64) The Baptism That Saves

Introduction to 1 Peter 3:13-22 and the Context of Suffering

0:00 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, August 22, 1999, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:17 Now let us turn together to 1 Peter 3 as we continue our consecutive expositions of this portion of the Word of God, 1 Peter chapter 3. Let me say by way of explanation, those of you who are here week by week, I trust do not grow weary of my reading the entire paragraph in which the particular text is found. If when the expositions are over you remember nothing else, I hope you will have at least partially memorized the text of 1 Peter. And then I do this because it's a constant reminder to you and to me that the Word of God

1:04 comes to us not in isolated units of thought, but in connected units of thought, and that those connections are as much a result of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as are the parts that are connected. And it is vital that we constantly remember that in our treatment of the Word of God. Follow then as I read 1 Peter 3, verses 13 to 22.

1:33 And who is he that will harm you, if you be zealous of that which is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, blessed are you. And do not fear their fear, neither be troubled, but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord, being ready always to give answer to every man that asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear, having a good conscience, that wherein you are spoken against, they may be put to shame who revile your good manner of life in Christ. For it is better, if the will of God should so will, that you suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing, because Christ also suffered for sins once,

2:27 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, in which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, that aforetime were disobedient, when the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved through water, which also after a true likeness does now save you, even baptism. Not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation or the inquiry or the appeal of a good conscience toward God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is on the right hand of God, having gone into

3:20 heaven, angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him. Should God be pleased to give me the privilege of completing the exposition of this letter, there will be many things contained in those expositions which I will forget, and no doubt many more things which you will forget, perhaps many of them in a relatively short time. However, among the things that I trust you will remember is this statement with which I have introduced the last few expositions as we came to this section that forms the heart of Peter's epistle, namely his pastoral counseling to suffering

4:12 saints. I have said in the introduction for the past several Lord's days, at one time or another, In one way or another, to one degree or another, every true Christian will suffer for the sake of Christ. And because that is true, and that assertion is supported by many portions of the New Testament, this section in Peter's letter, beginning in chapter 3 and verse 13 and continuing, many expositors would say, all the way through to chapter 5 and verse 11, is of great concern because the subject is the Christian as he faces suffering for Christ's sake

5:02 or for what is termed here, for righteousness' sake. Having given some introductory perspectives in verses 13 to 17, starting in verse 18, Peter directs the attention of these suffering saints to the great sufferer, even the Lord Jesus. And he begins by saying, because Christ also suffered. and he sets before them the ways in which there is a parallel between the sufferings of Christ and the sufferings of his people.

5:38 Then he goes on to show that there are ways in which the sufferings of Christ are absolutely unique. They were sufferings for sin. They were sufferings once for all. They were sufferings the righteous for the unrighteous one.

5:54 They were sufferings calculated to bring us to God. And when he is dealing with the subject of Christ's sufferings, he makes plain at the end of verse 18 that they were sufferings unto death and sufferings that issued in resurrection. He writes, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit, that is, resurrected by a literal, physical, bodily resurrection in the realm of the activity and power of the Holy Spirit. And then he says that it is in that particular realm that Christ went and preached to spirits who are now in prison.

The Connection Between Noah's Flood and Baptism

6:42 And he went to them in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing, while they were being disobedient, while God was speaking through Noah, it was Christ himself by the Spirit, ministering to that majority of those who despised God's truth, despised His standard of righteousness, but God graciously preserved Noah and his family. To be precise, eight were preserved. And now look at the text. He describes their preservation in this language at the end of verse 20. Eight souls were saved through water. The water that came down upon the old world and inundated it in judgment

7:34 was the very water that bore those in the ark to safety and into the new world. The waters that judged the world and the old world was the very water that carried Noah and his family in mercy and grace safely into the new world. And no sooner does Peter mention that function of water in conjunction with Noah and the flood. But he then goes on to say in verse 21, which also, which water that is, also, after a true likeness does now save you, even baptism, not the putting away of

8:21 the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation, the inquiry, the appeal of a good conscience toward God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Having stated that Noah and his family were rescued or saved through water, Peter's mind is now drawn by the Spirit of God to another kind of water and to another kind of salvation. I want you to see that connection with your own eyeballs in your own Bibles. He has mentioned a salvation, a deliverance in conjunction with water. Eight souls were saved or rescued through water. And now Peter's mind, under the impress of the Spirit of God, makes a connection between another salvation and another water. And this salvation is spiritual salvation, and this water is the water of baptism.

9:23 Now before you flood your mind with all your questions, what does he mean water saves and baptism? Just see the connection that was in Peter's head. Remember now, he's writing under the peculiar promised assistance of the Spirit of God unique to an apostle. Christ is bringing to remembrance his own word and teaching to Peter.

