q3

In Acts 16:31, when the Philippian Jailor asked, "What must I do to be saved?", Paul responded: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved...". Doesn't this verse alone show that "believing on the Lord Jesus Christ" is all I need to do to be saved?

A: If one were to read "only" this scripture, apart from the other scriptures which speak on this subject, this would be a reasonable conclusion. 2Timothy 3:14-17, however, encourages us to continue in the study of "all" the holy scriptures which will make us wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

One such scripture which can increase our understanding of the term, "believing", is found in Acts 2:41 where it states: Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: "Gladly received" is another way of saying "believed". When we believe a message, we welcome it as truth, or, we "gladly receive" it. If the crowd, on the day of Pentecost, had not "gladly received" Peter's gospel message from God, they would not have embraced and obeyed the instruction to be baptized. The believers, on that day of Pentecost, showed their faith (or belief) in the gospel message, from Peter, by being baptized for the remission of their sins (Acts 2:38). Those who did not believe were not baptized. Baptism was recognized, by Peter's audience, as an integral part of the required faith necessary (see Galatians 3:26-27) for salvation in Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul, in Romans 10:17, reveals to us how faith comes: "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." The Apostle James, in James 1:22, further stated: "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." It is no wonder that Jesus stated in Matthew 7:21, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." These scriptures, examined together, reveal that it is not "true faith", when we only recognize Jesus as Lord, but then refuse to obey His commandments (John 14:15).

Which of these commands, may one leave out, and claim faithfulness to His words?

Now, when we consider the Philippian jailor's conversion, would it not be reasonable to conclude that Paul would instruct the jailor to obey the gospel of Christ in the exact same way that he, himself, was instructed to obey, when taught by Ananias in Acts 22:16? We believe that just as Paul obeyed the instruction "to be baptized to wash away his sins, calling on the name of the Lord"; the Philippian jailor, in like manner, did the same. The faith that saved the Philippian jailor was a faith that included "doing" the instruction that he heard.

A careful examination of the text reveals what the Philippian jailor heard from Paul and Silas, and when he was given credit for having believed. Here is the text:

And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31. And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 32. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. 33. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. 34. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. Acts 16:30-34

In verse 31, Paul and Silas tell the jailor he must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. But, before the jailor could believe, Paul and Silas had to speak the word of the Lord to him (see vs 32). This would be in keeping with scripture that says: "So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). We do not have the "point by point" message that Paul and Silas spoke to the household of the Philippian jailor, but we do know, from the scripture, the Jailor's family's response to the message from the word of the Lord. From their response, we can clearly see what was definitely included in Paul and Silas' message to him. Verse 33 gives us this information. "And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway." After hearing the gospel message, the Philippian jailor realized he should repent (washed their stripes) and be baptized (was baptized, he and all his, straightway). When examining the jailor's obedience, we can see that the message that Paul and Silas presented, matches perfectly with the gospel message presented by the Apostle Peter in Acts 2:38, where he said, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins...". It should also be noted that just as the people, at Pentecost were not given credit for having believed until after they were baptized (Acts 2:41), so the Philippian jailor and his household were not given credit for believing on the Lord until after they were baptized. This is confirmed in Acts 16:34. "And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.

The converts of Acts 2 and the Philippian Jailor of Acts 16, complied fully with the instruction of the gospel message. As Jesus (Matthew 7:21) and James (James 1:22) taught; one who fails to comply with the Lord's instruction, has not met the requirements of faith. We must not fail to remember that a living faith requires "hearing and doing".

Why did those from Pentecost, the Ethiopian Eunuch, and the Philippian Jailor, all see the immediate need to be baptized after hearing the words of the Lord? When we look at the words of the Lord, it is easy to understand why. The Lord, in Mark 16:16 declared,

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Mark 16:16

The true gospel of Christ, when obeyed, will always be in response to the same exact gospel message, with the same exact results.