The Jailer asked, "Sirs, what must I do
to be saved?
And they said, "Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Acts 16:30-31.
Multitudes of teachers insist that the Jailer
wanted to know what he must do to be saved from the lake of fire, and that
Apostle Paul told him to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in order for him and
his household to be saved from it.
Do you believe the same too?
=======
Sing
Supposing you do, ARE you NOT making Apostle Paul teach, and do you not also believe this NONSENSE:
- eternal salvation from hell by proxy -
jailer's believing shall save NOT ONLY him BUT ALSO his household from hell;
- eternal salvation from the lake of fire is
through some activities of men.
Go figure, FB friends! Tell me if the obvious
conclusions are faulty! Ideas have implications, just remember that.
Just what was uppermost in the Jailer's mind
when he asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" What did he want
to be saved from... he and his household?
And who is his household? And how shall his
household be saved through his believing?
Please give me some sensible answers. Thanks
Michael Green
He likely wanted to save his head at that
moment!
Sing
Acts 16:27 "And the keeper of the prison
awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his
sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been
fled."
What explains his action?
Roman law demands that if a prisoner escapes, the jailer responsible for guarding that life shall forfeit his life for
the life that escapes!
Yes, no one escaped... but "he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had fled."
He was overwhelmed by the fact that none of
the prisoners had escaped YET... they still could... the doors were all still
open. Should anyone decide to escape, the jailer would lose his head!
"What must I do to be saved" so that you would all remain and
escape not... ....
Jailer's household - his wife and children?
Or his fellow prison officers under his jurisdiction?
Lydia's household - her husband and children?
Or her servants under her jurisdiction?
Chase Harrison
Just to share my thoughts:
"And the keeper of the prison awaking
out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and
would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled." -
Acts 16:27
I have always viewed this whole situation as
the Jailer was certainly not inquiring about eternal salvation. That's not what
was on his mind at that very moment! What was on his mind? The above verse
gives us strong indication of the context.
It was a serious offense for a Roman soldier
or guard to fall asleep at their post and not keep watch over their prisoners,
especially if any prisoners escaped. The penalty of that was death. So, it
appears, that out of fear of the penalty of death under Roman law (because he
assumed the prisoners would flee and supposed that they did flee), the Jailer
goes to enact the penalty of death upon himself.
But Paul cries out with a loud voice and
tells the Jailer to do no harm unto himself because "we are all
here", meaning they hadn't actually fled as the Jailer supposed. So, when
the Jailer then asks his question about what must he do to be saved?, to me, he
is obviously still worried about the penalty of death that the Roman government
would execute upon him for falling asleep at his nightly watch. He figures that
once the "magistrates" find out what has happened that they will
surely have him justly put to death by Roman law.
So while the Jailer's question is most likely
with the context of being saved from the penalty of death, what Paul tells him
is not only going to save him from that penalty of death but in a much more
abundant way. Through this whole experience, the Jailer and his house are about
to be saved to the gospel truth of Jesus Christ and blessed to come into the
church of the Lord Jesus Christ in water baptism. What a blessing!
I liken the salvation here contextually to
Acts 2:37-41, where many were pricked in the heart after they heard the gospel
preached and wanted to know what should they do?? And after Peter answered what
they should do, he followed up with an interesting statement, "Save
yourselves from this untoward generation". Right after that statement we
read "then they that gladly received his word were baptized". Here we
have a salvation tied to hearing the gospel, believing the gospel, then being
obedient to the gospel and being added to the Lord's church by water baptism.
This is obviously purely discipleship and not sonship. These people were saved
from an untoward generation to the gospel church and truth of Jesus Christ, and
not saved from hell to Heaven.
I think the same thing applies to the
situation with the Jailer. He was not only saved from a physical death, but he
and his house were blessed to receive the truth of Jesus Christ and come into the
gospel church that day!
"And he took them the same hour of the
night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and
rejoiced, believing in God with all his house." - Acts 16:33,34
- (all this referring to the Jailer and his
house)
Chase Harrison
Furthermore, if the Jailer was worried or
concerned about his eternal destination and being saved eternally..... then why
would he kill himself?? That seems absurd to me!
If I was worried about my eternal destiny
(and by the grace of God I'm not), but IF I was, then I would not kill myself
while in that state! I would do everything I could (at least in my mind) to be
sure of my eternal destiny before I died.
Obviously, the Jailer was greatly and
immediately concerned with the imminent penalty of death that he knew would be
enacted upon him for allowing prisoners to escape on his watch.
Mark Thomas
Brother Keith, the prisoners were no longer
contained and still could have overpowered one man and left the prison. Thus
the fact that they were all still there was not sufficient to set aside all of
his fear.
Sing
Was Apostle Paul conscious that if any of the
prisoners escaped, the Jailor and his officers will pay with their lives???
Charles Page
hell, no, hades yes! Paul was leading the
jailer and his household from the torture of hades and over the chasm into
paradise. They certaintly were not led from the lake of eternal destruction
they were regenerate!!!