9:45 And as Peter speaks of eight souls rescued or saved through water, he says, and that water of the ancient flood through which the eight were rescued has a counterpart. It has something that answers to it in another water and in another kind of salvation. And that's the transition from verse 20 into verse 21. Now the moment we park on verse 21, we understand that when one of the commentators writes that the grammar itself is puzzling at best, To the best of Greek scholars, we know that that is not an overstatement. All you need do is do what I've done in my preparation, and that is take down your various Bible translations.

Navigating the Difficult Grammar of 1 Peter 3:21

10:33 And any responsible translation is a translation either by a committee of scholars or an individual Greek scholar trying to represent in contemporary English something of the mind of God in the original language. listen to the variety of ways in which scholars express what Peter wrote. The RSV, eight persons were saved through water. 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 clear conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

11:17 The New English Bible, Eight in all were brought safely through the water. This water prefigured the water of baptism, through which you are now brought to safety. Baptism is not the washing away of bodily pollution, but the appeal made to God by a good conscience, and it brings salvation through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The New International Version.

11:44 Eight in all were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you. 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. And I could go on as I have read other translations.

12:09 Why? Because the grammar is not that clear. The language at some points is difficult. But remember the principles I gave you last week.

12:19 When you come to a difficult passage and there are differing understandings of the passage, that understanding is most likely the mind of the Spirit of God if it passes that threefold test. Do you remember what it was? Number one, does no violence to the language itself. It is never right to be shut up to an interpretation of any passage that does violence to the language of the Spirit of God.

12:47 For the Scriptures come to us inspired by the Holy Spirit in the very choice of the words, 1 Corinthians 2.12. Secondly, it must be an understanding and an explanation of the passage that does not introduce novel doctrines or overturn established doctrines in the Word of God. God will not teach something in one obscure place that is a novelty or that overturns what is clearly taught in many other places.

13:20 And then thirdly, the right understanding of a passage will be one in which our understanding fits the setting, the context, the flow of the author's thought and purpose in writing. As someone has said, context in biblical understanding is king. What is the author driving at? What is his purpose?

The Treasure Hunt: Clues to Salvation

13:42 So in the explanation that I offer this morning, I offer it with a good conscience, not that I have an infallible understanding to impart to you, but that I will do no violence to the language of the text, I will introduce no novel doctrine nor overturn any established doctrine, and I will not be insensitive to the context. Having then sought to establish with you how Peter moves from eight souls saved or rescued through water into another salvation and another kind of water, I want you to consider with me three statements that I trust will be helpful in opening up the passage in your hearing. And as we do, I want you to think of it in this way.

14:28 If we were on a treasure hunt, and we realized that all of our looking at the clues and following the suggestion of the clues was with this end in view, that we were going to come to a bonafide treasure at the end of our hunt. I want you to imagine with me that you've come to the last two clues before the treasure itself. And you come to the penultimate clue, that is the second to the last clue. And you look at that clue and it gives you some hint as to where the next clue will be. And you follow it and lo and behold, you do come to the final clue. And then it points you to the treasure. You follow that clue and lo and behold, the treasure is in your hands. Now that's

15:14 basically what we have in this passage. The second to the last clue is eight souls were saved through water. Peter says that water and that salvation points to another water and to another salvation. And when we go to examine that water and that salvation, it points us to the treasure. And the treasure is real salvation based upon the redemptive work of Christ that produces by the grace of God a good conscience in the presence of God.

Statement 1: The Counterpart Between Flood Waters and Baptismal Waters

15:50 Now you say, well, why did Peter reason that way? That's not yours or mine to ask. The fact that by the Spirit of God he did lays the onus upon us to go on the treasure hunt and to be prepared to say we move from clue number two from the end to clue number one to the treasure itself Alright Statement number one The waters of the flood have a counterpart in or similarity to the waters of Christian baptism If anything is established in our text, this is established. The waters of the flood have a counterpart in or a similarity to the waters of Christian baptism.

16:38 No sooner has Peter written that Noah and his family were saved through or by means of water, verse 20, but that he uses a word which speaks of likeness or correspondence. If you were living in the ancient Greek world and you were to describe what you had between a plaster of Paris mold and the thing that came out of that mold, this is the word you would use. There is a correspondence, a likeness between the mold and the thing molded. just before the VBS someone who was involved in preparing the crafts for the children showed me this lovely little plaster of Paris

17:23 I forgot what they were but I know they were nice and smooth and they had a whole bunch of them they were part of the craft time for the kids and one thing I knew about every one of those little plaster of Paris objects is that it was the exact counterpart of the mold from which it came The liquid plaster of Paris was poured into the mold, and it became the counterpart answering to the mold. Now that's the word you would have used. That's the word Peter uses here. Now look at your Bible and see how it makes sense.

