Mark 16:16 - He who believes and is baptized will be saved (general cases without making a qualification for the unusual case of someone who believes but is not baptized) but he who does not believe will be condemned.
He who takes his medication and washes it down with water will be made well but he who does not take his medication will remain sick. Of course, it's not the washing it down with water part that makes a person well. It's the medication, but if water is not available and the person takes the medication dry (been there, done that) they will still be made well "because of the medication." It's the same with baptism. It logically follows that we get water baptized after we believe and are saved, yet Jesus clarified the first clause of Mark 16:16 with, "but he who does not believe will be condemned." Nothing there about a lack of baptism causing condemnation.
According to your analogy, to be healed requires two things;
1) medication must be place in mouth
2) medication must be washed down
Just placing medication in the mouth ALONE cannot heal, that medication must be washed down where it can then go into the body to provide healing.
The correct order is first placed in moth then washed down, cannot wash down what has not been placed in the mouth yet
Just placing life saving medicine in mouth ALONE leads to death.
Christ requires two things to be saved,
1) belief
2) baptism
Just belief alone apart from baptism cannot save as just putting medicine in mouth apart from washing it down cannot heal.
And the order is belief first, then baptism.
Just belief alone leads to death
You ignore the logical progression Christ created in Mk 16:16.
Belief must take place
before baptism and baptism must take place
before salvation. Since this is a
logical progression of steps then we can logically deduce that an unbeliever has not been baptized since Christ made belief a prerequisite to being baptized. Hence, when Christ said "he that believeth not" we ALREADY LOGICALLY KNOW that he that unbeliever not has NOT BEEN baptized. Therefore it is not logically necessary for Christ to say 'he that believeth not and is baptized not due to his unbelief" since we already logically know the unbeliever has not been baptized. In your zeal to rewrite Mk 16:16 you are throwing simple logic out the window.
In the example I gave: He who climbs mountain "X" and plants a US flag on top of mountain "X" shall receive $10,000. So if I say John has not climbed mountain "X" then
we already logically know John also has not planted a US flag on top of mountain "X". Likewise we know if John has not believed,
then we logically already know John has not been baptized either....
believeth not = not baptized
Christ uses logic and you simply cannot throw that simple logic out the window.
Water-salvationists rewrite the verse to say he who is not baptized will be condemned.
The omission of baptized with "does not believe" shows that Jesus does not make baptism absolutely necessary for salvation.
Condemnation rests on unbelief and not on a lack of baptism.
NOWHERE does the Bible say, "baptized or condemned."
If water baptism is absolutely required for salvation, then we would expect Jesus to mention it in the following verses. (3:15,16,18; 5:24; 6:29,40,47; 11:25,26) Yet what is the 1 requirement that Jesus mentions 9 different times in each of these complete statements *BELIEVES. *What happened to baptism? *Hermeneutics.
John 3:18 - He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who (is not water baptized? - NO) does not believe is condemned already, because he has not (been water baptized? - NO) because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Ephesians 2:8 ------------faith >>>>>>>>>>>> saves
1 Peter 3:21 -----------baptism>>>>>>>>>>>>saves>>>>>>>>>>>>keep reading>>>>>>>>>>>>not the removal of dirt from the flesh (that is, not as an outward, physical act which washes dirt from the body--that is not what saves you), "but an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (that is, as an inward, spiritual transaction between God and the individual, a transaction that is symbolized by the outward ceremony of water baptism).
*Just as the eight people in the ark were "saved THROUGH water" as they were IN THE ARK. They were not literally saved "by" the water. Hebrews 11:7 is clear on this point (..built an ARK for the SAVING of his household). *The context reveals that ONLY the righteous (Noah and his family) were DRY and therefore SAFE. In contrast, only the wicked in Noah's day came in contract with the water and they all perished.
This is what happens when water-salvationists cherry pick Scripture. End result - false gospel/salvation by water baptism.
The Bible clearly states in many passages of scripture that we are saved through belief/faith "apart from additions or modifications." (Luke 7:50; 8:12; John 1:12; 3:15,16,18,36; 6:40,47; 11:25,26; Acts 10:43; 11:17; 13:39; 15:9; 16:31; 26:18; Romans 1:16; 3:24-28; 4:5; 5:1; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:21; Galatians 2:16; 3:6-9, 26; Ephesians 2:8; Philippians 3:9; 2 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 10:39; 1 John 5:13 etc..).
Now we don't need to add the word "alone" next to "belief/faith" in each of these passages of scripture in order to figure out that the words, "belief/faith" stand alone in connection with receiving eternal life/salvation. Hence, FAITH ALONE. Do these many passages of scripture say belief/faith "plus something else?" Plus baptism? Plus works? NO. So, then it's faith (rightly understood) in Christ alone.
