I Hope You Took Your Medicine

Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16).

I’ve known quite a few people who have had a problem accepting the words of Jesus in Mark 16:16. Those who believe that one can be saved by faith alone dismiss the word “baptism” - claiming that it is merely an option, or that it is an outward sign of an inward grace, or that it is the kind of “work” that cannot save anyone. Yet Jesus did not state this baptism as an option, but as a requirement. He established it as a thing one must do to be saved. (Hebrews 11 is rife with such examples: “By faith they offered, prepared, obeyed, etc.). The apostles also taught that baptism is a requirement for salvation. Peter commanded it (Acts 2:38; 10:47-48). In fact, in 1 Peter 3:21 he specifically states that baptism “saves us.”

Imagine, if you will, people dying of a disease that is only curable by taking a special pill. And the doctor who made the pill said, “He who buys this pill and takes it will live; but he who does not buy it will die.” Would you have a hard time understanding that you would have to take that pill in order to live? It will do you no good to just buy the pill (but not take it). Likewise, it will do you no good to just believe, but not be baptized into Christ.

So, friends, I sure hope you took your medicine.

Aaron Veyon