17:59 Eight souls were saved through water, which, that is, which water through which the eight souls were saved in the time of the flood has a counterpart now. And that counterpart is to be found in the water of Christian baptism. And here Peter uses a word baptisma, which is not found in secular Greek literature. It is a distinctively New Testament Christian word.

18:34 It is the word first found in conjunction with the baptism of John. That's our word. John came preaching a baptism of repentance. And throughout the gospel records it is the word used to describe the baptism of John.

18:53 It is the word in Ephesians 4, 5. One Lord, one faith, one baptism.

19:01 Colossians 2, 12. buried with him in baptism. Now then, come back to my statement. The waters of the flood have a counterpart in or similarity to the waters of Christian baptism.

19:18 How do we know it? Because Peter says, eight souls were saved through water, which water has a counterpart in the waters of Christian baptism. Now, keep your questions down. We've got to work through together.

19:35 I said in the previous hour, there are three labor rooms for a preacher. The labor of understanding the text, the labor of knowing how to lay out the text, and the labor of doing the job of communicating the fruit of his labors. So, be patient with me now. This is the best I know how to do it.

19:55 There may be others who can do it better, but they aren't here, and I am, so you've got to stick with me, all right? You say, but pastor, why in the world would Peter make a connection between waters that inundated the world, carried an ark to the surface of those waters, and what happened to all those Christians in Asia Minor when they got baptized? What in the world is the connection? Why in the world would Peter make a connection like that?

20:20 Well, maybe that's a question you can ask him when you get to heaven, if you get there. but remember, remember Peter has thought long about this incident of the flood it loomed large in Peter's thinking about all reality it's not only here in this passage he can't write to suffering saints up there in Asia Minor all the way from the city of Rome thinking of those believers about to face more intense baptism of persecution and suffering He not only points them to Christ, the great sufferer, and that they are to draw comfort from him, but he points back to that time when Noah and his family were indeed the minority community in the midst of a horrible state of ungodliness and unbelief and sensuality and wickedness.

21:13 and he draws comfort from the incident of the generation at the time of the flood in order to encourage God's people. And when he writes his second letter in chapter 2, he goes back to his flood theology again. He says, look, if God spared not angels but cast them down, if God did not spare the ancient world, he was thinking again of the flood. And in chapter 3 of 2 Peter, he goes back to his flood theology.

21:46 He says, people who are uniformitarian in their view of history, things continue now as they always have. All we heard about the second coming, everything continues. He said, this they willfully forget. And what does he focus upon?

21:59 They forget that the world then was overflowed with water. You see, Peter's mind dwelt long and deeply upon the subject of the flood. And it's like an illustrated site. What happens with you and me if we go out and we get out into a field where there isn't a lot of junk light?

22:20 We can lie down on our backs and look up at the starry vault. Upon a first glance we say, how in the world did people name all the constellations? I see nothing but a mass of unrelated stars. But then the longer you lie there and begin to look, you start making the connections.

22:38 You say, ah, I see Orion's belt. And I see his sword. And suddenly you can see Orion. And you say, I don't see a bear.

22:49 Well, wait a minute. And you begin to connect this star. I see the great bear. And the big dipper.

22:55 And the little dipper. And what may not come at first sight becomes very plain upon long, concentrated, reflective sight. Peter had concentrated long and hard and reflected deeply and under the influence of the Spirit of God he is brought to see a tremendous counterpart in and similarity between the waters of the flood and the waters of Christian baptism I hope I persuaded you of that simple statement from the text of Scripture now second thing Now my job of persuading is going to be a little more difficult. But if you go where the text goes, you're going to go with me.

Statement 2: Christian Baptism Described as Effecting Salvation

23:40 Your feet may drag a little bit, but you're going to go with me. Remember the old white owl ad? Sooner or later we're going to get you. That's a horrible thing to use in the midst of preaching.

23:50 But it came to my mind. It wasn't in my notes, so I said it. All right. Here's the second statement.

23:55 Not only does the text teach that the waters of the flood have a counterpart or similarity to the waters of Christian baptism, but the waters of Christian baptism are described as effecting salvation. The waters of Christian baptism are described as effecting salvation. Look at the text. Eight souls were saved through water, rescued through water, which also after a true likeness does now save you even baptism.

24:37 And this is why some of the translators are not at all ashamed to put the word baptism forward in their translation to make that meaning all the more clear. This water symbolizes baptism that now saves you. New International Version. New English Bible, this water prefigured the waters of baptism through which you are brought to safety.

25:07 RSV, eight persons were saved through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you. Folks, you can't get around it. The text says, baptism now saves you.

25:23 Now, you ready to all get up and cause a revolution and throw this preacher out of the pulpit? You've got to throw Peter out of 1 Peter first. By the Holy Ghost, Peter writes, baptism now saves you. baptism. And remember, he uses a word that means the ordinance, the ritual of Christian baptism in water. Baptism, now in this gospel age, at this time, baptism literally, he uses a present tense form of the verb sozo, is saving you. Soze. Baptism is saving you. Now That's what the text says.

