Baptism Saves You

Sermon transcript

Please be seated and turn with me this morning please to 1 Peter 3. 1 Peter 3. We will begin reading in verse 13, though our primary consideration this morning will be verses 21 and 22. 1 Peter 3. Who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. But in your hearts, regard Christ the Lord as holy. Always prepare to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

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, which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formally 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. 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, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. This is the Word of God. Let’s pray together.

Our Father, we know the glorious truth that those whose trespasses have been forgiven are greatly blessed. The wicked will suffer your judgment. But those who have sought you in Christ Jesus, our Savior, for mercy will find it. They will know forgiveness. They will know new life because of what Christ suffered and because of His exaltation in His resurrection. We come today with newness of life because of that. And we know that the waters of baptism point to that great salvation that is ours in Jesus Christ. May we see this clearly today. May we rejoice in it, and may you, Holy Spirit, stir our hearts that we would be given to a new determination to have a good conscience in testifying of Christ and living righteously, even if we’re called to suffer. that our eyes, Lord Jesus, will be upon You who suffered for us, who made this life possible.

And we ask it all in Your name, Amen. In 2005, there was a Russian mini-submarine that got tangled up in some fishing nets. and ended up 600 feet at the depth of the sea. Unlike what happened in the year 2000, Russia appealed to other nations for help. In 2000, one of their Nuclear submarines encountered some problems as well. And Russia, because of its desire to be dependent only on itself and because of its boast of a superior navy, did not seek the help of others. 118 sailors died on that sub. This one only had seven, but they did reach out for help and the British came to the rescue and they had a robotic sub that went down to the Russian sub and cut away the fishing nets and freed the sub after it had been there for three days.

You can imagine what it would have been like for these sailors. They conserved as much as electricity as they could. They had the sailors get into these thermal suits and it was totally dark on the sub. They had them lay down on their backs and they told them to breathe as lightly as possible to conserve their energy and the oxygen, of course, on the submarine. It was as though 600 feet at the bottom of the ocean, they were just waiting to die. But they didn’t. They were all rescued. All seven sailors made it to the surface and their lives were spared. An article in the China Daily read, the headline read as follows, Russians recount cold, dark ordeal. A watery ordeal in these cold waters. And they were delivered through it. I share that story with you to tell you that this is not unlike the waters of baptism.

It is truly a watery ordeal. Some through that ordeal will be delivered. Others won’t. They will be judged. And we come, as we consider this passage this morning, to look at baptism and to consider this truth from Peter’s first epistle. The truth I bring to all of us today that we can rejoice in. There is a baptism that saves you. That’s exactly what Peter says. Well, let’s give consideration to this. As we look at a baptism which can save you. And I mean by that, the waters of baptism can save you. But we need to understand what Peter means when he talks about this. In a letter, of course, that is written Christians likely under the reign of Nero were undergoing a significant amount of persecution. And Peter was writing to remind them of all that they had in Jesus Christ.

How he does in chapter 1 when he says to them that they have been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They had salvation in Him. who died for them, who rose again for them. And then the passage that we read, he talks significantly about the suffering that they undergo, even as Christ underwent suffering, even as he talked about significantly in the previous chapter. And he urges them on to Good behavior. And basically says, nobody’s going to harm you if you’re zealous to do good, you’ll be blessed. Don’t be afraid. Just like Jesus said, don’t be afraid of people who the most they can do is kill you. And after that, they can’t do anything. Rather fear God who has the power to cast into hell. And then he says as he talks about them in the midst of this suffering, having a testimony in which they tell others of Christ, of the hope that is in them because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, they have this living hope.

And he tells them, as you testify of Christ, do it with gentleness, do it with respect, You know, the gospel is an offense to people, but you don’t need to be offensive when you relate it to them. And then he says something in verse 16 that as they testify, they ought to do it with a good conscience with lives that back up the hope they speak of. Because they’re going to be slandered, as the Christians were. They will revile your good behavior in Christ. But because you testify of Him with a good conscience, they, in the end, will be put to shame. Maybe not in this life, but definitely in the life to come. And then Peter says, it’s better to suffer for doing good if God should will that for you. And he does at times.

