Does God force people to be saved when He opens their heart?
No. When God opens a person's heart, He does not force His way in; He opens understanding but leaves the decision with the individual. Lydia's opened heart illustrates this: she attended to Paul's message, listened, and responded. Salvation involves God's enabling work and a person's willing response, not coercion.
Les explains that Lydia was a religious woman from Thyatira who worshipped God but was still lost. When Paul explained the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, the Lord opened her heart. Yet she still had to attend to Paul's words; she listened and responded. Les calls this the perfect scriptural explanation of how salvation works: God opens the heart and understanding, but He does not force His way in, and He leaves the decision with us. Therefore, we can choose or reject the message rather than being coerced.
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.
More Questions
Who opens a person's spiritual heart?
God has to open people's spiritual hearts; we have to do our part, but only God can open those hearts.