LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
The Salvation of the Family
"...but those revealed are for us and for our children forever..." (Deut. 29:29).
Before talking about salvation itself, we have to understand the idea of unity that the family represents in the eyes of God. After God formed man, and from one of his ribs formed woman, he said: "...and they shall be one flesh" (Gen. 2:24). Therefore, they are no longer two, but one flesh, as Jesus said (Matt. 19:6). One, one unity.
Also the apostle Paul tells us about this unity, adding now the children when he says in 1 Corinthians 7:14: "For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife in the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy".
God looks to unity, whether for judgment or for salvation. When Pharaoh wanted to take Sarai Abraham's wife, God smote him and all his house with great plagues (Gen. 12:17). In Achan's sin, the Lord clearly shows this unity when He says: "And ye shall come near to morrow by your tribes: and the tribe which the Lord shall take shall come near by their families; and the family which the Lord shall take shall come near by their houses; and the house which the Lord shall take shall come near by the men" (Jos. 7:14). His whole house, with all that he had, was destroyed (Jos. 7:24-25).
If the Lord bears witness to unity in judgment, how much more in salvation! God, who does not delight in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 18:23), has great joy in salvation, for he wants all to be saved and come to the full knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4).
God's salvation involves the whole house. A lamb -Christ- for every family (Ex. 12.3). Noah's ark, which is also a figure of Christ, was for the salvation of his whole household, even the daughters-in-law (Gen. 6:18). When Lot was warned to leave Sodom, the angels announced salvation for his entire household, including even his future sons-in-law (Gen. 19:12-13).
The salvation of our house is a covenant, a perpetual covenant of our God: "And this shall be my covenant with them, saith the LORD: My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy children, nor out of the mouth of thy children's children, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever" (Isa. 59:21).
The salvation of the whole household is a matter of faith. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house" (Acts 16:31). Of faith and attitude before God's promise: "I and my house will serve the Lord" (Jos. 24:15).