1 Peter 3:21

1 PETER—NOTE ON 1 Peter 3:21 Peter compares salvation in the ark and baptism. In both, believers are saved through the waters of judgment, since baptism portrays salvation through judgment. Baptism saves you because it represents inward faith. Without faith, baptism does nothing more than remove dirt from the body. Faith is shown by one’s appeal to God for the forgiveness of one’s sins (for a good conscience). Furthermore, baptism “saves” only because it is grounded in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christians have disagreed about the proper mode of water baptism from the early history of the church. Yet Christians have generally agreed that water baptism is an outward sign of the inward work of the Holy Spirit (compare John 3:5; Titus 3:5).