Acts
16:30b
"...Sirs,
what must I do to be saved?"
Do
you notice that Paul does not say, "Repent and be
baptized." Paul says what? Believe! And
that is Paul’s theme all the way through his letters, and he is the
only one in this Age of Grace that has this message, Romans 1:16 is a
good example.
It
is our Choice, I do not care where you may be from or what denomination or none-denominational assembly you may call yourself, or what faith, God's judgment will be exacted upon
all the lawless and wicked ones no mater what title or name they
clinging to. Be it Christian, Israel-Jewish, Jewish-none Israel,
Messianic-Jew, Islam, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Methodist, Catholic,
Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Moron, Jehovah's witness, Lutheran or
what ever, of over 1500 other titles, God calls them all sin. Sin
bond to man by Religion, the harlot of Revelation 17-19. Who had
her roots back in the garden incident of Genesis 3 with Adam and
woman. God will judge all, and has already judged sin and the harlot
of the church and found them both wonton. How and why, you may ask,
because within each named is the promotion of self. This self is what
Jesus had to emptied Himself of before accepting His incarnation as
the Son of man, He laid aside His divinity to become mans flesh,
otherwise He would have destroyed it, as the transformation revealed.
The Light of Life (Glory) shown through Him, as it had Adam and woman
before the transgression and falling into the self (sin and death,
the separation from our true Life source, Light) in mans humanity.
Romans
1:16a
"For
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it (this
Gospel) is the power of God unto salvation to every on that
believeth;..."
What
is the power of God? The Light which is Life as revealed, witnessed
by Jesus' own resurrection after three days in the bowls of the earth.
The holding place of the ancients both saints in Abraham's bosom and
Satan-children on the other side of the great chasm, gulf or opening
of separation (Luke 16:26,19-31, Malachi 3:18). Another good one is
found in 1Corinthians 1:18;
1Corinthians
1:18
“For
the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness*; but
unto us which are saved** it is the power of God.”
*the
foolishness of those who say, No, God. **through the process
of Redemption which will bring us to His Salvation, if we learn of
Him. Through the work of the Holy Spirit given us, as a deposit, down
payment or the initial installment, as our tutor, trainer, teacher to bring us to the door
through which we all must enter. By the death of self, which rules
through mans flesh, as under the strong mans control. When we have
this Gospel revealed and understood and in a fashion eaten of it, do
we gain entry into the kingdom of God, the house which God rules, this
is the power of God.
"For
the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but
unto us which are saved it is the power of God (unto
Salvation).
And
how do we obtain salvation as we just saw in Romans 1:16? By
believing! Not repenting as Peter preached. This is
Paul’s theme all the way through. There are more scriptures found
in Romans 10:9-10, 1Thessalonians 4:14, here and many others in
Paul’s Epistles, he never changes the theme. Let’s return to the
Philippian jailer and see that his family was also involved. It was
not just a one man deal, so we pick that up in verse 31. Paul is
speaking here.
Acts
16:31
"And
they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved*, and
thy house."
*these next three words throw a curve at a lot of people.
Does that mean when a father is saved, his kids are automatically
saved? Well of course not, but what is implied? That if you have
believing parents, you have a Christian home, Christian influence,
Christian up-bringing as Paul puts it, "bringing them up
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." What are the
chances of those children becoming believers compared to kids that
are raised in an unbelieving home? It’s far greater - we are
not going to say it’s 100% because even Christian homes can have
kids that will end up rebellious and lawless. But percentage wise,
when you have a Christian home, a Christian father and mother,
their kids are more apt to carry on to their homes, to their kids,
this Christian tradition or pattern than when you have a family with no concern
about spiritual things. Let’s follow this Philippian jailer
some more in verse 32.
Acts
16:32
"And
they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his
house."
We do not know how many were in the jailer’s home, but certainly
his wife and some children. And evidently the whole family must have
become believers that very night. We have talked to missionaries
(evangelists, a transient preacher)) who have seen the same thing
happen in grossly uncivilized areas - when a husband and father
becomes a believer, then the whole family will follow. It is not
just like a bunch of little ducks following the mother duck, but it
is a real redemption experience that carries that family through thick
and thin, and we think this is what has happened here in these
verses. The difference from then to now is the gospel which is
proclaimed and the change in administration of the missionaries. Most
missionaries today sit within a small town or local area but we see
Paul and his grouped moving throughout a whole region or many such
regions. So repeating verse 32 again.
No comments:
Post a Comment