November 8, AD 2011

The Heart of the Jailer
by Frank Allnutt

Christians who read and study the New Testament are familiar with the story in the book of Acts about the “conversion” of the jailer.

As the story is all too commonly taught, the jailer was confronted by two of his prisoners, Paul and Silas. The gist of the popular interpretation is that the jailer was "converted" to Christianity on the basis of his belief in Jesus Christ.

I invite you to re-visit this story with me. And, if you read on, you will discover that the truth of its message runs much deeper than simply a story of "conversion by belief."

“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances” (Ezekiel 36:26-27*; see also Jeremiah 31:33-34).

Regarding the parable of the sower, the disciples asked Jesus why He spoke in parables, and He answered:

“To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted” (v 11).

Then Jesus went on to explain the spiritual incapacity of the hearts of those to whom the mysteries of the kingdom had not been granted: they were deaf and blind to spiritual truths and realities (vv 14-15). “But blessed are your eyes,” Jesus said to His disciples, “because they see, and your ears, because they hear” (v 16).

Ears that hear and eyes that see were granted by God through His abiding Spirit to His chosen ones in the time of the Mosaic (“old”) Covenant, and it is ability He grants to His chosen ones of the New Covenant through the gift of the “new heart” and “new spirit” and the indwelling of His Spirit, as stated above in the passage from Ezekiel.

The Heart of the Jailer

The new heart given by God to those whom He chooses is illustrated by the example of the jailer in the biblical account of the jailing of the Apostle Paul and his missionary companion Silas (Acts 16:22-40).

Because the story is somewhat lengthy, I’ll not quote the entire passage here, but I do suggest that you read it before continuing on with my article.

The jailer’s story is commonly and simply seen as the jailer's “conversion” to Christianity, based on his beliefs. But was it “conversion by faith,” or could it have been faith through salvation?

The source of the jailer’s belief
The jailer, likely a Roman, served as the head of the prison—not unlike a prison warden, here in America. To help keep the jailer’s high position in mind, I’ll hereafter refer to him with a more definitive English term: “warden.”

Now, as the story continues, “...about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” (v25). “Were listening” is the English translation of a rare Greek term that is used only here in the New Testament. It means to “listen with attention.”

Picture the setting and circumstances: The chief magistrates of Thyatira ordered the warden to keep the prisoners secure, because, as Bible commentators note a Roman practice, if the prisoners escaped, the warden would be punished for dereliction of duty; he would be forced to take the place of the escaped prisoners and to serve out their sentences.

Paul and Silas were in deep trouble; their future looked anything but bright. Yet, there it was, in the middle of the night, in a dark and dingy Roman prison, and the two men were praying to their God and singing hymns of praise to Him. No wonder the other prisoners were listening with great attention. For they were listening to words new to their ears—words of prayer and lyrics of hymns that likely were taken directly from the ancient Hebrew Scriptures.

The fearsome earthquake
Suddenly, in the midst of this strange goings-on, there was an earthquake that shook the foundations of the prison, and “immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were unfastened” (v 26).

It appears that one or more prison guards witnessed the behavior of Paul and Silas, and, obviously, the earthquake, for when he or they aroused the warden, he was so frightened that “he drew his sword and was about to kill himself.” Why? Because he supposed that Paul and Silas had escaped (v 27).

It took no time at all for the warden to believe that suicide would be better than his fate for allowing the prisoners to escape.

In some unexplained way, Paul knew the warden was about to commit suicide—and why. So, Paul immediately intervened and cried out with a loud voice so that the warden would hear him: “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here!” (v 28).

The warden called for lights and rushed in to where Paul and Silas were. The warden was “trembling with fear” because he had witnessed the supernatural opening of doors and unlocking of chains, and these two men were obviously in the favor of their God.

