Archive
wait
wait

 

Yes, his whole family is saved by his belief.
14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.
1 Corinthians 7:14  NASB

31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Acts 16:31
 

Who knows?
16 For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?
1 Corintians 7:16  NASB
 

SAB Contradiction 227
 

The thesis: Yes, his whole family is saved by his belief.
The critic has found only two texts in the entire New Testament to sustain his thesis that a complete family will be saved if the head of the family believes. Isn’t that a little bit meagre? The more as we read all over the New Testament that belief is an individual necessity to be saved. This is like comparing with a piece of music composed by Johan Sebastian Bach in which two sounds do not immediately seem to harmonize within the entire composition. And that would result in conclusions such as: Bach wasn’t as great a musician as is generally accepted. Or: these two strange sounds make clear that we are dealing with a fake, it was certainly not Bach who composed this masterpiece. However, these conclusions are not very convincing. Isn't it better to study the functions of the two remarkable sounds questioning: are these sounds really strange?
 

The first witness
“… the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband …”  The critic has no correct understanding of the biblical word sanctification; it is part of the Christian belief and it refers to being set apart for God. In this position there is room to explore the rules of the Lord and to experience the blessings of the Lord. And yes, if an unbelieving partner accepts the position of being set apart through his love for the other, he/she is also experiencing the blessings connected with it. For the Biblical rules are good and when applied with love they result in a good life. It is a fallacious argument that the Bible states here that the unbelieving partner is now a good believer. It doesn’t at all. And each one in this position is or will become aware of it. Conclusion: the critic has a serious misconception concerning this issue.
 

The second witness
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”  We have here an imperative form “Believe” with the result of salvation followed by the words “you and your household”. Of course the imperative “Believe” applies to “you” and “your household”. Belief is necessary for “you” as well as for the “household”. The translation could also be: “Believe in the Lord Jesus to be saved; you and your household.”
Looking at the entire “piece of music” we see that all heard the gospel (32), all were baptized (33) and his whole household believed in God (34).
Conclusion: the critic has a serious misconception concerning this issue.
 

The question: “Who knows?”
“… how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?”  This saying speaks for itself. Indeed, sanctification is possible in some way by the faith of another, but believing is a personal matter. Marrying an unbelieving woman or man doesn’t give the assurance that she/he will once believe; on the contrary if one rejects the faith of a partner before marrying, there is little chance that this will change after marrying.
 

Conclusion
The cited texts don’t give ground for any contradictory Biblical teaching.
 

No Bible Contradiction