Mark 16:16

Mark bears testimony to the ministry, to the service of Christ in the gospel. Here the word to them is, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation." This is the most simple, the most general mission… It was quite simply the preaching of the gospel for the salvation of souls, and the judgment of those who would not believe.

Matthew's commission implies faith. Here it is insisted on: "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved." On the other hand, "whoever does not believe" — no baptism affects the case of such a person — "will be condemned."

The text says, "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved." But whether a man is baptized or not, it asserts that "whoever does not believe will be condemned." So baptism does not save the unbeliever. No, it does not in any degree exempt him from the common doom of all the ungodly. He may have baptism, or he may not have baptism, but if he does not believe, he will in any case most surely be condemned.

Nothing is said of baptism in this case, for one might be baptized and yet be judged; or one might not be baptized, and not be judged.

What matters is not only the truth, but that it should be openly and formally confessed before God and man. Baptism, after all, clearly does proclaim in symbol the death and resurrection of Christ; that is the value of it… Do not pretend that you have received Christ, and then dodge all the difficulties and dangers of the confession… Still, a man might profess to believe as much as he liked. If he shrank from publicly owning Him in whom he believed, his profession of faith was good for nothing. It could not be accepted as real.

Mark 16:16 brings in faith on preaching. Now, if a person outside Israel believed Jesus was Son of God, and refused to be baptized, he refused to be a Christian when he knew he ought to be. For him it was refusing the confession that leads to salvation. It has nothing to do with any power in baptism.

Notice He does not say that he who believed and was saved should be baptized. Rather, there is an aspect of salvation that is found in being baptized. Compare 1 Peter 3:21 and Acts 2:40. In this latter verse the Jews were urged to save themselves from "this crooked generation." In being baptized they were saving themselves (not saving their souls) from a generation that had rejected the Lord Jesus.

The salvation is proclaimed in the act as it is secured by the faith.

People say, "I don't like preachers to use that word 'damned'; it is not loving, or gracious." Let me ask you a question. From whose lips did that terrible word fall? From the lips of the Son of God. From Him who came down from heights of glory beyond compare. From Him who laid aside all His glory, and came into this world as the carpenter's son.