Acts 16v15

And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.

This verse is in a passage where Paul and those with him were ministering in Philippi (v12). They were speaking with the women by the riverside on the Sabbath day (v13) and met Lydia there. Paul had deliberately not gone to the synagogue, where he might have ministered to the men of the local Jewish community, but had gone to the place where the women spent their Sabbath days. As Lydia listened to Paul, the Lord opened her heart (v14). Verse 14 tells us that she “attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul”. Clearly there was a change taking place in her mind and attitudes, to the point where certain things had to be done. While it is not specifically mentioned here, one can imagine the list would include repentance, possibly making things right with those she has sinned against, and mostly believing in Jesus as her Lord and Saviour with all her heart. One thing that was definitely on the list was baptism, as we see in this verse.

Notice that it was not only Lydia that was baptised, but also her whole household. Clearly they had been very glad to receive the word, and to change their lives to live by it. She still had some of the old Jewish ways of thinking however, as she thought that they would only stay if she was judged to be faithful to the Lord. Paul and his companions did in fact stay at her house for a time.