Acts
16:12-15
The conversion of Lydia
From there we traveled to
Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district
of Macedonia. And we
stayed there several days. On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the
river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and
began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those
listening was a
woman named Lydia, a
dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a
worshiper of God. The Lord
opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. When she
and the members of her
household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the
Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house."
And she persuaded us.
Notice the Scripture says
that Lydia responded to Paul’s message. What must have
been part of Paul’s message? Well, she responded to his message by being
baptized, so Paul’s message had to include
the topic of baptism! --And being baptized is equated with belief.
Notice also, that Lydia’s
response to the preaching of the kingdom of God was identical to the Ethiopian
eunuch in Acts 8:26-40 and the Samaritans in Acts 8:5,12. They all responded by being baptized. If baptism is when our sins are
forgiven and we become saved, baptism absolutely has to be part of the
message of the kingdom of God! And this is why baptism always has been part
of the message of the good news!
This page last updated: June
16, 2002