The Philippian jailor said to Paul and Silas, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" His concern was not how he could be saved from temporal death, but from spiritual and eternal death. He was moved not by the fear of Caesar, but by the fear of God. Fearing God and eternal death, he may have phrased his question as he did because he thought, (as all men do by nature), that he must do something to obtain God's salvation. But Paul and Silas answered with emphatic clarity and simplicity, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house," teaching him and us that salvation is not by works, but by faith alone (Rom. 3:20, 28; Eph. 2:8-9; II Tim. 1:9).

WHAT MUST WE BELIEVE? Really the question is not "what", but "who must we believe?" Salvation does not come as the result of believing certain doctrines, no matter how true and necessary they are. Neither does salvation come by believing certain historical facts, no matter how vital those facts may be. Salvation comes to those who believe, who trust a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ (II Tim. 1:12; I John 5:1). In order to believe on Christ a person must know the truth about Christ, as it is revealed in the gospel. But saving faith is more than mere agreement with or acceptance of revealed truth. It is believing a Person. It is trusting Christ himself (Isa. 45:22). This is the way faith is represented to us throughout the Scriptures (Matt. 16:16, 18; John 20:21; Acts 8:37; I John 5:10-13). "True faith is not barely a believing that Christ is the Son of God, but a believing in him as such" (John Gill). Saving faith is believing in Christ, the incarnate Son of God, as your all-sufficient, effectual, sin-atoning Substitute (II Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13; I Pet. 2:24).

WHAT IS IT TO BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST? Men often make simple things difficult by trying to explain them. Certainly there is a danger of that when discussing faith. Yet, the word "believe", as it is used in the Bible, is not the same thing as men imagine it to be today. So some explanation is needed. For example, Webster's Dictionary defines believe like this - "To place credence, apart from personal knowledge; to expect or hope; to be more or less firmly persuaded of the truth of anything; to think or suppose." In that sense most people believe in Christ. Most believe that he lived in righteousness as a perfect man, that he died on the cross to save sinners, that he rose from the dead the third day, and that he ascended into heaven. But that is not the meaning of the word believe as it is used in the Word of God. Actually, there is no single English word that can accurately translate the Greek word used in Acts 16:31 for believe. That word means "adhere to, cleave to, trust, have faith in, and rely upon." The apostle's words to the jailor might be more accurately translated, "Have an absolute, personal reliance upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." The Amplified Version gives the sense of Paul's words most clearly - "Believe in and on the Lord Jesus Christ - That is, give yourself up to Him, take yourself out of your own keeping and entrust yourself to His keeping and you will be saved." Believing on Christ, faith in him, involves four things: knowledge, assent, trust, and perseverance.

1. KNOWLEDGE - No one can trust an unknown, unrevealed Savior. Before anyone can or will trust Christ, Christ must be made known to him by the preaching of the gospel (Rom. 10:14-17). It is not possible for a person to believe on Christ until he has been informed about Christ, until he knows who Christ is, what he did, and why he did it. Faith is not a leap in the dark. Faith is based upon divine revelation. But there must be more.

2. ASSENT - Our hearts must give assent to God's revelation. There is no faith until the heart is reconciled to and in agreement with the truth of God revealed in Holy Scripture. We must be reconciled to God and his revelation concerning the vital issues of salvation: sin, righteousness, and judgment (II Cor. 5:20; John 16:8-11). Still, there is more.

3. TRUST - Saving faith is believing in, relying upon, trusting Christ. It is a heart confidence in the Son of God. This trust, this confidence is what Paul expressed in his last Epistle (II Tim. 1:12; 4:6-8). To trust Christ is to confidently rest your soul upon his righteousness, his atonement, his intercession, his grace, and his dominion as your Lord and Savior. But faith in Christ is not an act. It involves...

4. PERSEVERANCE - Faith is not an event in life. It is the character of the believer's life. The just live by faith. The believer never quits trusting Christ. Every child of God, like the saints of old, shall "die in faith" (Heb. 11:13). Faith that does not persevere to the end is a false faith.

It is the very simplicity and easiness of faith that makes it so difficult for proud sinners to be saved. God says, "Believe and live." But proud man says, "No, I will do something. I will not be saved entirely by the grace of God. I will not entirely trust my soul upon the merits of Christ." Yet, there is no other way to be saved! Sinners are saved by simply trusting Christ, the Son of God, by committing themselves to the merit and power of the Substitute who lived, died, and lives again for sinners. Salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone is so humbling to proud, self-righteous man that no man can or will trust Christ unless and until God the Holy Spirit gives him life and creates faith in him. Yes, faith in Christ is the gift of God (Eph. 1:19; 2:8-9; Phil. 1:29; Co. 2:12).

WHAT IS THAT SALVATION WHICH COMES TO SINNERS BY FAITH IN CHRIST? It is complete deliverance from all sin and all the consequences of sin by the grace of God and through the merits of Christ's righteousness and shed blood as our Substitute (John 3:18, 36; Rom. 8:1; I John 5:10-13). To be saved is to be delivered from death to life, from the bondage of sin to the liberty of righteousness, from the tyranny of the law to the blessedness of grace, and at last into "the glorious liberty of the sons of God."

One more question naturally arises as we read Acts 16, and needs to be answered. DOES THIS PASSAGE TEACH HOUSEHOLD SALVATION? (Read vv. 31-34). The grace of God does not run in blood lines, and it is not possible for parents to secure faith for their sons and daughters. Many truly godly men, like David, have gone to their graves knowing that their sons and daughters lived and died as rebels against God (II Sam. 23:5). Salvation is by the will and purpose of God (John 1:12-13; Rom. 9:16). Faith is the gift of his grace. The Philippian jailor was saved because he believed God. All who were in his house were saved because they too believed God. As soon as the jailor heard and believed the gospel of Christ, he brought Paul and Silas upstairs to his house. He gathered his wife, children, and servants around his table in the middle of the night, and arranged for them to hear the message of grace too. When they heard, they also believed, and all immediately confessed Christ in believer's baptism.

Every believing parent is responsible to do for his household what the jailor did for his. IF WE WOULD SEE OUR FAMILIES SAVED BY THE GRACE OF GOD, WE MUST SEE THAT OUR FAMILIES HEAR THE GOSPEL PREACHED. That much we are responsible to do. That much we can do. That much we must do! But the salvation of our households is entirely dependent upon and determined by the will and grace of our God.