Who will, and will not be, condemned?

Reflecting on Mark 16:9-20

"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:16)

These words lay it out very plainly.
If you accept Jesus (believe and be baptized) you will be saved.
If you do not accept Jesus (do not believe), you will be condemned.
Marks’s editor seems to be echoing what John wrote,

“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:18)

“Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:12)

Baptism itself is not what saves us; it is a symbol of salvation.
To be baptized symbolizes being immersed in God’s gracious, generous love.
That love is already flowing towards us, but do we step into it?
Do we accept that love, as freely offered by God through Jesus?

This plain distinction seems harsh:
* christians are saved, non-christians are condemned
* christians have life, non christians do not
Do I believe these words, do I see things so plainly?
Something in me resists this, and yet I can also sense its truth.
It all depends on what we mean by believing and being baptized.

Think for example of the guy on the cross who asked Jesus for help.

“‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.'” (Luke 23:42)

This man did not believe in the churchy way.
He did not know or believe basic christian beliefs (trinity, incarnation, atonement).
There was no repentance, and no baptism.
(A pre-Reformation teacher claimed the water from Jesus’s side splashed him!?).
In this final moment of desperation, this man asks for help.
He sees something in Jesus that convinces him that Jesus can help him.
Truly this is mustard seed faith, and for Jesus it is enough.

To believe and be saved does not mean to do so in a churchy way.
There are many who look to Jesus in their simple way, but do not go to church.
Many have given up on church, church teachings, yet hang on to Jesus.
Their faith may be weak, simplistic, inaccurate, unorthodox.
But they still see something in Jesus that convinces them He can help.
These people are immersed in God’s love too, for Jesus died for them too.

There are also many who reject the church’s version of Jesus.
They do not believe in the only Jesus they have ever known.
The judgmental, legalistic soul-burdening version of Jesus.
They are not christians, and do not believe in the church’s witness of Jesus.
Yet have they ever met the real Jesus?
Are they actually rejecting Jesus, if the version of Jesus they met is flawed?
They reject an ungracious, unloving, unmerciful Jesus… can you blame them?
What would happen when they meet the actual Jesus?
When they stand before the real Jesus on judgment day?
When they see His grace, love and mercy overflowing to them?
I am convinced that many of them will be like the guy on the cross.
I hear them saying, ‘Ooooh, if I had known You like this, I would have believed!’

Jesus shows us how generous and gracious God really is.
I can hear Him saying to them, what He said to the guy on the cross.
“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:42)
God does not want anyone to perish, but all to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4).
I can believe these words added by Mark’s editor.
But only if they are heard through the lens of God’s amazing grace.

But what about those who are condemned, who do not have life?
It is not those with churchy faith who are spared judgment.
The religious leaders in Jesus’s day had a strong churchy faith.
They were devoted to the bible, to the truth, to the Messiah.
Some of them were even eager to be baptized (by John).
But they rejected the loving, gracious, merciful Jesus.
Those who reject the grace, love and mercy of God, reject life.
They are choosing the opposite of life; they choose selfishness.
To choose Jesus and life is to choose love, grace and mercy.
This is what we are baptized into, immersed in God’s gracious love.
Those who refuse to be gracious, loving, merciful are refusing Jesus.
These are the ones who, if they do not change, will be condemned.
If when they finally see Jesus in all His gracious mercy…
If they see His cross-shaped love, and still heap insults on Him…
If when they stand before Him and reject grace, love mercy…
These are the ones who are rejecting life, choosing death.

Jesus warned the religious leaders that they would be surprised on judgement day.

“I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 8:11-12)

Yes, some who think they are in, will not accept the kingdom in the end.
And others who think they are out, or are told they are out, will be welcomed.
It all depends on whether we welcome the love that welcomes us.
It all depends if we respond positively to Jesus as He really is.
I am convinced that many ‘non-christians’ will respond positively.
Like the guy on the cross, when they actually see His cross-shaped love, they will say…
“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom!”
And He will, and they will not be condemned, but saved into eternal life!

PRAYER
Lord Jesus, You know the difference between those who just have religious faith, and those who desperately long for gracious, merciful love. You will judge fairly and correctly between those who choose gracious love and those who reject gracious love.

May people today experience Your cross-shaped, overflowing gracious love, and not have to wait until the last day to do so. May those who accept it today help You show it to those people who have not yet experienced it!