I was challenged on the interpretation on a verse today, and I am happy. I'm also proud of the person who challenged me, and thankful too. We teachers should be held accountable and if we are wrong, we better be corrected! Now... about the verse:
Acts 16:31
And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."
You're right in saying that Paul was more talking about the fact that the jailer's family can get in on this whole salvation business too. And I do think it's more of a localized promise rather than something general that is "do A to get B". However, I think we CAN apply this directly. When a person believes, he will show change in his life. Change should be so apparent that non-Christians should not be able to ignore it. And for one's family, the ones who are in contact with the person the most, they are going to feel the impact of the change the most. In addition, that person should not be able to shut up about God. That person, if truly saved, will most definitely want the same thing for his family too. A changed life combined with a passionate desire for others to experience Jesus the same way equals power, power to move the hearts of those close by.
Yes, ultimately it is still God who saves. But if God asked us to be laborers for the lost (Matt 9:37) and even uses us to reach lost souls (Rom 10:14), it only makes sense that a Christian can quite likely influence his family for Christ. On a more personal note, I've seen this for my dad. My Dad! But not for my grandpa, who has already passed away. So I guess I was a bit misleading. Though the fact remains that we are powerful tools in the hands of God, tools to reach our family. This verse, even if it doesn't promise that, reaffirms that through example.
Cool. I agree about it not being a promise that if one person is saved in that house then all other members are covered by that one person's decision to follow Christ. That's not biblical and illogical actually because in that case... nearly the entire planet would be saved. And then the issue of your christian daughter moving out of your house... are you saved still? Like it just gets silly.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that a truly transformed life is the most glorifying witness to Jesus Christ. Your life will either be infectious, offensive or simply intriguing but never invisible. God will use anything and anyone to save someone He has called and that's just the bottom line. Our God is unstoppable. That is a promise.
It's dangerous to not wrestle and discuss scriptures like this. We must be critical listeners and ensure we understand, by the grace of God, what He is telling us through his word. Bad interpretation of this verse and of verses like 1 Cor 7:14 leads to bad doctrine which leads to people being mislead.
At the same time there's so much truth in the bible and so many amazing promises and so much hope and we know if God promises something, He'll be good for it in His own time in His own will. Thank you Lord for that.
Look at John 4:46-53. It's another example of a person's faith changing his household. It's not causation, but I'd say there's a very strong correlation. For that we have hope, for that your family has hope.
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