{"id":794,"date":"2026-04-10T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=794&2026"},"modified":"2026-04-07T18:00:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T00:00:04","slug":"included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50\/","title":{"rendered":"Included if not Excluded: Mark 9:38-50"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"spoiler spoiler-style-2\"><div class=\"spoiler-title\">Focus Passage: Mark 9:38-50 (NASB)<\/div><div class=\"spoiler-content\" style=\"display: none;\"><p><sup>38<\/sup>\u00a0John said to Him, &#8220;Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.&#8221; <sup>39<\/sup>\u00a0But Jesus said, <span class=\"red-letter\">&#8220;Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me.<\/span> <sup>40<\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"red-letter\">For he who is not against us is <span class=\"tooltiptrigger\">*<\/span><span class=\"tooltip\">Or <em>on our side<\/em><\/span>for us.<\/span> <sup>41<\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"red-letter\">For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as <em>followers<\/em> of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.<\/span> <\/p><p><sup>42<\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"red-letter\">&#8220;Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea.<\/span> <sup>43<\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"red-letter\">If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire,<\/span> <sup>44<\/sup>\u00a0[<span class=\"red-letter\"><span class=\"tooltiptrigger\">*<\/span><span class=\"tooltip\">Vv 44 and 46, which are identical to v 48, are not found in the early mss<\/span>where <span class=\"small-caps\">THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE<\/span>, <span class=\"small-caps\">AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED<\/span>.<\/span>] <sup>45<\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"red-letter\">If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell,<\/span> <sup>46<\/sup>\u00a0[<span class=\"red-letter\"><span class=\"tooltiptrigger\">*<\/span><span class=\"tooltip\">See v 44, note<\/span>where <span class=\"small-caps\">THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE<\/span>, <span class=\"small-caps\">AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED<\/span>.<\/span>] <sup>47<\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"red-letter\">If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell,<\/span> <sup>48<\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"red-letter\">where <span class=\"small-caps\">THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE<\/span>, <span class=\"small-caps\">AND<\/span> <span class=\"small-caps\">THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED<\/span>.<\/span> <\/p><p><sup>49<\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"red-letter\">&#8220;For everyone will be salted with fire.<\/span> <sup>50<\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"red-letter\">Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty <em>again?<\/em> Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.&#8221;<\/span> <\/p><p class=\"passage-read-more\">Read <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=mark 9:38-50&amp;version=NASB\" title=\"Read the passage on BibleGateway.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"hyperlink-underlined\">Mark 9:38-50<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>While reading the gospels, occasionally I\u2019ll run across an event where I could see myself responding in a similar way as one of the people present. As this event in Mark\u2019s gospel opens, John brings an issue to Jesus that he thinks needs to be addressed. John describes to Jesus what he discovered by saying, \u201c<strong>Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.<\/strong>\u201d (v. 38)<\/p>\r\n<p>In this event, John believes the right thing to do was stopping this other individual. After all, this other person was not a disciple or even a follower. Perhaps, they were someone who saw one of the disciples casting out demons using Jesus\u2019 name and they realized that God wasn\u2019t exclusively sharing this power with only Jesus. In many ways, I understand John\u2019s perspective: If anyone and everyone knew that all they needed to do was use Jesus\u2019 name and they would be given power, then there could be chaos.<\/p>\r\n<p>However, to John\u2019s surprise, Jesus responds by saying, \u201c<strong>Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is for us. For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.<\/strong>\u201d (v. 39-41)<\/p>\r\n<p>In this response, Jesus shares a very profound line: \u201c<strong>For he who is not against us is for us.<\/strong>\u201d (v. 40)<\/p>\r\n<p>Many times, we believe and\/or think that it is the opposite way. We may have the impression that Jesus really meant to say that \u201cthe person who is not for us is against us\u201d, but that is not the wording Jesus\u2019 uses.<\/p>\r\n<p>This distinction matters because there is a broad middle ground. Are we to understand that those who are in the middle ground (neither for, nor against Jesus) included with those who are for Jesus, or are they excluded with those who are against Jesus? While the answer is not as simple as drawing a line through the middle ground, or simply saying that everyone who hasn\u2019t given their allegiance to Satan is safe, it is statements like these that prompt me to believe God (through Jesus) is more inclusive rather than exclusive.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>This means that instead of looking for ways to keep us out of heaven (which is what many people believe), God is actively looking for ways and reasons for bringing us into Heaven.<\/strong> If God wanted to keep someone out of heaven, there would be ample evidence to do so for every single person who has ever lived \u2013 except Jesus.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Instead, God sent Jesus to make a way available to bring us back to Him. Jesus\u2019 human existence proves God wants us with Him in heaven. God then looks for reasons to include us, starting with belief in His Son, before then looking for examples of kindness and sharing the gospel message with others.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<div id=\"aj-wrap-up--794\" class=\"aj-wrap-up\"><p><em>This thought was inspired by studying the <strong>Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, <a class=\"underline\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/\" title=\"Check out Reflective Bible Study!\">click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p><p><em><a class=\"underline\" href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onClick=\"rbs_aj_inline_subscribe(this, '794');\">Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While reading the gospels, occasionally I\u2019ll run across an event where I could see myself responding in a similar way as one of the people present. As this event in Mark\u2019s gospel opens, John brings an issue to Jesus that he thinks needs to be addressed. John describes to Jesus what he discovered by saying, [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[2],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Included if not Excluded: Mark 9:38-50 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Included if not Excluded: Mark 9:38-50 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While reading the gospels, occasionally I\u2019ll run across an event where I could see myself responding in a similar way as one of the people present. As this event in Mark\u2019s gospel opens, John brings an issue to Jesus that he thinks needs to be addressed. John describes to Jesus what he discovered by saying, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reflectivebiblestudy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-10T09:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cam\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cam\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"headline\":\"Included if not Excluded: Mark 9:38-50\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-10T09:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":559,\"articleSection\":[\"Written Journal Entries\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50\\\/\",\"name\":\"Included if not Excluded: Mark 9:38-50 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-10T09:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Included if not Excluded: Mark 9:38-50\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/\",\"name\":\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"description\":\"Your Life. God&#039;s Truth. His Way.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\",\"name\":\"Cam\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Cam\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Included if not Excluded: Mark 9:38-50 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Included if not Excluded: Mark 9:38-50 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","og_description":"While reading the gospels, occasionally I\u2019ll run across an event where I could see myself responding in a similar way as one of the people present. As this event in Mark\u2019s gospel opens, John brings an issue to Jesus that he thinks needs to be addressed. John describes to Jesus what he discovered by saying, [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50\/","og_site_name":"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reflectivebiblestudy\/","article_published_time":"2026-04-10T09:00:00+00:00","author":"Cam","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@godstruthhisway","twitter_site":"@godstruthhisway","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50\/"},"author":{"name":"Cam","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3"},"headline":"Included if not Excluded: Mark 9:38-50","datePublished":"2026-04-10T09:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50\/"},"wordCount":559,"articleSection":["Written Journal Entries"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50\/","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50\/","name":"Included if not Excluded: Mark 9:38-50 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-04-10T09:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/included-if-not-excluded-mark-9-38-50\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Included if not Excluded: Mark 9:38-50"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/","name":"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","description":"Your Life. God&#039;s Truth. His Way.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3","name":"Cam","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","caption":"Cam"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}