Five Views of Mark 16:16
“He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16)
When confronted with the plain language of Mark 16:16, many in the religious world deny that the passage means what it says. “That’s just your interpretation,” they protest. After all, John 3:16 says nothing about the need to be baptized, and some, misunderstanding the nature of true faith (see James 2:14-26 and Hebrews 11), argue that salvation cannot be by faith and be dependent upon an act of obedience such as baptism.
But if Mark 16:16 does not mean what it clearly seems to say, what does this passage teach? The language of the text is simple enough, but there are five very different positions that men take with regard to these words of our Lord. Decide for yourself which fairly represents what Jesus actually said.
He who does not believe and is not baptized will not be saved. This is the position of the Atheist or any man who denies man’s need or ability to be saved eternally.
He who does not believe and is not baptized will be saved. This is the position of the Universalist who believes that God will pardon all men regardless of their faith or baptism.
He who does not believe and is baptized will be saved. This is the position of the Catholic and those of similar conviction who baptize infants that lack personal faith.
He who believes and is not baptized will be saved. This is the position of the Protestant who believes that to be saved a penitent believer must simply pray and accept Jesus as his Savior.
He who believes and is baptized will be saved. This is what Jesus actually said. Is that really so hard to understand? –JME
Editorial: You Have a Soul!
A disastrous by-product of the theory of evolution is seen in the diminishing of the concept of man as a spiritual being. Not that it is unreasonable! Indeed, it is the inevitable consequence of the idea of man as a product of natural forces. Once God is taken out of the picture, and man is seen as nothing more than an evolving organism which had its beginning in primitive mud and elevated itself through an unending series of natural changes, there is little reason for either accepting or dealing with the God-given “spirit” within us. In fact, with many, the attraction of the evolutionary model is precisely that it gives one grounds for denying the immortality of man! Even among many who still have some sense of God in our lives, the entire question of man’s immortal soul is filled with doubt and uncertainty. Jehovah’s witnesses (and others as well) have as one of the basic tenets of their doctrine the claim that there is nothing about man that is immortal.
The trouble is, “saying it doesn’t make it so”! The fact remains that the Bible is proven to be the word of God–it IS so! And the Bible is clear – man consists of soul (“spirit”) AND body. In Matt 10:28, Jesus says, “fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy BOTH body and soul in hell..” 2 Cor 5:6-8 shows that there is a part of man that can leave this bodily frame and be at home with the Lord. As long as it is in the body, it is absent from the Lord. It is the part of man that continues after this “tabernacle” (earthly body) is dissolved. 2 Cor 5:1. Eccl 12:7 says that the body returns to dust, but the spirit returns to God who gave it. Man is made “in the image of God” (Gen 1:27). God is IMMORTAL, and He is the “father of our spirits” (Heb 12:9). Like begets like. The Father’s nature is IMMORTAL. So the offspring partakes of an immortal nature.
And, what does this mean? It means that the grave is not the end, there is life beyond–when our souls return to God for final disposition. The immortality of the souls means that we will never cease to exist, but will forever be “somewhere”. “Where” depends upon us! The most important thing we can do is to make sure it is eternally preserved. “What is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Matt 16:26. If we have NOTHING of this world, and save our souls, we have EVERYTHING. If we lose our soul for eternity, and have EVERYTHING in this world, we have NOTHING! Wake up–it is not too late! Save your immortal soul in obeying the word of God. Nothing else really matters! –The Editors
Rest for Your Soul…
Matt 11:28-30: – “Come unto me, all ye that are burdened and heavy laden, and I will give you rest; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
In these verses, Jesus offers a most appealing invitation–it includes us all, since all men are “burdened and heavy laden”. Some may not know it, but nonetheless are burdened down with the weight of sin and guilt, and a sense of hopelessness as to the future of life. The offer that Christ makes is to provide rest FOR THE SOUL! Tired souls are much more difficult than tired bodies. It cannot but be that as life unfolds, and we confront it without the help of God, that we become weary in our minds, and eventually give up. Daily life is a burden. In religion, the ways of men become burdens. Everything out of the ordinary becomes a burden. The writer of Ecclesiastes pictures this when, as he explores the various avenues of human endeavor (wisdom, pleasure, power, popularity), he comes to understand that “all is vanity”–that it has no lasting value. The yoke we are under grows increasingly burdensome. Christ comes to give hope, and life. To take on His nature is to be relieved of life’s greatest burdens.
This is not to say that obeying Christ will automatically remove all burdens – it offers His help in making them “light”. It is well to remember that it is not a choice between the “yoke of Christ”, and NO yoke, but between His and all of the other things which make life burdensome. Even while we become active in serving Him, we have inner peace and rest (Paul tells us that Christ’s peace shall “rule our hearts”–Phil 4:6).We become equipped to endure and overcome the most severe trials of life, and the outcome is great. As Rev 14:13 says, “blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, for they shall REST from their labors, and their works do follow them.” –AcBelue
Death considered merely as a separation of soul and body is not to be desired, but rather dreaded; but, considered as a passage to glory, the believer is willing rather to die than live, to be absent from the body, that he may be present with the Lord (2Co 5:1), to leave this body that he may go to Christ, and to put off these rags of mortality that he may put on the robes of glory. –Matthew Henry
One Final Thought:
ODE TO TV
(With apologies to David)
The TV set is my shepherd
My spiritual growth shall want
It keepeth me from doing my duty because it presenteth so many good shows I cannot miss
It restoreth my knowledge of the world
It leadeth me from the paths of worship and service for the sake of entertainment
Yea, though I live to be a hundred I shall keep on viewing my TV set as long as it shall work, for my set is my closest companion
Its sound and its picture, they comfort me
It preparest diversion for me in the face of my responsibilities
It filleth my head with fantasy and my imagination runneth over
Surely no good will I do in the kingdom all the days of my life
And I will dwell with my one-eyed idiot box forever.
Amen.
--Bob Turnbull
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