<< Mark 16:16 >>

Mark 16:16
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
KJV

Mark 16:16-17
He who believes and is immersed shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned.
(from "The Everlasting Gospel", Copyright © 2000 by Freed-Hardeman University. All rights reserved.)

 

Comments:

He that believes and is baptized.  The word "and" is a conjunction that ties these two requirements for salvation together. 

Many in the religious world today believe and teach salvation by faith only.  Baptism is considered a work of merit and not necessary because the Bible teaches us that salvation is a gift from God, (Eph 2:8 ***).  The notion that we can obtain salvation with no effort on our part is foreign to the teachings of Jesus. 

John 6:27
Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
KJV

Baptism is commanded.  It is not a friendly suggestion, it is not to show others that we are saved.  Baptism is a picture of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  When we submit to it, we have been buried with Him, and we arise a regenerated Christian, in Christ. 

Gal 3:27
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
KJV

Rom 6:4-6
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
KJV

The fact that the latter half of this verse does not say "but he that believeth not and is not baptized shall be condemned", does not exclude baptism from the requirements for salvation.  If someone does not believe, they certainly are not going to submit to baptism.

He who gets on a bike and pedals shall ride, but he who gets not on a bike shall walk.  You can't pedal a bike if you aren't on it.  Likewise, you can't be baptized into Christ, (Gal 3:27),  for the remission of sin, (Acts 2:38), in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, (Matthew 28:19), if you don't first believe.

It must also be stressed that while this verse does say that those who believe and are baptized will be saved, it does not say that mental belief and baptism are all that is necessary for salvation.  There are other conditions that must be met in order to receive the free gift of eternal life. 

Heb 10:36
For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
KJV
 

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