Christians only, Mark 16:18 how do you interpret it?

[Melki]

I interpret it Literally

Mark 16: 15-18

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

So in my opinion, even though I think that Jesus is really God, and he is the way the truth and the light, God still haven't considered me as a true believer since I'm not a doer of those things above.
Is this right?
I still do sin even when I didn't realized it, so is that a fruit of my subconscious disbelieve in Jesus? Is there such a thing?

 

[Pegg]

I interpret it Literally

Mark 16: 15-18

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

So in my opinion, even though I think that Jesus is really God, and he is the way the truth and the light, God still haven't considered me as a true believer since I'm not a doer of those things above.
Is this right?
I still do sin even when I didn't realized it, so is that a fruit of my subconscious disbelieve in Jesus? Is there such a thing?

the particular verses you quoted are not found in the oldest manuscripts...many scholars have concluded that they are not words written by Mark but have been added in later for some unknown reason (perhaps the reason is only known by the person who added it in)

but the early christians certainly did not have these verses circulating among themselves and so they would never have been drinking poison or handling snakes as a way to prove their faith.

 

[Melki]

Thank you for your answer. If I were to prove these verses I certainly wouldn't drink poison, I would just simply prayed on a little cut wound I have.

 

[Pegg]

Thank you for your answer. If I were to prove these verses I certainly wouldn't drink poison, I would just simply prayed on a little cut wound I have.

yes, thats very advisable


Its heartening to know that if we have trials or sickness, its not because we are lacking faith. The apostle Paul had a particular problem with his sight which he prayed for God to remove from him, but God did not remove it. Now we wouldnt say that Paul lacked faith...yet he had a physical ailment. So we should never feel that its a sign of a lack of faith.
2Cor 12:7 Therefore, that I might not feel overly exalted, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan, to keep slapping me, that I might not be overly exalted. 8 In this behalf I three times entreated the Lord that it might depart from me; 9 and yet he really said to me: “My undeserved kindness is sufficient for you; for [my] power is being made perfect in weakness.”

 

[Me Myself]

Now we wouldnt say that Paul lacked faith...

Why on Earth wouldn´t we? Peter lacked faith when walking on water, and he was ALREADY DOING IT.

People don´t tend to have enough faith in many times. They may have faith in some things, and not in others, for understandable psychological reasons.

Peter may have had faith that God existed, but his faith faltered that Jesus would really keep him from getting his feet to sink and hurt. Of course he did! He was not used to WALK ON WATER!

Likewise, Paul may have had a lot of faith on Jesus redeeming qualities, but he was human, and he didn´t have enough faith on him curing his eyes.

 

[Melki]

Well I'd be happy to talk about peter, but you seem not belong in this forum. PMed you

 

[Sleeppy]

I believe that if you want to do these things, you can. It'll take time and dedication. Prayer and fasting. But, first you have to work on yourself. Increase your faith and resiliency.

This is what I hope to do.

 

[sojourner]

I interpret it as a later rip-off of Matthew 28. The theology doesn't fit the rest of Mark.

Therefore, dealing with it as Matthew 28 (in which the sentiment does fit with the rest of Matthew), I interpret it as follows:

The Greek words translated as "make disciples of all nations" are disciples: laos; and nations: ethne. Those words, laos and ethne are literally translated as "us" and "them." In other words, go make "us out of "them." It's a highly hospitable statement, serving to blur the "us/them" distinction, which Matthew thinks is false. For Matthew, there is no difference between wheat/weeds (let them grow up together).

 

[Bob Dixon]

lol@fake ending

 

[Melki]

who add these passages? It seems these additions sometimes serves the purpose articulating the gospel to be more user friendly, in mark 16:8 2nd paragraph and so on, sometimes, in this case, the additions ended up making Christianity harder to follow.
I'd rather think that these additions are as credible as the way Christians think that the other gospels are credible.

 

[Pegg]

who add these passages?

someone with an unsavory motive

I'd rather think that these additions are as credible as the way Christians think that the other gospels are credible.

you can always test out the claims by drinking poison

 

[Melki]

you can always test out the claims by drinking poison

Hmmm!, keep bringing that up and if some crazy kid in read this... I'm not responsible (making washing hands gesture).

 

[obi one]

I interpret it Literally

Mark 16: 15-18

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

So in my opinion, even though I think that Jesus is really God, and he is the way the truth and the light, God still haven't considered me as a true believer since I'm not a doer of those things above.
Is this right?
I still do sin even when I didn't realized it, so is that a fruit of my subconscious disbelieve in Jesus? Is there such a thing?

My question to you is, "who is Mark"? Was he a first person witness of what Yeshua said? How can you use him as a means to determine a matter, when Yeshua confirmed what is said in Dt 19:15, that "every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses"? (Mt 18:16) As in common law, all witnesses must be first hand credible witnesses. How is an unknown personage, a credible witness?

