The Conversion of a Former Sorcerer

By David R. Ferguson       The very fact that Simon the Sorcerer was converted to Christ should be cause for great celebration, for this shows us that no one is beyond the reach of our Lord. His blood is more powerful than our sins, and He’s more potent than our great accuser, Satan. He’s able to remove every sin that stains our soul. Even a man such as was Simon, a man who had dedicated his life to do the work of dark magic through the power and deceits of the Devil, is shown not to be beyond hope of redemption! That means most certainly that our sins aren’t going to keep us from salvation in Christ if we, too, as Simon did, convert and give our lives to the Lord in obedient, saving faith. Isn’t this the message found in the following words written by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:4-7 [ESV]? 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – 6 and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.     There are many extra-biblical accounts that extrapolate upon this encounter between Simon the Sorcerer and the Apostle Peter and claim Simon and Peter became great enemies. They also claim that Simon became the forerunner to the Gnostic movement, one of the few named heresies in the New Testament. Are these true accounts of the subsequent life of Simon?     I believe those claims are mere fanciful imaginings that aren’t based in fact. Remember, Luke wrote through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and he makes absolutely no indication whatsoever that Simon continued in his errant ways once he was confronted by Peter.     Please note how Luke who, by any standard, is considered to be one of the greatest historians ever, one who was very careful in all of his details down to including the minutest of details, makes a point of telling his readers that this is how Simon USED to be. He uses past tense words and phrases such as was practicing, formerly, the people were giving him attention, and he had for a long time astonished the people. The fact that the Holy Spirit inspired Luke to state it was in the past that Simon had done these things should lay to rest any questions or doubts about whether or not Simon was indeed a baptized, true believer in Jesus Christ. It should lead any reasonable person to reject as fallacy any claims that Simon became an enemy of Peter and the church which Jesus created through the spilling of His blood and the giving of His life. May God bless you and your family!

- David R. Ferguson preaches for the Mentor Church of Christ in Mentor, OH.  He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://mentorchurchofchrist.com/ or davidferguson61@yahoo.com