Paul and Silas were in a Roman jail. It was about midnight, and they had been praying and singing hymns to God. The other prisoners were listening to them. How much the jailer actually heard is uncertain because he was asleep when an earthquake shook the foundations of the prison and “immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.” When he woke up, he saw that all of the doors were open and he thought all of the prisoners had escaped. Roman law demanded that if you were given a prisoner to guard and you let that prisoner escape, it was your life for his; you would be killed. So the jailer drew his sword and was about to kill himself, but Paul called out and said, “ Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.” Then the jailer asked Paul and Silas what he must do to be saved. Before we look at Paul’s answer, let’s notice some things that Paul did NOT say.
Paul did NOT say, “ You don’t have to do anything; God has already done it all.” But that is what men tell people today. Neither did Paul say, “Just repeat the sinner’s prayer and you will be saved.” That is a very popular answer to that question today; again from MEN not God).
Remember that this jailer was a Roman; if he was religious at all he would have Been an idolater. He was a pagan. He knew nothing about Jesus Christ—a Jew who had lived 6000 miles away. He didn’t know who Jesus was or anything about Him. Cold he have heard of Jesus? Possibly, but then Paul would not have had to “speak the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house”, which is what the very next verse (32) says. There was no way the Jailer could have been saved at the moment Paul told him to believe. He didn’t know who or what to believe in until he heard what Paul had to say. This verse (31) is used erroneously to teach “faith only” salvation. But a close examination shows that he could not have had faith in Christ at that moment—before he had even known there was a Christ.
So what happened after Paul taught him the “word of the Lord?” He “bore the fruit of repentance” Matthew 3:8, when he took Paul and Silas and “washed their stripes” where they had been beaten by the Roman officials, and IMMEDIATELY, he and all his family were baptized. Here we have someone again, like the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8) who was taught the gospel of Christ and somehow they all IMMEDIATELY, want to be baptized. How could they know about baptism and why want to be baptized immediately? It had to have been in the teaching that Phillip did in Acts 8 and the teaching that Paul did to the Jailer. In Acts 16. The earthquake happened at midnight. Then Paul taught him the “word of the Lord”— we don’t know how long that took but I can’t imagine he only spent a few minutes telling him about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in addition to the man Jesus, faith, and baptism. Then, the Jailer “washed their stripes”. It must have been in the wee hours of the morning by this time. Why insist on being baptized IMMEDIATELY, if baptism is not necessary for salvation? Why even teach about it in the wee hours of the night? They could have easily put it off to a more convenient time—even the next day. These are all questions that need to be given thought and study.
Men today tell people that baptism is not necessary and that you don’t have to be baptized to be saved. But that is not the picture we get from the Bible, both in examples, as in the conversion of the eunuch, the jailer, Saul of Tarsus, and the Jews on Pentecost; and in the commands that we read in the Bible like Acts 2:38, Acts 10:48, and Acts 22:16.
There is one last part of this story that is very important and very “telling.” Read verse 34; after his baptism, the jailer “ rejoiced, having BELIEVED in God with all his household.” This proves that there is MORE to “Believe in the Lord and you shall be saved,” than just “faith”.
IN VERSE 30, the jailer asked “what shall I do to be saved?”
IN VERSE 31, Paul says “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.”
IN VERSE 32, “ They spoke the word of the Lord to him”
IN VERSE 33, he showed evidence of repentance and was baptized.
IN VERSE 34, “He rejoiced HAVING BELIEVED IN GOD”.
And now you know the “rest of the story.” This is the WHOLE story of how the jailer was saved. Beware of men who would tell you a DIFFERENT story of the jailer’s salvation.
Paul did NOT say, “ You don’t have to do anything; God has already done it all.” But that is what men tell people today. Neither did Paul say, “Just repeat the sinner’s prayer and you will be saved.” That is a very popular answer to that question today; again from MEN not God).
Remember that this jailer was a Roman; if he was religious at all he would have Been an idolater. He was a pagan. He knew nothing about Jesus Christ—a Jew who had lived 6000 miles away. He didn’t know who Jesus was or anything about Him. Cold he have heard of Jesus? Possibly, but then Paul would not have had to “speak the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house”, which is what the very next verse (32) says. There was no way the Jailer could have been saved at the moment Paul told him to believe. He didn’t know who or what to believe in until he heard what Paul had to say. This verse (31) is used erroneously to teach “faith only” salvation. But a close examination shows that he could not have had faith in Christ at that moment—before he had even known there was a Christ.
So what happened after Paul taught him the “word of the Lord?” He “bore the fruit of repentance” Matthew 3:8, when he took Paul and Silas and “washed their stripes” where they had been beaten by the Roman officials, and IMMEDIATELY, he and all his family were baptized. Here we have someone again, like the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8) who was taught the gospel of Christ and somehow they all IMMEDIATELY, want to be baptized. How could they know about baptism and why want to be baptized immediately? It had to have been in the teaching that Phillip did in Acts 8 and the teaching that Paul did to the Jailer. In Acts 16. The earthquake happened at midnight. Then Paul taught him the “word of the Lord”— we don’t know how long that took but I can’t imagine he only spent a few minutes telling him about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in addition to the man Jesus, faith, and baptism. Then, the Jailer “washed their stripes”. It must have been in the wee hours of the morning by this time. Why insist on being baptized IMMEDIATELY, if baptism is not necessary for salvation? Why even teach about it in the wee hours of the night? They could have easily put it off to a more convenient time—even the next day. These are all questions that need to be given thought and study.
Men today tell people that baptism is not necessary and that you don’t have to be baptized to be saved. But that is not the picture we get from the Bible, both in examples, as in the conversion of the eunuch, the jailer, Saul of Tarsus, and the Jews on Pentecost; and in the commands that we read in the Bible like Acts 2:38, Acts 10:48, and Acts 22:16.
There is one last part of this story that is very important and very “telling.” Read verse 34; after his baptism, the jailer “ rejoiced, having BELIEVED in God with all his household.” This proves that there is MORE to “Believe in the Lord and you shall be saved,” than just “faith”.
IN VERSE 30, the jailer asked “what shall I do to be saved?”
IN VERSE 31, Paul says “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.”
IN VERSE 32, “ They spoke the word of the Lord to him”
IN VERSE 33, he showed evidence of repentance and was baptized.
IN VERSE 34, “He rejoiced HAVING BELIEVED IN GOD”.
And now you know the “rest of the story.” This is the WHOLE story of how the jailer was saved. Beware of men who would tell you a DIFFERENT story of the jailer’s salvation.
-
3
-
1
- Show all