As for picking up snakes, and drinking poisons, I would suggest that one does not test God.

 

[Melki]

I would suggest that one does not test God.

Right, that's in the Bible, thank you for reminding me and others. Nice reply

 

[sojourner]

who add these passages? It seems these additions sometimes serves the purpose articulating the gospel to be more user friendly, in mark 16:8 2nd paragraph and so on, sometimes, in this case, the additions ended up making Christianity harder to follow.
I'd rather think that these additions are as credible as the way Christians think that the other gospels are credible.

They're credible, but not original, which is why I give them their due consideration for what they are, and then exegetically move on to the more likely source for them.

 

[jtartar]

I interpret it Literally

Mark 16: 15-18

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

So in my opinion, even though I think that Jesus is really God, and he is the way the truth and the light, God still haven't considered me as a true believer since I'm not a doer of those things above.
Is this right?
I still do sin even when I didn't realized it, so is that a fruit of my subconscious disbelieve in Jesus? Is there such a thing?

Melki,
Most of these things were written for the first century Christians who had the powerful Gifts of the Holy Spirit that allow them to do the things mentioned.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit was for the start of the Christian Congregation, these miraculous acts would cause attention to be given to the message, of the GOOD NEWS. After Christianity was firmly estabolished the powerful gifts ceased, about the end of the first century.
We are ALL required to preach about God and Jesus any time that we get the opportunity, 2Tim 2:1,2, 4:2-5, 1Cor 13:8. It seems that the Holy Spirit could ONLY be passed to others by the Apostles, Acts 8:14,17-23.
These other things were carried out and recorded in Acts of the Apostles, except for the part about poisons, which just meant that they would be protected until the Christian congregation was well estabolished, Acts 2:1-18, 19:11-17, 28:1-6.
According to the Bible we all must become doers of the word, and not hearers only, James 1:22, Rom 2:13, so it seems that it is the things that we do that are important to God, not what we do not do, Matt 7:12, Rom 13:8-10.
Interesting to me is that the word that means belief in Greek, meant active belief. Consider how this is explained at James 2:14-26. Even though works cannot save a person, his works manifests to God his desires and feelings, and these are a basis for God to justify that person by Grace of God.

 

[455SinceFriday]

Didn't the gospel get spread to all the world of THAT time? It appears that this was (if taken literal) a specific time frame event of THAT time. If taken spiritually then these are actions done inside a person (washing away sins/baptism, healing of defects/serpents, taking in of unholy things/ drinking poison etc..) For me this is a process and not a one time event. Take note of ALL the requirements the scriptures speak of to be "saved".

 

[Melki]

Thank you for your answer. If I were to prove these verses I certainly wouldn't drink poison, I would just simply prayed on a little cut wound I have.

Now after reading Paul, I think not all christians have to be able to do miracles. Some can do prophecy, some can do miracles, etc... thanks for letting me posting here. God Bless. And sorry for my mistakes.

 

[captainbryce]

I interpret it Literally

Mark 16: 15-18

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

So in my opinion, even though I think that Jesus is really God, and he is the way the truth and the light, God still haven't considered me as a true believer since I'm not a doer of those things above.
Is this right?
I still do sin even when I didn't realized it, so is that a fruit of my subconscious disbelieve in Jesus? Is there such a thing?

Two things,

1) The authenticity of Mark 16:9-20 is highly disputed among scholars. And even most new translations of the bible include a footnote at the end of these passages indicating that they are not from the original texts.

Mark 16 NIV - Jesus Has Risen - When the Sabbath was - Bible Gateway

Most scholars, following the approach of the textual critic Bruce Metzger, hold the view that verses 9-20 were not part of the original text. Textual critics have identified two distinct endings—the "Longer Ending" (vv. 9-20) and the "Shorter Ending," which appear together in six Greek manuscripts, and in dozens of Ethiopic copies.

Mark 16 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2) Even though we should have faith in God at all times, that doesn't mean we should go out testing that faith by picking up deadly snakes or drinking poison on purpose because that would be "testing God" and Jesus specifically warns against this in Matthew 4:5-7.

 

[jtartar]

Why on Earth wouldn´t we? Peter lacked faith when walking on water, and he was ALREADY DOING IT.

People don´t tend to have enough faith in many times. They may have faith in some things, and not in others, for understandable psychological reasons.

Peter may have had faith that God existed, but his faith faltered that Jesus would really keep him from getting his feet to sink and hurt. Of course he did! He was not used to WALK ON WATER!

Likewise, Paul may have had a lot of faith on Jesus redeeming qualities, but he was human, and he didn´t have enough faith on him curing his eyes.

Me=myself,
Paul was not lacking in any kind of faith!! The scriptures just a little later on explain exactly what was meant, 2Cor 12:7-10.