Joh 1:12 But as many as
received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who
believe in His name:
This verse is a
companion verse to Mr 16:16 which states:
"He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not
believe will be condemned.
This is a great example
of “Scripture interpreting Scripture.” And in these passages, we find two
necessary elements connected to salvation. Those elements are (1) belief,
(faith) and (2) baptism.
Mark makes it clear that
baptism coupled with faith is necessary for the Christian, with faith being the
critical element as spelled out in the second part of the verse which could be
restated, “he who does not have faith will be condemned, baptized or not.”
It’s vital that we don’t
let the latter part of that statement minimize the importance of baptism,
because if you do, you might as well, remove it from your Bible, and I hope I
don’t have to tell you how dangerous that would be!
De 4:2 "You shall
not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep
the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
Re 22:19 and if anyone
takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his
part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are
written in this book.
If you doubt the
emphasis of baptism in the new covenant, I suggest you read the Book of Acts
and see how it was always included in the preaching of the Gospel. For example, when Phillip presented the gospel to the
Ethiopian eunuch, the first thing he did was slam on the brakes of his chariot
when he saw water, so he could be baptized.
John reaffirms the necessity of baptism and
faith here in verse 12 as he starts out with (1) the necessity of receiving
Jesus, and Jesus is received, (taken in,
put on,) in baptism. Ga 3:27 says, “For as many of you as were baptized into
Christ have put on Christ.
And (2) the necessity of
faith (“those who believe in His name”)
Faith and baptism, baptism
and faith, forever linked together in the Word of God and John 1:12, and Mk
16:16 ought to be cross-referenced in your Bible for they are saying the same
thing!
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