Do you see this word "figure"?
"the like .....>FIGURE"............
This is the NT defining water as a FIGURE........as it then talks about Salvation.
Do you know what a figure is?........ Its a symbol or a likeness.......a representation.
Its not the REAL THING>........its a "figure"...
That is your verse, and that is your RELIGION.
So, all the water cults and the cultists that are deceived by the water cults, have been mislead into thinking that a "FIGURE" of salvation, that is described as water baptism, is the REAL Salvation.
ITs not.
igure | Definition of Figure by Merriam-Webster
www.merriam-webster.com › dictionary › figure
Definition of figure · 1 : to represent by or as if by a figure