I have noticed something recently. In an effort to propagate a doctrine they believe but will not confess to believing, called "faith only" many will deny the Lord's words when he said "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned" contending that the AND in the first phrase is not correlative, making both carry the same weight in the conditional statement.

They will not, however, do the same thing with Romans 10:9. They will contend that both confession and belief is necessary because it says "with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" emphasizing the AND in the passage.

Isn't that interesting? Consistency would demand the same be done for Mark 16:16.

"He who believes AND is baptized will be saved"

Is belief AND baptism necessary for salvation according to this passage? YES.

"if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus AND believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved"

Is confession AND belief necessary for salvation according to this passage? YES.

We know what AND means in a correlative passage. It is a theological bias against baptism that causes a person to say NO in the Mark passage and YES in the Romans passage - NOT THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST.

When we consider the doctrine of Christ in Acts 2:38 we will see "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit"

The doctrine of Christ says belief AND confession AND repentance AND baptism is necessary for a soul to be saved (thus added to the Lord's church, His body - where salvatio exists), when we consider each of these passages concerning the subject of salvation.

The doctrine of Christ is not "this OR that" it is "this AND that" concerning handling aright the truth of God as revealed in His New Covenant.

Let's be consistent in our interpretation of Scripture.

I love you. God loves you more. I want you to hear "well done" and enter eternity with God. He wants it more that I do. Please examine the doctrine to which you hold and which you teach!

It matters.