A video of the sermon from 1 Peter 3:20-22 may be viewed by clicking on the following link: "Suffering for Good May Bring Us New Opportunities to Serve" Pt 2
1 Peter 3:18-22
First Christian Church, Owensville, IN
July 19, 2020
Bart W. Newton, Preaching Minister
(Abbreviations for Bible translations that may be quoted: ESV = English Standard Version; NLT = New Living Translation; CSB = Christian Standard Bible; GW = God’s Word; Amplified Bible = AMP; KJV = King James Version; New King James Version = NKJV; The Message = MSG; KNT = Kingdom New Testament)
• If you are a follower, a disciple of Jesus, think back to the moment of your baptism. What were you thinking about? What were you professing during that event? What (or Who) were you receiving? Why did you voluntarily allow someone to submerge you under water in the name of the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit? What was it like when you came up out of the water? What was going on in your conscience then? How was your relationship with God affected in your baptism?
• We’re going to see what Peter has to say about our baptism and how it relates to conscience, suffering, and service.
1 Peter 3:18-22: 18 For Christ also suffered once 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, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 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. 21 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, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (ESV)
• Last week we focused on verses 18b-20a to find out what Jesus was up to between His death and His resurrection. Today, we’re considering verses 20-22 and how baptism relates not just to the salvation experience, but perhaps also to future service, not just in this life but maybe even after our death!
• The passage reminds us that when God flooded the world during the days of Noah, out of all the world’s population, only eight were saved!
…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.
• The very water that destroyed the unrighteous was the very water that carried Noah and his family to a newly cleansed world!
• This sets us up to look closely at verses 21.
21 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,…
Three initial observations about Peter’s reference to baptism to note right off the bat.
• 1) Baptism has something to do with the salvation process and experience and of the individual believer in Christ. (v.21)
• 2) Baptism has something to do with the individual believer’s conscience. (v. 21)
• 3) Baptism is directly associated with the resurrection of Jesus from the dead after His crucifixion. (v.21)
21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you,…
• Notice that the flood waters symbolize baptism and not the other way around.
• The flood waters correspond or symbolize the reality or fulfillment of baptism.
• The great event of the flood was a portrayal of the greater event of baptism.
• Peter says that Baptism… now saves you,…
• “now” perhaps mean in this age or dispensation, the church era.
• John Mark Hicks and Greg Taylor: “Baptism, just like the Flood, is a saving event. Just as God saved Noah through the cleansing of the old world with water, so God saves his people from their old life through baptism. ..Noah passed through the waters into a new world, just as Christians pass through baptism into a new life.”—Hicks & Taylor, Down in the River to Pray, p. 25.
• “As the waters of the flood lifted Noah and his family out of the sinful world and brought them safely to a cleansed earth, so baptism in water is the line of demarcation between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. Before one is immersed, he is outside of Christ, after a penitent believers is immersed, he is in Christ (Rom 6:3; Gal 3:27). Before one is baptized he has the guilt of sin upon him; when he is baptized his sins are washed away (Acts 2:38; 22:16).” –Raymond C. Kelsey, The Letters of Peter and Jude, p. 80.
• Romans 6:3-5: 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. (NLT)
• Colossians 2:12: … you were placed in the tomb with Christ through baptism. In baptism you were also brought back to life with Christ through faith in the power of God, who brought him back to life. (GW)
• “In every NT passage that says anything at all about the meaning of baptism, the only purpose with which it is connected is the salvation of sinners. The various aspects of salvation are described as being bestowed upon the believing, repentant sinner in the act of baptism. This is the consistent and exclusive NT witness; no other purpose for baptism is mentioned or even hinted at…This is…why we may speak of baptism (along with faith, repentance, and confession) as a condition for salvation.” –Jack Cottrell, The Faith Once for All, p. 360
• But now listen, we mustn’t treat baptism as providing salvation in and of itself. Baptism isn’t magical.
• So we are not talking about baptismal regeneration, that is, the mere act of submerging someone under water causes the new birth to happen.
• And Peter makes very clear that not the act itself that saves. Baptism isn’t just some ceremonial washing:
…not as a removal of dirt from the body…
• Rather, baptism involves the moral sense and mindfulness of the one being baptized:
…but as an appeal to God for a good conscience,…
• GW: … baptism is a request to God for a clear conscience.
