Lord and Savior or Not?

Acts 16:31 is a well-known and often quoted scripture passage. It reads “They said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’” I think we have oversimplified the intent of this verse. On the surface, it tells us that we will be saved if we believe. In addition, it seems to say that our household will also be saved.

Whose Faith? Dealing with the issue of who is saved, this verse is not saying that the family would be automatically saved if the jailer believed. Luke is saying that the family may be saved in the same manner as the jailer. There is no implication that the faith of the head of the household will automatically flow to the rest of his family. However, there is a nugget of truth here. According to data collected by Promise Keepers and Baptist Press, if a father does not go to church, even if his wife does, only one child in 50 will become a regular worshiper. If a father does go regularly, regardless of what the mother does, between two-thirds and three-quarters of their children will attend church as adults. The influence of a Christian father will flow to the rest of the family. We need Godly fathers, but that is a topic for another day.

What is to Believe? The other issue is a little more problematic. What does it mean to believe? Looking at the meaning of the Greek, we see that the word “believe” is  pisteuo. Without getting into too much detail, this word carries different connotations depending on the context. It may mean persuading oneself – affirming or showing confidence. In this case the believing is self-serving with no spiritual context. It could be described as a belief in what we want to happen. In this context, I am persuading myself that all I need to do is believe in Jesus. Our human nature has taken us here in a vain attempt to escape eternity in hell.

The other context implies believing that derives from God’s working in us. In this instance, we have correctly ascertained that there is more to Christianity than a fire insurance policy that gets us into Heaven. When we see the depth  of  this word, we must come to the conclusion that the second context is meant by Luke.  Specifically, the New Testament uses “believe” in a moral and religious sense.  It is the conviction and trust in which we are impelled by the Spirit to absolutely trust in Jesus in all respects.

Jesus Becoming our Lord. When we accept Christ as our savior, two things should happen. He becomes our Savior. This is a common occurrence. Secondly, we make Him our Lord. II Corinthians 5:17 (CEV) indicates the result of Him becoming our Lord “Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new.” Everything is new – He is Lord of every aspect of our lives or He is not our Lord at all. Unfortunately, many believers never acknowledge Him as Lord or act as if He is Lord.

An Oversimplification? We have oversimplified Christianity. We tell people “just believe in Jesus and you will be saved.” That’s not enough. In James 2:26 the author bluntly states “faith without works is dead.” I am not saying that works save us, but our works indicate that we have become that new creation. Earlier in the chapter, James states that the demons believe and tremble. They believe in God, but they have not made Him Lord and will not be in Heaven. Jesus cannot be separated into two beings. Either He is both Savior and Lord or He is neither. 

Think about someone who decides he  needs to get in better physical shape. Some friends recommend Planet Fitness.  So he joins. Better yet, he can join for free as a benefit from his supplemental Medicare policy. So it costs him nothing. A few months go by, and he realizes that joining the gym hasn’t improved his fitness at all. Well, of course not! In order to benefit from the gym membership he must go to the gym. So he starts going regularly. But this doesn’t improve his fitness at all. Then you discover that, although he is going to the gym, he just sits around watching others. He may stroll around, taking note of the equipment that’s available to him.

It’s the same with Jesus Christ. We can say we believe in Him, even attend and join a church. The music is not to our liking and the preacher is boring, so we spend the time browsing Facebook and checking email. When the service finally ends, we leave and go back to our daily routine without Christ. We believe in Christ, have accepted Christ’s salvation. But Jesus is not the Lord of our life.

Becoming New. When we follow Jesus, making Him Lord, we become His disciple. Luke 16:26 (CEV) is very explicit about Jesus’ expectations. “You cannot be my disciple, unless you love me more than you love your father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters. You cannot follow me unless you love me more than you love your own life.” The King James version uses the word “hate” but that does not carry the connotation that Jesus intended. Hate is an old English verb that means “to have a passionate aversion to, treat as an enemy.” Jesus was using the word “hate” as a relative term. It would probably be more accurately understood as being indifferent to our family in comparison with our attitude toward God. He is telling us that nothing should come before God in our lives. We should even place God above our own lives. 

I think we often get too hung up on the hate aspect of this verse and overlook the most important part. Jesus is telling us that, if we are to be His disciple (not just a follower) he must have the preeminent place in our lives. When we become a disciple, we are making him our Lord. We are made new.

Suppose I have a traffic accident and my car is badly damaged. It gets taken to a body shop. It might even be called an Auto Resurrection Shop. But everyone who has had a car damaged knows it is not the same as new, regardless of how good it looks. God does not have a body shop to fix us up. God gives us a brand new car with a new car smell. We are not the person we were.

Saved By Grace. Yes, we will still sin. But there is a difference between a sinner saved by grace and an unrepentant sinner. The unrepentant sinner is a rebel against authority. Hell is the eternal dwelling for this rebel unless he changes his ways. The sinner saved by grace has repented and will be welcomed into Heaven as his eternal home.

Our song becomes Psalm 103. This is a marvelous song of David that concludes “God has set up his kingdom in Heaven, and he rules the whole creation. All of you mighty angels, who obey God’s commands, come and praise your Lord! All of you thousands who serve and obey God, come and praise your Lord! All of God’s creation and all that he rules, come and praise your Lord! With all my heart I praise the Lord!”

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If you want to know more about accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior, go to 4 Steps – Peace With God.

All scripture is from the New American Standard Bible, unless otherwise indicated.

Photo credit to Tama66, Alexas_Photos, and LRMoore on Pixabay.