INTRODUCTION
Some use 1 Peter 3:21 as a text to support the doctrine of baptismal regeneration. For example, Dr. Jack Cottrell uses this text in his book Baptism – Biblical Study (College Press Publishing, Joplin, MO (1989) [7th printing in 2006]) to support the doctrine of baptismal regeneration. On 154, Dr. Cottrell writes [emphasis added]:
In this chapter we have made four points. First, we have seen that 1 Peter 3:21 states unequivocally that baptism saves. Second, from the standpoint of the human participant, it saves insofar as it is an appeal to God from Him to do what He has promised to do for our salvation. Third, our appeal in baptism specifically is for a good conscience, which comes about through the gift of forgiveness of sins. Finally, the ultimate saving power of baptism is derived from the resurrection of Christ, who as the risen and reigning Lord has the authority to distribute the gifts of salvation as He chooses. And as this passage shows, He chooses to do so in Christian baptism.
Post 39 reports the results of my observation of the broader literary context of 1 Peter 3:12-22, as well as 1 Peter 3:21. My main takeaways from my observation are set forth below.
First, even in the face of intimidation, a believer must not fear being zealous for doing what is good with a good conscience for the sake of righteousness (vv. 13-14).
Second, a believer should continue to become more holy always being ready to present the saving gospel of Jesus Christ with gentleness and respect (v. 15).
Third, Christ, who was just, died for the sins of the unjust and rose from the grave so as to provide the opportunity for salvation to all of mankind (v. 18).
Fourth, this post will not address Christ preaching to the spirits in prison (vv. 19-20a).
Fifth, only eight persons were brought through the flood of Genesis (v. 20b).
Sixth, by writing v. 21, Peter intended to convey to his original audience was that spiritual baptism (immersion) saves (not water baptism) wherein that spiritual baptism (immersion) occurs upon a person responding to the gospel call by exercising biblical saving faith alone in the resurrected, ascended Jesus Christ.
OBSERVATION OF BROADER TEXT – 1 PETER 3:13-22
The broader literary context of 1 Peter 3:13–22 (NASB95) reads:
13 Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, 15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; 16 and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. 17 For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. 18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; 19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, 20 who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. 21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.
First, even in the face of intimidation, a believer must not fear being zealous for doing what is good with a good conscience for the sake of righteousness (vv. 13-14).
Second, a believer should continue to become more holy always being ready to present the saving gospel of Jesus Christ with gentleness and respect (v. 15).
Third, Christ, who was just, died for the sins of the unjust and rose from the grave so as to provide the opportunity for salvation to all of mankind (v. 18).
Fourth, this post will not address Christ preaching to the spirits in prison (vv. 19-20a).
Fifth, only eight persons were brought through the flood of Genesis (v. 20b).
OBSERVATION OF 1 PETER 3:21
The Text – Selected Translations and Nestle-Arndt 28th Edition
1 Peter 3:21 (NASB95) reads:
21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
In the Wuest translation, 1 Peter 3:21 (WUESTNT) reads:
which [water] also as a counterpart now saves you, [namely] baptism; not a putting off of filth of flesh, but the witness of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
The Complete Jewish Bible translation of 1 Peter 3:21 (CJB) reads:
This also prefigures what delivers us now, the water of immersion, which is not the removal of dirt from the body, but one’s pledge to keep a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah.
The Hebrew Names translation of 1 Peter 3:21 (HNV) reads:
This is a symbol of immersion, which now saves you – not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah,
1 Peter 3:21 (NA28) reads:
21 ὃ καὶ ὑμᾶς ἀντίτυπον νῦν σῴζει βάπτισμα, οὐ σαρκὸς ἀπόθεσις ῥύπου ἀλλὰ συνειδήσεως ἀγαθῆς ἐπερώτημα εἰς θεόν, διʼ ἀναστάσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ
Observation
My observation of v. 21 is set forth below. Verse 21 begins with the relative pronoun ὃ which the NASB95 translates as “that.” It is in the nominative singular neuter. It appears that ὃ refers to ὕδατος (water) in the genitive singular neuter in v. 20 so there is agreement in number and gender between ὃ and ὕδατος. What follows is the Greek adverb καὶ which the NASB95 does not translate, but it functions as an emphatic conjunction to add emphasis.