26:09 And you talk about labor stage number two. Understanding what the text says, and then laboring to know how to state it. I said, Lord, that's too harsh on the ears of my dear people, as it's been harsh on my own eyeballs. I've got to say, the waters of Christian baptism are described as picturing salvation.

26:31 As illustrating salvation. But you know why I kept striking out those words? Because the more I looked at my text, I said, I'm not being honest with the words of the Holy Ghost. Look at the text. See it with your own eyes.

26:46 Baptism now saves.

26:50 New King James, there is also an antitype which now saves us. Baptism. There is something answering to the waters of the flood that saved the eight. And it is baptism.

27:05 And the translators of the New King James and the NIV were not sacramentalists who believed salvation is in any amount of water applied anyway by whomever. But they were being honest with the words of the Holy Ghost. The waters of Christian baptism were described as effecting salvation. Baptism is now saving you.

27:30 That's what it says. now what in the world did Peter mean? well we know this much whatever he meant to say here by the guidance of the Holy Spirit he was not cancelling everything he had already written in this letter about how sinners are saved and everything that it is recorded of his preaching in the book of Acts concerning how people get saved certainly we give to Peter just as an ordinary man of integrity enough horse sense that he's not going to speak in contradictory mumbo-jumbo, let alone an apostle guided by the Holy Spirit. What did he already taught about salvation in this letter?

28:11 He taught that we are saved by God's grace in Jesus Christ. Chapter 1, verses 3 and 4. Blessed be the God who has begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, fazed not away, reserved in heaven for us who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Chapter 1, verses 18 and 19.

28:37 We are redeemed not with corruptible things such as silver and gold but with precious blood, even the blood of Christ. Chapter 1, verse 23. Having been begotten again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, not through water but through the word of God. Whatever Peter's saying here, baptism saves.

28:55 Whatever he's saying, whatever he means, he is not overturning all he has previously taught in this epistle. He's not contradicting what he preached in his recorded sermons in the book of Acts. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Acts 4 and verse 12.

29:17 What is he doing? Now listen very carefully. Listen to what he's doing. In the thinking of the New Testament preachers and writers, the thing signified, salvation, and the sign of that, baptism, are so intertwined that there are times when they speak of the sign without even identifying or explaining the thing signified.

29:49 Now let me try to illustrate. But you've got to get that terminology. You must be acquainted with that terminology. The sign and the thing signified.

29:58 Here's a father been praying that God would give his daughter a godly husband. And after a long wait and much prayer, there's been godly parental involvement and counsel in the whole process of acquaintance, serious courtship. and now one day the father says to his daughter dear when do you think John is going to put a ring on your finger?

30:26 Now what does the father want and what does the father mean by that question? Does he simply want his daughter to come home with a metal object with some precious gem stuck in the middle of it hanging on her finger irrespective of her relationship to this man that he knows and has come to respect and believes would be a worthy marriage partner. No. He's using the sign, the ring on the finger, for the thing signified, the commitment of this young man to marry his daughter. And she fully understands when he says to her, dear, is this guy ever going to put a ring on your finger? What does he mean? Is he ever going to make the commitment leading to marriage? He mentions the sign for the thing signified. And she fully understands

31:12 that. If all she thought when he said, when are you going to have a ring on your finger that it would make Pappy happy just to have a band of gold or silver with a precious stone in it, she'd go out and buy a ring and come home and say, aren't you glad, Dad? He said, when's the wedding date? She said, ain't no wedding date. I thought you just wanted a ring on my finger. I wanted to please you. He'd say, dear, you know better than that.

31:34 I was simply mentioning the ring as a sign of the thing signified. You all following me? All right, I'll give you another illustration. Back in the days when warfare was real warfare, hand-to-hand combat.

31:48 Perhaps you've seen this in history books, in pictorial representations of real battles. Critical to hand-to-hand combat in those days was the standard of the army, of the nation. And when they would go out to war, you always had the standard bearer, the one who carried the flag at the head of the army. And if the army was being defeated if the flag bearer were slain or shot or a sword pierced him and the colors fell to the ground it would be demoralizing to all of the fighting troops And I want you to picture a situation in which the battle has turned against a given army And there is a lessening of the overall morale in their leaders who are about to call the troops to defeat and to raise a white flag when suddenly someone runs into the midst of the conquering forces

32:39 and rescues the colors of that fighting force and raises them high and calls attention to their standard. And suddenly there surges through all of the strength and energy of the fighting force a new sense that we can win the day. And alas, at the end of the day, they rout their enemies. And when they come home that night and they speak about it, they say, our colors save the day.

33:08 Our standard won the battle for us. What do they mean? They don't mean that the flag suddenly picked up sword and musket and routed the enemy, but that was the sign for the thing signified. It became the occasion of drawing forth the nerve and the vigor and the adrenaline rush necessary to conquer the enemy.

