“The Scriptures are to be taken in the sense attached to them in the age and by the people to whom they were addressed.” C. Hodge
What is the alternative? In other words, if this does not have eternal consequences in view then the question would be, in what sense is one saved or condemned in Mark 16.16?
Answer:
Mk 16:16 is immediately referring to the Jews of 'that generation'. Their belief or unbelief would ultimately determine whether they were 'saved from' or 'condemned to' the casting forth of Mt 8:12, or the wrath of Mt 3:7 & Lu 21:22,32, or the destruction of Acts 3:23, or the breaking off of Ro 11:20, etc..
Explanation:
Determining what 'the eleven' (Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, was absent) comprehended Christ to say (or NOT to say) in the preceding verse 15, leads to clues for what is actually meant by 'saved' and 'damned' in verse 16:
And he said unto them,
Go ye into all the world, and
preach the gospel to the whole creation. Mk 16:15
Luke records Christ's words to 'the eleven':
But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and
ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and
unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1:8
(Note Christ said, 'ye shall' be my witnesses unto the end of the earth. He told them, 'the eleven', that they indeed would do it.)
A few weeks earlier Christ had told them in the Olivet Discourse:
14 And
this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come.
34 Verily I say unto you,
This generation shall not pass away, till all these things be accomplished. Mt 24
(Note Christ said that the gospel of the kingdom would be preached in the whole world BEFORE that generation had passed away.)
In Acts 2 Luke records:
5 Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem
JEWS, devout men,
from every nation under heaven.
6 And when this sound was heard, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that
every man heard them speaking in his own language. Acts 2
I suggest to you that the preaching of 'the eleven' on the day of Pentecost itself became a 'gospel bomb' that was heard 'unto the uttermost part of the earth'. After hearing and believing the gospel and themselves having received power from the Holy Spirit, those 'Jews from every nation' left the celebration of Pentecost at Jerusalem and went back to their homes carrying the gospel of the kingdom with them.
Paul verifies the fulfillment of Mt 24:14 here:
So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. But I say, Did they not hear? Yea, verily,
Their sound went out into all the earth, And their words unto the ends of the world. Ro 10:17-18
(Note Paul is referring to
JEWS, Israel after the flesh, throughout the context of the 10th chapter of Romans. Referring to
JEWS, Paul says,
“Did they not hear? Yea, verily, Their sound went out into all the earth, And their words unto the ends of the world.”)
and here:
5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, whereof ye heard before in
the word of the truth of the gospel,
6 which is come unto you; even as
it is also in all the world bearing fruit and increasing, as it doth in you also, since the day ye heard and knew the grace of God in truth;
23 if so be that ye continue in the faith, grounded and stedfast, and not moved away from
the hope of the gospel which ye heard,
which was preached in all creation under heaven; whereof I Paul was made a minister. Col 1:23
and here:
Now to him that is able to establish you according to
my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal, but now is manifested, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God,
is made known unto all the nations unto obedience of faith: Ro 16:25-26
In the 10th chapter of Acts:
We're given a detailed account of how the Spirit worked on both ends to bring Peter and Cornelius together for the purpose of bringing the gospel to Cornelius (a Gentile).
In the 11th chapter of Acts:
Peter is called upon by the circumcision at Jerusalem to explain his actions (going in to men uncircumcised). After Peter related the events of Acts 10 there is rejoicing among them because of the obvious conclusion, “Then to the Gentiles also hath God granted repentance unto life” (do you believe that 'life' means 'immortality' (e.g. eternal consequences) here? [Acts 11:18]).
The significant conclusion to draw from this is that
it is obvious that neither 'the eleven' nor the circumcision at Jerusalem comprehended the statements to them of Mk 16:15, or Acts 1:8, or Mt 28:19,20 to include the Gentiles, but only the Jews that were among the nations. It is apparent that they were still operating under the charge of Mt 10:6.
In Galatians 2:
7 but contrariwise, when they saw that I had been intrusted with
the gospel of the uncircumcision, even as Peter with
the gospel of the circumcision8 (for he that wrought for Peter unto the apostleship of the circumcision wrought for me also unto the Gentiles);
9 and when they perceived the grace that was given unto me, James and Cephas and John, they who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that
we should go unto the Gentiles, and they unto the circumcision;
Again, it is apparent that
James, Cephas and John did not comprehend the statements of Mk 16:15, or Acts 1:8, or Mt 28:19,20 to include the Gentiles, or they would have never so readily left 'the gospel of the uncircumcision' to Paul; indeed, they would never have even made a distinction between 'the gospel of the uncircumcision' and 'the gospel of the circumcision'. To do so would have been to blatantly disobey their Master if the Gentiles had been included in His statements to them of Mk 16:15, Acts 1:8, and Mt 28:19,20.
The gospel was to 'the Jew first', and for good reason. There was a very serious time line involved for every Jew of 'that generation' alive on the planet. The urgency of the message to the Jew was 'Save yourselves from this crooked generation' (Acts 2), and 'Every soul that shall not hearken to that prophet, shall be utterly destroyed from among the people' (Acts 3).
Consider what was coming upon 'that generation':
upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar. Verily I say unto you,
All these things shall come upon this generation. Mt 23:35,36
God made sure that every Jew on earth of 'that generation' was given the chance to 'hearken to that prophet' before the wrath came.
All the Jews of 'that generation' on earth heard the gospel, and were given the chance to repent and avoid the wrath and the curses of the OT that were to come on the nation of Israel.
Mk 16:16 is immediately referring to the Jews of 'that generation'. Their belief or unbelief would ultimately determine whether they were 'saved from' or 'condemned to' the casting forth of Mt 8:12, or the wrath of Mt 3:7 & Lu 21:22,32, or the destruction of Acts 3:23, or the breaking off of Ro 11:20, etc..
