Last week we ended with a somewhat obscure verse (19) which many have misunderstood over the years, but simply speaks of how Christ was victorious over the grave and in His resurrection made proclamation of His victory to those spirits who rebelled against Him. They would include angels who rebelled as well as the spirits of people who rebelled.

But as I mentioned last week this portion of God's word is not designed to be an exhaustive section to teach on the intermediate state of men after death. Rather, Peter is trying to encourage his listeners by showing them how God's grace and patience is always reaching out to people.

In verse 20 Peter uses the example of Noah and his family. In that example he contrasts those who believe with those who did not. Those who believed were Noah, his wife together with Noah's three sons and their wives; eight people in all.

And Peter's point is that even though God's judgment is imminent for those who disobey and reject God, any who would reach out to Him by faith will be saved. In this example Peter shows the agent through which they were saved as well as the agent through which those who disobeyed were destroyed. It was one and the same. It was the water.

Now, obviously we know that they were safe inside the ark. But it was the water which buoyed the ark and carried them above the destruction. This is why Peter continues at the end of verse 20..... "God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,"

Now Peter is leading up to something here that he wants us to see. He is showing us that God ordained the means for our salvation as well as He ordained the means for Noah's salvation from the destruction God was bringing upon the earth. And so the emphasis is not so much on the water or the ark, as much as it is God, who provided both as He judged and saved all in one act.

Now that we have this image of God saving Noah through the water Peter wants to make a comparison. Look with me at 21 "and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also - not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,"

Peter is making a comparison between the flood and baptism. This doesn't mean that one is just like the other it simply means that there are similarities in what they accomplish. Dr. Kistemaker puts it this way in his commentary on Peter. "As the flood separated Noah and his family from the wicked world of their day, so baptism separates believers from the evil world of our day. Baptism, then, is the counterpart of the flood."

The problem we have with verse 21 is not that baptism is similar to the flood, in that both are used by God to teach of His saving work, the problem we have with this verse is where it says that just like the flood baptism now saves you.

Now there have been those in the religious world who make the claim today that the act of baptism, where water is sprinkled or poured over a person or where a person is immersed in water, is the "means" by which we appropriate our salvation.

There are Protestant denominations which teach that unless you are water baptized you are not saved. And they would use 1Pet.3:21 as one of their proof texts. You also have the Roman Catholic church which teaches a similar thing by using this text along with others to say that we are saved at Baptism. In the case of the Roman Catholic Church this takes place at the Baptism of an infant in that church. This teaching is referred to as "Baptismal regeneration".

In essence what both groups are saying is that there is something we can do through a physical act to bring about our salvation, though both groups would admit this act is by faith. None the less they admit it is through physical water baptism that our salvation is secured in Christ.

Now we need to ask some questions at this point. What is the importance of water Baptism? Can I be saved if I've not been water baptized? How do we regard water baptism? And what really is baptism?

The Greek words referring to baptism in the N.T. include about three different renderings. The pronoun Baptist for John the Baptist is Baptistes. The word baptize or baptized is baptizo. The words baptizing and baptism is baptisma. And so you can see how they are all similar.

The idea of water baptism is not just a N.T. teaching. In fact the O.T. teaches about baptisms which are referred to as ceremonial washings. HEB 9:8 "The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing.
9 This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper.
10 They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings (baptismos) -external regulations applying until the time of the new order."

Some of these washings are seen in LEV 11:21 "There are, however, some winged creatures that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground.
22 Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper.
23 But all other winged creatures that have four legs you are to detest.
24 "'You will make yourselves unclean by these; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening.
25 Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening."

NUM 19:2 "This is a requirement of the law that the LORD has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke.
3 Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.
4 Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting.
5 While he watches, the heifer is to be burned - its hide, flesh, blood and offal.
6 The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer.
7 After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening."

There are many other examples of this, but the point that these and other O.T. passages are making is that what is ceremonially unclean is pointing to a spiritual uncleanness brought about as a result of sin. The washing is designed to show how one can become clean in God's sight. But it's a washing which only God has given.