33:32 Well, when we come to the New Testament, that's how we find baptism treated. And if you don't understand that, you're not going to make sense out of a lot of passages in the Bible. Now, turn to Acts 22 and verse 16.

33:45 Acts 22 and verse 16.

33:51 Ananias has been directed by God to go in and assist Saul of Tarsus, whom God is arrested by his grace. Now notice what he says to Saul of Tarsus in verse 16. And now why are you carrying? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins calling on the name of the Lord.

34:17 Arise and be baptized washing away your sins.

34:24 Now was Ananias inferring or imparting to Paul some wonderful knowledge that his sins, his sins of blasphemy, his sins of murder, his sins of unbelief could be washed away in the waters of baptism? Of course not. Of course not. But you see, the sign and the things signified are so closely identified that one can stand for the other.

34:53 Arise and be baptized, washing away your sins, calling upon the name of the Lord. Those sins are washed away efficaciously in the blood of Christ, symbolically in the waters of baptism. The sign stands for the thing signified. And you find this in other incidents in the Word of God.

35:19 I don't want to labor the point. But now, that being so, let's come back to statement number two. I've established from the text I trust to the persuasion of your judgment, The waters of the flood have a counterpart in or are similar to the waters of Christian baptism. Secondly, the waters of Christian baptism are described as effecting our salvation.

Statement 3: The Explicit Definition of Saving Baptism

35:46 In the like manner or in the counterpart, baptism also is saving us. Baptism is so identified with another reality that it can be said to save us. But now then we come thirdly, and I hope you've followed with me, and if so, then you'll find some sense of release, I trust, as we come to statement three. The salvation which Christian baptism effects is explicitly defined.

36:20 The salvation which Christian baptism effects is explicitly defined. Look at the text. which Christian baptism effects is explicitly defined both negatively and positively. Look at the negative. Negatively, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh. Peter, what is the baptism

37:14 that now saves us? He said, I'll tell you what it's not. It is not to be found in an external, carnal ritual of cleansing. That's not the baptism that saves you.

37:32 Oh, but Peter, did not our baptism result in an external carnal cleansing of the body? Were we not plunged beneath the water? Were we not brought up out of the water? Were we not in that sense as thoroughly cleansed as we would be with our Saturday night bath?

37:54 Peter says well that may be true but that's not the baptism that saves. The baptism that saves is not found in an external carnal ritual.

38:09 That's the negative. But now positively look at the text. Not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the interrogation, the inquiry, the appeal. You say, Pastor, why in the world don't you use one word?

38:26 Because I don't know what the word was that Peter used, what it's meaningless. The word is, Eperotema.

38:35 And it's used only here in the New Testament. Only here in the New Testament. The verb, Eperitao, is found many times in the New Testament. It means to ask a question.

38:47 They came to Jesus and they asked him. They made an inquiry. Well, if the verb is to ask to make an inquiry, why can't the noun simply be understood as an inquiry? Because there's no other use of it to establish it.

39:00 Very little help is gained from secular Greek literature, and therefore, it's one of those words, we have to say, we don't really know for certain what Peter meant by the use of this word. Hence the differing translations, the interrogation, The asking of a good conscience from God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The appeal that one has attained a good conscience from God. The seeking after a good conscience.

39:32 All of those things are possible understandings. And the various commentators will set forth the possibilities, defend their preference. And at the end of the day, anyone serious about finding out the meaning throws his hands up and says, it all depends which commentator I've read on a given day. But one thing is clear, and this I want you to see.

39:54 The salvation which baptism effects is an internal spiritual reality based upon the saving work of Christ. How do we know that? Look again at the text. not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, whether we understand it the interrogation of a good conscience, that is an appeal to God for a good conscience, a pledge to God proceeding from a good conscience, the baptism that saves has to do with a man's conscience in the presence of Almighty God.

40:28 That's the point that's unmistakably clear from the text. How the conscience relates to God we don't know, but the text is unmistakably clear. What is conscience? Conscience is that moral monitor that brings us into the theater of God's rights to tell us what's right and what's wrong and to condemn us for the wrong and to approve us for the right.

40:50 That's the function of conscience. Romans 2. It accuses or excuses. That little moral monitor.

40:56 We wish we could shoot him dead a thousand times over. He will not die. We may choke him Until his voice is fairly heard. We may starve him.

41:07 We may brainwash him. But he's a stubborn internal monitor. Who unless we are utterly abandoned by God. Continues to function within us.

41:18 And the only way to attain a good conscience. In the presence of almighty God. Is to have that conscience washed in the blood of Christ. Hebrews 9.14 speaks of cleansing our consciences by the blood of Christ.

