{"id":1834,"date":"2019-09-26T11:15:05","date_gmt":"2019-09-26T19:15:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1834"},"modified":"2019-09-26T11:15:05","modified_gmt":"2019-09-26T19:15:05","slug":"devotion-acts-1631-instantaneous-and-forever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1834","title":{"rendered":"Devotion Acts 16:31 Instantaneous and Forever"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acts 16:31-40\u00a0<\/b>\u2013<\/i>\u00a0<\/i><\/span>\u00a0<\/sup><\/b>They replied, \u201cBelieve\u00a0in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved\u2014you and your household.\u201d\u00a032\u00a0Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.\u00a033\u00a0At that hour of the night\u00a0the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.\u00a034\u00a0The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he\u00a0was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God\u2014he and his whole household.\u00a0\u00a035\u00a0When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: \u201cRelease those men.\u201d\u00a036\u00a0The jailer\u00a0told Paul, \u201cThe magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.\u201d\u00a0\u00a037\u00a0But Paul said to the officers: \u201cThey beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens,\u00a0and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.\u201d\u00a0\u00a038\u00a0The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed.\u00a039\u00a0They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city.\u00a040\u00a0After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia\u2019s house,\u00a0where they met with the brothers and sisters\u00a0and encouraged them. Then they left.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThey replied, \u201cBelieve\u00a0in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved\u2014you and your household.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Scripture interprets scripture.\u00a0\u00a0Romans 10:9<\/b>\u00a0\u201cIf you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved<\/i>.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0If we believe, we believe.\u00a0\u00a0Nothing in the Bible explicitly contradicts this verse, there is no \u201cwait and see\u201d condition.\u00a0\u00a0What kind of comfort would that bring if after making a confession of belief and faith in Jesus we were then told to not be too sure of ourselves, and that we must see if our faith is borne out by the perseverance of our faith and belief.\u00a0\u00a0If that were true, and it is not, then there would be no assurance of our faith.\u00a0\u00a0In fact, it is not a Christian teaching, but it is a teaching of the cults.\u00a0\u00a0Neophytes are often asked before being baptized if they know that they are saved.\u00a0\u00a0They are baptized by the confession of their faith in Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0Because\u00a01 John 5:13<\/b>\u00a0clearly states\u00a0\u201cI write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God\u00a0so that you may know that you have eternal life.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0We see that upon the confession of our belief and faith in Jesus we then are to know that we are saved.\u00a0\u00a0Not in the future, but right then we may know it.\u00a0\u00a0The Word promises that if we believe in Jesus we are saved.\u00a0\u00a0We do not have to wait to see if our belief, our faith holds out, we are saved right then and there.\u00a0\u00a0Upon our confession of belief and faith in the works and person of Jesus, we are saved.\u00a0\u00a0Then we have the peace that belongs to people who know and love the Lord.<\/p>\n

We know that we are saved solely by faith (Ephesians 2:8<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0So since we are saved by faith do we then need to remain in faith by working hard to maintain the faith?\u00a0\u00a0No, no, no! (Galatians 3:1-3<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We are saved and kept in faith by God (2 Thessalonians 2:13, Galatians 5:16-17, 1 Peter 1:2, 1 Corinthians 6:11<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0Part of the mystery of the grace of God is that God requires us to have faith in Jesus to be saved (Hebrews 11:6<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0However, that could be seen as a condition that we have to meet to be saved.\u00a0\u00a0But the faith that we have comes from God (Romans 12:3<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0He is the one who offers grace to us and He alone is the one who creates and builds that faith so that we are enabled to believe.\u00a0\u00a0So God is the Great One who really has done it all, but yet credits us as if we have done something of merit.\u00a0\u00a0Also, as some who do not understand and so wrongly deduce, that would mean that, since grace is totally of God, since the faith we have is totally a work of God and not of ourselves, then those who do not come to Him must have been created for eternal damnation and they never had a chance to come to Him in faith.\u00a0\u00a0But do not be deceived, that assumption is incorrect, perhaps coming close to blasphemy against our Holy God.\u00a0\u00a0If what they believe were true, than the Word of God that says that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world (John 3:16<\/b>), and that God does not want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9<\/b>), are erroneous statements of scripture.\u00a0\u00a0That would mean that scripture contradicts scripture.\u00a0\u00a0And that would mean that some of the Word of God is wrong.\u00a0\u00a0And that would mean that what we have is not the Word of God.\u00a0\u00a0If what we have is not the wholly the Word of God but has errors, then what we have is not from an omniscient and omnipotent God.\u00a0\u00a0And, Family, that would mean we have no assurance at all.\u00a0\u00a0Scripture is either infallible, or we have no foundation for our faith.<\/p>\n

Therefore, as the Word of God testifies, all that believe on the Lord Jesus as Savior and Lord are saved immediately.\u00a0\u00a0There is not waiting to see if we will \u201chang in there.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0It is plain, that when we believe on Jesus in this way we are immediately saved from being eternally separated from God (Romans 10:13, John 3:15<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0There is not a test to see if the belief and the faith of the person stands.\u00a0\u00a0People who confess Jesus are immediately saved.\u00a0\u00a0That is an eternal truth.<\/p>\n

Some may ask but what of the person who renounces faith, and lives a reprobate life, and never repents of their rebellion of God?\u00a0\u00a0What of them?\u00a0\u00a0Well, that is another topic which could be reviewed.\u00a0\u00a0The question here is does God say what He means and mean what He says.\u00a0\u00a0The answer to that is \u201cYes!\u00a0\u00a0Yes He does.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0So what Peter and Silas had said to the jailer regarding the requirements of salvation, that one need only to believe in Jesus to be saved is true.\u00a0\u00a0Believe and be saved at that very moment.\u00a0\u00a0Because we can believe and trust what God said that we are then saved, then we can have the peace of God that transcends all understanding and that peace will be ours, right there and right then.\u00a0\u00a0Right then we can take as our own this promise from Jesus \u201cCome to me,\u00a0all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.\u00a029\u00a0Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,\u00a0for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.\u00a030\u00a0For my yoke is easy and my burden is light<\/i>.\u201d (Matthew 11:28-30<\/b>) We have a right to the assurance of our salvation from the moment we believe in Jesus as our Savior and Lord.\u00a0\u00a0No waiting.\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t let anyone steal your peace.\u00a0\u00a0Believe in Jesus and be saved.\u00a0\u00a0Then we have the peace of God and we look forward to an eternity with God.\u00a0\u00a0We can and do because of Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0Only because of Jesus.<\/p>\n

Psalm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/i><\/p>\n

Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear\u00a0me.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has shown You, O man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; And what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Numbers 6:24-26<\/b>\u00a0\u201cThe\u00a0Lord\u00a0bless you and keep you; 25\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0turn His face\u00a0toward you and give you peace.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Acts 16:31-40\u00a0\u2013\u00a0\u00a0They replied, \u201cBelieve\u00a0in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved\u2014you and your household.\u201d\u00a032\u00a0Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.\u00a033\u00a0At that hour of the night\u00a0the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.\u00a034\u00a0The jailer brought…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[82,129,1841,1969,100,101,94,1874,2524,17,10,757],"class_list":["post-1834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-acts","tag-corinthians","tag-ephesians","tag-galatians","tag-john","tag-matthew","tag-micah","tag-numbers","tag-peer","tag-psalm","tag-romans","tag-thessalonians"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1834"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1835,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1834\/revisions\/1835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}