
Mark 16:15-16 reads, “ (15) And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. (16) He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.’ “
These words of our Lord Jesus Christ were recorded by Divine inspiration to teach that beIief and baptism were essential parts of the gospel (i.e. the “good news”) and that there were only two destinies for all of mankind: salvation or condemnation, depending on which of TWO paths was taken (either belief AND baptism leading to salvation OR non-belief leading to condemnation). Just reading these two verses, could it be clearer that baptism is necessary to be added to mere belief (in Jesus Christ as God’s only-begotten Son) to bring about an individual’s salvation? Or that, finally, there are only TWO groups of persons: those who have believed AND have been baptized, who will be saved AND those who have not believed, who will be condemned?
Strange as it may seem, there are Bible-believers who actually suggest that a THIRD group of people is necessarily implied by Jesus’ words in Mark 16:16,- those who believe BUT are not baptized. These people are wrongly said to be saved purely on the basis of their faith or belief. Such a conclusion would be a human addition to sacred scripture; the addition of a third category of individuals to the two our Lord clearly laid out in Mark 16:16. The act violates Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32 and incurs the punishment of Revelation 22:18-19.
We are asked why Mark 16:16 is silent about the end of people who believe in the Lord but are not baptized. We answer that a correct inference would be that people who do not believe in the Lord Jesus would not even consider obeying Him in being baptized to become His disciples (Matthew 27:19-20) and thus may summarily be described as non-believers whose end is condemnation according to Mark 16:16. It would simply be redundant to mention a third group of people, i.e. “those who believe but are not baptized” as they are logically subsumed under the group of non-believers, suffering the same end of condemnation.
The inadequacy of “faith alone” (or, which is the same, “belief alone”) is clearly explained in James 2:14-26. Note especially James 2:19-20, “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the devils believe - and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?” The inspired scriptures conclude at James 2:26 that “faith only” (i.e. “faith alone”) does NOT justify. At the very least Mark 16:16 stipulates that belief must be accompanied by baptism to save a soul.
If it is suggested that the devils in James 2:19 tremble because they had inadequate belief (i.e. they only had belief in “one God” and not in His only-begotten Son), we reply that that could be one reason they were not obedient to Jesus Christ who now has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). It does NOT negate the fact that even adequate belief alone is insufficient for salvation but must have added on to it the “OBEDIENCE TO THE FAITH” (Romans 1:5; 16:26), also called the “OBEDIENCE LEADING TO RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Romans 6:16) which includes being, “buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Roman 6:4)
Even the right belief about Jesus, if unaccompanied by works of obedience to Him, would be inadequate for salvation. As it says in John 12:42-43, “Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” Sadly for them, confessing Jesus is also,- like baptism (Mark 16:16),- a condition for salvation (Romans 10:9-10 “(I)f you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”). Belief alone is never adequate for salvation.
Mark 16:16 is to be preached as part of the gospel (Mark 16:15) as it contains two necessary and essential requirements to “obey” the gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:8; 1 Peter 4:17) for salvation, namely, belief in Jesus and baptism in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:18-20). It is not for man to add a third category of people, those who believe but are not baptized, and presumptiously consider them saved.
Matthew 28:18-20 18And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.