I Peter 3:18-22

Amen. May God bless to us the reading of His holy and inerrant word. Let’s pray together.

Our Father now as we turn to Your word, be our teacher, instructor. Write your word, we pray, upon our hearts for Jesus’ sake, Amen.

Now as those of you who come on a regular basis will know, 2 weeks ago we began to look at this passage, beginning at verse 18 and ending at the end of the chapter at verse 22 and we observed then that this passage looks, to all intents and purposes, as though it were an early Christian confession of faith. It has four elements in it in which Peter seems to outline for us, glimpse for us something of our glorious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And it appears as though Peter goes through four stages in the coming life and death and resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, as though he were giving to us at least something of a pattern of an early Christian confession, telling us four things about Jesus Christ. That through His crucifixion He has triumphed over the guilt of our sin. That through His resurrection He has triumphed over death. That through His proclamation of victory, He has triumphed over the powers of hell. And fourthly, through His ascension He has triumphed over all things: power, authority, and every dominion. And it’s in that context that Peter makes a comment, it looks as though it’s a side remark, it’s a parenthesis to the main thing that Peter wants to say about these features of the life and testimony of Jesus Christ so that in verses 20 and 21 he seems to say, “And by the way, this has something to say to us about baptism.”

Now Peter thinks that Noah will provide a wonderful illustration, a useful illustration to us about baptism. It has to be said that if this wasn’t in the Bible, and if it wasn’t here in I Peter, some of us might think that this was pretty far-fetched, going to those early chapters of Genesis and the story of Noah and the ark and the great Flood and so on, and seeing in that a picture of baptism. What in the world has that story of the Flood to teach us about baptism apart, perhaps from the rather obvious one that none of the members of Noah’s family got wet, let alone immersed? But we’ll pass that one back.

What Peter does is to remind us of the events that unfold in those opening chapters of Genesis. How the whole earth was full of sin and wickedness and disobedience, and God had had enough of human sin and determined that He would, by one mighty act of judgment, obliterate virtually the whole human race and begin all over again. And He comes to Noah and to Noah’s family. Noah finds grace in the eyes of the Lord, and Noah sets about in obedience to God to build an ark as a sign to the people, a sign of what God would do in the future so that they might cry out, seeing this sign, “Noah how can we find grace in the eyes of the Lord.” But the story, as you know, is that the whole of humanity continued in its disobedience. There was a mighty flood of such proportions that the whole of the population of the world was obliterated apart from Noah and his family and the animals; they were the only ones that were saved. The rains came down and the flood began and Noah and his family were protected from the judgment flood of Almighty God.

And in a way, that is a picture of the real meaning of Christian baptism. It’s a picture that we don’t always capture and it’s a way of looking at baptism that is somewhat different from the way that Paul so often views baptism as a sign of cleansing. For Peter baptism is also a sign of the judgment of God as much as it is a sign of cleansing.

I. What does baptism do?
I want us to see then, as we look at this parenthesis in verses 20 and 21, I want us to see three things this evening. The first thing I want us to see is that we have here a distinctive way of looking at baptism. Notice what Peter is saying to us here, the water of baptism is not only a picture of cleansing which comes to us for our sins in Jesus Christ, it’s also in another sense a picture of the reality of the judgment from which we need to be saved and protected. Water not only cleanses, it can also destroy and when we use water in baptism it’s not only a symbol of the cleansing power of God, it is also a symbol of the awesome judgment of God. Noah and his family were only saved because they came into the ark in which they could hide. It’s almost as though Peter is saying in this context here, “If you are going to be saved as well as baptized, the water isn’t adequate to cover you. You need to be saved and can only be saved by finding an ark in which to hide and be secure from the judgment of God.”

I’m hiding in Thee, I’m hiding in Thee , O blessed Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in Thee

In what ark am I going to be safe from the judgment of God? And there are many frail arks in which people seek refuge. In the ark which says that God will never bring judgment and yet the very story of Noah is a grim reminder of the judgment of Almighty God. It was the foolish mistake of Noah’s contemporaries that they thought that what Noah was doing in building that ark was so stupid. It was the folly of that generation that kept on saying to Noah, “Noah, you are stupid” because they didn’t believe in the judgment of Almighty God. There’s another false ark that says that I am as good as the next man; I can stand my ground against the judgment of God.

But what God teaches us in His word is that the basis of His judgment is not the next man. The basis of His judgment is the perfection of His Son, Jesus Christ, and if I seek refuge in anyone other than Jesus Christ, I will not find security from the judgment of Almighty God. And it has to be said that some seek refuge in baptism, and the very point that Peter is making in this passage is that baptism is a sign of the judgment of God. Baptism says to us that we need to find a refuge; this water baptism cannot save by the removal of dirt from the body. You know, a wash with some water will never save a soul because the waters of baptism are symbolic of the judgment of Almighty God and says to us that if we are going to be saved and rescued from the judgment of God we have to find it in some other place than baptism.

II. Baptism provides a place of safety from God’s judgment.
So that leads me to the second thing that this passage says to us and that is not only a distinctive way of thinking about baptism, but a distinctive way of thinking about salvation itself. Look at what it says in verse 21, “it saves us, not by the removal of dirt from the body, but by a pledge of a good conscience,” Peter says, “toward God.” In other words, if you have baptism but don’t have the risen Christ, then you are in trouble. Baptism can wash the dirt away but it cannot save you, it cannot give you a good conscience toward God.

Now Peter is obviously using here some kind of shorthand, and I need to explain in some way what Peter seems to be saying. I think I can do that by saying that the Lord Jesus Christ thought and spoke about His crucifixion using the analogy of baptism. You remember in Luke 12:50, Jesus said, “I have a baptism to be baptized with and my whole being is under constraint until it is accomplished.” Isn’t it interesting that that when Jesus thought about His death upon the cross and when He sought for a word to explain the cross, He grasped hold of this word baptism. For Jesus baptism, the word baptism, was a word that was associated with the judgment of Almighty God in His crucifixion. “I have a baptism to be baptized with and my whole being is constrained until it is accomplished.” And I think that our Lord has a Psalm in mind when He said those words and that Psalm that He had in mind was Psalm 69 which uses the analogy of water, and indeed of the flood, to describe the trouble that He was now in: “Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me. I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched, my eyes fail looking for God.”

Do you see what he’s saying? On the cross Jesus is experiencing the mighty floodwaters of the judgment of Almighty God that were bringing Him down and He was sinking beneath those waters. In October of 1991, three weather systems came together off the coast of Nova Scotia and the Gloucester, Massachusetts swordfish boat, the Andrea Gail, vanished with all six of its crew on board. It’s called, as you probably remember from the book or the movie, “The Perfect Storm.” Now when Jesus underwent the storm clouds of the judgment of God on the cross of Calvary, the words of Psalm 69 come to Him, that is the baptism. Those were the waters of judgment that were engulfing Him; down into those judgment waters He would sink. But unlike those crew members of the Andrea Gail off the shores of Nova Scotia in 1991, Jesus was to rise from those waters. Jesus was to rise from that engulfing storm, and isn’t it astonishing, my friends, isn’t it awesome my friends, to think that those of us who have brought our children, or we may have come ourselves for baptism, to think that this is what the New Testament tells us what this sign really means. We have an ark in which to hide from the judgment waters of Almighty God and that ark is Jesus Christ. And that’s a wonderful thing. That’s an altogether wonderful thing tonight that we have no need when we have faith in Jesus Christ to be afraid of the judgment of Almighty God. That we have no need to be afraid of the great white throne of judgment because

I’m hiding in Thee, I’m hiding in Thee, O blessed Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in Thee

And perhaps tonight amidst all the turmoil and trials that life can bring our way, that is the source of greatest comfort that we could ever have to know, as John Owen would put it that in Jesus Christ is the safest place in all of the universe from every storm and from the Perfect Storm of God’s judgment upon sin.

III. Only Jesus can save us from our sins.
There’s a third thing that we see in this parenthesis that Peter is recalling here. And that is not only a distinctive way of thinking about baptism, and not only a distinctive way about thinking about salvation, but a distinctive way of thinking about assurance. And I want to put it in that very personal way, “Baptism saves you,” he says in verse 21, “not the removal of dirt from the flesh.” Sprinkling a baby with water doesn’t save that child. “Not the removal of dirt from the flesh but an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” And with all of the struggles that we may ever have with assurance, you know Peter is saying to us here the way of assurance, the way of a good conscience is to be rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ; it is to lay hold upon Him, it is to grasp Him in all of His fullness.

      Jesus lover of my soul
      Let me to Thy bosom fly
      While the nearer waters roll
      While the tempest still is nigh
      Hide me O my Savior hide
      Till the storm of life is past
      Safe into the haven guide
      O receive my soul at last

One of my all-time favorite hymns, is by Augustus Toplady and it’s called, “From whence this fear and unbelief?”

From whence this fear and unbelief, Hath not the Father put to grief His spotless son for me
            And will the righteous judge of men Condemn me for that debt of sin Which, Lord, was laid on Thee?
            Complete atonement thou hast made And to the utmost Thou hast paid Whate’er Thy people owed
            How then can wrath on me take place If sheltered in Thy righteousness And sprinkled with Thy blood
            If Thou hast my discharge procured And freely in my room endured The whole of wrath divine
            Payment God cannot twice demand Once at my bleeding surety’s hand And then again at Mine
            Turn then, my soul, unto thy rest The merits of Thy great High Priest Have bought thy liberty
            Trust in His efficacious blood Nor fear thy banishment from God Since Jesus died for Thee

And that’s what Peter is saying here as he’s giving what looks like a little mini confession of faith about the four stages of the life and ministry and exultation of Jesus Christ. He says, “Oh, by the way, this has something to teach us about baptism” that the only person who can save us and rescue us and provide for us an ark in which to hide from the mighty deluge of the judgment of God, which is what baptism pictures, is Jesus himself. And that’s a wonderful, wonderful truth as we come to Christmas. There is no safer place in all of the universe than to be in the arms of Jesus Christ, because He has promised never to let you go. Let’s pray together.

Our Father in heaven, this somewhat difficult passage reveals to us some wonderful, wonderful truths and tonight from the very bottom of our hearts we thank you for the gift of a Savior, one who stood in our room instead, one who bore your wrath and bore it to the full, one who provides for us an ark that we might escape the watery deluge of your judgment, safe in the arms of Jesus, safe in His gentle breast. Bless us we pray, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.