turning to the Lord. Becoming a Christian involves more than believing a story. Turning to the Lord, means confessing Jesus as King and letting Him be the boss.
Imagine a person who is dying of cancer. They are told that there is a clinic in Malaysia that has a drug that is bringing about a one-hundred percent cure rate in their type of cancer. The person dying of cancer believes the story. Will that belief save them? It will if it leads to them getting on a plane and flying to Malaysia with enough money to pay for their time at the clinic. But if they never board a plane, their belief is not enough. They may believe, but they have still not turned to the clinic for deliverance.
I wonder if our churches have many who believe but have not turned to the Lord. I realize this thought is probably more than exegesis of the passage can bear. But I think considering the difference between believing and turning remains a helpful exercise.
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