Antidisestablishmentarianism is a big word. 28 letters. That’s pretty big! Have you heard of pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis? It is supposedly a lung disease caused by inhaling silica dust. 45 letters. That’s really big! But the 3-letter word “and” is even bigger!
“And” is a coordinating conjunction, which is a part of speech that grammatically joins parts of a sentence that are equal (in importance and structure). “Bill and Joe are brothers.” “Buy milk and bread.” “Look down the field and pass the ball.” “And” joins two equal parts; one element is incomplete without the other. In Mark 16:15, Jesus instructed, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel.” One part, without the other, is insufficient. What about the next verse?
In Mark 16:16, Jesus plainly declared, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” “And” joins two items of equal grammatical importance. The result (“will be saved”) is impossible without both believing and being baptized. To teach that baptism is not essential to one’s salvation is grammatical (and Biblical) sabotage!