“He that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16). “This is not to be regarded as a fierce and angry threatening, but as the solemn declaration of an inevitable fact.”—Joseph Parker, D.D. There is salvation for those only whom the Father chose, and the Son redeemed; and the possession and exercise of Faith evidence interest in these immutable facts. He that lives to the age of discretion, and dies unbelieving, manifests that he has no part in the saving scheme of God. He is, therefore, under the Law, for his breaches of which he will be judged and punished. The verse does not hint that he will be damned for unbelief.
“The word ‘judged’ rather than ‘damned’ would have better expressed the original. He that believeth not, must be judged by what he is in himself, and by what he has been in his works—that is a sinner.”—James Wells.
