GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
MARK 16:16
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16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
John 3:16 is sometimes called “the gospel in a nutshell.” Surely that is true, and just as surely this verse is “all of theology in a nutshell,” for here are both law and gospel, the actions and their consequences, in a single verse.
Here is the way to heaven, the way of salvation, in a simple statement and counter-statement. To be saved, one does two things, believe and be baptized. One is active, the other is passive. Believing is the active thing that we do, but it amounts to trusting in God for every good thing. For faith is nothing less than trusting in the promises God has made, that the forgiveness of our sins was won for us by the blood of Christ on the cross. This is what Jesus meant when he said: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). When we take him at his word, we apprehend and receive all his promises.
Someone might object: What about little children who cannot yet understand, or what about the elderly, who are becoming senile or forgetful, and don’t behave as if they remember? To this our Lord adds the passive action: Be baptized. For baptism covers over sins and washes them away; through baptism we are also saved, as the Apostle Peter assures us: “Baptism saves you also– not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21). For the sacraments are a means of God’s grace just as the gospel is, but the sacraments are given with an earthly element to show God’s grace in another way, a physical way. Surely if God had said, “Baptize in mercury,” Christians would do everything we can to get our hands on the precious liquid metal mercury. Or if Christ had said, “Baptize in apple juice,” there would be local apple juice dealers in every village and city, to be sure we always had a supply of apple juice on hand for every church and extras for every emergency. Children would be taught about the glories of apple juice. But instead, God sent John to baptize with water (John 1:33), and when Jesus gave baptism to the whole church, he commanded the same thing, giving us the authority to baptize in the name of the triune God as well (Matthew 28:19). For baptism is simply water applied to a person, connected with God’s word for the forgiveness of our sins. Baptism, like the gospel, creates faith in human hearts, carrying the promises and grace of God through the channel of the sacrament like the tube that the doctor inserts into a patient’s arm to carry the medicine where it needs to flow. Faith comes through the gospel, whether the gospel is preached or poured out in baptism.
The first half of this verse then, can be summarized according to our faith in Christ: Only faith saves. There is no other means by which mankind can be forgiven or rescued from sin apart from the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In the second part, the counter-statement, we have the logical reverse of this: “Whoever does not believe will be condemned.” That is to say: Only unbelief damns. Just as faith saves, unbelief condemns. Whether that unbelief comes from complete ignorance about Christ, or someone who has rejected Christ, or been misinformed about Christ, or who has developed their own misapplication (heresy) about Christ, the result is the same: Unbelief. And unbelief is the barrier that keeps the sinner from heaven. There is no intermediate stage between unbelief and faith, as Jesus says: “Anyone who is not with me is against me. Anyone who does not gather with me scatters” (Luke 11:23). A person who struggles with sorrow over sin for days or weeks, is sorrowful, but this sorrow is not faith; it does not grasp the blessings of Christ. Conversion takes place the very moment that the first glimmer of the spark of hope in the Savior is ignited by the Holy Spirit.
There is no reference to baptism, or rather, to being unbaptized, in the second part of the verse. For some, baptism is impossible at the time of their conversion, such as for the thief on the cross. Yet Jesus said: “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). But new converts should be guided toward baptism with urgency: Baptism offers comfort and the physical sign of the forgiveness of sins to comfort the trembling sinful flesh. “Do I reek of my sins before God? No. I have been washed in Christ.” For those who reject baptism, there is the danger of turning away from the gospel and from the forgiveness of sins. Do not withhold baptism from your children, just as you are commanded not to withhold anything good from those who deserve it (Proverbs 3:27).
Just as there is no middle ground between faith and unbelief, so also there is no middle ground between heaven and hell. The soul that has no faith is a soul condemned forever. “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). The soul that trusts in Christ, even though hounded by terrible past sins, is a soul that is given eternal life, for faith saves, and nothing can drag or snatch that Christian out of the Father’s hands (John 10:29). The terrible doctrine of Purgatory is nothing but a barrier to the gospel of forgiveness and faith. No one should ever doubt that: there is no Purgatory, nor any other limbo between heaven and hell. The Christian who is in agony over his sins only needs to ask: “Do I believe in Jesus my Savior? Was I baptized once for forgiveness in his name?” If so, then turn to these words of Christ for comfort: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.”
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Mark 16:16 Only unbelief damns