Baptism:

1. Baptism: Unwatered-down Lesson 3: A Study of Mark 16:15-16

2. Baptism: Unwatered-downWhat are we talking about? • By Definition—Immersion in Water • An Important Bible Subject • The “One Baptism” (Eph. 4:5) • A Serious Study! • Water baptism of the Great Commission is tied in some way to salvation. That’s undeniable! • WHAT IS IT’S PURPOSE? • What does it have to do (if anything) with my salvation?

3. Notice the place of baptism in Mt. 28 • It is singled out/given a unique place. • It is used as a present participle. • It is essential in becoming a Christian. • It is humanly administered. • It is “into the name of F, S, HS.” Baptism is essential to becoming a Christian & being in a new relationship with God!

4. “Bapt-” words in N.T. = 114 times in 91 verses Mt. 3:1 Mt. 28:19 Lk. 3:12 Jn. 1:33 Ac. 8:38 Ro. 6:3 Mt. 3:6 Mk. 1:4 Lk. 3:16 Jn. 3:22 Ac. 9:18 Ro. 6:4 Mt. 3:7 Mk. 1:5 Lk. 3:21 Jn. 3:23 Ac. 10:37 1Co. 1:13 Mt. 3:11 Mk. 1:8 Lk. 7:20 Jn. 3:26 Ac. 10:47 1Co. 1:14 Mt. 3:13 Mk. 1:9 Lk. 7:28 Jn. 4:1 Ac. 10:48 1Co. 1:15 Mt. 3:14 Mk. 6:14 Lk. 7:29 Jn. 4:2 Ac. 11:16 1Co. 1:16 Mt. 3:16 Mk. 6:24 Lk. 7:30 Jn. 10:40 Ac. 13:24 1Co. 1:17 Mt. 11:11 Mk. 6:25 Lk. 7:33 Ac. 1:5 Ac. 16:15 1Co. 10:2 Mt. 11:12 Mk. 8:28 Lk. 9:19 Ac. 1:22 Ac. 16:33 1Co. 12:13 Mt. 14:2 Mk. 10:38 Lk. 12:50 Ac. 2:38 Ac. 18:8 1Co. 15:29 Mt. 14:8 Mk. 10:39 Lk. 20:4 Ac. 2:41 Ac. 18:25 Gal. 3:27 Mt. 16:14 Mk. 11:30 Jn. 1:25 Ac. 8:12 Ac. 19:3 Eph. 4:5 Mt. 17:13 Mk. 16:16 Jn. 1:26 Ac. 8:13 Ac. 19:4 Col. 2:12 Mt. 20:22 Lk. 3:3 Jn. 1:28 Ac. 8:16 Ac. 19:5 Heb. 6:2 Mt. 20:23 Lk. 3:7 Jn. 1:31 Ac. 8:36 Ac. 22:16 1Pet. 3:21 Mt. 21:25

5. Baptism: Unwatered-down Let’s Study What the Bible Says! Ro. 6:3 Ro. 6:4 Ac. 8:38 1Co. 1:13 Ac. 9:18 Ac. 10:47 1Co. 1:14 Ac. 10:48 1Co. 1:15 Ac. 11:16 1Co. 1:16 1Co. 1:17 Ac. 16:15 Ac. 16:33 1Co. 12:13 Ac. 2:38 Ac. 18:8 Ac. 2:41 Gal. 3:27 Mt. 28:19 Ac. 8:12 Eph. 4:5 Mk. 16:16 Ac. 8:13 Col. 2:12 Ac. 8:16 Ac. 19:5 Ac. 8:36 Ac. 22:16 1Pet. 3:21

6. Baptism: Unwatered-downMark 16:15-16 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.”

7. 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… Universal nature of the Great Commission—gospel needed by all for all need to be saved The gospel, the message of the D,B,R of Jesus, is “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom. 1:16) Saved = deliverance from the guilt & eternal consequences of sin

8. 15 "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 "He who believes…will be saved… • We are saved by faith in the gospel. • Acts 16:31; Romans 5:1-2; John 3:16; 3:36; Romans 3:22-26; Ephesians 2:8 • But, we are NOT saved by faith alone! • Not a single N.T. verse teaches that • When does faith save? • James 2:14-26, example of Abraham & Rahab • Faith is dead/ineffective until it obeys • Else, saved b/f turning to God (Ac. 11:21), b/f a child of God (Jn. 1:12), b/f coming (Hb. 11:6). • Faith that saves is faith that obeys (Rom. 1:5).