• In baptism, I’m asking God for forgiveness of my sins leading to a clear conscience.
• Acts 2:36-38: 36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (ESV)
• Ananias to Saul (Paul) Acts 22:16: ‘What are you waiting for now? Get up! Be baptized, and have your sins washed away as you call on his name.’(GW)
• Some scholars believe it’s not an appeal or request to God but a pledge to God, such as in the translation of the CSB: …but the pledge of a good conscience toward God…
• In other words, the person is saying through baptism, “Yes, Father, I accept the terms, privileges, and promises of entering into this covenant with You and therefore I pledge to maintain a good conscience by living a life of allegiance to Christ by your grace.
• V. 21—If baptism has to do with the conscience of the one being baptized, what is the purpose of what is referred to as infant baptism (Christening)? Do any of you remember having a conscience as an infant?
• Peter further qualifies what he’s written. The water in and of itself doesn’t save. It is…
…..through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,…
• V. 21b, NLT: It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
• God saves through the water by the power of Christ’s work on the cross validated by His resurrection from the dead.
• 1 Peter 1:3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…(ESV)
1 Corinthians 15-17-20: 17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. 18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! 19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.
20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. (NLT)
• Why does Peter bring up baptism at this time?
• 1. Baptism was the time and place where they were born again. It’s worth suffering over.
• Well, in many cultures, non-Christians are free to investigate and read about Christianity all they want. But when they are baptized is when their non-believing friends begin to persecute them.
• So perhaps some of the believers were thinking that maybe if they hadn’t been baptized, they wouldn’t have to suffer persecution. To which Peter says, “Baptism now saves you!”
• Secondly, when did Jesus begin His ministry? At the time of His baptism that fulfilled all righteousness.
• When do we begin ours as God’s children? At the completion of our baptism.
• And Jesus suffered persecution during His time of ministry and service.
• Peter says we do, too.
• Between Jesus’ physical death and resurrection, He served by making proclamation to the spirits in prison (Hades).
• 2. Perhaps Christians have further opportunities to serve between our death and our resurrection when we get our new bodies.
• “Just like ‘new life’ after baptism was a whole new area of service, so the ‘new life’ after a Christian’s death opens to the Christian a whole new area of service. This is the point Peter is making, that what happens when a Christian dies was pre-figured in what happened at his baptism.”—Gareth Reese, Peter & Jude, p. 95
22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (ESV)
• NLT: He is seated in the place of honor next to God…
• Amplified: …at the right hand of God [that is, the place of honor and authority]
• Romans 8:34: Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. (ESV)
• With a Savior and King like Jesus, what do we have to fear in this life and the life to come?
• No wonder Paul writes to us in Colossians 3:1: If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. (ESV)
Let’s spend some time reflecting on what God’s Word has shown us, using the acronym SPECKS:
• Sin to confess?
• Prayer, promise or praise to hold onto?
• Example to follow?
• Command to obey?
• Knowledge to retain?
• Share the passage with whom?
• 1 Peter 3:18-22 begins with Christ’s once and for all suffering and death. It ends with His resurrection and ascension to and sovereign rule from the Father’s right hand until He comes to judge the world.
• Each week during communion we celebrate Gods grace and renew our pledge to live gracious, grateful, humble lives of loving obedience to our King Jesus.
• Hebrews 10:21-23: 21 We have a superior priest in charge of God’s house. 22 We have been sprinkled with his blood to free us from a guilty conscience, and our bodies have been washed with clean water. So we must continue to come to him with a sincere heart and strong faith. 23 We must continue to hold firmly to our declaration of faith. The one who made the promise is faithful. (GW)
• Lee C. Camp writes in his book Scandalous Witness, “The sacraments [of baptism and the Lord’s Supper]…are intended to form us into a particular kind of people who share gracious, risky hospitality, abundant generosity, and long-suffering patience.” (p. 131)
The Lord’s Supper
Luke 22: 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying,
“This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying,
“This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
King Jesus has died. King Jesus has risen. And King Jesus will come again.