Acts 16:30-33
What is written? (ESV)
Then he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household. And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.
What does it say?
Answering a direct question about what he [the jailor] must do to be saved, the answer is to believe in Jesus. They then spoke the word of the Lord [the Gospel] to them and in the same hour they were baptized.
What is its immediate context?
Paul and Silas are in prison and miraculously set free, but after witnessing their praise and confidence in God the jailor is convicted to obey the Gospel.
How Acts 16:30-33 is applied across Bible answers
Is baptism for infants or children?
When Paul baptized the Philippian jailer and "all his family," they had first been taught "the word of the Lord." Therefore, they had to be old enough to be taught.
Is there a specific age of accountability?
When Paul baptized the Phillipian jailer and "all his family," they had first been taught "the word of the Lord." Therefore, they had to be old enough to be taught.
What is the purpose of baptism?
Paul and Silas' answer to his direct question is to believe, but given the full context (specifically, the action the jailor and his household took immediately after that) we must conclude that being baptized was also part of the answer to his question.
What saves you eternally?
Belief in Jesus saves us.
