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1) “And Jesus said to him, Today salvation has come to this house” (Luke 19:9).
This word of the Lord Jesus was spoken to a great sinner, Zaccheus the tax collector, confirming that a family is the unit of God’s salvation brought by the Lord. The Lord did not say that salvation had come to that person that day, but rather that salvation had come to that house. Undoubtedly, the Lord wanted Zaccheus’s entire household to believe in Him and be saved. The Lord’s word to Zaccheus was at once a suggestion and a notice to him!
2)“And leading them [the Apostles Paul and Silas] outside, he said, Sirs, what must I do that I may be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:30-31).
This is the dialogue between the Philippian jailer and the two apostles. The jailer asked what he himself should do to be saved; however, the apostles answered that not only he himself but also he and his household would be saved. This proves that in the heart of the apostles, sent by the Lord to preach His gospel, the Lord’s salvation was for the individual, while its unit was the household. Again, the apostles’ word to the jailer is both a suggestion and a notice that he should not only pay attention to his personal salvation, but also to that of his whole family!
1) “And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark” (Gen. 7:1); “In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark” (Gen. 7:13).
Here the Lord God charged Noah to enter into the ark with his entire house to escape destruction by the flood. This proves that God’s desire is to take the family as the unit to which He applies salvation. We are also told that Noah brought his whole house, his wife, his sons, and his daughters-in-law, into the ark according to God’s desire and that, as a result, he and his entire family were delivered by God. Such is the pattern we should all follow today.
1) “Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house: and if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor [also an entire family] next unto his house take it” (Exo. 12:3-4).
When God was about to strike the firstborn of the Egyptians, He instituted the Passover for the Israelites to save them from the judgment of the destruction of the firstborn. What God instructed them to take was not a lamb for each person but a lamb for a house. This also strongly proves that the unit of God’s salvation is the family. Moreover, God charged that if a certain family was too small to eat a whole lamb, they should share one with their neighbor next door. Obviously, the neighbor was also counted as a family and not as an individual. This further proves that we should not only bring our own families to receive God’s salvation, but we should also lead our neighboring families to share in God’s rich and boundless salvation, which our family cannot exhaust.
1) “I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have showed you kindness, that ye will also show kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token: and that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death” (Josh. 2:12-13). “And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein...And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had” (Josh. 6:24-25).
This is the story of how Rahab the harlot and her household were saved when Joshua led the Israelites to destroy Jericho. She was willing to receive the Israelite spies and begged them to save her and her entire house from destruction. Joshua then fulfilled her wish. This also confirms that the family is the unit of God’s salvation.
1) “And as He came to the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, Zaccheus, hurry and come down; for today I must stay in your house. And he hurried and came down, and welcomed Him, rejoicing...And Jesus said to him, Today salvation has come to this house” (Luke 19:5-6, 9).
This is the story of the salvation of Zaccheus the tax collector. In this story, what the Lord did was to stay in Zaccheus’s house, and what He said was that today salvation had come to this house. This is evidence that the family is the unit of the salvation brought in by the Lord.
1) “Send to Joppa and send for Simon who is surnamed Peter, who will speak words to you by which you shall be saved, you and all your household” (Acts 11:13-14). “And Cornelius was awaiting them, having called together his relatives and intimate friends” (Acts 10:24). “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those hearing the word” (Acts 10:44). “And he charged them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 10:48).
This is the story of the salvation of the household of Cornelius, who was a centurion in the Roman military, and of his intimate friends. This story also proves that a person’s entire family is the unit of the salvation applied by the Spirit upon men. Cornelius led not only his whole family but also his intimate friends to receive the Lord. This coincides with what was mentioned before, that is, that an entire Israelite household should share the Passover lamb with their neighbor.
1) “Lydia…who worshipped God, was listening, whose heart the Lord opened to give heed to the things spoken by Paul. And when she was baptized and her household…” (Acts 16:14-15).
The story of this female believer and her house believing in the Lord and being baptized is also an example of the family as the unit of the Lord’s salvation.
1) “And they spoke the word of God to him together with all those in his house. And taking them with him in that very hour of the night, he washed their stripes; and he was baptized immediately, he and all his household” (Acts 16:32-33).
The case of this jailer’s salvation bears an especially strong proof that the family is the unit of the Lord’s salvation.
Besides these cases, there is the house of the royal official in Cana (John 4:46, 53), the household of Crispus, the ruler of a synagogue in Corinth (Acts 18:8), and the household of Stephanas, another Corinthian believer (1 Cor. 1:16). The story of their salvation and of their entire households’ salvation proves that the family is the unit of the Lord’s salvation. This is a delightful matter in the heart of the sinner-loving God and is the Lord’s goal in accomplishing redemption. We must imitate the ancient saints in taking care of God’s heart’s desire to lead our whole family to salvation that the goal of the Lord’s redemption may be achieved.
1) “But as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah” (Josh. 24:15).
This is Joshua’s last declaration to the children of Israel before his death, which not only indicates that he and his entire house are the object of God’s salvation but also reveals the result of God’s salvation with the family as a unit, that is, that he and his house will serve Jehovah. May this also become the desire of each one of us before God and our declaration to the whole universe.
