“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.” (1 Peter 3:18-22 NIV)
It only takes about ten seconds, and it’s hard to believe it’s actually doing any good. Know what I’m talking about? Baptism. You’ve seen a baptism. Baptisms are surprisingly short. A person has water poured on them, as someone says, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” just like Jesus commanded us in Matthew 28:19. And that’s it. If you were to time a baptism, it would take less than ten seconds. What good does that do?
Maybe it’s not a surprise there are huge differences in beliefs about baptism among Christian churches. Have you noticed that? Some churches insist that you have to make baptism something more. You have to do something more. Some churches say baptism has to be by immersion. The person needs to be immersed all the way under the water for it to count. Other churches say people need to wear the right outfit. You’ve got to dress in the right clothes for it to really work. Or, most commonly today, churches insist that people need to be fully committed to Jesus first. Don’t baptize anyone until they are committed. This is their big day to show their commitment to God. We’ve got to take those ten seconds of baptism and make them something more!
Or maybe we just shouldn’t focus on baptism at all. A lot of churches downplay baptism. As if it’s not a big deal. It’s just a symbol. It’s just an act of obedience that we do to obey God. “Jesus was baptized, so I suppose we should be baptized too.” To downplay baptism, some churches call it “water baptism.” To them the real baptism is “Spirit baptism.” “Water baptism” isn’t a big deal. What’s a big deal is “Spirit baptism”—speaking in tongues and things like that…
Let’s admit something: When you watch a baptism, it’s tempting to agree with at least some of that. You watch a little water poured on someone’s head in the name of the Trinity and you think, “That’s it? Shouldn’t we do more? What good could that little bit of water possibly do?” When you watch a ten-second baptism, you can see why people might think, “Either we need to do a lot more to spice baptism up or we shouldn’t make a big deal out of baptism at all.” Baptism is such a simple thing. It’s hard to believe it does any good. Why is it such a big deal?
Four words. If you ever wonder what the big deal about baptism is, it comes down to four words that Peter writes. Ready? “Baptism now saves you.” Those four words are some of the hardest words in the Bible for people to understand. Those four words stump theologians. Those four words make pastors shake their heads. “Baptism now saves you.” Why does Peter say that?
Don’t believe how hard those words are? Just Google them, “Baptism now saves you.” Actually, I’m not sure that I want you to Google them. Because you will be bombarded with all sorts of false ideas. A lot of them—sermons, essays, and blogs from famous pastors—will say something like this: “Of course, baptism doesn’t save you. That can’t be what Peter means! Baptism is just a nice symbol. Baptism is our act of obedience to God’s command. Let’s just all admit that these words from Peter are hard to understand. Maybe they don’t belong in the Bible. What we know for sure is that baptism doesn’t save you. The Bible can’t possibly be saying that…” Like I said, these four words are some of the hardest words in the Bible for people to understand.
What do you think those words mean? “Baptism now saves you.” I’m going to suggest today that those words mean this: “Baptism now saves you.” Whew. I said it. Let me repeat that, because it’s one of the most controversial things our church teaches. When the Bible says, “Baptism now saves you,” we believe it means, “Baptism now saves you.” Often the hardest thing to do with the Bible is to believe what it says. Baptism is not just a symbol. Baptism is a Means of Grace. In baptism, God gives us his grace. Baptism doesn’t look like much from our perspective, but that’s because it’s not about what we’re doing for God. It’s about what God is doing for us.
This is so important: Baptism is not our work. It’s God’s work. Baptism is not us committing to God. It’s God’s commitment to us. It’s hard to think of a worse thing to do than to take credit for what God does. “Nope, that’s not you God. That’s me. I’m doing it!” No! Baptism is God’s work in us. “Baptism now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God.” I can wash the dirt off my body, but who is the only One who can wash the dirt off my soul? God. Who is the only One who can give me a clear conscience? God.
That’s really what we all need, isn’t it? A clear conscience. How often do you feel guilty? How often do you fear what you deserve? How often do you look at life and think, “God must be punishing me!” Do you know what you need? A clear conscience. How often do you think, “No one could love me”? How often do you regret, “How could I do that again?” How often is your body clean, but you feel dirty in here? Do you know what you need? A clear conscience. Forgiveness for sin. Whether something you did a decade ago or something you said yesterday.
