QUESTION: If one has to be baptized to be saved, why did Jesus not say in the latter part of Mark 16:16 “But he that believeth not and is baptized not shall be condemned?”
ANSWER: Mark 16:16 tells us how to do two things. (1) It tells us how to be saved: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; (2) It tells us how to be lost: He that believeth not shall be damned. Jesus did not add the words “and is baptized not” in the last part of the verse, because He knew that unbelieving people would not request, nor submit to baptism! The additional words would have been redundant and meaningless! Even if an unbeliever would be foolish enough to request baptism and could find someone foolish enough to baptize him, it would serve no purpose, because “he that believeth not is condemned already” (John 3:18).