First Peter 3:21
Another verse used by those who teach that water baptism is necessary for salvation is 1st. Peter 3:21. Here the Scripture says, " The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward GOD) by the resurrection of JESUS CHRIST." The preceding verse, verse 20, tells of how Noah and his family were saved in the ark. The verse says, "...when once the longsuffering of GOD waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water."
There is no difficulty with these verses once you understand the expression, " The like figure." The ark was a figure, a type, a picture of Salvation. That is what the Scripture plainly says.
Noah and his family, saved from the Flood by the ark, is a picture, a figure of our Salvation through CHRIST. Noah and his family were saved by getting into the ark, not by getting into the water. They were trusting the ark for their safety, not the water.
The expression in verse 20, " eight souls were saved by water," does not mean they were saved by being baptized. As a matter of fact, Noah and his family didn't even get into the water. They were on the Ark, safe from the water. All those who got into the water were lost. They drowned. The only ones who were saved were those who didn't get wet at all. How foolish, then, to take these verses, and try to teach that one is saved by being baptized in water !
One must also keep in mind that the word "saved" here does not mean spiritual Salvation. It simply has reference to being saved from physical destruction by the Flood. If you will read the early chapters in Genesis, you will discover that Noah was saved by grace before the Flood ever came.
In verse 21 the Bible clearly says that baptism does NOT put away the filth of the flesh. It goes on to say that it is simply the answer of a good conscience toward GOD. The man who is baptized should already have a good conscience toward GOD because his sins are forgiven. One has a right to be baptized only AFTER his sins are forgiven and he has a good conscience toward GOD.
When the Ethiopian eunuch asked Philip in Acts 8:36, " See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized ? " Philip answered in verse 37, " If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. " The eunuch replied, " I believe that JESUS CHRIST is the SON of GOD. " Philip then baptized him.
Baptism always follows Salvation. It never precedes it. It is always and only, in the words of Peter, " the answer of a good conscience toward GOD." The very fact that one is baptized shows that the individual is professing a good conscience toward GOD, that his sins have already been forgiven.
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