Doomed if he did, doomed if he didn’t
The warden “fell down before Paul and Silas,” and then brought them out from where they were and said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?'” (vv 29-30). “Sirs,” in the original Greek, carries a sense of reverential respect. By bowing down to Paul and Silas and addressing them as “Sirs,” he regarded them now as his masters and that he was at their mercy—or, perhaps, the mercy of their God. And he was asking them, “what must I do to be saved?”

If the warden chose to put Paul and Silas back in chains, would he incur the wrath of their God? But if he let them go, he would surely incur the wrath of the city magistrates.

He was doomed if he let them go and doomed if he didn’t.

What a predicament!

And so the warden asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

It appears that the eyes of the warden's heart were open to the realization that it would take a supernatural solution to his dilemma—yet another miracle by the God of Paul and Silas.

That is why he asked, “what must I do to be saved?” He wanted to know what he must do to invoke the protection of their God.

Was the warden concerned about his eternal salvation? Was he concerned about God forgiving his sins? Or, was he concern about saving himself from the magistrates?

I suspect that he had no theological knowledge of soteriology (the biblical doctrine of salvation). On the other hand, if someone had told him he could be "converted to Christianity" or obtain salvation by believing in Jesus, would he not had recalled that and have done it on the spot instead of running in terror to Paul and Silas, asking what he had to do to be saved from the magistrates and the wrath of the two men's God?

Paul and Silas seemed to sense the warden’s concerns, as indicated by their answer to his question: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household” (v 31).

“What?” the warden must have wondered with astonishment. “All I must do is believe in—is to trust—whom they call ‘the Lord Jesus’? And I will be saved from harm or imprisonment or even death!”

Not only that, he was told his household would be saved as well.

Now, if salvation (belief-based ”conversion to Christianity,” as it is commonly perceived) is in sight here, then we must conclude that, on the basis of the warden’s belief, he and his household would experience corporate salvation. Maybe that’s how some people might like to see the story end. But corporate salvation is not a biblical teaching.

So what did Paul and Silas mean that the warden’s belief in Jesus would result in his and his household’s being “saved”? This begs for a biblical definition of “saved.” It is translated from the Greek term sōzō (from sōs), which can be used to convey a number of meanings, among them: safe, well, cured, preserved, to bring salvation to....

We can therefore conclude what Paul and Silas meant: that if the warden trusted Jesus, by doing so he and his household would be kept “safe” and “well” by Jesus from the magistrates. That's a lot different from corporate salvation!

The story returns to this further on—after some other events.

Paul and Silas teach the Word of God
So reading on, Paul and Silas “spoke the word of the Lord to him [warden] together with all who were in his house” (v 32).

We are not told all that “the word of the Lord” encompassed, though baptism was apparently mentioned, because:

“[The warden] took them [Paul and Silas] that very [late] hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household” (vv 32-33). “And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household” (v 34).

The warden and his household are saved
Then we are told how Jesus proved His trustworthiness to the warden and his household—as well as what Paul meant by the word “saved”:

“Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying ‘Release these men [Paul and Silas]. And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, ‘The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Now therefore, come out and go in peace.’ But Paul said to them, ‘they have beaten us in public without trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out” (vv 35-38).

What a gross violation of the rights of Roman citizens!

The policemen reported back to the magistrates who became frightened when they learned that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. So the magistrates appealed to the two to leave the city (v 38-39).

The warden and his household trusted in Jesus, and Jesus, in demonstrating His trustworthiness, “saved” them—kept them “safe” and “well” by delivering them from the hands of the chief magistrates.

The belief of the warden and his household
resulted from their salvation
I mentioned above that the warden’s belief was faith-based and that such belief pertains only to those whom God chooses unto salvation and to be given a new heart and a new spirit and the indwelling Spirit. Granted, this story does not mention the heart of the warden per se, but it does present evidence of a new spirit that was “packaged” and delivered by God to the warden with a new heart and the indwelling Spirit.

Now I want you to see how the warden’s belief can be traced to his new heart.

