Keith Hamilton

"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:16)

Years ago, I went back to Columbia State Community College to get my degree in Electronic Engineering Technology. I was taking classes there while preaching for the Collegevue church of Christ in Columbia. Our meeting house was located just across the road from the College. One day I went to the English Department and asked the head of the department if she could help me diagram a sentence. She obliged and I showed her the sentence: "He that believe and is baptized shall be saved." Now, what happened next was rather amusing. I was never very good at English in school and hated diagramming sentences. I doubt this is a skill they even teach any more. Any way, she got out her pad and started drawing out the diagram for the sentence. She became very silent as she looked at her work. Then she asked me, "Where does this sentence come from?" I told her, "The Bible." She exclaimed, "This is in the Bible?" I said, "Yes Mam" and then opened up my Bible. I turned to Mark 16:16, put my Bible on her desk, and then pointed out the verse to her. She put her finger on the verse reading it and glancing back and forth between the Bible and her notes. In a little while, she sat back in her chair and then muttered, "And that is in the Bible?" I said, "Yes Mam. Jesus said it." She looked at me, sat back up in her chair, and looked at the Bible again. Then she said, "I have been going to church all my life and never read that!" My recollection was that she was a Methodist. I can understand why she would have never heard that preached by a Methodist preacher. I then asked her to explain from an English point of view what the sentence meant. She said she was no theological scholar. I told her that was ok as I was not looking for a theological answer. I just wanted to know the meaning in plain English. I wanted to know what the requirements were expected to meet the condition that Jesus said for being saved. She looked at the verse and said, "According to this verse, you have to believe and be baptized." I asked her if the conditions would be met if one just believed. She shook her head no. Then she looked at my Bible again and said, "And this is in the Bible?" I said, "Yes Mam." She wrote down the verse on her note pad and I left. As I was leaving her office, I looked back. She had sat back in her chair and was looking at her notes.

Yes, the words of Jesus are very easy to understand in the plain English. It takes the false doctrine of faith only for salvation to confuse people. Even a very educated college professor can be deceived their entire life by this false doctrine. Yet, when confronted with the simple words of our Lord, their understanding cannot be dismissed. Yes, 2 and 2 equal 4 and he that believeth AND is baptized shall be saved. Its just that simple. Think about it!