Mark 16:16 (LSB)

Passage

He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.

Nearby Context

Mark 16:14 Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen.

Mark 16:15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

Mark 16:16 He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.

Mark 16:17 And these signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;

Mark 16:18 and they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "condemn", "saved", "believed", "been", "baptized", "shall", "disbelieved", and "condemned". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "condemn" and "saved", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "And He said to them Go into..." into verse 17's "And these signs will accompany those who...", so "condemn" and "saved" belong inside that flow. In Mark context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "condemn" and "saved" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.