Not to be confused with an empty profession of faith/dead faith that remains "alone" - barren of works. (James 2:14-24)
The gospel is the "good news" of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) and is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that BELIEVES.. (Romans 1:16) To "believe" the gospel is to trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ as the ALL-sufficient means of our salvation. Water baptism is not a part of the gospel. (1 Corinthians 1:17)
The gospel is a message of grace that is to be received through faith. The gospel is not a set of rituals to perform, a code of laws to be obeyed or a check list of good works (including water baptism) to accomplish as a prerequisite for salvation. (Acts 10:43; 15:7-9; 16:31; Romans 3:24-28; 4:5-6; 5:1; Ephesians 2:8,9; Philippians 3:9 etc..). Beware of the false gospel of "water baptized or condemned" as taught by water-salvationists.
Peter clearly says they were "saved by water" it is YOU that denies this plain fact for it does not fit your preconceived ideas.
"Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:"
Points:
a)
Peter said "baptism doth also no
W saves us"....baptism saves therefore end of story, cased closed. Yet faith onlyists cannot accept these plain words for it does not fit how they think God should save men hence they will bludgeon the verse to death with a faith only stick until they change the "w" in "now" to a "T" to make the verse read the way THEY want it to read, that being, baptism doth also noT save us.
b)
Peter says "the like figure" which in the Greek is antitypos. Peteris making an comparison between an OT type to a NT antitype:
OT Type: ---------- saved by water (flood water)
NT antitype:------- saved by water (baptism)
An antitype is a mirror reflection of the type, hence the OT type "saved by water" is a mirror reflection of NT antitype 'saved by water".
Changing what Peter said to "saved in an ark" messes up the mirror reflection in the type to antitype connection Peter makes. Again, Peter said "saved by water" and you desperately must change that for it does not fit your personal faith only theological bias.
And we know the baptism here refers to literal water baptism which is the one baptism of Eph 4:5 and not some kind of "spirit" baptism for the world was not flooded with 'spirit', Peter did not say eight souls saved by 'spirit'. No verse teaches 'spirit' baptism saves/remits sins.
Eight souls saved by LITERAL WATER is an OT foreshadow for us today saved by LITERAL WATER baptism.....we today are not saved by a literal wooden ark.
Paul in Tts 3:5 and Eph 5:26 used the term "washing"... Greek word loutron. Paul here is referring to a laver of water. In the OT, the Priests had to cleanse themselves in a laver of water before entering the Temple. That is another OT foreshadow for us today by in having our sins cleansed away be the blood of Christ in a laver of water, a baptistry, before one can enter the church, the kingdom of God,
c) Peter said "saved by water"..... God used water to accomplish two things at the same time. God used the water 1) to destroy that wicked, evil generation of people and at the same time God 2) used water to delivery Noah from that evil and corruption by using water to cleanse the earth of wickedness.
Parallels:
--water delivered Noah from a sinful evil world to a new world, baptism delivers us from sin to a new man, to a newness of life
--flood water separated the saved from the lost, water baptism separates the saved from the lost
--flood water was not Christ but the means, the element God used to save Noah, water baptism is not Christ but is the means, the element God has chosen to save man by cutting away the body of sins when one submits himself to water baptism.
d)
water baptism is not putting away the filthy of the flesh which means baptism is not just some external ceremonial washing as those Jewish washing in the OT. Though water can take away the filthy of the flesh, this shows there is no efficacy in water to take away sins. Hence there is nothing special about the water for it is the ACT OF OBEYING GOD by submitting to God's command to be water baptized that GOD cuts away the body of sin when one submits himself to God in water baptism.
e)
water baptism is an appeal to God for a good conscience. In Acts 2 Peter preached to wicked sinful men that crucified the Christ convicting them of their sins. Peter's message "pricked" their heart, it bothered their conscience to the point they asked Peter "what must we do" To which Peter commanded them to repent and be baptized for remission of sins.
--these people did not have a good conscience BEFORE they were baptized, it took baptism and the remittance of their sins first for them to then be able to face God with a good conscience. Hence the verse is not saying one appeals to God to be baptized because one already has a good conscience. No good conscience apart from water baptism.
f)
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
......the resurrection gives meaning to water baptism. The gospel is Jesus' death burial & resurrection (1 Cor 15:1-4) and there is a death burial & resurrection that takes place when one obeys the gospel in water baptism. This means if there were no resurrection of Christ, then there can be no resurrection from baptism where one can then walk in newness of life. The fact God did raise up Jesus we can then be confident that when we are raised up from the waters of baptism God has cut away our body of sin whereby we can walk in newness of life.
