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Who is Saved in Abiding in the Ship? Not Who You Think...

Paul doesn’t say except we abide in the ship, we can’t be
saved. He says except THESE abide in the ship, YE
cannot be saved. He’s talking to the Centurion and the

soldiers. He knows that if the sailors depart (and it’s
clear from the verse before they are trying to sneak off
the ship) the Centurion is likely to lose charge of his
command and perhaps some of his prisoners as these
boats being lowered begin to fill up with deserters. And

Paul realized the sailors, wanting off this now barely
floating disaster, would be needed to get the crippled
vessel ashore.

The Final Push to Land and Safety

Act 27:40 And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto
the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoisted up the mainsail to the wind, and
made toward shore.

I’m a stickler for words in scripture so I want to look at this carefully. Having eaten
their last meal at sea and discarded the wheat overboard, it sounds as if the goal is to
make the ship as light as possible. A lighter ship has a better chance of skipping the

rocks and being carried to shore where it will break apart on a sandbar. I don’t think
they are pulling these heavy anchors back onto the ship, because they had previously
dumped as much weight as they could, but are taking in the slack so they could cut
them loose. This ship is beyond saving. You’ll recall in verse 17 they had to lash or
undergird the ship – tying ropes and nets around the hull to hold it together. This is no

longer a seaworthy vessel.