I just read in ACTS 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Does that mean that my house(family) can or will be saved if I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (and the rest of the family do not?).

Act 16:31 seem to compare with GENESIS 7:1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

Am I mistaken here?

-- John Williams (rjswilson@netzero.net), December 19, 2003

Answers

Jmj

No, John, not exactly. I mean that you should not assume that your own "belief" is enough to save your entire family -- unless you act on your faith and guide your family into the Catholic faith.

Jmj

Notice that Noah's family would not have been saved if they had remained on the (temporarily) dry ground, rather than enter the ark. Noah had to lead his family onto the ship.

Similarly, each member of your family who is capable of expressing faith must join you in doing so. And you and each of them must be baptized, thus becoming incorporated into the "bark of Peter," the Catholic Church -- a "prototype" of which was Noah's ark.

You need to look at more than just verse 31 in Acts 16. Notice how the next two verses imply that the rest of the family followed the head of household by professing faith in Christianity and being baptized:
"And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all that were in his house. And ... he was baptized at once, with all his family."

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), December 20, 2003.