Cosmo
Member
The Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). Paul and Silas responded, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).
I'm not ashamed of the gospel
- Thread starter Obadiah
- Start date
Jay
Active member
Jesus clearly taught in John 3:16 that He will save anyone who believes in Him: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” This “whoever” includes you and every other person in the world.
atpollard
Well-known member
You stated …
Where is the EITHER/OR choice of the Jailer?
Clearly God had already done a work in his heart to prompt the question: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
I suggested that you look to John 10. If you had, you would have discovered WHY some believe and some do not:
John 10:25-30 [NLT]
Jesus replied, "I have already told you, and you don't believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father's name. But you don't believe me because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father's hand. The Father and I are one."
Key points:
- some do not believe BECAUSE they are not His sheep
- some listen BECAUSE they are His sheep
- the difference is because the Father GAVE some to Him
Cosmo
Member
Jesus' religious critics have disputed His teaching and miracles, going as far as to attribute His works to Satan (Mark 3:22). As Jesus has stated, their stubbornness is exactly that: a willful refusal to follow truth (John 5:39–40). They cannot understand because they don't want to understand (John 7:17). Now, these same religious leaders—collectively referred to in John's gospel as "the Jews"—are daring Jesus to repeat His claims. They've surrounded Him in a part of the temple which offers no escape route (John 10:24), seem already prepared for violence (John 10:31), and have challenged Him to say something everyone knows they don't want to hear.
Here, Jesus reiterates a point he made for these men a few months prior: they don't hear His voice because they are not His "sheep" (John 10:1–6). Like sheep, which only recognize the voice of their specific master, these men are practically deaf to the voice of God. As pointed out before, these men are ultimately proving that their master is the Devil (John 8:42–47). Jesus' voice is God's voice (John 10:30); if they don't hear the voice of God, it means they're not part of His "flock." Bible Ref.
The good news for unsaved people today is if they have the Gospel preached to them, they can choose to believe in Jesus and then become one of His sheep.
Here, Jesus reiterates a point he made for these men a few months prior: they don't hear His voice because they are not His "sheep" (John 10:1–6). Like sheep, which only recognize the voice of their specific master, these men are practically deaf to the voice of God. As pointed out before, these men are ultimately proving that their master is the Devil (John 8:42–47). Jesus' voice is God's voice (John 10:30); if they don't hear the voice of God, it means they're not part of His "flock." Bible Ref.
The good news for unsaved people today is if they have the Gospel preached to them, they can choose to believe in Jesus and then become one of His sheep.
Last edited:
Dizerner
Well-known member
Non sequitur.
atpollard
Well-known member
No, you wanted to know why we had to trust and those verses explain why we have to trust … it involves a whole bunch of things that God did (Foreknew, predestined, justified, made alive, a gift of salvation by grace through faith not of ourselves). Thus it was NOT a non sequitur. I am not to blame if you lack “ears to hear”. The WORD stands even if you reject it as the answer to your question.
Ephesians 2:1-10 and Romans 8:29-30
Dizerner
Well-known member
Logic dictates that what I do and what God does are different things.
If trust is something God does through you, then it's not something you even do.
I hope you do smuggle the concept of actual free will underneath all your confusion—I really hope you do.
Similar threads
