Jump Start # 367

Mark 16:15-16 “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”

  These verses are called the great commission. It was instructions directed to His apostles. Within the framework of these verses we find the bottom line of salvation: belief and obedience. Without belief that Jesus is the Christ the son of God, there is no foundation for salvation, or the Christian system. The church is built upon that principle or “rock” as stated in Matthew 16:18. 

  Why baptism? Does a person have to be baptized? What if I only believe? Can’t faith alone save me? Great questions. Questions that every generation has to struggle with and deal with. Questions that every person who comes to Christ must deal with.

  Coupled with faith, baptism removes sin and puts one into Christ. Passages such as Acts 2:38 and 22:16 show that. Baptism is the means where we contact the blood of Jesus. The N.T. uses expressions such as, “washed in the blood” (Rev. 1:5). Every person after the resurrection that wanted to be saved was baptized. This is true of those at Pentecost (Acts 2); the eunuch (Acts 8); Saul (Acts 9); Cornelius (Acts 10); Lydia (Acts 16); the jailer (Acts 16); the Corinthians (Acts 18). There are no exceptions after the resurrection. Everyone was baptized.

  Paul likens baptism to the death, burial and resurrection of Christ in Romans 6. Those are the keystone events of the N.T.

  Do you have to be baptized? Yes. Does it have to be immersion? Yes, if I want to do what was done in the Bible. Can I be saved without being baptized? There’s no Scripture to support that. You are not standing upon the word of God by thinking that way.

  Our passage today shows that the saving message of Christ is for all people. God wants everyone to hear that Gospel. God wants all to believe in Jesus Christ. God wants all to be baptized. Now is that it? Of course not. This is the beginning. A soul that has turned it’s self to Christ will now follow Christ. That person will want to worship with God’s people. And that person will want to share that message with others.

  Jesus’ words are “Go.” Go tell it on the mountain is an old Southern hymn that reflects this spirit. Tell it to those in the family. Tell it to neighbors. Tell it friends. Tell it to those here and those there. Those who are saved become God’s voice and mouth piece. We are to spread the good news everywhere we can.

  The love of fellow man compels us to tell.

Roger