It’s better to suffer for doing good than it is for doing evil. No big deal if you suffer because of some wrong you’ve committed. But if you’re faithful to Christ, that is a big deal. Why? Because Christ suffered for you. the righteous one, perfectly, for you, the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God. And he could do so because he was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit by the power of the Holy Spirit, raised from the dead. Then he goes on to talk about salvation and judgment through water. And he says, in the days of Noah, God waited patiently while the ark was being prepared, giving the opportunity for people to repent. But obviously only a few were brought safely through the flood, eight persons, Noah and his family.

Now think for a moment about the waters of the flood, as you might think about the Red Sea crossing. There were waters in both of those accounts, but here we’re considering what’s taking place in the days of Noah, in which the water delivered some, but resulted in the judgment of most. They were drowned. They were judged. But in the ark, Noah and his family were delivered. Then he moves on from the flood to start talking about baptism. Water baptism. Baptism which corresponds to this. In other words, he’s saying, and it’s more clear in in the original here. Baptism exists as the anti-type of the flood. The flood was a type of baptism. As that which occurred at a certain time in the history of redemption, it was looking ahead to another event It was pointing us to Christ and His salvation and the baptism which represents it.

And then he says something amazing. Baptism, which the flood pointed to, now saves you. Like the waters of the flood saved Noah and his family. Now are we to conclude from this, as some do, as the Roman Catholic Church does, that there’s some power in the waters of baptism that regenerate or save somebody? John Calvin, when he looks at this passage, and maybe you’ll disagree with my interpretation of this, If you’re familiar with what Calvin says of this, he says, this is not, when Peter talks about baptism here, saving you, it’s efficacious. It has an effect. It truly does. John Calvin taught a form of baptismal regeneration. I don’t like to say that. Calvin’s one of my heroes. But he believed it was efficacious for the elect. There’s much more to be said about that, but we move on.

Peter qualifies what he’s saying by noting, the waters of baptism save you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, What’s he speaking of here? Some sort of ceremonial cleansing perhaps? There are those who believe Peter is here talking about the idea that Peter’s making very clear the fact that there is not some sort of magical power in the waters themselves. so that moral filth could be removed. Rather, the waters of baptism save you as they are an appeal to God for a good conscience, we read in the ESV. And commentators are divided over how do we understand this phrase. Is it, as we read in the ESV, an appeal for a good conscience, as if to say, when we’re baptized, we are, as we look at the fact that baptism represents the salvation we have in Jesus Christ, a spiritual cleansing. being buried in the likeness of his death and raised to walk in newness of life.

That when we’re baptized, we are appealing to God for the faith, the good conscience, the life that comes to back it up. Or, as others argue, is it the pledge of a good conscience? as some translations have. The NIV, for example. Well, I believe that is the case. Peter is saying this. The waters of baptism save you as they are attached to the pledge of a good conscience. What is that? You don’t see this phrase anywhere else in the New Testament. What’s he talking about? In summary, we can say, as Peter uses this type of language of being born again to a living hope, and as he talked about earlier in the chapter, responding to people who slander and persecute you with a good conscience, that he’s speaking about when he talks about the pledge of a good conscience of that new life that we have in Christ.

I remember when I was baptized at the age of 21 in a Baptist church and of course immersed And they dipped me back in the water, and they said, buried in the likeness of his death in the language of Romans 6. And then they brought me out of the water, raised to walk in newness of life.” That’s a wonderful picture of baptism and of the salvation we have in Jesus Christ. The pledge of a good conscience is simply a fact that we have been, those who were dead in our sin, And now united to Christ, buried with Him, have been raised with Him, as we’re united to Him, for a new life in Him. Now here’s the key, this phrase that comes next to let us know that it’s not the waters themselves that save you.