41:35 And so Peter is saying the baptism that saves is not a baptism that involves a mere external carnal ritual. But one that is found in conjunction with an internal spiritual reality of a conscience cleansed in the blood of Christ. that in repentance and faith has owned its guilt and held deservingness in the presence of Almighty God, has recognized that conscience can never be silenced in its legitimate voice by works, by strivings, by vows, by resolution, by external rituals and forms. you let your conscience one begin to speak as it ought

42:21 in the presence of Almighty God and it will terrify you and drive you mad until you find rest for that conscience in the sheltering blood of an immolated Savior.

42:38 And Peter is saying the baptism that saves is that baptism that is found in conjunction with a sinner who has owned his guilt, who has seen the utter futility of resolving the question of guilt by his own works and his own deeds. And he has fled for refuge to Jesus Christ, the uplifted serpent hung upon a cross. And he finds in the plunging activity of faith that conscience is cleansed and is pacified. The salvation which baptism effects is comprised of an internal spiritual reality.

43:18 It is the answer, the interrogation, the confession of, the petition for, however we translate it, of a good conscience, eis theos, eis in the direction of, with reference to God Himself. And then it is based upon the once for all objective saving work of Christ. Look at the text. But the answer, the inquiry, the pledge of a good conscience toward God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

43:50 The Christ whom he described in verse 18 as delivered up to death. He was put to death. The Christ who was raised. Now we are told that this good conscience toward God is predicated upon the consummation of the redemptive work of Christ in resurrection, heavenly ascension and session at the right hand of God.

44:16 Verse 22, see what Peter is saying, the baptism that saves is not an empty formal ritual of water. It is a ritual of water, yes, but when that ritual of water is being undertaken by a worthy recipient of that ritual, It is found in conjunction with this heart experience of the cleansing of the conscience by the blood of Christ based upon the once for all objective saving work of Christ culminating in his resurrection and his ascension to the right hand of the Father on high. That's the way baptism saves. Not the putting away of the filth of the flesh,

Pastoral Significance for Suffering Saints

45:05 but the answer, the pledge, the seeking of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, have you followed me through the three statements? We've gone from our clues to our treasure. The waters of the flood have a counterpart in the waters of Christian baptism.

45:31 Eight souls were rescued through water, which in the antitype, which in the counterpart, which by way of similarity point to the water of baptism. The waters of Christian baptism are described as effecting salvation. Baptism now saves you. The sign stands for the things signified.

45:57 Thirdly, the salvation which Christian baptism affects is explicitly defined. It does not consist of an external carnal physical ritual, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh. But it does consist of an internal spiritual reality based on the saving work of Christ, the appeal of a good conscience towards God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now you say, Pastor, what in the world would that say to a group of suffering saints up in Asia Minor in the first century?

46:30 Well, I hope you can begin to see the significance. As Noah and his family were objects of God's grace and entered into the ark and were rescued through the water from the deluge and judgment on the old world and emerged as the new humanity into the new world. Now, you see, it wasn't far-fetched that Peter would see a connection. You see the connection?

46:58 What do we say in baptism? We stand with God's assessment on this world, that it stands under God's judgment, and we were a part of it. We were immersed in its perspectives about life and truth and morality and meaning and all the rest. Now we have come to see that we were dead wrong, all wrong, and we stood under judgment.

47:25 And we see that God's judgment upon this world has been spoken definitively in the cross of Christ. And God has condemned this world system when it put Jesus to death. God was condemning it, showing this world for what it is. That's why Paul could say, God forbid that I should glory in the cross by which the world is crucified to me and I to the world.

47:49 The cross defines which side of the world we're on. And in baptism we say, that which I was as part of this world system has been handed over to the judgment of God. It stands under the condemnation of the law of God. In the cross of Christ it received definitive judgment.

48:08 and I agree with God that what God did to me in Christ was right. He put his curse upon me in Christ. But united to Christ in the virtue of his death, burial, and resurrection, I've risen to newness of life. I risen to new life in union with Christ Romans 6 Romans 6 theology is all here in seminal form And I have been raised with Christ And what was it that marked my transition from my involvement in the world slated for judgment and handed over to judgment in the cross of Christ, in the new life that I have, in the virtue of His life, His resurrection life?

48:49 The transition was my baptism. In my baptism I symbolically and openly declared I agree with God about what I was and what this world is. And I agree with God about who his son is and what is offered to sinners in him. It wasn't far-fetched for Peter to see a parallel, a resonance between the waters of the flood, judging the ungodly through which the godly are rescued and brought into the new world.

49:21 So he says to these suffering saints up in Asia Minor, Think back upon the significance of your baptism. You stand in the generation of Noah and the godly seed. You've been rescued. You've been rescued unto identification with Christ.

49:38 And he'll go on to say in chapter 4, For as much as Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same mind. He that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. Whatever that means in its particulars, you see the parallel. And he wants them to be comforted.

