09/12/2025
Do we worry about our salvation and the salvation of our family members? Are we believers who don't trust that your own household is saved and faithful? Well, take heart, our belief has saved them all. By our faith and example, we are bringing the Word of the Lord into our homes and leading our families to believe.
“Then he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.”
Acts 16:30-33 ESV
Paul and Silas had been thrown into prison and during the night a great earthquake shook the prison and opened every door and broke the bonds of the prisoners. The jailer, fearing the prisoners had escaped, and that he would be severely punished, was about to kill himself when Paul called out to him saying...
“But Paul cried with a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here."”
Acts 16:28 ESV
Jesus is much like Paul was in that prison, we may chain Him and keep Him hidden away within ourselves, but even though He can walk away... He stays. Then, during some moment of crisis when we feel undone or in danger, we finally realize that He has never abandoned us, and like the guard in the story of Paul we fall on our knees before Him. At that moment we will cry out "what must I do to be saved?" and the simplicity of our salvation will become evident to us.
The promise of our salvation simple; in believing we accept the truth and even though we were lost and were not believers, He will come speak to us, and through our belief in His Word we will be saved. Then in baptism we will take the next step of faith. This is miraculous, but the promise doesn't stop there. Paul's next sentence declares the most amazing promise... "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."
How is this possible? How is it that our believing can lead to the salvation of our household? How can our conversion save our spouses, our children, grandchildren, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins? It is by bringing the Word into our homes and baptism to our family members.
My mother's family was strong in faith, and I can trace that strength back to at least my great grandparents. They brought faith into their household and the waters of baptism followed. This might not have occurred as suddenly as in the story of Paul, but I recall, on more than one occasion, the phone ringing and an excited voice telling my mother that one of her family members had come to the Lord and been baptized. It was a time of family celebration and the answer to much prayer. It was a continued affirmation of the same promise that Paul made to the jailer.
Salvation doesn't come from being perfect, righteous, or holy... it comes from the simple act of believing and our faithful obedience in baptism. We are first saved, and then our walk with Jesus Christ begins, by this, the other things are made possible. In the case of the jailer, he came to believe that Jesus was indeed the Son of God and then brought his family to that belief as well by bringing Paul to speak the Word of the Lord to them... and to baptize them.
We often fail our families and Jesus by expecting our salvation, and the salvation of others, to be more complicated and difficult than it is… than scripture tells us it is. We expect someone to make a commitment and to lead a perfectly pure and righteous life before we allow them to be baptized... to be saved. Paul tells us that the requirement for salvation is that they believe, and then he baptized them. If you ask any member of your family who Jesus Christ is, they will most likely tell you that He is the Son of God. If you ask them if they believe that to be true they will more than likely stutter but then say yes, well friends… when this happens stop right there and pray with them. Then, once they realize that they are saved by their belief, baptize them.
How many have been turned away from the Lord by a pastor or saint that didn't realize the simplicity of salvation? How many souls will those men of the cloth and saints have to account for at judgement? How many in our families have we personally written off because we didn’t believe that they could ever become perfect enough for a life with Jesus? Who are we to judge their hearts? Which of us can see the beginning from the end?
So, let’s make it a practice of reading and memorizing the words of Jesus contained in John 3:16. Let’s ingrain them in your hearts and make their certainty and expectation of salvation your own. We are not saved after becoming perfect... we are perfected by being saved. So, save yourself and as Paul told the guard… your household too.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the simplicity of salvation. I thank you for loving us so much that just the mere belief in you and your Son Jesus Christ leads us to salvation. Holy Father, it is in this belief we are saved, and in this belief that our walk with you begins. Our childlike belief is the door upon which you knock, it is the outermost door of our home, and until we open it then you can go no further. Lord, help us understand these words of Paul and open all the outer doors of our household. Help us Father to show each member of our family that they have begun their walk with you by simply believing who you are. This truth will then become their hope, and the fruit of that hope becomes faith, righteousness, holiness, and all those great things of a relationship with you... but it is all predicated upon a simple belief in who you are and the salvation that this belief brings. Bringing our household to you is our greatest hope, our joy, and you who are the crown of our boasting... thank you for your simple knock at our door. By answering that knock, I believed and was saved. Now I hear Paul's words to the Thessalonians ringing boldly in my ears...
“For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.”
1 Thessalonians 2:19-20 ESV
And I rejoice by shouting out Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!.... Amen!
““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
John 3:16-17 ESV
Rich Forbes