Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!
Here is the real great commission.
Jesus made a very bold statement that many Christians today do not believe. But there’s truly no other way around it… and it has to do with an essential piece of salvation. It has everything to do with salvation. It has to do with faith, baptism, and obedience.
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Look carefully at the structure of this verse… this is the Great Commission as recorded by the disciple Mark. This is what Jesus said…
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Mark 16:15-16
I hope you see the imperative in Jesus’ words… he tied salvation inseparably to both belief and baptism. He implies that if a person does not believe, nothing else will save him. But if he does believe, he will be baptized to be saved.
Some believe that “belief” in Jesus causes a person to be saved (John 3:16). Some even go so far as to say that belief combined with confessing with your mouth saves you (Romans 10:10). Both of those statements are important parts of salvation, but they are not all of salvation. And an honest examination of scripture proves this out.
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Mark 16:16 is just as much part of the salvation package as the other verses referenced.
So, either these verses are in contradiction to one another, or they are in perfect harmony.
Notice that in Acts 2 when the first gospel message was preached by Peter, the gathered crowd asked with directness in response to that preaching, “men and brothers, what shall we do?” in verse 37.
Peter’s response was emphatic. He didn’t even reference belief or confession, because it was obvious that they believed what he just preached and it was implied. If that were all that were necessary, surely he would have just congratulated them for their salvation. But he didn’t, did he?
What did he do? He gave them further instruction in the next verse and said, “Repent, and each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
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There’s just no biblical way around this. We either take all of scripture together, or we take none of it. We cannot choose the scriptures that agree with our philosophies and neglect the ones that don’t. True belief is accomplished by obedience, or that faith is dead (James 2:26).
An honest view of this encounter would never arrive at telling someone that belief alone would save them. Or that raising one’s hand in a church service, or reciting “the sinner’s prayer”, or merely inviting Jesus into one’s heart would save them.
Peter was very clear in his response to their question…
Repent.
Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
Receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
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Peter would only say this if it were true, and it was true. Not only did Jesus say it in Mark 16:16, but he also said it to Nicodemus in John 3:5. Being born of water (this is undeniably speaking of water baptism) and born of Spirit (also undeniably speaking of Spirit baptism) were inseparably connected to salvation or, as Jesus put it “seeing/entering the kingdom of God”. Jesus emphatically stated that without being born again of water and Spirit, a person “cannot” enter heaven, let alone see it.
Why? Why didn’t Jesus just say “believe and confess”? Because belief alone is not enough. James put it like this, “You believe that God is one; well and good. Even the demons believe that—and tremble with fear. But would you like evidence, you empty fellow, that faith without works is useless?” (James 2:19-20)
One might ask, “I thought we are saved by grace, through faith?”
Excellent, and true! Notice those words, “by” and “through”. “By” implies that salvation is predicated on, and offered only by and because of, the existence of the grace of God. In other words, there is no salvation outside of God’s extended grace.
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And then “through” declares that salvation is obtained within an active, obedient expression of our belief in Him, not merely a passive belief. The actual Greek definition is, “a primary preposition denoting the channel of an act”. Paul said it is “through faith”, not “by faith”. “Through” denotes a channel, or process, or activity. What is that process or activity? It’s what Jesus previously demanded. It’s what Peter preached. It’s what Paul experienced. It’s what new disciples in the book of Acts obeyed.
In Acts 2, 8, 10, and 19 they believed. They were baptized in the name of the Lord. They were filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Every time.
Must we believe? Yes, it’s essential.
Must we repent? Yes, it’s essential.
Must we confess Jesus with our mouth? Yes, it’s essential.
Must we be baptized under water in the name of Jesus? Yes, it’s essential.
Must we receive the Holy Spirit evidenced by speaking in other tongues? Yes, it’s essential.
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It’s also essential that we regularly repent and confess our sins (1 John 1:9), live holy unto the Lord as He transforms us (Hebrews 12:14, Roman’s 12:1-2), and continue in the faith (John 9:62).
Salvation is a free gift offered by grace, through faith.
It’s easily obtained, but comes with an exchange of our life for His.
There’s no other way… and that’s okay, because this way is available to all without reserve.
It begins by believing, but doesn’t end there.
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One might ask, “but isn’t salvation ‘not of works’?” Yes! Notice this… forgiveness is not a work of ours, it’s a work of God. Spirit infilling is not a work of ours, it’s a work of His. We’re not working to obtain salvation when we believe.. or when we confess… or when we repent… or when we’re baptized… or when we’re filled with the Holy Spirit. All the work is His! We are merely surrendering through obedience, and the work of salvation is enacted by Him alone, by His grace!
When you honestly ask the question, “what must I do?” and then honestly obey the scriptural answer through faith-filled action, you will indeed be saved.
William James Roop
