Simple Salvation

 

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God. (Acts 16:25-34 ESV).

 

On our first trip to the Holy Land Mary and I found ourselves in a bit of a predicament one early evening in Jerusalem. Several of our group wanted to go to the Western Wall and see the people who went there to pray in the evening. It was not very far from our hotel, and we decided to walk. We were warned not to venture out after dark in the old city, however, things were not nearly as bad as they are now. We set off down the narrow streets and hadn’t gotten more than a few blocks from the hotel when we were stopped by three Israeli soldiers who were on patrol. Seeing their rifles and uniforms was a daunting sight! They politely asked to see our passports and questioned us where we were going. After telling them we simply wanted to see the Western Wall, they told us it was not safe for us to be wandering through that part of the city alone. To our surprise and delight they offered to escort us to a vantage point that was safe. It was both terrifying and beautiful at the same time as we wound through alleyways and ended on a porch overlooking the wall.

 

Our reading today was much more serious an encounter than ours. Paul and Silas found themselves unjustly detained. They had been sharing the message of Jesus and were falsely accused of causing an uproar, so they were beaten and thrown in jail. In prison they prayed, and they sang hymns to God while the other prisoners listened. They had a deep confidence (faith) that God could use even their misfortunes to draw others (even criminals and jailers) into his family.

 

When an earthquake sent by God opened the prison and unchained everyone, Paul and Silas assured the jailer that no one had escaped. And the jailer, who had been ready to kill himself, learned about salvation through belief in Jesus. Then the jailer and “all his household were baptized.” (v. 15.) In that time a “household” often included a wife and children, aging parents, and slaves or servants. In examples like this, God makes clear that he wants whole households brought into his covenant family!

 

The Gospel really is that simple. Just like we were “saved” from any potential danger in our walk through Jerusalem through no effort of our own, so we can be saved from the real danger of eternal death by the work of Jesus. Accept the gift of God in your life today!