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Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Mark 16:14-16
IF BAPTISM DOES NOT SAVE, WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? Baptism is a ceremony, and nothing more. There is no saving efficacy in it nor is it a means through which grace is conveyed. But, that does not take away from its importance. The marriage ceremony does not cause a man and woman to love one another. They loved each other before they participated in the marriage ceremony. But if they refuse to participate in the marriage ceremony, and live together without it, they say by that, that they do not love one another enough to be totally committed to one another. This shows how important the marriage ceremony is. There is no true love without it.
Baptism is the same. It does not cause salvation. It speaks of a relationship that was already there before the ceremony. And that relationship was caused by what baptism depicts: union with Christ. For someone to refuse baptism is like someone who refuses the marriage covenant and ceremony. That person says by their actions, “I do not love Christ enough to commit to Him.” Love like that is not love at all! Yes, baptism is important. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). Pastor Todd Nibert
How can Man be Just with God?
The great and important question for you and me always has been and is now. "How can man be just with God?" I do not deny an interest in the mysteries of providence and the matters of prophecy, but the most important matter to me at all times – and it increases as I grow older and approach the day of judgment – is, "How can I stand before God justified and accepted?" Woe to the man who shall be weighed and found wanting!
"If I justify myself," Job declared, "my own mouth would condemn me." If I say that I am without sin and holy enough for God's fellowship, I would be a liar and make God a liar!
But Paul declares "It is God that justifieth." He can, by the substitution and satisfaction of His Son, make the unjust, just and the unclean, clean! He can cover us with a perfect robe of righteousness, so that we are as holy and pure as the Redeemer Himself. And the important thing is that God can justify us in a way that is consistent with His holiness, glorifying to His mercy, honoring to His law and which completely satisfies His justice.
As the first Adam stood before God as the representative and federal head of the whole human race and as it was by his sin that guilt and sin were both imputed and imparted to us, so God in grace sent Christ the second Adam, the Lord Jesus, to stand in our stead that we might in, and through, and by Him, has imputed and imparted to us a perfect righteousness. "By the disobedience of one the many became sinners, so by the obedience of One shall the many be made righteous" (Rom. 5:19).
This is the good news to the guilty and good tidings of great joy to the helpless. The great writer and preacher Isaac Watts declared on his death bed, "I bless God that His promises are so plain and simple that I do not need great wisdom to grasp them – my hope is simply in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, my Lord!"
Pastor Henry T. Mahan
BAPTISM
“Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Acts 8:35-37
Baptism is for everyone who believes the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Philip asked the eunuch one question when he requested to be baptized. “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.” He answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” You know the rest of the story, Philip baptized the eunuch and “he went on his way rejoicing.”
Baptism is for believers, it is their public confession of faith in Him.
Peter says it is an “answer of a good conscience toward God” (1 Peter 3:21). Baptism is identification with the Lord in His appointed and sacrificial death (Acts 2:23), in His appointed burial (1 Cor. 15:3-5) and in His appointed resurrection from the dead (Matt. 16:21). We only believe the gospel by the Lord’s appointed power and grace (Acts 13:48; Eph. 1:19-20; 1 Thes. 5:9).
Believers are not baptized to be saved; they are baptized because they have been saved by the Lord’s grace (Eph. 2:8-9).
Believers are not baptized to put away our sin, they are baptized because Christ has already put away their sin by His sacrifice unto death (Heb. 9:26).
Believers are not baptized to be regenerated or sanctified, they are baptized because they have already been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and made new creatures in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:1-4).
Believing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is a powerful miracle of the Lord’s mighty and sovereign grace (2 Tim. 1:9). Those who are brought to Christ in saving faith are not ashamed to own, submit and identify with Him, His gospel and His people (Rom. 1:16; 2 Tim. 1:12). It is always the believer’s delight and joy to obey the Lord in believer’s baptism. While it is not essential to salvation, it is essential to our obedience to the Lord who commanded every believer to be baptized (Mark 16:16).
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