Does Acts 16:31 Teach Easy Grace?

There are many who say that Acts 16:31 is not teaching that people are required to turn from their sins and submit to Jesus Christ’s authority in order to obtain God’s grace. Are they right or are they wrong?

Acts 16:31: “And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

“They” in Acts 16:31 are the Apostle Paul and his co-worker Silas. The person being addressed is the Philippian jailer. This man was trembling over the earthquake which had just occurred that had loosed the bands of all the prisoners. The jailer’s question to them in Acts 16:30 was “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

Why do those who claim Acts 16:31 is not teaching that the Bible requires people to turn from their sins and submit to Jesus’ authority disregard the Apostle Paul’s own conversion which is recorded earlier in Acts?

Acts 9:1-6: “And Saul (aka Paul), yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.”

Paul rightly understood on the road to Damascus that Jesus is Lord, the ultimate authority figure, and that this means He must be submitted to and obeyed. When Paul asked “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” Jesus told him that he needed to do something specific and told him that further directions were coming. Those directions would include the command for him to be baptized (see Acts 9:17-18 and Acts 22:12-16).

Christian baptism in itself is supposed to be a testimony of submission to the authority of Christ as well as an action following through on what is communicated in that testimony.

Romans 6:3-4: “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

No one can walk in newness life in Christ who does not walk under His authority. No one can walk under His authority who has not died to sin. No one can be dead to sin without turning from their sins. When people are baptized who have not really turned from going their own way in sin to walk under the authority of Christ, what is being testified in their baptism does not correspond to reality.

Romans 6:10-11: “For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Did Paul and Silas testify and explain these things to the Philippian jailer and his household? Those who believe otherwise are foolish enough to believe that the Apostles baptized people without adequate instruction. Did Paul and Silas only tell the Philippian jailer the words which are recorded in Acts 16:31? Absolutely not. There was more to Paul and Silas’ answer. That surely included thorough instruction concerning the significance of Christian baptism.

Keep reading in Acts 16:32-34: “And they spoke unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.”

Why do those who claim Acts 16:31 is not teaching that the Bible requires people to turn from their sins and submit to Jesus’ authority disregard that the Philippian jailer was told to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ”?

Jesus said in Luke 6:46-49: “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.”

Can anyone believe in Jesus as the Bible prescribes, so that they are under God’s grace and on track to be saved, without doing the things which He says to do? Of course not.

Mark 16:15-16: “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

Remember and consider the significance of Christian baptism. Those with acceptable faith in Jesus which is living rather than dead are under His authority and walk accordingly. He seeks a group of people who are submitted to obey whatever He commands. Though many work hard and lie to deny the obvious, there is no alternative faith in Him whereby one can really obtain His grace.

Matthew 28:16-20a: “Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you…”

And along the same lines, note Paul’s stated goal of his Gospel preaching.

Romans 15:15-19: “Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God, That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God. For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.”

Paul surely was not telling the Philippian jailer that he could believe in Jesus and be saved without a faith in Him that is obedient in word and deed. The Philippian jailer and those of his household obviously became disciples of Jesus on Biblical terms.

And why do those who claim Acts 16:31 is not teaching that the Bible requires people to turn from their sins and submit to Jesus’ Lordship disregard John the Baptist?

Matthew 3:1-3: “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias (Isaiah), saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”

In preparing the way of the Lord, John the Baptist warned people to turn from their sins and bring forth works fitting for repentance in order to properly receive the Messiah. Preachers who don’t do the same are not John the Baptists. They are rather anti-John the Baptists.

Acts 16:31 does not teach easy grace. It rather teaches the opposite. It teaches that God’s grace is extremely demanding. Its conditions are difficult to meet and walk in. It is unpleasant and unsparing to man’s carnality. Strait (i.e. constricted) and narrow is the way that leads to life. Wide is the gate and board is the way that leads to destruction.

Many wrongly believe that complying with the terms and conditions of God’s covenant is trying to earn His grace. That is not the case. We actually need to comply with the terms and conditions of God’s grace in Christ because we cannot obtain it otherwise. A free gift can come with great demands since it is common sense that free does not equal unconditional. This is related to the Biblical truth that to obey is better than sacrifice. No one can atone for their own sins nor can anyone work their way out of having to relate to the true God as the righteous authority figure that He is.

Revelation 16:8-11: “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.”