Mark 16:16 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

He that believeth, &c.— That is, "He who believeth the gospel, and entereth into a solemn obligation to obey it, and verifies that obligation by a suitable practice in the following part of his life,—shall be saved;" for so the apostle expressly explains it, that the baptism which saves us, is not the putting away the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God.—But he that believeth not, that is, who persists wilfully in infidelity, shall be damned. Dr. Macknight observes, that the last clause should be explained by John 3:19 where our Lord sets forth the reason of the condemnation of such unbelievers, as are damned for not believing the gospel when preached to them: This, says he, is the condemnation, the reason of the condemnation, (namely of those whom in the preceding verse he had represented as condemned for not believing in the name of the only-begotten Son of God) that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. Dr. Doddridge observes, that as to the objection which has been urged against the truth of Christianity from the damnatory sentencewhich it here and elsewhere pronounces on those who reject it, it is so far from being conclusive, that it would rather have been a great difficulty in the scheme of Christianity if it had contained no such argument; as he has proved at large in his second letter to the author of Christianity not founded on Argument, p. 28, 47 to which we refer the reader.