Context No. 3655 of 4322 · Acts

Acts 16:31-35: in context

31They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32They spoke the word of the Lord to him, and to all who were in his house. 33He took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household. 34He brought them up into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly with all his household, having believed in God. 35But when it was day, the magistrates sent the sergeants, saying, “Let those men go.”

The Philippian jailer, trembling after the earthquake, asks the great question: what must I do to be saved? And Paul and Silas give the simplest, clearest answer in all of Scripture: believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household. Salvation is not earned by works or ceremonies but received by faith in Jesus.

And immediately the change is visible. The jailer washes their wounds, is baptized with his whole household, sets food before them, and rejoices greatly, having come to believe in God. Faith in Christ transforms him at once, from a hardened jailer into a joyful believer who tends the very prisoners he had guarded. There is beautiful simplicity and immediacy in this. The way of salvation is faith in the Lord Jesus, open to anyone who will believe, and it brings a joy that overflows at once into love and care for others. What must I do to be saved? Believe in the Lord Jesus.

When I ask what I must do to be saved, do I rest in the simple answer, "believe in the Lord Jesus," and does that faith fill me with joy that overflows into love for others?

Sources

Acts 16:31: "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household."
Acts 16:34: "He brought them up into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly with all his household, having believed in God."
Acts 16:30: "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"