“For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:18-21). Peter drew a parallel between the flood in Noah’s day and baptism today. In the days of Noah there were two groups of people – those who were saved and those who were lost. The ones who were lost were those outside of the ark. The ones who were saved were those in the ark who “were brought safely through the water” (1 Peter 3:20). The water made a clear distinction between these two groups. Peter then said that in the same way “baptism now saves you” (1 Peter 3:21). In other words, baptism is not an outward sign of an inward grace. It is not done for the purpose of joining a local church or denominational body. It is also not something that God wants us to do but is not connected in any way to our salvation. Just as the flood waters separated the saved and the lost in Noah’s day, the waters of baptism make a clear separation today. Baptism separates the saved from the lost (1 Peter 3:20-21), the forgiven from the unforgiven (Acts 22:16), the slaves of righteousness from the slaves of sin (Romans 6:16-18, 3-4), those in the Lord’s church from those outside of the church (Acts 2:41, 47), and those in Christ from those who are outside of Christ (Romans 6:3; Galatians 3:27). This is not to say that baptism is the only thing that is necessary for our salvation. The prerequisites of baptism are belief (Mark 16:16), repentance (Acts 2:38), and confession (Acts 8:36-38). Furthermore, the way of salvation is made possible through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross (1 Peter 3:18). But none of these take away from the importance of baptism. Just as Noah and his family was saved “through the water,” we are saved through the waters of baptism today. –Andy Sochor
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