By Jay T. Robertson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Christian Studies, University of Mobile
A Changed Family
Acts 16:22–34
Acts is the unfolding story of the people of God, filled with the Spirit of God, engaging in the mission of God. In Acts 16 we see Paul and Silas sharing the gospel in Philippi, a Roman colony and leading city in the district. Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, had seized the city in the fourth century B.C., and it came under Roman domination in 168 B.C. and was enlarged in 42 B.C. The Roman influence was heavy in Philippi.
What do a wealthy businesswoman, a demon-possessed slave girl and a jailer have in common? In Acts 16 we see God save each of them by His grace. They become the charter members of the church in Philippi. Let’s examine the conversion of the jailer.
The Situation (22–24)
After God saved the demon-possessed girl and exorcised the demon, her supernatural ability to secure financial gain for her owners was gone. Her owners dragged Paul and Silas into the marketplace, brought them to the magistrates and accused them of advocating customs contrary to the Roman way of life. The magistrates had Paul and Silas beaten and thrown into prison. The jailer put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in stocks. Paul and Silas suffered for proclaiming the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Opportunity (25–28)
These are convicting verses. As Paul and Silas suffered for doing what God had called them to do, they remained faithful. They turned the prison into a worship gathering. Their worship was God-centered, Word-driven and gospel-saturated. They did not base their theology on their circumstances; they evaluated those circumstances in light of what they knew to be true about God.
In the midst of their worship, God caused an earthquake that resulted in the prison doors being opened and everyone’s bonds coming unfastened. The jailer woke up and saw what had happened. He was about to take his own life, fearing he had allowed his prisoners to escape. He knew a Roman soldier who allowed a prisoner to escape, no matter the cause, paid with his own life. But Paul cried out to him and assured him that all of the prisoners remained.
The Conversion (29–32)
The jailer secured the prisoners and then brought Paul and Silas out from the other prisoners and asked them the question burning in his heart: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” His question expressed the deep longing of his heart to be right with God. Having heard the testimony of the demon-possessed girl and the gospel Paul and Silas had apparently shared in the prison, he believed Paul and Silas had the answer.
To the jailer’s simple and direct question the missionaries gave an equally simple and direct answer: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” To “believe in the Lord Jesus” means first to believe He is who He claimed to be (John 20:31). Second it means to believe in what Jesus did (1 Cor. 15:3–4).
The gospel was not preached to the jailer alone but also to the rest of his household. The missionaries “spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.” This husband and father’s conversion led others in his home to believe the gospel and be saved as well. Making disciples should always begin in one’s home.
The Transformation (33–34)
The jailer cared for Paul and Silas and fed them a meal. He and the people in his home were baptized. Genuine salvation always leads to genuine transformation. No one truly meets Jesus and stays the same.
Share with others: