Does 1 Peter 3:21 Teach that We Are Saved by Our Baptism?

Does 1 Peter 3.21 teach that we are saved by our baptism? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Well, hi, I'm Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. This is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. Here's our phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-845. If you get our voicemail, feel free to leave a message. We try to review our voicemails each day.

You can also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter account. And you can always email us with your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to Phyllis, who's calling in from Arkansas. Phyllis, what's your question for Adriel?

Yes, sir. I was reading in Joshua chapter 7, and Achan stole some things when they were out doing the thing. And God had them come in by family, and then by household, and he narrowed it down to the guilty person. By going through a lot of stuff, why didn't he just, since he already knew, just point out who did it?

And, I mean, I've got some ideas of my own that I wrote down, but I was wondering, what else could you add to that? Why didn't he go through all that instead of just pointing out to Joshua who did it? Yeah. Yeah, so let me just give some context. I mean, this is coming right after the fall of Jericho. So, I mean, that's a story that most people or many Christians might be more familiar with in Joshua chapter 6. It's the fall of Jericho, and one of the things that God warned his people in Joshua chapter 6 verse 18, he says, but you keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them, you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it. And so you had the fall of Jericho, but what ended up happening is people there in Israel did not heed the exhortation there in Joshua chapter 6 verse 18.

You had one individual named Achan who did steal some things, items that had some value, and he hid them away in his tent. And as a result of that, you had these things devoted for destruction brought into the camp of Israel, and God's judgment came upon the Israelites because of this, because of their disobedience. Actually, the sin of this one man, Achan, began to have a negative effect on the entire community, which, by the way, I think teaches us something about sin. Our individual sin, your individual sin that you hide and try to keep hidden under the tent, if you will, does bring devastation upon the community of faith.

We think it's just this individual thing, but no, in actuality, our sin hurts the people around us, so that's just pastoral moment right there providing some. But then in terms of the specifics of your question, Phyllis, why is it that they go through all the trouble of sort of narrowing it down to this one person, Achan? In verse 16, it says, Joshua, this is chapter seven, rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken. This is probably through the casting of lots. And then he brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the Zaraites was taken. And he brought near the clan of the Zaraites, man by man, and Zabdi was taken. And he brought near his household, man by man, and Achan, the son of Kamri, son of Zabdi, son of Zara, of the tribe of Judah was taken. And then that's when Joshua confronted Achan, saying, My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and give praise to him, and tell me now what you have done, and do not hide it from me. And Achan confesses and then experiences judgment. Well, why not just point Achan out right away? I think, and of course we're speculating here because the text doesn't tell us specifically.

One, it was just the ordinary way that they would have gone about this process would have been through the casting of lots, and so there's that. But I think, imagine the effect that that would have had, Phyllis, on the Israelites. I mean, they're trembling. They're shaking in their boots as they're considering the fact that, okay, this judgment has just come upon us. There's something wrong. God is upset with us. And now we're sort of going through this process of trying to figure out, well, what's the issue? You think of, for example, Jesus with his disciples in the upper room, where he says, one of you is going to betray me.

And all of them are asking, is it me? I mean, the fear of God has gripped their hearts, and I think that's what's happening here for the whole camp of Israel. The fear of God is gripping them as they're participating in this process. And then they see the judgment that falls upon Achan. And so I think it was this teaching moment for the Israelites there, helping them, I think, to fear the Lord and to take his word seriously.

And indeed, that's what happened. And so, Phyllis, thank you for that question, getting us into a more obscure passage, but that's okay. A really important text, I think, there in Joshua chapter 7. Love it when we explore the Old Testament and we see some of the parallels to the New Covenant, and you often do that, Adriel, so thanks for that.

This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. It is summertime, and a lot of people getting married right now may be thinking about getting married. Maybe you have a son or daughter, grandson or granddaughter who's considering getting engaged, and we have a wonderful resource on marriage that we'd like to offer you today.

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You can get a copy of A Case for the Beauty and Goodness of Marriage by going to our website, corechristianity.com forward slash offers. Again, corechristianity.com forward slash offers. Well, here's a message, a voicemail message we received from one of our listeners in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Hi, Pastor Adriel.

This is Mark. I really appreciate your show. I appreciate also your recent comments about baptism. I am curious how you would handle 1 Peter 3 21 that says baptism now saves you.

How would you handle that in your understanding? Thanks a lot. Bye. Hey, Mark, thank you for your encouragement. This is such an interesting passage, and usually when we get questions about this text, this pericope, if you will, they're focused on what it means or what it meant when Peter talks about the spirits in prison having the gospel proclaimed to them. I'm going to read some of this passage beginning in verse 18. For Christ also suffered 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, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly 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.

Let me stop there first. I mean, one thing that's clear is Peter is saying the flood narrative was a type of baptism. Baptism is this picture of salvation through judgment. We see this also with the Israelites crossing through the Red Sea out of Egypt. They're saved. They come through the waters delivered by the Lord.

The Egyptians were judged. The quote-unquote baptismal waters killed them. So it's this picture of salvation through judgment, same with, again, what Peter says here, the story of the flood. That was a type of baptism, if you will, of the earth through which God delivered his people, Noah and his family, and brought judgment upon the world. And so baptism is like this double-edged sword, I think is one thing we can see here. Certainly the idea of baptism being this picture of judgment is also clear from what Paul says in places like Romans chapter six, where we're baptized into the death and resurrection of Christ.

When Jesus speaks about his baptism, he speaks about it as the judgment that he underwent on the cross. So that's one thing that we're seeing, but I'm guessing that what you're focusing on specifically is what about this language of baptism saving you? And this gets us into the question of the efficacy of baptism. What does baptism do? And I think that there are a couple of things that we want to avoid.

So here's where I'm getting into my answer to your more specific question. One, we want to avoid a doctrine of baptism that says it's just sort of meaningless. It's kind of like an empty sign, like this picture that we get, but it's not a real genuine means of grace. The Holy Spirit is not really working through and in baptisms, which I think is the opposite of what we see in scripture. God uses ordinary means, these ordinances that he gives to the church to communicate his grace. It's through these things, these very creaturely things, water, bread, wine, that the Holy Spirit works in the lives of believers, of the children of God. And so we should embrace these things, baptism, as a true and real means of grace. These are places where God is at work in the midst of his people, giving his promises, his gospel promises, showering us with his gospel promises through these signs. Now, does that mean that every person who's baptized is undoubtedly saved, undoubtedly regenerated, that just through the act of baptism, that they're made in that moment, through the act of baptism, through the washing with water, a child of God, eternally saved and secure, never going to fall out of the grace of God?

Well, no, nobody actually believes that. Even those who embrace what's called baptismal regeneration would say, you can be made a child of God, but then you could still end up in perdition if you turn away from God or if you sin away that grace. And so I would say baptism is a real means of grace, a sign and seal of God's gospel promises to his people.

But we lay hold of the reality of those promises by faith. And the grace of baptism, if you will, isn't necessarily tied to the moment of its administration, meaning a person can be baptized at one point and not experience the reality of the forgiveness of sins until a later time by faith. But that doesn't invalidate their baptism or mean that it wasn't a real genuine baptism and that God wasn't actually extending his promises and including this individual in the visible community of faith. And again, I think that that view, this view, my view, does a good job of striking the balance between, okay, we're not saying that baptism is worthless, that it doesn't do anything.

It's just a sort of empty sign. But we also recognize that it's not the act of baptism by itself, the washing with water in and of itself that saves. It's the work of the Holy Spirit with faith using those means. And I think that's why Peter goes on to say, right, 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. And so thank you for giving me an opportunity to get into that text there in First Peter chapter three and for your encouragement. God bless. You love talking about baptism.

I've noticed that you're really good at that, Adriel. I just like talking about the Bible, Bill. And the Bible talks about baptism, so I like to get into it and appreciate those questions, real thoughtful questions. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We do receive emails here, and if you have a question, you can email us anytime at questions at corechristianity.com.

Adriel, here's an email from one of our listeners named Alex. He says, My wife and I are struggling with the Old Testament story of Lot offering his daughters to the mob of rapists. We have a daughter, and that seems like the worst thing you could possibly do. Obviously, God is against rape and wants you to protect your family. But when Hebrews says that Lot was a righteous man and the corruption of the city distressed him, it's confusing to us. Why doesn't Hebrews say Lot was a terrible guy?

Thank God he's dead. It's not Hebrews specifically that I think speaks to this. It's in Second Peter, where Second Peter gives us a little bit of an interpretation on Lot's life. And there in Second Peter chapter 2 specifically, Peter is warning against false teachers, false prophets, and he's highlighting how these false teachers, these false prophets indulge in sensuality, in sexual immorality, in a sort of loose view of God's law.

Some people have called it antinomianism, just a rejection of God's law. And Peter is highlighting the fact that God is going to bring his judgment on those people, that we can't just embrace lawlessness in sin and not expect to face the divine judgment of God. Second Peter chapter 2 verse 4 begins, If God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment, and if he did not spare the ancient world but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly, if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly, and if he rescued righteous Lot, there it is, righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked, for as that righteous man lived among them day after day he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment.

And especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Now here Peter gives us an interpretation on the life of Lot and he says he was righteous and as he lived there, you know, amongst the people of Sodom, his soul, his righteous soul was tormented day and night as he saw the wicked behavior of the people around him. But then you go to Genesis chapter 19 and it's very clear that Lot was a man of contradictions, that he was not sinless, certainly not.

And actually as you note, he does things that are just absolutely unthinkable, like when the people of the city are coming and trying to violate his guests, these angelic beings. Lot offers his daughters to them. Now of course his daughters don't get taken by this mob, this lustful, violent mob. And the angels who are there end up rescuing Lot, his daughters, everyone, everywhere. The other thing that's crazy about this is these messengers from God warned Lot, judgment is coming on this city. As morning dawned, we read in Genesis chapter 19 verse 15, the angels urged Lot saying, Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city. But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him.

That's the answer right there. God being merciful to Lot. Lot made a lot of mistakes, a lot of foolish mistakes. Lot here in this story is, as I said, a man of contradiction, a man who has sin. He isn't sinless, it's only the mercy of God that saves him. And that's our hope too, that when we stand before God justified through the blood of Jesus, it's not that we were sinless, it's not that we didn't do terrible things in our lives at various points, make terrible decisions and whatnot.

I mean Lot certainly did. It's that we cling to the grace of God and it's that we're rescued, redeemed by his mercy. And so Lot had faith as much of a man of contradiction as he was and for all of his sins, he experienced the mercy of God and was as a result delivered by God. And may God deliver you and all of us by faith in the name of his son Jesus from the temptations that surround us and from compromising with those temptations. And again, it's only the mercy of God that we cling to.

Great explanation. Thanks for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Just a reminder, we have that great resource on marriage available to you. It's called Why Would Anyone Get Married?

A Case for the Beauty and Goodness of Marriage. You can find that by going to our website at corechristianity.com forward slash offers. Again, corechristianity.com forward slash offers.

We'd love to get that to you for a donation of any amount. You can also find some of the other great resources that we have at our website. Just browse around for a while at corechristianity.com. Well, we do receive voicemails here at the Core, and here's one that came in from one of our listeners earlier this week. Hi, my name is August, and my question is, what is your advice for Christians today to be more faithful in these last days?

Yeah, hey, August, thank you for that question. Advice for being faithful in these last days. I guess a question that I would have for you, or for anyone who wants to know the answer to this question is, what's your diet look like? And by diet, what I mean is, what are you filling your spiritual belly with? I think it's so important for us right now, in the days that we're in, to be shaped first and foremost by the Holy Scriptures, by the Word of Christ dwelling in our hearts richly so that we might be filled by or filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit. There is so much information that is out there right now, so many voices that are speaking to us, vying for our attention via media and social media. And oftentimes I find that Christians who are primarily shaped by those channels of communication, whether it's Twitter or Facebook or the daily news cycle, that's what we're just drinking deeply of. And then maybe God's Word is getting in there a little bit somewhere here and there, but primarily what we're focused on is these sort of broader discussions, and that's what it's all about for us, is that there's this real spiritual malnutrition that begins to set in, and it creates problems. And so I would say, in terms of faithfulness to God, really in all ages and at all times, we want to make sure that we are filling ourselves up with those things that are edifying, that are going to help us be faithful to Jesus. That deeper understanding of His Word is one of those things. And of course we always emphasize the importance of being a part of a good church here, being plugged into a solid community that believes and preaches the truth, where you're going to be encouraged in your walk with the Lord, where you're going to be continually pointed to what Jesus says about life, about our own identity in Him, about how to live. This is discipleship, go into all the world and make disciples baptizing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I've commanded you.

And so we need to fill our day with those kinds of voices. We need to have a steady diet of the Word of God, of Christian community, so that we might be able to engage the people around us in a way that is faithful and good. I think of, and just to give you a passage of scripture to go to that you can read, 1 Peter 4, verse 7.

The end of all things is at hand, Peter said. Therefore, be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. Whoever speaks is one who speaks of the oracles of God. Whoever serves is one who serves by the strength that God supplies, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. We're in the end, Peter says. The end of all things is at hand. The Lord is at hand.

So what should we do? Be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. In other words, be a person who's committed to prayer, to bringing everything before the Lord, including people who need prayer. Be committed to prayer, and above all, Peter says, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. We want to be committed to prayer. We want to be committed to love. We want to be committed to hospitality.

Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. He doesn't say panic. We're in the end. You need to panic. You need to move to some other place and hunker down while the judgment is coming, that kind of thing.

No, he says, keep having people in your home. Be hospitable. Be full of love. Be a person of prayer. And be rooted in the word of God. And so I would say, look, if you want to be faithful, that's what we need. We need that steady diet of Christ's speech to us, the truth of the gospel, a steady understanding of God's word, found doctrine, theology, so that we might love the people around us as God calls us to love them and be lights for Jesus in the world. Thanks. As we explore the truth of God's word together.