49:54 From the fact that their baptism declares the very essence and nature of their salvation. What do you expect from a world that God has judged? What do you expect from a world that stands under his judgment? That stands in the blindness in which you were once found?

50:11 What do you Christians expect? You see the comfort this would bring to the children of God. derived from the realism of their own baptism as it in turn finds a counterpart in the waters of the flood. Well, that's my present understanding of the passage.

Call to Commitment and Loyalty to Christ

50:33 That's my present understanding of its primary relevance to the suffering saints then and now. My friend, listen, you who are wrestling with whether or not you want to become a Christian, settle it right now. There's no way you're going to become a Christian and float into heaven embracing this present world or having this world embrace you. No way.

50:57 Whosoever would be a friend of the world, James says, is the enemy of God. You have to take your choice. You have God as your enemy and the world as your friend. You have God as your friend in Christ and have the world as your enemy.

51:10 That's it. Just that simple. and I say again today as I said last Lord's Day dear young people you resist with every fiber of your being anyone who tells you you can have Christ cut the world stripped of its grosser manifestations of rebellion against God no refined worldliness is worldliness still and whosoever would be a friend of the world refined or unrefined is an enemy of God Jesus said if they hated me they'll hate you now does that mean we go around looking for trouble no you don't need to look for it it'll come you just be loyal to Christ you just be loyal to Christ and it'll come and when it does come

51:56 and you begin to have a pity party you say wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute Christ also suffered Lord Jesus help me to fix my eyes on you you also suffered a righteous one for unrighteous ones. You suffered in the way of righteousness. You suffered and in your sufferings you accomplished the highest good. Your sufferings led from a cross to a throne.

52:22 Lord Jesus, may I ever keep my eyes upon you as the great sufferer, as I suffer in the way of righteousness. As I suffer, you've said, the suffering that comes to me will produce good in me and in others. And if we suffer with him, we should be glorified together with him. And then think that you are not the first sufferer.

52:44 In the days of Noah, eight souls were saved. Noah, a preacher of righteousness, we have from extra biblical sources some very interesting historical information of people actually quoting what is ostensibly the kind of mockery that Noah received from the hand of his contemporaries. We are in the fellowship of Noah and those that went into the ark with him. We have fled into God's ark, the Lord Jesus.

53:14 We have seen God deliver us from the judgment that belongs to our portion. We have emerged into newness of life in union with Christ. We think back upon our baptism. What was it?

53:27 It wasn't some kind of a lark. It wasn't some silly, stupid, superstitious notion that by going down underwater we'd get our sins washed away. It was our declaration we stand with God in His judgment upon the world and upon sin. And that we are irrevocably committed to Jesus Christ to be His now and His forever.

53:49 His, no matter what the cost. That's the significance of the passage. and I now confess one of the reasons I didn't start preaching through 1 Peter for several years after I said I was going to I was scared to death of this passage didn't have a clue what it meant know a little bit more not much more but I'm ready to preach what it says my friend if you would be Christ's line up with a despised and a rejected Savior and you'll be found lined up with him in his exaltation at the last day now in closing I must say just a word about Peter's theology of baptism that undergirds all of this and without which he could never have used such

Peter's Theology of Baptism: Anti-Sacramental and Conscience-Based

54:34 vigorous language about baptism I tried to show you the primary application in the context I tried to be honest with the word I claim no infallibility but I do pillow my head tonight with a good conscience that I've not knowingly twisted the scriptures but do you see the theology of baptism that lies behind Peter's ability to use such vigorous language? Notice, for Peter, for Peter, an apostle, baptism has no inherent saving power or merit. He says the baptism that saves is not the putting away of the filth of the flesh. Isn't it ironic that the so-called first Pope is the first

55:20 and eloquent outstanding anti-sacramentalist. The human heart is so full of superstition and its desire to be like God, if it can get God in conjunction with a ritual, it'll do it. And the horrible, so damning delusion of baptismal regeneration, that where the water has gone, grace has come, is a horrible delusion. A horrible delusion. It finds no substance in the language of the apostle. Baptism saves not the watery ritual. No significance or saving power or merit in itself. Furthermore, it has no significance

56:05 apart from the activity of an active enlightened conscience. Do you see that in your Bibles? Baptism saves not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer, the pledge, the seeking after, the inquiry. Use any word that fits the full spectrum of linguistic corpus.

56:29 And one thing you can't get away, for Peter, baptism and an active conscience are joined together. And babies have no active conscience. My friends, infant baptism has no exegetical basis in the biblical doctrine of New Testament baptism. And all of its justification in covenant theology and in God's dealings with the nation of Israel fall to the ground.

56:57 Peter says the baptism he knows about and that as an apostle he authorized and practiced is a baptism that as surely as it has no inherent magical saving power it has no significance where there is not the activity of an enlightened conscience I'm sorry I have dear friends who put water on little Willie but they don't put water on Willie getting their theology of baptism from the words of Peter. They don't get them there.

