“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, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.”
God showed patience during Noah’s time, waiting many years for Noah to finish the ark. When Noah was finished, judgment came, but Noah and the others with him were brought through the flood. Noah was saved because he found Grace in the sight of God. God was gracious to tell Noah what He was going to do and how to prepare for it. Noah responded by obediently building the ark.
We are saved through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. God reveals Himself to us, bringing us to salvation. I am clean before God because of the Son, Who sits at the right hand of the Father. God showed Noah the way to salvation and Noah responded. When God reveals Himself to us, bringing us into a saving relationship with Himself, we should respond in obedience to him. Baptism should be our response. It does not cleanse me of my sin. It is the act of obedience, and it is given preeminence in this passage. God compares baptism to something that took years to accomplish and was used to sustain the human race.
Many say that baptism is the first act of obedience in the Christian’s life. I came to know Christ as a child but was not baptized until I was in university. I obeyed Christ many times before my baptism. Therefore, I rejected the statement that baptism was the first act of obedience. Perhaps it is the first act but just not the chronologically first act. Perhaps the first here is a first of importance.
Baptism is greatly important. It saves. It does not cleanse, but it is the natural response of one who is cleansed. And it is so closely linked to salvation that the passage actually says that it saves.
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