An Outward Sign?

 

Things NOT found in the Bible, part 5

 

Introduction

There are many things in the bible which are straight-forward and clear in regards to what must be done. I’m sure you know that Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” This states that belief in him in not enough. There is something you must do to show your love.

Even those people who say, “All you have to do to be save is believe” will also agree that you have to repent of your sins. If that is true (and it is) then there is more to salvation that believing.

I’m sure you’ve heard someone say, “Baptism is an outward sign of an inward grace.” Meaning, you don’t have to be baptized to be saved, but can do it later on to show you have been saved. Although they’ll agree that repentance is necessary, as stated above, they don’t want to comply with the notion of baptism. Confused? In this article, I hope to clear up that matter.

 

Mark 16:16

In Mark 16:16 Jesus said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” A very straight-forward statement about the necessity of baptism. However, there is a group of people who believe baptism is not essential but rather an action of what was already accomplished.

They see this verse as a loophole in regards to baptism as it is not mentioned in the second half. They want the second half to say, “He who does not believe and is not baptized will be condemned.” Even for the non-bible student, you can draw the conclusion that Mark 16:16, as written, is easy to understand.

How often would someone come up to you, after you discuss the bible with them, and say, “I don’t believe anything you’re saying about Jesus but I would like to be baptized anyways.” The answer; No one! It is absurd to think that someone would become baptized even if they don’t believe. That would simply make them a wet sinner.

A Different Analogy

Let’s look at the same sentence structure but use a different analogy. This way it should make more sense to you; if you’re not there already.

He who eats and digests will live; but he who does not eat will die.

Here we have another straight-forward sentence; one that even those who oppose baptism would understand. Like Mark 16:16, the word “digest” is only referenced in the first half of the sentence like baptized. You can see from this sentence that if you don’t eat, there’s nothing to digest. So, in Mark 16:16, if you don’t believe, you won’t get baptized.

 

What about Acts 22:16?

When the apostle Paul gave his defense, of who he was in Acts 22, he talked about his conversion in Damascus. He recounted having seen Jesus on the way there and that he was preached to by a man named Ananias.

In verse 16 he relates what Ananias said to him, ‘And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’ Here we see the word baptism again but also the phrase, “wash away your sins”. Even the non-bible student can conclude that the purpose of baptism is to wash away your sins.

From this, we can conclude that your sins are not cleansed until you are baptized. Those who see it as an outward sign, are encouraging people to stay in their sins; until they are ready to be cleansed.

 

Conclusion

Anyone who understands basic sentence structure knows that the word ‘and’ is a conjunction joining two words together. Just like Peanut butter and Jelly; you need both to make a sandwich.

You don’t add the jelly later on after you have eaten the sandwich; that would make it simply a peanut butter sandwich. Both are needed to make the sandwich and both “believe and baptize” are needed for salvation.