57:38 Furthermore, it only has saving significance according to Peter in conjunction with a believing embrace of the central truth of the gospel. Baptism saves you not an external watery rite but in conjunction with the answer, the inquiry, the pledge of a good conscience before God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The assumption is that the one who attains a good conscience attains it in the context of vigorous doctrinal preaching of the gospel. Not is your life all messed up?

58:17 You want to get your act together? Somehow Jesus fits into the scheme of things. Go run to him and he'll fix you up. No, he said by the resurrection.

58:25 In other words, there is a preaching of the significance of the need for the saving work of Christ. The reality that he died and was buried and the third day rose again from the dead. And that in his name repentance and remission of sin is preached among the nations. This is the Petrine theology of baptism.

The Universality of Baptism for True Believers

58:45 And furthermore, we learn from this passage, as far as Peter is concerned, all true believers were baptized.

58:55 He didn't say, in which, that is, eight souls were rescued through water, in which water there is a counterpart of the baptism that saves some of you. No. All of the elect sojourners to whom he wrote chapter 1 and verse 1, he assumes that all of the elect sojourners have been baptized.

59:21 You see that? what other conclusion can you come to just as he can assume all of them have been begotten again through a living hope by the resurrection of Christ all have been redeemed by the blood of Christ all have been regenerated through the instrumentality of the word of God all the spiritual experience that he's described in the preceding chapters when he comes to chapter 3 he doesn't suddenly split believers into two categories those who have been baptized and those who haven't Dear people, I want to be honest and say that in our reaction against the sacramental view of baptism, I fear, I, I'm confessing, Albert N. Martin, I fear I have not given to this ordinance the place the apostles gave it.

60:05 It has no saving virtue? No. But as God's appointed means of declaring that we've embraced the saving virtue of Jesus, it is not optional. and to the extent that saving faith is obedient faith refusal to be baptized can be an indication of a heart insubmissive to God in Christ Peter can assume that all professed believers were baptized and furthermore he assumes that whatever their baptism was some might mistake that it cleansed wholly, fully from external filth not the putting away the filth of the flesh no one would call that

60:50 the putting away the filth of the flesh six drops on Willie's forehead or on Willie's papa now I don't want to be cheeky but when people say well the mold is a matter of indifference is it? do you think Peter would ever have made a connection under the guidance of the spirit between the flood waters that brought judgment upon the world brought Noah and his family on the crest of the waters into the new world?

61:18 And a few drops on Willie's forehead? I doubt it.

61:22 Would anyone think that a few drops were effective to wash away the filth of the flesh? I doubt it. Here is another strong inference that for Peter and for all of his contemporaries, This baptism was indeed a plunging into and an emergence out of the water that God had ordained not to be a substitute for the blood of Christ, but to be the bond of the sinner's commitment to Christ and to the virtue of his blood. and the declaration in the presence of God and before men that through the resurrection of Christ one had attained and was committed to a life of a good conscience.

Conclusion: The Sign and the Signified

62:08 So you see, I have no reservation saying to every unconverted person here, if you don't have what baptism signifies, you're not a Christian. Now I can go from the thing signified to the sign. If you're not baptized, you're not a Christian. See what I did?

62:24 Now, don't separate what I said. If you don't have what baptism signifies, you're not a Christian. If you don't have baptism, you're not a Christian. In what sense do I mean that?

62:37 Am I saying that unless you've been under the water, you've found no grace? No, what I'm saying is unless you possess what is signified by that watery plunge and that emergence out of the water, you're not a Christian. To be a Christian is to have what baptism signifies. it is to have a union with Christ in the virtue of his death, burial, and resurrection.

63:00 A union in which you too consciously and deliberately die to this world and its standards and its goals and bless God to its judgment. And severed from it, united to Christ, you walk in the strength of Christ in newness of life. Well, may God help us, dear people, to lay to heart what in days to come may be far more precious to us. If God does not turn the tide in our own nation, I believe some of you sitting here barring the return of Christ will know a measure of real suffering for Christ that some of us have never known.

63:39 May God help you to store up this portion of His Word and fortify you against the evil day. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for your Holy Word. We thank you for the enabling grace of the Holy Spirit who in answer to our prayers does help us to understand, albeit imperfectly, even those obscure passages.

64:08 We thank you for this passage. Pray that you would write its truth upon our hearts. Be merciful to those who this day know that they are under your judgment. Conscience is accusing them.

64:21 Oh, that they may find the answer of a good conscience by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We pray for those who have attained that conscience, who have not been obedient to the mandate to be baptized. We pray you would have dealings with them. we ask you Father to graciously use your word in all the ways that you as a sovereign God are able to use it dismiss us now with your blessing and your grace resting upon us we ask in Jesus name Amen