"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Mark 16:16
Baptists and many evangelicals do not like this verse...at least not the simple, literal interpretation of it. Baptists interpret this verse of Scripture thus:
"He that believeth and goes to church, or tithes, or teaches Sunday school, etc., etc. shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."
Baptists believe that the author of this verse (St. Mark) wasn't including baptism in the means of salvation, he was just including it as one of many possible actions that a true believer, someone who is already saved, would do.
Huh? Come on!
Let's look at the same sentence structure as this verse but using different verbs.
"He that buys a ticket and shows up at 9 AM will win, but he that fails to buy a ticket will lose."
In order to "win" you have to do two things: buy a ticket and show up at 9 AM.
In order to lose: fail to buy a ticket.
"Not true!" the Baptist would say. "Since the manner of losing is by failing to buy a ticket, then that means that in order to win, all you have to do is buy a ticket."
No, my Baptist friend. Any fifth grader will tell you that is not correct!
If you buy a ticket but fail to show up at 9 AM...YOU LOSE! But if you fail to complete the first step and don't buy a ticket, showing up at 9 AM, is a waste of your time, and not even worth mentioning.
That is just plain, simple English. Don't twist the Word of God to fit your doctrine!
"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" is just as literally true as "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved". Believe both literally! Don't let Calvinist reason and logic trick you into believing that you have to correct God's choice of words. Just because it doesn't seem to make sense doesn't mean you shouldn't believe it!
Slideshow
What, of anything Christ said, made sense to human reason?
ReplyDeleteNone of it. Those who have excluded themselves from the catholic (small "c") understanding of the Gospel will always try to frame Christ's words in terms of their own understanding.
Jesus addressed such nonsense in His late-night meeting with Nicodemus.
There are those, even among the literalists who claim to accept the Majority Text, who likewise reject the ending of Mark's Gospel, and likewise, any view of the necessity of The Divine Sacrament of Holy Baptism.
Which is precisely why (and for whose sake) the Holy Spirit caused St. Paul to pen the words of Titus 3:5. Notice WHO is acting!!!
Reject Baptism as one of the media salutis on the basis of Mark 16? Make Titus 3:5 go away as well.
You simply cannot.