This past Sunday, John Niëmela spoke at Vista Ridge Bible Fellowship about the healing of the nobleman’s son in John 4:46-54. As I listened, it struck me that the nobleman’s whole family believed (John 4:53).  

I came to faith during the Jesus Movement. Some people in the movement were falsely claiming that if you came to faith, then God guaranteed that your entire family—parents and siblings—would all come to faith as well. There is no such promise in Scripture. 

However, there are four examples in the NT of entire households, including family plus servants, that came to faith: the household of the nobleman, the household of Cornelius in Acts 10:43-48, the household of the Philippian jailer (Acts 16:31-34), and the household of Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue (Acts 18:8). The word household is found in all these passages, using two related Greek words (oikia in John 4, oikos in Acts 10, Acts 16, and Acts 18).   

There are also suggestions that entire households were believers, though we aren’t told that they all came to faith at the same time (Rom 16:10, 11; 1 Cor 1:11, 16; 2 Tim 1:16). 

You know the saying, “The family that prays together stays together,” the implication being that believing couples who pray together don’t get divorced. That is not necessarily true. There is no guarantee that a couple who prays together will never get divorced.   

But what is certain is that the couple or household that believes together will stay together forever. That is, they will all be in Christ’s kingdom forever.   

It is a beautiful thing when an entire family is made up of believers. If you grew up in such a home, you were greatly blessed. But if you are the only believer from your family, I have three suggestions. First, pray for your parents and siblings to come to faith. Second, tell them about the promise of life as you have the opportunity. Third, when you marry, marry only a believer, and when you have kids, pray for them and evangelize them. Seek to have a believing household.  

Keep grace in focus, and you will have love for many households.