Acts 16:30-33 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.
Here we see that the jailer asked Paul and Silas what he must do to be saved. They told him that he should believe in Lord Jesus, he and his family will be saved, then they shared the word of the Lord to him and his family. He and his family believed in the Lord and were baptized, they were baptized and born again. But what does believe or faith mentioned here mean?
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1)
What does faith mean in the Bible? This verse tells us the meaning of faith. Faith is the certainty of what we hope for, and assurance of what we do not see. Earlier we saw that the jailer’s family was baptized after believing in the Lord. The Bible says that those who believe and are baptized will be saved. A person who believes and is baptized is born again and saved and receives the Holy Spirit. The general principle is that a person receives the Holy Spirit at baptism. But there are special cases of receiving the Holy Spirit before baptism or after baptism.
The pastor of our church and his two brothers after they believed in the Lord and three of them decided at the same time to serve the Lord full time, and their parents were very opposed to this. Their mother believed deeply in Buddhism, and many years later their parents also believed in the Lord. I witnessed their baptism. Thank God.