The NASB95 translates the Greek personal pronoun ὑμᾶς as “you,” and it is in the second person accusative plural.
The NASB95 translates the Greek adjective ἀντίτυπον as “corresponding to.” It is in the nominative singular neuter. According to BDAG (Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., Bauer, W., & Gingrich, F. W. (2000). In A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 90). University of Chicago Press) it means, “pert. to that which corresponds to someth. else, adj. corresponding to.” The USB Translation Handbook (Arichea, D. C., & Nida, E. A. (1980). A handbook on the first letter from Peter (pp. 119–120). United Bible Societies) explains this word:
Peter now moves from the past to the present—from the events which occurred during the days of Noah to their meaning and relevance to the present situation of the recipients of the letter. Accordingly, he takes a portion of the past events which he has just mentioned and interprets it as a symbol pointing to (literally “antitype”) a part of the Christian experience. In doing this, he is simply following a practice prevalent among New Testament writers (and other biblical interpreters of that time) of taking things, events, and people in the Old Testament and interpreting them as types or symbols corresponding to things, events, and people in the present. The “type” foreshadows the “antitype,” that is, it is an imperfect symbol of a reality which is now revealed fully in the Christian faith.
The Brill Dictionary of Ancient Greek 3rd Edition by Franco Montaneri (2013 Brill, Boston, MA) on page 210 identifies definitions of ἀντίτυπον and related words to include reverberate, echoing, reflective, corresponding, representative, resembling, reciprocal, image, imprint, antitype, and to represent symbolically.
Next comes the Greek adverb νῦν, which the NASB95 translates as “now.” The Logos 9 sense is at the present time. The NASB95 translates the Greek verb σῴζει as “saves,” and it is in the present active indicative third person singular. According to Louw et al. (Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 241). United Bible Societies), it means, “to cause someone to experience divine salvation—‘to save.’” What follows is the Greek noun βάπτισμα, which the NASB95 translates as “baptism.” It is in the nominative singular neuter. The grammar reveals that via this phrase, Peter intended to convey to his audience that baptism (βάπτισμα) saves wherein the salvation is in a state of being with no assessment of completion. However, as will become clear, it is NOT water baptism that saves, not water baptism.
The NASB95 translates the Greek conjunction οὐ as “not,” and it functions as a logical correlative which is a word (normally a particle or conjunction) that establishes a relationship between clauses. That is, a word that “correlates” one clause (often a dependent clause) to another clause. See Heiser, M. S., & Setterholm, V. M. (2013; 2013). Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology. Lexham Press. The conjunction οὐ also functions as a negative which is the use of a particle to signify that the sentential element being modified should be understood in the opposite sense from what it would otherwise mean. Lukaszewski, Id.
What Peter intended to relate to his intended meaning of “baptism” begins with the Greek noun σαρκὸς which the NASB95 translates as “from the flesh.” It is in the genitive singular feminine. What follows is the Greek noun ἀπόθεσις which the NASB95 translates as “the removal,” According to Louw et al., supra at Vol. 1, p. 727 , it means, “to put or take something away from its normal location—‘to put away, to put out of the way, to remove.” The NASB95 translates the Greek noun ῥύπου as “of dirt.” It is in the genitive singular masculine. It is clear that Peter did not intend to convey to his audience that water baptism has salvific efficacy.
Peter then identified what does save through what follows the Greek conjunction ἀλλὰ which the NASB95 translates as “but.” It functions as a logical correlative, as well as an adversative conjunction which is used to express contrast between the immediate clause and the one preceding it. See Lukaszewski, A. L. (2007). The Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament Glossary. Lexham Press.
The NASB95 translates the Greek noun συνειδήσεως as “for a … conscience.” It is genitive singular feminine. According to Louw et al., supra at Vol. 1, p. 323 it means, “(contrast συνείδησιςa ‘knowledge about something,’ 28.4) the psychological faculty which can distinguish between right and wrong—‘moral sensitivity, conscience.” Next is the Greek adjective ἀγαθῆς (genitive singular feminine) which the NASB95 translates as “good.” According to Louw et al., supra at Vol. 1, p. 741, it means, “positive moral qualities of the most general nature—‘good, goodness, good act.’”