9. Notice the place of baptism in Mk. 1616 “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” baptized • It is singled out/given a unique place. • Baptism is a natural response to the gospel. • Why would baptism be mentioned in the G.C. in the context of being saved if it has nothing to do with being saved from sins? • If, as is commonly asserted, baptism is no different than any other Christian “work” or Christian “obedience,” why is it singled out? • Why not “He who believes & partakes of L.S.” or “gives to the poor” or “is faithful to mate”?

10. Notice the place of baptism in Mk. 1616 “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” 2. Grammatically, it identifies who’s saved. The simple sentence He will be saved believes A limiting, restrictive, subordinating clause that modifies (and thus, identifies) the “he” who will be saved (not any “he” or every “he”) who AND is baptized

11. Notice the place of baptism in Mk. 1616 “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” and 3. The coordinating conjunction makes it essential. AND = a copulative, coordinating conjunction He will be saved believes who Joins two items of EQUAL grammatical or syntactic importance AND AND is baptized Baptism is just as essential as faith!

12. Notice the place of baptism in Mk. 1616 “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” MAIN VERB will be baptized MAIN VERB saved 4. It is an aorist participle (along w/ believe). • “The aorist…participles indicate action antecedent to action of the main verb…the time in aorist participles indicates action prior to the action of the main verb” (Ray Summers—Essentials of NT Greek, also Machen—NT Greek for Beginners). • The Greek never uses the aorist participle for subsequent action (Robertson & Davis—New Short Grammar of Greek NT).

13. Notice the place of baptism in Mk. 1616 “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” believes believes believes baptized baptized baptized saved saved saved 5. It is placed, in order, before salvation. • God placed faith before baptism • God placed faith before salvation • God placed baptism before salvation • Anyone who says otherwise, changes His order.

14. 16 “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” believes believes believes believes believes baptized baptized baptized baptized baptized saved saved saved saved saved Four views of Mark 16:16 today: • He who is saved will believe and be baptized. • He who is baptized is saved and will believe. • He who believes is saved and will be baptized. • He who believes and is baptized will be saved. Calvinist + Catholic + Protestant + JESUS! +

15. It is as simple as a verse can be! • He who sows and reaps shall have bread, but he who does not sow shall hunger. • If Noah said, “He who believes and enters the ark shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be destroyed.” • If Jesus said, “He who believes and is baptized shall receive $100,000, but he who does not believe shall receive nothing.” • If a warden said, “He who signs an oath to stop stealing and restores what he has stolen shall be pardoned, but he who does not sign an oath shall remain imprisoned.” • “He who turns on his TV and tunes in to channel 5 will see the program, but he who refuses to turn on his TV will miss the program.”

16. Answering Objections Someone says: “But Jesus did not say, ‘He who does not believe and is not baptized shall be condemned,’ so it must not be necessary.” • Written by A.T. Robertson in his Word Pictures in the New Testament: • “The omission of baptized with "disbelieveth" would seem to show that Jesus does not make baptism essential to salvation. Condemnation rests on disbelief, not on baptism. So salvation rests on belief. Baptism is merely the picture of the new life not the means of securing it. So serious a sacramental doctrine would need stronger support anyhow than this disputed portion of Mark.”

17. Answering Objections Someone says: “But Jesus did not say, ‘He who does not believe and is not baptized shall be condemned,’ so it must not be necessary.” • Why did Jesus not say, “and is not baptized”? • Faith is a fundamental chronological priority and is required for baptism. An unbeliever cannot be and has no reason to be baptized (Ac. 8:36; Col. 2:12). • Consider this parallel: “He who eats and digests shall live, but he who does not eat shall die.” • There’s no need or even reason to digest if you don’t eat. • Not necessary to say, “And does not digest shall die.” Not only would such be without meaning, it is also lacks logical reasoning.