The physical acts of washing in the O.T. were understood to have a spiritual aspect connected to it. For example in PSA 51:2 "Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin."

EZE 36:25 "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."

This of course was fulfilled in the N.T. with Jesus Christ who came to wash away our sins. In fact the same O.T. imagery is used. ACT 22:13 "He stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very moment I was able to see him.
14 "Then he said: 'The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth.
15 You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.
16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.'

And this same Paul who was washed of his sins describes how this spiritual washing is found only in Christ in TIT 3:5 "he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life."

And so in these instances we see how spiritual washing and baptism are closely related. The problem arises when people only see baptism as it relates to water. And though water can certainly be associated with baptism it cannot be limited to water.

Moses, for example, baptized the nation of Israel with blood on one occasion. He took a hyssop branch and dipped it in the blood of a goat or lamb and sprinkled it on them. The word used for sprinkle there in the Septuagint, which is the Greek version of the Hebrew O.T., is the word we use for baptize.

Another example would be the contrast of water baptism and a baptism which comes from above. MAT 3:11 "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."

Now obviously John the Baptist is speaking of Jesus. But we know that Jesus' baptism of the Holy Spirit doesn't necessarily come through water baptism.

Paul talks of a baptism which wasn't directly related to water. Speaking of the Nation of Israel he says in 1CO 10:2 "They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. The reference there has to do with the Red sea parting and them going through on dry land. Water surrounded them, but their baptism was not in the water, in fact it says they were baptized into Moses."

One more example can be seen in Jesus Himself speaking of a baptism which has nothing to do with water.

MAR 10:38 "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"
39 "We can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with,..."

LUK 12:49 "I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!
50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!"

What baptism was Jesus talking about? It certainly wasn't water baptism because He had already undergone that previously with John the Baptist. The baptism Jesus refers to is His identification with our sin and the death He is about to suffer for you and me.

Well, then if baptism doesn't necessarily refer to water baptism then what does baptism really mean? As is the case with any word used in Scripture the meaning must be gained from the context in which it's used.

But there is a general sense of what baptism means, whether it refers to ceremonial washings, to blood being sprinkled, or to a baptism of death. I use the initials U.F.I. as opposed to U.F.O.

U.F.I. Union, fellowship, identification. This is essentially what baptism means in a general sense. Union, fellowship, identification. Well, how does this apply to water baptism? Before we answer that we must understand that water baptism is only an outward manifestation of a spiritual baptism; a spiritual union, fellowship and identification with Christ.

Paul speaks of this in ROM 6:1 "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?"

How did we die to sin? Did we actually pay the penalty for our own sin to the degree that it satisfied God's justice for us, and now we are declared not guilty because we died to sin?

Of course not. We didn't die, someone else died on our behalf. And so Paul continues in Rom.6:3 "Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin -
7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin."

"..... all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death..." What does that mean? We are identified with Christ's death on our behalf. It's not as though I actually died, but because of the close union, by faith in Christ, I can say I've died to sin because I've accepted His work and have come into union with Him by faith. That's what identification is all about.

It's kind of like saying, I'm a Dolphin, when referring to an NFL team. I'm not actually on the playing field and I'm not actually a player. I'm identifying myself with everything they do because I choose to accept what they do as I'm represented by them, having come from that area. I claim them as mine. Though I don't play in the game, I claim their victory because they represent me and I identify myself with them.

In an odd sort of way I have can say I have been baptized into the Miami Dolphins. I am identified with them. I have fellowship with them from afar and I have a union with them based on my identification.

And so Paul says in Rom.6:4, "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection."

Paul is saying that everything that Christ did for us; dying on the cross, buried in the ground; being resurrected from the dead; all of which is for our salvation, we can claim as our own by faith in Christ. It's as though we personally accomplished all of those things to satisfy our heavenly Father's justice.

But we didn't personally do it and yet vicariously we did. We were baptized into those things as we accepted this salvation which Christ accomplished on our behalf. Our true spiritual baptism took place the day we believed. That was the day we came into U.F.I. Union with Christ, fellowship with Christ, and being identified with everything Christ did on our behalf.

