1 Peter 3:21 tells us that baptism now saves you, yet when Peter uses this phrase he continues in the same sentence to explain exactly what he means by it. He says that baptism now saves you-not the removal of dirt from the flesh (that is, not as an outward, physical act which washes dirt from the body--that is not what saves you), "but an appeal to God for a good conscience" (that is, as an inward, spiritual transaction between God and the individual, a transaction that is symbolized by the outward ceremony of water baptism).
I would agree with the possibility that 1 Peter 3:21 saying “
removal of dirt from the body” is a metaphor for the outward physical act.
This interpretation is still in harmony with saying the same thing if it was in reference to sin (i.e. filth of the flesh = sin - 2 Corinthians 7:1).
One is not saved by the outward physical act of water baptism or water baptism is not for the putting away of sin.
Both are saying the same thing basically using different words.
However, I tend to side with what the KJB says. It uses the word “
answer” and it seems to bring more clarity here.
1 Peter 3:21
“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:”
In John’s water baptism they would confess of their sins to the Lord (Which is whereby they would have a clean and good conscience), and then be water baptized. To confess of your sins to the Lord or to admit your past life of sin is repentance (this prayer to the Lord would be with the intention of no longer committing sin against God).
Matthew 3:6 (which then lines up with
Matthew 3:8). Also, in
Mark 1:4-5, it says John preached the "baptism of repentance" for the remission of sins (verse 4), and it then defines this "baptism of repentance" by saying they confessed their sins when they were baptized (verse 5).
So it was calling upon the name of the Lord that saves (Romans 10:13).
This is the means of having a good and clean conscience.
Beginning with John the Baptist (Under the Old Covenant): Water baptism is the ANSWER to having an already clean conscience (when one sought forgiveness with the Lord) which forgiveness is only made possible only by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Meaning, water baptism is merely the outward showing of a person’s answer in that they have a good and clean conscience towards God when they sought forgiveness of their sins with the Lord. It’s merely a picture or symbol of what they just did in seeking forgiveness with the Lord. Baptism back then was just the response or answer in that their conscience was already clean.
You said:
We could paraphrase Peter's statement by saying, "Baptism now saves you--not the outward physical ceremony of baptism but the inward spiritual reality which baptism represents." By saying, "not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience -through the resurrection of Jesus Christ," Peter guards against saving power to the physical ceremony itself. So in 1 Peter 3:21; it's not the water itself that saves us, but the "appeal-to-God-for-good-conscience". Just as the eight people in the ark were "saved THROUGH water" as they were in the ark. They were not literally saved "by" the water. Hebrews 11:7 is clear on this point (..built an ARK for the SAVING of his household). The context reveals that ONLY the righteous (Noah and his family) were DRY and therefore SAFE. In contrast, ONLY the wicked in Noah's day came in contact with the water and they all perished.
1 Peter 3:20
“Which sometime were disobedient, 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.”
Well, the Bible is correct here. The eight souls (Noah and his family) were indeed saved by water. Noah and his family were saved from that old wicked world in the fact that the water drowned away those wicked people from their presence. They then could start new (like the resurrection) and start a new life without the influence of those wicked people. For the time before the flood was a time of when men were exceedingly sinful. Their thoughts were evil continually. This is what Noah and his family were being delivered from. They were saved by water in the fact that the water destroyed those wicked people around them. This is a parallel of how we are saved by calling upon the name of the Lord and our old past life of sin was washed away. Our old world of sin is gone (washed away) by the Lord Jesus Christ and we are new creatures or creations in Christ.
In verse 18, it says Jesus was quickened (made alive, resurrected) by the Holy Spirit (Note: I believe both the Father, and even Jesus also were involved in the resurrection). But the point here is that the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin (John 16:8-9) to seek forgiveness with the Lord and when we do seek forgiveness with Jesus, the Spirit helps to give us a new heart and our conscience is clean and good. The water baptism ceremony is an outward action or picture of this spiritual experience that happens before (or prior). So Peter is saying that water baptism does not save.
You said:
The Bible makes it clear that believers are saved prior to receiving water baptism.
I agree.
You said:
These Gentiles in Acts 10 received the gift of the Holy Spirit and were manifesting the spiritual gift of tongues (which is only for the body of Christ - 1 Corinthians 12) after believing the gospel but before receiving water baptism. (Acts 10:44-47) Now water baptism was not considered an "optional extra" for these Gentiles. It was a command (Acts 10:48) that they were expected to obey. However, it was not obedience to this command that saved them, but their believing in Christ for salvation that saved them. (Acts 10:43)
Commands or instructions apply to believers in different points in time. Noah was told to build an Ark, but obviously we are not told to build one. I see this as the same way in regards to the instructions on water baptism involving the Jewish believers in Acts 2, and Cornelius and his household (Gentiles) in Acts 10. While Peter was not exactly wrong for telling others to be water baptized, technically speaking water baptism was no longer required after the cross (and Peter did not realize this fact or truth yet). The apostle Paul, Aquila, and Priscilla appeared to be the first teachers of Jesus Christ who knew that Spirit baptism replaced John’s water baptism (See: Acts of the Apostles 18:24-28, and Acts of the Apostles 19:1-7; Also see 1 Corinthians 1:17).
You said:
Baptism is the expected initial outward response to the gospel, but it is not a part of the gospel itself. (1 Corinthians 1:17; 15:1-4)
I agree. But I believe water baptism today is no longer necessary.
You said:
There are a handful of 'alleged' proof texts which are often cited to prove that the Bible makes water baptism mandatory for salvation. A careful examination of each of these texts in context will show that none of them prove that baptism is absolutely required for salvation, though they do prove that baptism was an assumed initiatory response to the gospel of salvation. In other words, these texts only prove that water baptism is regularly associated with conversion and salvation, rather than absolutely required for salvation.
I believe that when Jesus said to His disciples “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” (Matthew 28:19), I believe Jesus was referring to Spirit baptism and not water baptism. Spirit baptism automatically happens for any person who genuinely seeks forgiveness of their past life of sin with the Lord Jesus Christ by way of prayer with a godly sorrow (With the intention that they are not planning to sin again at some future point in time - thinking they are slaves to sin this side of Heaven). So when Jesus says, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;…” (Mark 16:16), it is true. Jesus is talking about Spirit baptism that happens to all genuine believers. For Spirit baptism is what saves.
1 Corinthians 12:13
“For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether
we be Jews or Gentiles, whether
we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”