1. The warden’s faith-based belief in Jesus was a gift of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:8-9).
   
   
2. Faith-based belief is a manifestation of the Spirit’s gift of love (1 Corinthians 13:7).
   
   
3. Love (agape) is a godly attribute of the new spirit:
   
   “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).
   
   
4. The new spirit accompanies the new heart and indwelling Spirit: (Ezekiel 36:26-27; read my teaching on this passage).
   
   
5. The warden and his household, like all Christians, were chosen unto salvation (2 Thessalonians 2:13), not by their “works” (doing any thing), but solely by the grace of God and through faith.
   
   Oh, but hold on there! “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself” (James 2:17). It is totally impossible and Scripturally contradictory that "dead"—spiritually impotent—"faith" is partially responsible for one's salvation.
   
   Let me suggest that "faith" in this verse is a questionable translation of the meaning of the Greek term pistis. Other meanings include: faithfulness, pledge and proof. And since those cannot be attributed to a person's "dead" faith without works, they can only be attributed to God's faithfulness, pledge and proof in and of His New Covenant with the chosen one.

Now, let's consider the sequence of events in the salvation and the "saving" of the warden: Through no dead faith or works of his own, he received from God a new heart and a new spirit and the indwelling of His Spirit. Which came first?

We first see evidence of this in how the warden responded to Paul when Paul intervened to stop the warden from committing suicide. The warden’s ears were open to hearing Paul, and his eyes were open to seeing that the circumstances of the earthquake, opened prison doors and unlocked chains were actually miracles of Paul’s God. Then, the warden humbled himself when he “fell down before Paul and Silas” (v 29). There is twofold evidence here of a new heart and a new spirit: the warden’s humility and recognition that Paul and Silas were some how favored by their God.

And then came the warden's belief in—trust in—Jesus to save him from the magistrate.

Now, let’s return to that time when Paul and Silas “spoke the word of the Lord” to the warden and his household. We have no way of knowing what they said. However, I want to briefly reference another Bible story that possibly hints as to what Paul and Silas might have shared with the warden and his household.

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
The Holy Spirit sent Philip to accompany an Ethiopian eunuch in his travels. The Ethiopian was reading the prophets, but did not understand. So Philip told him about Jesus. They came across some water and the Ethiopian asked Philip, “What prevents me from being baptized?” And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God” (Acts 8:36b-37). And then Philip baptized him.

I want to draw your attention to the implications of what Philip told the Ethiopian—implications that should not escape your notice and understanding.

You see, the Ethiopian first had to be given a new heart by God that is capable of faith-based belief before he could exercise that belief, and then he could be baptized in water.

Philip’s emphasis on “all your heart” is a technical phrase of extreme importance. “All your heart” (or “whole heart,” as it is sometimes translated elsewhere in Scripture) can only refer to the condition and functionality of a new Christ-like heart. For the Adamic heart is incapable of “wholeness.” That is because, while the soul “chamber-part” of the Adamic heart has mind, emotion and volitional functionality, the spirit “chamber-part” is spiritually “dead” or dysfunctional.

So the Ethiopian received a new heart and a new spirit and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And the ears and eyes of his new heart were opened to believe the written Word of God in the prophets and to the Word of God spoken by Philip.

Likewise, the warden, at some time before he went to Paul and Silas where they were in the prison, received a new heart and a new spirit and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And with that came the gift of faith through which his ears and eyes were open to the supernatural events that engulfed him. He asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And Paul and Silas answered: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household” (v 31).

Indeed, as we read above, the warden and his household were saved from the chief magistrates. But before that, those chosen ones were granted salvation through Christ Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant, by God's grace and through His faithfullness.

And through the new spirit of love and its manifestation of faith in their new hearts, the warden and all his household believed.
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For more biblical teaching on the Adamic heart and the Christian's new heart on this web site, please click below:

The Whole-Hearted Christian

The Christian’s New Heart

The Ways of the Heart
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*Quotes from Scripture in all my writings are from the New American Standard Version of the Bible unless otherwise indicated.
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