18. Answering Objections Someone says: “But Jesus did not say, ‘He who does not believe and is not baptized shall be condemned,’ so it must not be necessary.” • Why did Jesus not say, “and is not baptized”? • The plain truth is that Jesus already answered this query in the first principal clause. • B + B = Saved (That’s what Jesus said!) • Man has no right to change the formula! • Change any variable & the formula breaks down—that’s what Jesus said. • B + B = Saved 1 + 1 = 2 • B – B ≠ Saved 1 – 1 ≠ 2 • B – B = Damned 1 – 1 = 0 • If either variable is missing, the result = 0!

19. Answering Objections Someone says: “But Jesus did not say, ‘He who does not believe and is not baptized shall be condemned,’ so it must not be necessary.” • Why did Jesus not say, “and is not baptized”? • “He who does not believe is condemned already” (John 3:18). • “He who does not believe God has made Him a liar” (1 John 5:10). • “He who does not believe…the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36). • It was entirely unnecessary to add further acts of rebellion in order to make the case. The unbeliever is condemned at that point & anything more said is superfluous (parallel—eat & digest).

20. Answering Objections Someone says: “Here’s a parallel: ‘He who gets on a train and sits down shall go to Dallas.’ The man doesn’t have to sit down on the train in order to get to Dallas, therefore, a man does not have to be baptized in order to be saved.” • There is a danger in trying to create man-made parallels to God’s truths. The above sentence is not parallel and not even a true sentence. The (1) grammatical structure, the (2) coordinating conjunction, the (3) aorist participles, and the (4) word order all demand both participles to take place before the main verb is completed!

21. Answering Objections Someone says: “Here’s a parallel: ‘He who gets on a train and sits down shall go to Dallas.’ The man doesn’t have to sit down on the train in order to get to Dallas, therefore, a man does not have to be baptized in order to be saved.” • The easiest way to answer this argument or any similar one that tries to pit a man-made parallel against God’s truth in Mark 16:16 is to point out: • Such a parallel violates their own doctrine and contradicts what they are trying to prove. • These individuals advocate that faith alone saves— once it’s in your heart, you’re saved! • Their parallel forces them to affirm that as soon as that man gets on the train, he’s in Dallas.

22. Answering Objections Someone says: “Two of the oldest Greek manuscripts do not even contain Mark 16:9-20, so it should not even be in the Bible to begin with. It cannot be proven that Jesus said this about baptism.” • It is true that the Sinaiticus and the Vaticanus (two of the oldest Gk mss from the 4th century) and some other mss omit the last twelve verses of Mark. And this carries some weight, but does not convey the whole picture. • Consider the evidence on the following slides:

23. Mark 16:9-20 – Authentic? • It is included in more than 500 other Gk mss (99% of Gk mss), including some other early and reliable ones. • It is included in ancient versions (translations into other languages) that date just after the 1st century, (at least 200 years earlier than mss in question). • It is quoted by Irenaus, an early “church father,” in the 2nd century. • Hard to explain the abrupt ending of verse 8. • These two reliable mss (Vat. & Sin.) also omit other passages. Vaticanus terminates at Hebrews 9:14. • Sinaiticus includes some portions of apocryphal books, like Tobit, Ecclesiasticus and other non-canonical bks. • The best and most conservative scholars through the ages have accepted the authenticity of Mark 16:9-20.

24. Mark 16:9-20 – Authentic? J.W. McGarvey sums it up: “Our final conclusion is, that the passage in question is authentic in all of its details, and there is no reason to doubt that it was written by the same hand which indicted the preceding parts of the narrative. The objections which have been raised against it are better calculated to shake our confidence in Biblical Criticism than in the genuineness of this inestimable portion of the word of God” (Commentary on Matthew & Mark).

25. Notice the place of baptism in Mk. 16 • It is singled out/given a unique place. • Grammatically, it identifies who’s saved. • The coordinating conjunction makes it essential. • It is an aorist participle. • It is placed, in order, before salvation. • It is as simple as a verse can be. Baptism is essential to being saved from sin!

26. Mt. 28:18-20 Be baptized Christian New rela. w/ God Sinner Mk. 16:15-16 Believe Be Baptized Saved from sins