January 28, 2011

Acts 16
Paul's 2nd Missionary Journey

“The jailer . . asked, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' They replied, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.'” Acts 16:29-31 (NLT Translation)

“The jailer . . asked, 'Gentlemen, will you please tell me how to get out of this mess?' They replied, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be rescued, along with everyone in your household.'”
Acts 16:29-31 (paraphrase which shows what he would have said in our way of speaking)

In the Bible “Salavation” meant primarily getting out the mess you’re in

Pastor’s Reflections

In the Bible “Salavation” meant primarily getting out the mess you’re in.

The Philippian Jailer was in trouble. His prisoners had escaped which meant he would have to pay with his life. He asked Paul, who had escaped miraculously, “what do I do now?”. He was not asking how he could get to heaven. He was in trouble and he needed to get out of it.

Paul told him to believe in Jesus. What do you think of that answer? “Saved” in the Bible is the same word as “healed” or “rescued” or “delivered” from whatever problem, sickness, financial disaster, personal catastrophe or anything else that might be threatening.

The Christian worldview is this: the world is in a mess, you name the problem, we’ve got it. And God sees the whole mess right down to your personal mess. But God also sees the world and you as one day being rescued, healed, delivered, and saved when the New Creation comes. Meanwhile Jesus , reigning right now from heaven, is working in every corner of the planet to bring healing and rescue in one form or another, sometimes sooner sometimes later. But the rescue will come.

Where does heaven come in? As always God gives us more than we are bargaining for at any one moment. The rescue that God granted the jailer and his family was immediate but he also got eternal life thrown in.

Back to the question. When you are in a specific earthly mess, does the answer, “believe in Jesus and you will be saved” help you?