I was reading the story of Noah recently, and picked up on something that hadn’t stuck with me before. In the story of Noah, God has become weary of the sin and corruption of the world. He makes a plan to start over by using a massive flood as a sort of worldwide reset button. The flood kills off all of mankind, except for Noah and his family. Noah is warned ahead of time by God, and told to build an ark to save his family. We won’t worry about the animal bit right now as it isn’t important to where I am going.
The story of Noah got me thinking about something that I will refer to as secondary salvation. Salvation is a very big deal for Christians. It is a central point to the Christian faith. A quick bit of googling brings us this definition: “deliverance from sin and its consequences, believed by Christians to be brought about by faith in Christ.” The story of Noah and the flood is often used as an illustration to help understand Christ’s work of salvation. Noah put his faith in God, and was saved from the consequences of the world’s corruption by following what God said. Water is often used as a sign for cleansing, or washing away the old corruption. In this case, the water is the flood. Noah is saved because he trusts in the promises of God, but Noah isn’t the only one saved. Noah had a wife, three sons, and three daughters in law. All of them were saved.
I use the term secondary because the bible makes no mention of Noah’s family trusting in the same promises. Genesis 6:18 tells us this: “But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.”
The next important mention of the family is from Genesis 7:13 “On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark.”
We are left with two options here. Either God came to the whole family and told them the plan, or Noah’s family trusted him enough to follow him down the path that God laid out. This is where I use the term secondary. They were saved not by faith in God, but by faith in God’s representative. This isn’t the only instance in the bible of a similar situation.
Several chapters later we get the story of Lot and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. God warns Lot that the city will be destroyed. The angels who have come give Lot some pretty specific instructions. ‘The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”’ Genesis 19: 12 & 13
In this case, we start to get more of a picture. Noah saved his family. His sons would be part of his household, and their wives would have married into his household, putting them under his authority. The situation is slightly reversed for Lot. Lot had daughters. He is told that he can save his sons-in-law, even though they would normally be considered part of their fathers’ households. The sons-in-law would have to make the choice to accept Lot’s authority however, a choice that they refuse to make. In the end, only Lot and his daughters survive. His daughters decide to follow their father’s authority instead of staying with their husbands.
A slightly different case is mentioned in the book of Job. Job is portrayed as a righteous man who follows God in all his ways. Job is also mentioned as having several sons and daughters.
“His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.” Job 1:4 & 5
We see that Job is taking at least partial responsibility upon himself for the relationship his children have with God. In the old testament sacrificial system, there is a specific ceremony where the high priest makes a sacrifice for all of Israel. The people of Israel are not expected to make individual sacrifices, they are simply expected to accept the atonement from the single sacrifice made by the priest.
There is a practice in the old testament known as a kinsman redeemer. It is most famously portrayed in the book of Ruth. A kinsman redeemer was a male relative, usually the closest related one, who would redeem their family members. This form of redemption was often monetary. In the story of Ruth we see that Ruth’s mother in law has lost her husband and sons. In the culture at the time this left her with practically nothing. A woman’s standing was dependent upon her husband, or her sons.
Ruth eventually ends up marrying a relative of her mother-in-law, a man named Boaz who becomes her kinsman redeemer by restoring the wealth and honor of the family. The important part is that the redeemer had to be family. They had to be someone with the authority and the right to redeem their kinsman.
This of course leads to Jesus, the ultimate kinsman redeemer. Everyone who accepts Christ’s sacrifice claims kinship with Jesus, claims a place as a son or daughter of God.
The new testament has similar teachings. “To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.” 1 Corinthians 7:12-14
The book of Acts brings us an exchange between Paul and a jailer.
“At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.” Acts 16:33
In the book of Matthew Jesus has an encounter with a Roman centurion.
“ When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”
Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”
The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.” Matthew 8:5-13
The servant is not healed because of his own faith, but because of the faith of one who has authority over him.
This is all just my own musings, but it seems to me that some of this authority still rests with people. In certain circumstances we are capable, and expected, to act as the redeemers for our family. This also extends to those who are members of our households, the position of servants and extended relatives in biblical times. The ultimate decision to follow Christ cannot be forced upon anyone, but a family member willing to follow the authority of a Christ following relative might gain some measure of redemption before they make the choice themselves.
Working through these passages makes me wonder about the relationship of children to God. The bible says that all have sinned. Even children too young to walk already bear the stain of sin passed down from Adam. I cannot say for certain that the faith of their parents will keep them safe. Only God knows when a person is truly capable of making the decision of faith, but it seems to me that a family shares in some small amount with the head of the family. If the head is pointed the right direction, the body will follow.
About the Author:
Stephen Mayo lives in Montana with his wife, daughter, corgi, and three cats.
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