Why doesn't the Holy Spirit intervene in the lives of people deceived by cults and lead them to Jesus Christ?

Many of us experience the pain of knowing a person led astray by a cult. We might wonder, Why didn’t God intervene in that person’s life? People join cults because they are spiritually blind (Eph. 4:18–21). They reject the gospel of their own volition because they have “refused to love the truth and so be saved” (2 Thess. 2:10). The fact that the Holy Spirit is the one who gives new life should motivate us since it means God can work in a way that we cannot. God is sovereign, He has the freedom to do as He wills (Psalms 115:3; 135:6). This includes saving whomever He chooses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion” (Rom. 9:15). We also know that God’s mercy flows from His character as “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Ex. 34:6).

Understanding the character of God should give us a sense of hope as we reach out to the people in our lives who have not heard or understood the gospel. The surprising conversion of the apostle Paul is a reminder that Jesus “came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). We should not assume that anyone is beyond the reach of God’s grace.