Mark 16:16:
Read the Whole Verse (Part 8 of 12)

Part 8 of 12 · Salvation in Jesus Christ: The New Testament Witness to Grace, Faith, and the Blood

Someone will point to Mark 16:16 and say, “Jesus put baptism right there beside believing.” He did. Now read the whole verse.

“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” (Mark 16:16, KJV)

Jesus did not say, “he that is not baptized shall be damned.” He said, “he that believeth not shall be damned.”

That matches the teaching of John 3:18: “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already.”

In the New Testament, believing and being baptized normally happened close together. People who received the gospel were expected to confess Jesus Christ openly and be baptized. When the Samaritans “believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women” (Acts 8:12).

So it is no surprise to see believing and baptism side by side in Mark 16:16. But when Jesus names the reason a person is damned, He names one thing: unbelief.

The rest of His teaching agrees. Jesus said, “He that believeth on me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47). He also said that “every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life” (John 6:40).

So read Mark 16:16 all the way through. Believers should be baptized, because Jesus Christ commanded it. But the reason for condemnation that Jesus gives is unbelief, and the saving power remains in Jesus Christ.

Search these Scriptures for yourself: John 3:18; John 5:24; John 8:24; Acts 2:41; Acts 8:12; Acts 18:8; John 6:40, 47; John 11:25–26.

Next in this series: Part 9, John 3:5 and Titus 3:5: Born of the Spirit.

Go Deeper

• Water Baptism Is an Act of Obedience, Not the Cause of Salvation
• Christ’s Blood, Not Baptismal Water, Washes Away Sin

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“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

2 Corinthians 5:18-21 (KJV)