Belief and Baptism
By
Shelby G.
Floyd
Acts 16:25-34
But at
29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down
trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them
out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 So they said, “Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who
were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of
the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family
were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his
house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.
NKJV
Recently I was
asked, “Sir, when Paul told the
Philippian jailor to believe on Christ and he would be saved, Acts
The kind of faith mentioned in Acts 16:31 is an obedient faith. For, “the faith that saves is the faith that obeys.” “Faith alone” is a dead faith, it is the faith of demons and by “faith alone” no one can be justified. (See James 2:20-26).
(1) First, the
jailor asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be
saved?” (Acts
(2) The answer was, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." (Acts 16:31, NIV). “Believe” translates from [pisteuson--pisteuson, 1 aorist imperative, 2 person singular from pisteuw--pisteuo]. It is important to know just exactly what believe really means according to the original language. Therefore I give a lengthy definition by the celebrated lexicographer, J. H. Thayer:
“pisteuw, to believe, i.e. 1. Intrans. To think to be true; to be persuaded of; to credit, place confidence in; b. spec., in a moral and religious reference, pistuein is used in the N.T. of the conviction and trust to which a man is impelled by a certain inner and higher prerogative and law of his soul; thus it stands g. used especially of the faith by which a man embraces Jesus, i.e. a conviction full of joyful trust, that Jesus is the Messiah—the divinely appointed author of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God, conjoined with obedience to Christ.” (Thayer, p. 511).
Thus to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ--epi ton Kuriou Ihsoun”--is to have a faith directed towards the Lord Jesus Christ. Thayer, p. 511. Therefore, Paul and Silas commanded the jailor to believe—have a conviction of joyful trust in the proposition that Jesus is the Christ and to conjoin that with obedience to Christ. There is no true faith without obedience to the word of God. And since “believe” is an aorist imperative it is an urgent command of God.
Sir, you further
stated, “This person did not have the
luxury of having any books of the Bible available to him so all the jailor had
to go on was what Paul told him.” What is said may be true, but he did not
need any books of the Bible, because the inspired word of God was in Paul, the
inspired man of God. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 4:7). But what was he to
believe in concerning the Lord Jesus Christ? Paul the preacher had to speak the
word of the Lord unto him so he could believe in the Lord. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
(Romans 10:17).
Since faith comes
by hearing or reading the word of God (John
The first thing the jailor did after hearing the gospel message was to show evidence of his faith and repentance, by taking Paul and Silas the same hour of the night to wash their stripes from being beaten with “the cat of nine tails.” “Godly sorrow works repentance not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the work works death.” (2 Corinthians 7:10). Therefore, the jailor demonstrated that he believed in Christ by bringing forth fruits of repentance, namely treating Paul and Silas with kindness and refreshments.
Immediately after
washing their stripes the belief of the jailor and the faith of his family
members led them to be baptized: “And he
took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.” (Acts
According to the
word of God, faith is “unto” (eis) salvation (Romans
10:9-10); repentance is “unto” (eis) salvation (Acts
Romans 6:3-4
Or do you not know
that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His
death? Therefore we were buried with Him
through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the
glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
NKJV
Romans 6:3-4 plainly teaches that we are baptized into Christ when we are buried with him by baptism into his death. Paul teaches the same thing to the Galatians: “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” (Galatians 3:26-27). The Greek preposition “for” [gar--gar] assigns the reason why we are all children of God by faith—“for—as many of you as were baptized etc.”
In this study
there is only one more point to be made from the Acts 16:24-34 account of the
jailor’s conversion. After the jailor believed, repented and was baptized, he
immediately started doing things that a Christian should be and do. He showed
hospitality to Paul and Silas. He also had a new spirit about him—he was filled
with joy and gladness. There is no example of conversion where anyone ever
rejoiced until they were baptized into Christ: “The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he
was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole
family.” (Acts 16:34, NIV). The NKJV says, “…and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all
his household.” (Acts
To my “faith only”
friends, I beg you to quit explaining away every statement on baptism from the
word of God, because it conflicts with your dogma. Read the Bible as if you
were reading it for the first time and accept it all “by faith.” Copyright ©
2008