The NASB95 translates the Greek noun ἐπερώτημα as “an appeal,” and it means (Louw et al., supra, at Vol. 1, p. 406:
(derivative of ἐπερωτάωb ‘to ask for,’ 33.161) that which is asked for—‘request, appeal.’ βάπτισμα … ἀλλὰ συνειδήσεως ἀγαθῆς ἐπερώτημα εἰς θεόν ‘but baptism … is a request to God for a good conscience’ 1 Pe 3:21. It is also possible to interpret ἐπερώτημα in 1 Pe 3:21 as meaning ‘pledge’ or ‘promise,’ in which case it may be classified under 33.288. Accordingly, the phrase συνειδήσεως ἀγαθῆς ἐπερώτημα εἰς θεόν may be rendered as ‘a promise made to God from a good conscience.’
The Brill Dictionary of Ancient Greek adds more meaning to ἐπερώτημα as used in 1 Peter 3:21 by a definition on page 751 to the effect that συνειδήσεως is a solemn promise or pledge or some guarantee made in response to a formal demand.
The proposition + noun combination of εἰς θεόν is translated by the NASB95 as “to God.” The proposition is a preposition of direction which shows flow, both real and semantic, toward its object. See Lukaszewski, Id. Next follows the preposition διʼ which the NASB95 translates as “through.” This proposition functions as a preposition of manner used to express either method or manner. See Lukaszewski, Id.. The noun ἀναστάσεως follows and the NASB95 translates it as “the resurrection.” It is in the genitive, singular feminine. Finally, the verse ends with the expression Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ which the NASB95 translaets as “of Jesus Christ.” Both noun are in the genitive singular masculine.
To add some scope to this analysis, 1 Peter 3:21 reads in a variety of English translations:
1 Peter 3:21 (NET) – 21 And this prefigured baptism, which now saves you—not the washing off of physical dirt but the pledge of a good conscience to God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
1 Peter 3:21 (NIV) – 21 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,
1 Peter 3:21 (HCSB) – 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 3:21 (NLT) – 21 And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 3:21 (GW) – 21 Baptism, which is like that water, now saves you. Baptism doesn’t save by removing dirt from the body. Rather, baptism is a request to God for a clear conscience. It saves you through Jesus Christ, who came back from death to life.
No doubt water baptism was an important formal rite in the 1st Century, but it did not possess any salvific efficacy. By writing v. 21, Peter intended to convey to his original audience was that spiritual baptism (immersion) saves (not water baptism) wherein that spiritual baptism (immersion) occurs upon a person responding to the gospel call by exercising biblical saving faith alone in the resurrected, ascended Jesus Christ.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, my takeaways from 1 Peter 3:13-22 are below.
First, even in the face of intimidation, a believer must not fear being zealous for doing what is good with a good conscience for the sake of righteousness (vv. 13-14).
Second, a believer should continue to become more holy always being ready to present the saving gospel of Jesus Christ with gentleness and respect (v. 15).
Third, Christ, who was just, died for the sins of the unjust and rose from the grave so as to provide the opportunity for salvation to all of mankind (v. 18).
Fourth, this post will not address Christ preaching to the spirits in prison (vv. 19-20a).
Fifth, only eight persons were brought through the flood of Genesis (v. 20b).
Sixth, by writing v. 21, Peter intended to convey to his original audience was that spiritual baptism (immersion) saves (not water baptism) wherein that spiritual baptism (immersion) occurs upon a person responding to the gospel call by exercising biblical saving faith alone in the resurrected, ascended Jesus Christ.
VERY IMPORTANT IF YOU BELIEVE IN BAPTISMAL REGENERATION
Finally, let me quote gotquestions.org (link: https://www.gotquestions.org/baptism-Mark-16-16.html ):
If you believe in baptismal regeneration, you would do well to prayerfully consider whom or what you are really putting your trust in. Is your faith in a physical act (being baptized) or in the finished work of Christ on the cross? Whom or what are you trusting for salvation? Is it the shadow (baptism) or the substance (Jesus Christ)? Our faith must rest in Christ alone. “We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).