This is what Peter is referring to in our text. 1Pet.3:21 "and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also - not the removal of dirt from the body but the of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22 who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand - with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him."

This baptism Peter refers to has nothing to do with ceremonial cleansings, or cleansings which just remove dirt. This cleansing has to do with sin and only Christ can accomplish that on our behalf. The water symbolizes, but the water itself can't remove sin.

For anyone to suggest that water baptism is the means to our salvation, or that it is an integral ingredient to our salvation, just doesn't understand the doctrine of salvation through Jesus Christ. In promoting water baptism, as necessary to our salvation, or to promote that baptism regenerates the soul giving salvation, they are promoting a false gospel.

Here's what he said in GAL 1:6 "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel -
7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.
8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!
9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!"

GAL 3:1 "You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.
2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?
3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?"

Adding anything to the gospel of Jesus Christ, as a necessity for salvation, is a different gospel, whether it's circumcision, observing certain days, or even water baptism.

Does this mean that water baptism is an empty and meaningless spiritual exercise? Of course not! Water baptism was instituted by Jesus Himself for our benefit and the benefit of the world. Water baptism is God's way of identifying us with His Son and it's our way of saying to this world what Christ has washed us in His blood.

Water baptism is an act of worshipping our Lord, as in obedience we desire to show the world that we have union with Christ, that we have fellowship and a peaceful relationship with the living God, and that we are identified with Christ's death, burial and resurrection which has given us victory over the penalty and power of sin.

Often times when we see someone being water baptized the imagery which is conveyed by the baptizer is that of going down into the grave as one who is dead, but then coming up as one who has been washed and cleansed of sin and being raised out of the grave as one alive with new life in Christ.

That's the picture we should have of water baptism. But it's a picture of what Christ has done for us. And so water baptism isn't as much of us declaring our faith, though that is certainly implied, as much as it is God declaring what it cost His Son and how now we belong to Him as we are identified with Christ.

Yes, it's an act of obedience and worship to God to be water baptized after we have come to faith in Christ, but more than that it's God's way of saying that this one now belongs to Me and they have been sealed for the day of redemption, not by the physical act of water baptism, by the act of the Holy Spirit giving us life in the risen Christ.

Paul makes a connection between circumcision and baptism. The Jews understood circumcision to be the sign and seal of entrance into the covenant of God. Like circumcision, water baptism is also seen as an outward sign and seal of entrance into a personal relationship with God through faith in Christ.

Notice the connection in COL 2:9 "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
10 and you have been given fullness (or completeness) in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ,
12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."

This is the baptism we should rejoice in. A baptism of life in Christ. And water baptism is simply a way to express that reality of spiritual unity to Christ. It is that spiritual baptism which God has accomplished in us, which Peter speaks of in our text, and which enables us to have a good conscience toward God because of Christ's resurrection.

This is how Peter ends chapter three. 1PE 3:21 "... and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also - not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22 who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand - with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him."

We can only have a good conscience toward God because we know we stand as ones who have been redeemed, knowing that there is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. It's realizing that we are His children and that Jesus will never let us go.

Your conscience before God should be one which can say with confidence that I am forgiven. But your conscience before God should also be able to say I am living in that forgiveness, not using it as an excuse to sin.

This is why Paul wrote in ROM 6:10 "The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires."

Jesus is alive and well and seated at the right hand of God, which is another way of saying, seated with honor as One with power and authority. And as Peter exclaims, Jesus has all angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

All powers are in submission to Him. Not even Satan has power over your life anymore now that you are in Christ. Don't give in to his schemes or his lies or his ways of trying to bring you down. Look to Christ who has the power and authority to bring you through. But look to Him in faith, obedience and love, and serve Him in the power of His Spirit.

Let me end with Paul's encouraging words to all of us in Christ. No matter what's going on in our lives this is a truth we can rest on and rejoice in. ROM 8:34 "Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died -more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
36 As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."