Do you know what God is able to do in the ten seconds of your baptism? Give you a clear conscience. That’s his pledge to you! When you were baptized, God washed away all your sins—past, present, and future. God put his Holy Spirit into your heart. God made you his child. Baptism actually isn’t complicated. It’s one of the clearest teachings in the Bible. But it’s one of the hardest things to believe, because it sounds too good to be true. “Baptism now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God.” Whether you feel it or not, when you were baptized, God gave you a clear conscience.
And we ask, “How? How can water save?” Well, water itself doesn’t save, but water connected to God’s Word and God’s promises does. In fact, God has done this before. God has used water to save before. When? In the flood. Peter reminds us of that. “In the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water…” We usually think about the destruction that the flood caused. But the flood in Noah’s day didn’t just destroy all the unbelievers. It saved. The waters of the flood saved Noah and his family from destruction.
And baptism is just a symbol of that, right? If you go to the Life.Church website, one of their essential beliefs is this: “Baptism is symbolic of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.” Baptism “is also a step of obedience based on God’s commands.” Baptism is a symbol. Baptism is our act of obedience. Is that what the Bible says? Baptism is a symbol? Listen closely to what Peter writes. “In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also.” What is a symbol of what? Baptism isn’t a symbol. Baptism is the real deal! What is a symbol? The waters of the flood. The waters of the flood which saved Noah are a symbol of the waters of baptism which now save God’s people.
Think of what that is saying. Do you know how big the flood was? There was so much water that the tallest mountains were covered by more than twenty feet. Everything on earth died except for the eight people in the ark and the animals with them. The flood was a big deal! Here’s what Peter says: That enormous flood is a symbol of something ever greater. Know what’s even bigger than the flood? Baptism. Know what saves even more than the flood? Baptism. The flood saved Noah’s life for a few years. Baptism saves your soul forever. “Baptism now saves you.”
But I thought Jesus saves. Doesn’t Jesus save us? Yes! Notice something: As Peter teaches about baptism, whom does he tell us all about? Jesus. Our lesson sounds like the Apostles’ Creed in that it tells what Jesus has done for us: “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” How can baptism give us a clear conscience? Because Jesus died on the cross to take our sins away, the righteous for the unrighteous. It’s not like Jesus is over here and baptism is over there. Baptism connects us to Jesus. What has Jesus done for us? “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.”
But Jesus didn’t just suffer and die. “After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits—to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah…” Know what that is talking about? Remember how I said this sounds like the Apostles’ Creed? It’s this phrase, “He descended into hell.” How can baptism rescue us from death and hell and the devil? Because after Jesus was made alive again, he went to hell to preach to the souls of unbelievers there. What do you think he preached? His victory! Like a conquering King who plants his flag in his enemies’ capital city, Jesus proclaimed to his enemies, “I won!” Baptism connects us to Jesus and all that he has done for us to defeat sin, death, and hell.
But Jesus didn’t stay in hell. Peter says, “It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.” Jesus ascended into heaven. Think of all the travel that’s involved in these verses! From earth to hell to earth to heaven. Why? It’s all Jesus’ kingdom. Jesus is Lord of hell. Jesus is Lord of earth. Jesus is Lord of heaven. Baptism connects us to the power of the One who has all authority in heaven and on earth. Jesus has chosen to use the Means of Grace to connect us to him—the Gospel in God’s Word and in the Sacraments. “Baptism now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God.”
Know what baptism means for you? Every day is like stepping out of the ark. Can you imagine what that was like? Noah and his family were in that ark for over a year. Finally, they got to step out onto dry land. How do you think that felt? A fresh start! That’s what Jesus gives you every day through your baptism: New life. A fresh start. Every day. No matter what yesterday was like, no matter what the last ten years have been like, as a baptized child of God, every day is like stepping out of the ark. Ahhh! Forgiven. A clear conscience. A fresh start. I want to live for Jesus today! Remember those ten seconds of your baptism every morning. They changed your life!
Then come back to those ten seconds again every night. Your conscience needs you to. This week, someone talked with me about how his past seemed to be haunting him: “God must be punishing me for what I’ve done.” Is that true? No. Because of baptism, you can go to sleep at peace every night, knowing that God’s given you a clear conscience. Because of four little words, those ten seconds of your baptism change every day of your life: “Baptism now saves you.”
(To listen to this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior podcast, please click HERE. To watch this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior YouTube channel, please click on the link below.)
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