Can my abuser change?

Matthew 3:7-8When he [John the Baptist] saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize, he denounced them. “You brood of snakes!” he exclaimed. “Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.”

Matthew 26:59Inside, the leading priests and the entire high council were trying to find witnesses who would lie about Jesus, so they could put him to death.

Acts 7:54, 57-58The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage. . . .Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.

Acts 9:1-5Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains. As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!”

Galatians 1:13You know what I [Paul] was like when I followed the Jewish religion—how I violently persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it.

1 Timothy 1:12-13I [Paul] thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him, even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. In my insolence, I persecuted his people. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief.

John the Baptist called abusive members of the Jewish religious leadership to repentance. Jesus also confronted their abuse. But time and again, the Pharisees and the Sadducees chose to respond violently to Jesus and his followers. One man in particular, Saul, made it his mission to stomp out the early church. Yet by God’s grace, it was this man whose eyes were opened—and who went on to write much of the New Testament. The majority of abusers do not repent, and we should be cautious of those who have proven themselves untrustworthy. However, God can—and does—touch the hearts of even the greatest sinners.