MARKAN MEDITATIONS

Meditations in the Gospel of St. Mark

St. Mark 16:15-18 (Part 1)

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THESE VERSES, specially 17 and 18, need special care in expounding them. On the one hand there must not be any diminishing of their true meaning, but on the other hand there must be no interpretation that does violence to the rest of the testimony of the New Testament and the Bible. Because of this I come to these verses with some trepidation looking to God for his light and understanding. We shall consider these verses over two Sundays, as they needed more space than usual.

Verses 15 and 16 are a straight forward declaration of the Gospel. Firstly it is the business of the church and every believer to preach the Gospel of God's grace wherever and whenever they can. This is Christ's commission to us all so that the good news of salvation and the gift of eternal life in Christ may be made known. Believers are the voice of God to make the good news known. We do not speak from ourselves, but simply as ambassadors to pass on to others the message of good news God has given us in Christ. Thus the responsibility for souls in some measure rests upon every Christian. What we loose or bind on earth through preaching or not preaching, witnessing or not witnessing, is what is bound or loosed in heaven. This is a very solemn commission which should drive us to prayer for grace, strength, wisdom and opportunity to carry it out. The eternal welfare of souls depend on the witness we make to the grace of God.

This preaching is not selective. We are told here that it is to all creation. That is there is no human being or class of human being from which we are exempt from sharing the gospel. Further we have no licence to add anything or subtract anything from the message entrusted to us. This message is simple and clear. Salvation is bestowed on the simple ground of faith in the Gospel. That is believing that Christ has won salvation for us and receiving what Christ has done for us as a gift by faith. If we lay conditions on people other than resting in Christ, we are sinning and offending against God and his grace. Paul rebuked Peter when by his actions he was suggesting that more than faith was needed to be saved.

Also we must not shirk telling people that there is no other way than faith in Jesus to be reconciled with God, and that if they are not ready to believe, then they will be condemned. Condemnation for our sins rest upon us as a natural condition of our sinful fallen humanity. If we are not ready to receive the righteousness provided by God to cover our sin, then this condemnation remains. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus by faith, but this blessing rests on no other whatsoever.

The gospel is so simple that all can receive salvation if they will, but it is also totally exclusive and offers no other way to know God and his love. The reason is simple. There is no other way than through the work of Christ that sin can be dealt with effectively and God to be just and at the same time justify the ungodly.

We now come to the difficult words concerning the signs following those who believe. There is no doubt that the believer has new power because we have been brought into fellowship with God in his kingdom. So how do we understand the words "In my name they will drive out demons". Firstly any power we possess to overcome Satan's domination and kingdom is from Jesus alone. "In my name" means that it is Jesus who does the casting out. It is his power. The Christian is not given power, but rather claims the power of Jesus so that Jesus works against the devil. In the Gospel's Jesus certainly cast out demons, and he gave, in the gospels, power to the disciples to do so also. However we have no evidence of any casting out of demons in the Acts. What is true is that when the Gospel is received and believed, Satan's domination over a soul is broken. The saved person is translated from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of Christ. Thus Satan has been cast out. In this sense the believer casts out demons through the power of God exercised through witness and preaching. That on occasions a person possessed in a peculiar way by the devil can and are delivered from the possession has been known, but we must not assume that this gift is given to all believers, nor that it is given to anyone but in exceptional circumstances. What is true is that through the Gospel we are delivered from Satan's power and dominion, such dominion under which we are all born into this world due to the fall of Adam from God's original purpose.