The Strand Study Bible

MARK 16:14

MARK 16:20

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17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they 3 cast out devils; 4 they shall speak with new tongues; P 18 5 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; 6 they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. The ascension of CHRIST (S/A - Lk 24:50-53 & Acts 1:9-12) Date - Fri, May, AD 32 19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, 7 he was received up into heaven, and 8 sat on the right hand of God. PF 20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

CHRIST appears to His disciples (S/A - Lk 24:36-43 & Jn 20:19-25)

1. that is, “witness for Christ” - Dan 12:3 2. that is, “baptized into the body of Christ via the Holy Spirit” - I Cor 12:13 3. Acts 5:12-16 & 8:5-7 & 16:16-18 & 19:11-12 4. Fulfilled - Acts 2:4 (Tongues) 5. Acts 28:3-5 & Lk 10:17-20 6. Acts 3:6-8 & 5:12- 16 & 8:5-7 & 9:32- 34,40 & 14:3-10 & 19:11-12 & 28:7-9 7. See - Psa 68:18 & Jn 6:62 8. Psa 110:1

14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen CHRIST commands us to be witnesses (S/A - Mt 28:16-20) 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and 1 preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is 2 baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. The promise to speak in foreign languages when witnessing (Fulfilled - Acts 2:4 - AD 32)

16:16 Sadly, there are some religious movements that have tried to use this Scripture to prove that "baptism" is essential to salvation and thus part of the saving Gospel. It is not. There are over 31,100 verses found in the Bible. Of those 31,100 plus verses, only 7 appear to indicate that baptism is a necessary part of salvation, and all 7 are in the NT ( Mk 16:16 , Acts 2:38b , I Pet 3:20- 21 , Mk 1:4 a,b , Acts 22:16 a , Jn 3:5 and Titus 3:5 b,c ). Which means, less than 0.0002245% of the entire Bible even appears to teach that baptism is a part of salvation. Whereas there are numerous scriptures and passages within the Bible that make it crystal clear that salvation is based entirely on “grace” via the Gospel of CHRIST ( Jn 1:16 & 3:14,16-17,36 & 5:24 & 6:40,47, Acts 13:43 & 16:31 & 18:27 & 20:24, Rom 1:16 & 3:24 & 4:1-6 & 5:15-20 & 10:9-13 & 11:6, Gal 3:6-8, Eph 1:13 & 2:8-9, I Cor 15:1,2a,b,4 , II Tim 1:9 and I Pet 1:10 ), there are only 7 verses that certain religions use to say that baptism is a necessary part of salvation. A simple examination of these 7 verses, however, will prove that "baptism" has absolutely nothing to do with the Gospel that saves: 1. Mark 16:16 It should be noted that in the second half of this verse the only basis for condemnation is a refusal to believe (Jn 3:18). Therefore the only basis for salvation is belief, not baptism plus belief. Is it not reasonable that if baptism was essential to salvation that it would have been made plain that damnation is conditioned upon both unbelief and disobedience to the ordinance of baptism? Proponents of “baptismal regeneration” fail to quote the entire verse. Mark 16:16 does not show baptism is essential to salvation–it does not read: “ but he that believeth not and is not baptized shall be damned .” The very fact that it says: “ but he that believeth not shall be damned ” shows that “ believeth ” is the condition of salvation, not baptism. If “baptismal regeneration” is necessary for salvation, then D.L. Moody, who was never immersed, yet brought multitudes to Christ, is in Hell. In fact, there are multitudes of Lutherans, Methodists and Presbyterians who, according to the “baptismal regeneration” crowd, will be in Hell because they were never immersed in a “baptismal regeneration” church by a “baptismal regeneration” preacher. The best way to illustrate Mark 16:16 is as follows. Take for example a man that desires to travel to Chicago by train. If he gets on the train, yet fails to take a seat, will he still get to Chicago? The answer, of course, is yes. The taking of a seat involves his comfort, but does not involve his getting to Chicago. He that gets on the train ( believeth ) and sits down ( is baptized ) gets to Chicago ( shall be saved ), but he that does not get on the train ( believeth not ) does not get to Chicago ( shall be damned ). Belief in the Gospel of Christ (Rom 1:16, Eph 1:13 and I Cor 15:1-4), not baptism, is the matter that settles salvation. The Gospel is not Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection plus good works, or plus church membership, or plus baptism. Paul said in I Corinthians 1:17, “ For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel :” It’s not Jesus plus - its Jesus only. 2. Acts 2:38 The Greek word translated “ for ” is the indefinite preposition “ eis .” It means “ pointing to ,” not “in order that.” The people in Acts 2:38 were baptized “ pointing to ” the fact that they had already been saved, not “in order that” they might be saved (have remission of sins). Take for example a man that is in jail “ for ” murder. Is the man in jail “in order that” he might murder or is he in jail “pointing to” the fact that he had already murdered? The question answers itself! While we should preach that all men are commanded to repent and be baptized, adding any other requirement to salvation by grace becomes “works” in disguise. 3. I Peter 3:20-21 Interestingly enough, Noah and his family were not saved by getting into the water but by staying out of the water. The ark (a picture of CHRIST ) is what saved Noah and his family, not the water. 4. Mark 1:4 According to Acts 19:3-4, the “baptism of repentance” is the proclaiming of the Gospel, not the performance of a rite (Acts 10:37 & 13:23-24).