Please read and take to heart what I write in the section entitled “IF YOU ARE NOT A CHRISTIAN.”
IF YOU ARE UNSURE ABOUT YOUR SALVATION
If you are unsure about your salvation, you need to check out my book The Salvation Meter: Biblical Self-Diagnostic Tests to Examine Your Salvation and Spiritual Growth (book link at Xulon Press: https://www.xulonpress.com/bookstore/bookdetail.php?PB_ISBN=9781662828638 ). At Amazon the book link is https://www.amazon.com/Salavation-Meter-Biblical-Self-Diagnostic-Spiritual/dp/1662828632 . I also have a website in which I am updating the content in the book. The link to my website for the book is https://thesalvationmeter.com .
IF YOU ARE NOT A CHRISTIAN
… please (1) read through “God’s Plan of Salvation” so you can understand what God did for you through His only unique Son, Jesus Christ, and (2), from the bottom of your heart, pray the “Sinner’s Prayer” meaning every word. If you do, you will be reconciled to God – saved – through Jesus Christ.
God’s Plan of Salvation
In the beginning, God, who is holy, created the entire universe. As a part of His creative actions, He made humans in His image to know Him. For a while, everything was right between God and our ancestors, Adam and Eve. But Adam sinned, and his sin was passed down to all of humankind whereby we became separated from God. Nothing we could do on our own could bridge that separation so that without God’s intervention, hell would be our eternal destination.
Fortunately for us, in His great love and mercy God provided humankind with the only means of salvation, which is through Jesus Christ who is God’s only unique Son. While retaining His deity, God the Son became a man in Jesus, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross, thus fulfilling the law Himself and taking on Himself the punishment for the sins of all those who would ever repent and trust in Him for their salvation. Jesus rose from the dead, showing that God the Father accepted Christ’s sacrifice and that God’s wrath against us has been exhausted. He now calls us to repent of our sins and trust alone in what Christ did to save us.
If we repent of our sins and completely trust in Christ alone that He died for our sins and rose to life from the dead, we are born again into a new life, an eternal life with God.
Scripture References: Genesis 1:1, 27, 31; Habakkuk 1:13; Genesis 2:7, 18, 21-25; Genesis 3:1-7, 23-24; Isaiah 59:2; Romans 3:19-20, 23; 5:17-19; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 6:23; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 1 John 4:10; John 3:16-18; Mark 1:15; Romans 1:4; 4:25; John 3:5-8; 1 Peter 1:3.
“Sinner’s Prayer”
Lord, Jesus Christ, the only unique Son of God, thank You for Your free gift of eternal life. I know I’m a sinner who cannot save myself no matter what I do, and I deserve to spend eternity in hell. But, I know that because You loved me so much, You voluntarily died on the cross for me taking my sins upon Yourself, and You physically bodily rose from the grave showing that Your sacrificial death was sufficient payment to give me eternal life in Heaven. I now repent of my sins and trust alone in what You did for my eternal salvation. Please take control of my life as I now receive You as my Lord and Savior. Thank You so much for saving me. I am now Yours forever! (Scripture references: John 1:1-4, 11-14; John 3:16; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:21-26; Isaiah 53:4-6; Mark 1:15; Acts 16:31; Acts 4:12; Romans 10:9-10, 13; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; John 10:27-29).
Upon your salvation, you must find a spiritually solid Bible-believing church that (1) teaches that the sixty-six books of the Bible are the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God, (2) believes in the doctrine of the Trinity, which means that there is one God who eternally exists as three distinct Persons — the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and each Person is fully God, and (3) teaches that salvation is by grace through faith and not by works (e.g., water baptism by immersion).
ONE CAUTIONARY POINT. Please do not make the mistake of thinking that once you become a Christian, your life will become easy. Most likely, it will become more difficult. God’s blessing of salvation and life’s difficulties are not mutually exclusive. Jesus told His disciples, “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.” John 15:18 (NLT). Always keep in mind that you have an eternal home in heaven waiting for you per John 14:2–4 (NLT):
2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”
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