In this final passage of 1 Peter 3, Peter makes a very clear statement about baptism and draws a close connection to salvation. You can see this passage for yourself in 1 Peter 3:21-22.

Peter’s statement here is startlingly clear: “Baptism now saves you.” Peter connects baptism as an essential piece of the salvation process.

He has just spent the previous verses giving a comparison of Noah’s flood; here he connects the two and draws his conclusions. Peter uses a literary device known as a type and antitype. The type is the event that foreshadows the antitype, the reality. In this case, Noah’s flood foreshadows salvation through water, which for people in the New Testament age, is baptism. Peter shows how Noah’s Flood points forward to the reality of baptism.

Just how does Noah and the Flood point to the reality of baptism? This can be a difficult thing to understand, and many reject it out of hand. But what Peter states here is that Noah and his family were brought safely through the waters of the flood, and were saved. And while this, in itself, is very interesting, it is only the comparison. The question of how baptism saves has yet to be answered.

Peter knows this and gives his answer in the next sentence. Ultimately, it’s through the divine power of the resurrection of Jesus that this can effect our salvation. But in a more immediate fashion, Peter gives another comparison, a contrast. Baptism doesn’t save because it removes dirt from the body, but because it is an appeal to God for a good conscience.

Water is a great agent for washing. We use it to clean all the time, in the shower, when we wash our hands, even when we wash the dog, the dishes, or the car. But this is not how baptism works to save us. It is, rather, an appeal to God. This points to the spiritual side of baptism. It saves, not because of how it cleanses the body, but by how it cleanses the conscience.

Many reject this idea completely, stating that we are saved by grace, through faith, and that baptism is our own effort to “work” our way into salvation. But that is not what Peter says here, and we need to read it more closely. In effect, the idea of baptism is a sinner’s answer to God’s offer of salvation. It’s our response to his generous grace. When we submit to baptism, we are calling on God to do what he has offered to do, that which we cannot do on our own.

And the clear conscience? That comes because our sins have been washed away, forgiven! Because of the cross, the blood of Christ atones for, pays for, the penalty I deserve for my sins. Because they have been wiped away, my conscience can be clear.

This, of course, is all possible only because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Because Christ defeated death, he hold authority over all things, including my ability to be restored to a right relationship with the Father.

This is a very brief treatment of this verse, and it obviously could be discussed in much more detail than what is afforded here. If you are interested in a deeper examination of this passage, and other passages in the New Testament on the topic of baptism, I highly suggest you read Baptism: A Biblical Study, by Jack Cottrell. You can grab a copy here.

Question: Have you been baptized? If not, what is holding you back? You can leave a comment by clicking here.