An explanation of 1 Peter 3:21
The majority of denominational churches today teach a doctrine about baptism that says that baptism is not for salvation but that it is “an outward sign of an inward grace”. They mean by this that baptism is done as a sign that the person is already saved by “faith alone” and baptism is just a sign to show others that they are already saved.
Those of us who are in the church of Christ who understand that Acts 22:16 plainly tells us that baptism washes away sin will rightly tell them that the phrase, “an outward sign of an inward grace” is nowhere found in the bible any more than “saved by faith only” is found in the bible. But denominational preachers have learned by years of trying to justify their doctrines, that a spin can be placed on any verse that will satisfy the members of their churches who do not study the scriptures for themselves. They have done so with 1 Peter 3:21. Look at these verses.
1 Peter 3:18-21 (NKJV)
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
21 There is also an antitype which now saves us–baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
When a denominational preacher explains these verses he leaves out 90% of the information found here and zeros right in on the part that he says justifies their doctrine of “an outward sign of an inward grace”. They say that the part of the verse that says that baptism is not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but is the answer of a good conscience toward God is the same as saying that baptism is “an outward sign of an inward grace”. Or in other words, they would say that baptism does not remove sin. Most of their listeners would not understand it but they accept it because their “pastor” says it is so.
But those of us in the church of Christ do understand it and we readily see that this scripture plainly tells us that “baptism is an antitype which now saves us”.
Now, let’s look closely at these words. Baptism is an antitype to what? It is an antitype to Noah being saved by water during the great flood. Well, how did the water save Noah? I thought the water only destroyed the evil flesh that lived on the earth. But, Oh No!!: there is much more to the story than that. The water saved Noah by floating the arc on the top of the waters of the flood and saved Noah’s life. There is your antitype, which is what the verse calls it.
But these verses tell us much, much more than this. Let’s look at what they reveal.
First off, baptism “alone” does not save us any more than the water “alone” saved Noah. The water saved Noah alright but it required much more than just the water. It also required the “works of obedience” which God required Noah to do. For instance: would the water have saved Noah if he had not built the arc? We all know the answer to that, don’t we? And just suppose Noah had refused to build the arc out of Gopher wood. Do you think the arc would have saved Noah? And what about the dimensions of the arc. God told Noah the dimensions for him to use to build the arc. Would Noah have been saved if he had refused to use Gods dimensions when he built the arc?
So, as we can see, Noah was saved by faith, but not “faith alone”. And Noah was saved by water, but not “water alone”. Just like we are saved by baptism, but not “baptism alone”. In addition to baptism, salvation requires faith and repentance as well. Salvation also requires that we are willing to confess our faith that Christ is the Son of God so others can see our commitment to Christ.
Now, let’s look at that phrase in 1 Peter 3:21 again.
21 There is also an antitype which now saves us–baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
This verse plainly tells us that baptism saves us. No matter what else it says, it does say plainly that baptism saves us. That part is very clear. And the verse also says it is an antitype to Noah being saved by the waters of the flood. Now everything about baptism is not exactly like it was with the flood. For instance, the flood removed the rebellious filth of the flesh off the face of the earth. Now, baptism saves us like the flood saved Noah. But baptism does not destroy the other sinful men who live on the earth. But the baptism that saves us is like the salvation of Noah by water. Our faith and commitment to obey God’s instructions are the answer of a good conscience toward God.
So like Noah was saved by the water when he had the faith to obey God. His answer of a good conscience led to a complete commitment to obedience to all God required him to do.
With faith and obedience, like Noah, we are saved by the water of baptism as an antitype to all that Noah did to be saved by the water of the flood.
Carl O. Cooper
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