They save you as they’re attached to this newness of life through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The One who, having died and been buried in His humiliation, is now exalted as death could not hold Him because He never sinned. He was risen, He rose from the dead, and He ascended into heaven and is at the right hand of God with everything subjected to Him. in the fullness of His glory. Our baptism saves us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now notice earlier in the chapter, as it speaks about Jesus’ suffering put to death in the flesh, made alive in the Spirit, that baptism As it is a wonderful picture of salvation, many people often miss this. It isn’t just that. It is also a picture of judgment. I say that in relation to what we just read about Noah, the waters of the flood, We’re a means of salvation for some and a means of judgment for most.

So too, baptism depicts salvation and judgment. Why would I say that? Because of what we read of the baptism of Jesus Christ. And when I speak of that, I’m not talking about his water baptism so much as what he says in Luke 12. In Luke 12, after his baptism, he says to the disciples, I have a baptism to be baptized with. And in that context, he is speaking about his death on the cross. And Paul helps us to understand this in Colossians 2. Let’s turn there for a minute. As he speaks of circumcision, sign of the covenant, that we are the people of God, and then makes a transition to baptism as the sign of the new covenant for the people of God. Notice what he says. beginning in verse 11. In Him, Christ, also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.

We know As we have the image of Christ being cut off, as the people were cut off from the land, Christ was cut off. A depiction of circumcision and the cutting away of the foreskin. Paul here is not just speaking about the circumcision of the heart which occurs in believers, which it truly does. He’s talking about the circumcision of Christ by pointing out it is through the death of Jesus Christ that this occurs. That circumcision as it represented being set apart unto God by the cutting away of the foreskin. finds its fulfillment in the circumcision of Christ and his crucifixion. Christ, our circumcision. And then quickly he makes a transition into baptism. Again, starting out by talking about the death of Jesus Christ. He says, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead.

Clearly, Paul is saying that in a sense, circumcision and baptism point to the cross of Christ and the judgment that He underwent, as we hear, of Christ, that He came to baptize with fire. There is judgment involved in the waters of baptism as they’re applied to the individual. Looking at this idea that baptism now saves you and attaching it to the pledge of a good conscience, the Baptist, and I used to be one, and a Reformed Baptist who believed he was taking covenant theology very seriously, will point to this and say, look, this is why it ought to be the case. that until you can make a pledge, such a pledge, that you have faith in Christ and you are walking in newness of life, you ought not to be baptized. It’s only those who can make such a pledge that ought to be baptized.

And I used to think as I looked at this passage, well, it’s talking about the act of pledge that a believer makes before his baptism or that which is made passively for an infant by his parents. Not so. It is the act of pledge. But notice, this passage doesn’t say when that pledge ought to occur regarding the waters of baptism, either before or after it. What is important is this, that at the end of the day, your baptism must be joined to faith, to newness of life in which you walk, in which you are called to. in which you were brought into by the resurrection power of Christ. So when the water is applied, that water symbolizes on the individual. as an infant, for example, and waters are put on their forehead. I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Those waters indeed point to the promises of salvation, but they also point to the judgment of Christ and the judgment that will come through that water applied on the individual who at the end of the day never owns Christ in faith. The waters of baptism will judge him. They will be a sign of his condemnation. And even for somebody who comes to make a profession of faith, it remains to be seen whether they make it to the end. and whether the waters that represent these glorious promises of salvation will be theirs. And that’s why some theologians speak of baptism as a watery ordeal, such as Meredith Klein does. Rightly so. These waters await that day, that confirmation before the Lord, of your salvation. So in that sense, at the last day, you will have a baptism by water that saves you like no one has family or saved through the waters of the flood or damns you like the multitudes who were judged.

