Jesus said, “He that Believeth and is Baptized shall be Saved…”
In the scriptures, we find the statements of Jesus Christ recorded. The whole of what Jesus stated in Mark sixteen follows: (Mark 16:16) He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. This verse teaches that a person’s inner man is born again when they believe on the Lord. After being born again, the outer man can be set apart for the Lord through baptism.
The scriptures teach that there is an inner man and an outward man. One verse presenting this fact will be presented here. (2 Cor 4:16) … but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
The unseen inner man is born of the Holy Spirit when a person believes on the Lord with all their heart. This verse presents plainly that we must use our heart, not just our mind, to believe on the Lord to be born again. (Rom 10:10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. This belief from the heart results in a person becoming a child of God.
Because a person has believed on the Lord with their heart, the Holy Spirit places a witness inside of that person’s soul. (1 John 5:10) He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself.
A person is not ready for baptism until they have believed on the Lord with all their heart. This is the pattern presented in the scriptures. (Acts 8:36-37) And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? {37} And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. When a person believes on the Lord with all their heart, they have a witness inside as evidence that they are born again. Until this occurs, they are not the proper subject of baptism.
Remembering there is an outward man and an inward man, salvation and baptism are sometimes directly associated with the process of how a person is cleansed. The outer person can’t be cleaned up until the inward man is cleaned up. (Mat 23:25-26) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. {26} Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Man has two parts that need to be cleaned and God has made provision for both of them. The inward man is cleansed up by believing on the Lord. The outward man is then separated from the world by baptism. Once united to the Lord’s body by baptism, the person is to take up the cross daily and follow the Lord. The soul is made alive by believing on the Lord.
When a born again person is baptized, they come up out of the watery grave to walk according to a new way of life. Note that the baptized person is to be raised in a new way of “Life”. This speaks of how the person will spend their time here on earth. They come out from the world through baptism to follow Christ all their remaining days. Notice the statement of the Lord: (Luke 9:23-24) And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. {24} For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it. A person who continues to follow the Lord will be that person who daily takes up the cross of Christ and battles against the desires of the outer man. Taking up the cross is a daily process. It is the process of those who love the Lord and seek to please Him with all their life.