He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned.
Parallel translations
- KJV He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
- BSB Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
- NKJV He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
- NASB The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved; but the one who has not believed will be condemned.
- NLT Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Those who believe and are baptized will be saved; those who refuse to believe will be condemned. Salvation hinges on faith in Christ.
Overview
The verse joins faith with baptism as the believer's response to the gospel, while making clear that the decisive ground of condemnation is unbelief, not lack of baptism. Salvation comes through trusting the crucified and risen Lord. The contrast presses the urgency of receiving the message the church is sent to preach.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 36
- John 11:25–26Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies.
- John 3:36One who believes in the Son has eternal life, but one who disobeys the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
- Rom 10:9–14that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
- John 3:18–19He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
- John 3:15–16that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
- Acts 2:38Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
- John 5:24“Most certainly I tell you, he who hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
- John 8:24I said therefore to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”
- John 12:46–48I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in the darkness.
- 1 Jn 5:10–13He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. He who doesn’t believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son.
- John 6:29Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
- John 3:5Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into God’s Kingdom.
- Acts 10:43All the prophets testify about him, that through his name everyone who believes in him will receive remission of sins.”
- John 7:37–38Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!
- John 20:31but these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.
- Acts 16:30–32brought them out, and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
- Rev 20:15If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.
- 1 Pet 3:21This is a symbol of baptism, which now saves you — not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
- John 6:35Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
- Mark 1:15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and God’s Kingdom is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News.”
- Acts 22:16Now why do you wait? Arise, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’
- John 6:40This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
- Acts 2:41Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls.
- John 1:12–13But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name:
- 1 Pet 1:21who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God.
- Matt 28:19Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
- Luke 8:12Those along the road are those who hear, then the devil comes, and takes away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved.
- Heb 10:38–39But the righteous will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
- Rev 21:8But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
- Acts 13:39and by him everyone who believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.
- Acts 8:36–39As they went on the way, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from being baptized?”
- Rom 4:24but for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead,
- 2 Th 2:12that they all might be judged who didn’t believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
- 2 Th 1:8giving vengeance to those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus,
- Acts 13:46Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, and said, “It was necessary that God’s word should be spoken to you first. Since indeed you thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.
- Rom 3:6May it never be! For then how will God judge the world?
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 16:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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