Nothing in the waters themselves bring the salvation, but the resurrection life to which they point. Here, indeed, are the glorious promises of Christ fulfilled as baptism represents them. So what do we make of this? Whenever somebody is baptized, maybe you’re hearing you haven’t been baptized. We are, as the Puritans like to say, we are to make an improvement upon our baptism. That whenever it occurs, or whenever we reflect upon it, there would be careful consideration given to the waters of baptism that have been applied to us. How it points us to Jesus Christ, who was judged for you, who took the curse upon himself for you. How it depicts the fact that you’ve been set apart unto him, you’ve been raised to walk in newness of life. and how serious it is to turn your back on Him as one who has been baptized.

In that respect, to be in the church of Jesus Christ among the covenant people brings with it great spiritual blessings. But it’s also a very serious matter. not something to be taken lightly, and so we’re to be warned by God who has set you apart in this way, not necessarily savingly, but with these covenant blessings. Demands that the water applied to you will be realized in the reality that it represents. So baptism isn’t some sort of flood insurance. It doesn’t have the powers of regeneration in it. We are to have great hope and encouragement in reflecting upon our baptism, not like Martin Luther, who said, my baptism, my baptism, because he was speaking of baptismal regeneration, but in reminding us of the glorious promises that are attached to it. And we are to be humbled when we reflect upon our baptism or when a baptism occurs.

Humbled as we are reminded anew of our sin. Reminded anew that there is no such thing as the pledge of a good conscience before the Lord without Christ. Who alone can save us. who alone can qualify us. And then at the same time, we are to be strengthened as we reflect upon our baptism, as we’re mindful of the resurrection power that it represents, that our hope is in Jesus Christ. There’s the living hope. Our hope is not in ourselves, but in Him. So that when we do fail, when we are unfaithful, to our faith, that we go to Him anew, whose resurrection life has been worked in us. There is, as Robert Bruce in The Mystery of the Lord’s Supper in talking about the Lord’s Supper says, there’s no truth in the Lord’s Supper, and we can say the same of baptism, there’s nothing new you get in those sacraments that you don’t already get in the Word.

But rather it’s a seal, a confirmation, a symbol attached to the Word in a visible way. When we come to the Lord’s Supper, when a baptism takes place, it is a visible stirring that takes place. that persuades us of the truth in a wonderful way. So our outward senses, either by the waters applied or seeing or the taste of the bread and the wine and the smell of it and the sight of it, it persuades us of the truth and our outward senses are stirred so that our inward senses in the heart are persuaded in a powerful way to believe upon Jesus Christ. And God has given these sacraments as a wonderful gift. The waters themselves don’t save you, but the Christ to which they point, that is what saves you. And we can rejoice in that.

I’ll return back to that story of that Russian sub. The sailors came forth and they interviewed the wife of the commander of this little sub just to get an idea of how she felt, what was her response. And they asked her, how did you respond when you found out that your husband was alive? that He made it through this watery ordeal. She said this, I cried. I cried with happiness. I danced. Her husband had been delivered and she rejoiced. As we on a regular basis ought to give consideration to our baptism. We look forward to that day when it will be confirmed that we have been delivered safely through the watery ordeal. That those waters were a sign of our salvation through Jesus Christ. We look forward to the day that we can cry with happiness and dance because of what has been accomplished in Jesus Christ.

Let’s pray. Our Father, we know that we are the unrighteous for whom Christ suffered. We know that we are unworthy of His salvation. Our hope is in Him. Our hope is in You, Holy Spirit, who have given us new birth for this newness of life, this resurrected life in our resurrected Savior. And there is our hope. And the waters of baptism point us to that. May it truly be that which brings great encouragement to us and leads us to take seriously our sin and to be humbled by it and to turn with faith to Christ. And for anyone here who does not have that, who not only may never have been baptized, but has never believed upon Jesus Christ, or those who have been baptized, who have not owned the Christ to whom these waters point, that they would know the pledge of a good conscience.

That they on that day, with all of us, would be able to dance with rejoicing in You, Lord Jesus, our crucified and risen Savior. We pray all of this in Your name. Amen.

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