Does Baptism Save You?

Clearing up a couple of things from last time

There were a few questions that arose from the last sermon...

And, anytime you preach on a difficult passage there are questions that come...

And, you just didn’t have time to cover them...

Or maybe you didn’t say it like you’d hope to say it, not as clear as you’d liked.

#1 – The title “Sons of God”

How can the title “sons of God” be given to fallen angels?

Great question.

Lets’ look in Genesis 6:1-2, it states...

When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of god saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.

We notice in the text that the title sons of God is given to let us know that is angels.

Then the text tells us how they sinned with human women.

Now, after the angels sinned they would have lost the title “sons of God”...

And been called fallen angles or demons.

But, in the text the title sons of God is to let us know that it was angels who sinned with human women...

And, this is an event in which angels fell from their good standing before God.

#2 – Timing of Jesus’ Proclamation (Post-Resurrection)

When did Jesus go and proclaim to the spirits in prison?

There are two primary views...

After His death but before His resurrection.

After His resurrection but before His full ascension.

The difficulty is in how you interpret the words… in which he went ...

The first view takes it that in the spirit, meaning without flesh, Jesus went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison.

The second view takes it that the order is: put to death in the flesh, then made alive in the spirit, meaning resurrected...

And, so in a resurrected state, flesh and spirit, Jesus went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison.

So, linguistically, it is very difficult to tell exactly which is the proper meaning...

But, here’s why I hold to the second view...

The view that Jesus went to the spirits in prison to proclaim victory after His resurrection, in flesh and spirit...

I hold to this contextually because the proclamation was one of victory...

And, the victory was stamped, and sealed by v.21b-22...through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

IOW, Jesus, after His resurrection, in flesh and spirit, and in victory over death...

Went and proclaimed victory over the fallen angels...

And, at the finale of His ascension He sat down at the right hand of His Father...

And, in His position, all angels, authorities, and powers are made subject to Him.

In my mind and understanding of the text, if Jesus went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison before the resurrection...

He proclaimed victory before the very expression of victory...

Which is the resurrection.

Now, let’s move on to another difficult aspect of this passage here at the end of Chapter 3...

1 Peter 3:18-22 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

What is Peter saying about Baptism?

The struggle is in the phrase Baptism, which corresponds with this, now saves you

Now, we understand that a person is saved by faith

There is no ceremony, religious rite, or works that can save.

The NT is absolutely clear on this point.

However, this passage has been misunderstood by some to believe that the waters of baptism are what saves...

So, they teach that the waters of baptism is what regenerates a person.

Such teaching is a false salvation...

And it leads one to believe that someone can only be saved if they’ve been baptized.

So, what I want to do, in order to properly understand what Peter is saying, is break this passage down into a couple of segments...

#1 – What is an antitype

The phrase corresponds to this, from the Greek word antitupon, which means “copy,” “counterpart,” or “figure pointing to” to make the transition to the salvation in Christ.

This word antitupon is where we get the theological term antitype...

Which in the New Testament describes an earthly expression of a heavenly reality—a symbol or analogy of a spiritual truth.

So, Peter is saying to us, that...

The preservation in the ark of those who believed God is analogous to the salvation believers have in Christ.

#2 – What does the word “baptism” mean?

Baptize or a variant is a word that is transliterated word not a translated word.

Most words are translated, but baptize is a word that it was decided to not translate

It comes from the Greek word baptizo and it literally means to immerse

And it is not restricted to water.

You can be baptized into suffering...

Luke 12:50 I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!

At this point, Jesus was already baptized by John the Baptist...

What Jesus is talking about is a baptism of suffering...

He was going to be immersed into suffering

All Christians are baptized into the Holy Spirit...

Luke 3:16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

John could only perform baptism of water...

Which is a picture of the inner reality of what Christ has done to each Christian...

By the power and ministry of the HS.

This is a picture of regeneration.

How are we immersed into the HS...

The ministry of the HS is to:

Regenerate us

Adopt us

Sanctifies us

Fills us

Seals Us

We are immersed into the HS...

Enveloped into the ministry of the HS.

So, to be baptized means to be immersed...

And the context of the passage tells us what we’ve been immersed into.

So, let’s think about what Peter is saying here...

#3 – Is Peter talking about water baptism?

while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

Difficult saying = Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you

But, look at what immediately follows...

not as a removal of dirt from the body

So, Peter quickly clarifies that he is not talking about water baptism...

When he adds the statement not as a removal of dirt from the body

Peter is not talking about being immersed in water.

So, what is Peter talking about being immersed into?

#4 – Christ & the Ark

Let’s think about what was the means of salvation in both scenarios.

The water in the days of Noah was what brought death.

What kept Noah and his family from being put to death by the water was the ark.

So, the ark was the vessel of salvation.

The ark is what brought Noah and his family safely through the judgment of the flood.

So, what/who must we be united to...

Or, who must we be in...

In order to pass safely through the judgment of God?

We must be in Christ.

#5 – What gets us immersed into the saving vessel?

So, what put Noah into the Ark?

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

What caused Noah to build the ark? FAITH

What caused Noah to get into the ark? FAITH

What puts us in Christ?

What immerses us into Christ/unites us to Christ? FAITH

By faith in Christ:

You are declared blameless.

You are clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

You are made one with Him.

1 Corinthians 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

So, faith is what immerses us into the saving vessel of God.

For Noah and his family it is believing God that put them into the ark...

And, for all of God’s people...it is believing God that puts us into Christ.

So, what is Peter saying...

Just like the ark saved Noah and his family from the earthly, temporal judgment of God’s flood...

So, Christ saves you from the eternal judgment of God.

And, entrance into either vessel of salvation was/is believing God.

The flood, the ark, and Noah’s family is an earthly picture...

Of a more important heavenly and spiritual reality...

That is the eternal judgment of God, Christ, and the bride of Christ.

Water baptism is a religious ceremony that is an expression/a physical picture of the spiritual reality that has occured in the believer.

But, Peter is speaking of the reality, not the picture.

He’s not talking about the baptism of water that removes the dirt of the flesh...

He’s speaking about the immersion into Christ...

That comes from believing God about Christ...

Putting your faith in Christ...

Which is an appeal for a good/clear conscience before God...

The guilt of sins removed by Christ...

The covenant between God and man kept for us by Christ...

A clean conscience before God.

Application

May our heart and minds be ever fixed on our true source of salvation...

Not based on what we’ve done.

Not based on what we’ve restrained from doing.

But our source of salvation is the person and work of JC.

And, our entrance into Christ is faith alone.

Closing Prayer