After reading this thread I feel I must respond to stop you from discouraging our fellow Christians.

You mistake water baptism for spiritual baptism. Why would John constantly leave baptism out of the picture?

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:18
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son

-No mention of baptism in either.

Acts 16:29-33
29The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
31They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." 32Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized.

Key verse is verse 31. Believe and you will be saved. Not believe and be baptized and you will be saved. In biblical times, it was common to immediately get baptized once after being saved but was not necessary for salvation.

You mention Mark 16:16: Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

It is a two part statement. If you believe and are baptized then you are obviously saved. If you do not believe, then you are condemned. It is a logical fallacy for you to infer that if you believe and are not baptized then you will not be saved. Logic does not dictate that.

Just answer me this one question: Is it water or Christ that saves us?

Ephesians 1:7
"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace."