Most of us are familiar with the story of the three blind men who had an elephant brought to them. They were to tell everyone what the animal was like. One of the men was near the trunk of the elephant. He grabbed it and said, “An elephant is like a mighty snake—a great boa constrictor.” The man was standing at the back of the beast took hold of the tail and said, “No, no, no, an elephant is more like a piece of rope.” The third man was standing by the elephant’s side. He touched it and said, “No, you’re both wrong—an elephant is like a thick wall.”
Who was right? Well, they all were. But they were also all wrong. They were right in their specific observations that the elephant was like a great snake, a rope, and a thick wall. But each man was wrong in that they didn’t take into account all the evidence (i.e., the testimony of the two other men). Instead, they acted as if their small amount of knowledge was all knowledge.
This comes into play when we think about what Paul told the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:31. Paul and Silas had been unjustly beaten and imprisoned in Philippi—a Roman colony and the leading city of Macedonia. As they were singing and praying around midnight, an earthquake occurred. This was no normal earthquake because “the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose” (v. 26). Seeing the doors of the jail open, the jailer was about to take his life knowing that an escape would result in his execution (see Acts 12:18-19). Paul shouted at him not to kill himself because all of the prisoners were still there. In response to this, the jailer asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
In response to this, the jailer wanted to know what he needed to do to be saved (v. 30). He had likely heard something of what Paul and Silas had been proclaiming, and following the earthquake and Paul’s control over the prisoners (which saved his life)—he wanted to be right with the God Paula and Silas served. They told him, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household” (v. 31).
This is usually taken to mean that for a person to enter a saving relationship with the Lord, they must accept that Jesus is who He said He is—they need to flip the switch from unbelief to belief. Once this happens, they are saved. As a result, this text is one of the leading verses used to encourage people to “accept Jesus into your heart.”
After all, that is what the text says, right?
And with this we are back to the blind men and the elephant. It’s certainly right to make the specific observation that this is what the text says. But before we assume that our definition of believe is the only understanding possible, it would be wise to look at the rest of the story Luke records to see if there might be additional evidence that reveals exactly what Paul and Silas meant when they used the word “believe?”
To understand this, we need to recognize the difference between knowing what the Scripture says and knowing what it means. Knowing what a text says is wonderful—it’s a great place to start, but understanding what it means is our real goal. If you think about it, that’s the goal in any type of communication. Suppose you’re flying into Washington, DC. The screen in front of you says the forecast is for mild weather —but what exactly does that mean? If it’s been extremely cold the last three days, milder means it will be warmer. But if it has been extremely warm, “milder” means it will be cooler. So, it could be warmer or cooler! You know what the forecast is, but you don’t know what that means without context. It’s no different with Scripture.
What then does Paul mean when he tells the jailer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved?” If we listen, the context will inform us.
After Paul tells the jailer to “believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved,” the next three verses show us what Paul had in mind by his use of the phrase. In v. 32-34, the jailer heard the word of the Lord, washed the wounds of Paul and Silas (indicative of repentance), and was baptized.
After this, Luke writes that the jailer rejoiced “because he had come to believe in God” (v. 34). But since his rejoicing took place after he had heard the word, repented, and was baptized, it should be clear that for Paul, believing in the Lord was more than just accepting Christ into your heart—it included hearing the word, repenting, and being baptized.
In formal logic, it would look like this:
- The jailer was told to “believe in the Lord Jesus” to be saved.
- He rejoiced in his belief after he heard the word, repented, and was baptized.
- Therefore, believing in the Lord involves hearing the word, repenting, and being baptized.
If you think about looking at the text this way, we’re allowing it to speak for itself about what it means by “believe”—rather than injecting our own understanding as the blind men did when they ignored the truths the other men shared. This is how we honor the text and determine what God is saying to us through it.
Finally, the phrase, “he had come to believe in God” suggests that coming to a saving faith is a process. This is what John tells us is 1:12 where he writes, “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” The jailer heard the good news about Jesus and His kingdom. He made the choice to believe that and had the right to become a child of God. What a glorious choice! But just like having the right to vote—he had to exercise his right to become a child of God. He still needed to repent and then be baptized—the same thing Paul was told by Ananias (Acts 22:16).
A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green 