Commentary on First Peter (113)

As verse 20 transitions into verse 21, another difficulty appears. We read, "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 good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." The questions for interpreters include the sense in which Noah was "saved through water," the relation between the flood and baptism, and the sense in which baptism now "saves" us.

Peter does not say that Noah was saved from the water, but that he was saved through or by the water. In other words, the text does not say that Noah was protected from the water and preserved while he went through the water, but that it was by means of the water that he was saved. God did not save Noah from the water, but God used the water to save him.

This can be very puzzling as long as we focus on the destructive power of the flood, and being strongly oriented to the natural and the physical, this is what many of us tend to do. In natural terms, it is true that the water was a force for destruction from which Noah required protection, which the ark provided. There is nothing wrong with looking at what happened to Noah from this angle.

However, right now Peter is looking at the same event from a more spiritual point of view. That is, although the flood drowned the ungodly men, before the flood, Noah was already drowning in their filth! Man's wickedness filled the earth, so that "every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time" (Genesis 6:5). Verse 12 says, "God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways." He had made the promise that one born of a woman would crush the serpent's head, but now evil was so pervasive that even the messianic bloodline was under threat – only eight people were saved.

Therefore, from the perspective of judgment and disaster, Noah was indeed saved from the water by the ark, no doubt a type of Christ. But from the perspective of God's plan of redemption, it was the flood that saved Noah – not from God's judgment, but from the wickedness and corruption that surrounded him. And it is from this perspective that Peter writes to his readers.

As an illustration of this kind of thinking, consider 2 Peter 2:7-8, which says, "[God] rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)." Of course God rescued Lot from the "burning sulfur" that he rained down upon Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24), but the text does not focus on this here, and neither does it say that Lot was bothered by the danger and destruction of the judgement. Rather, he was "distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men" who tormented his soul.

The application for Peter's readers is obvious. They are surrounded by ungodly people, who as a later verse states, are "living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry" (1 Peter 3:3). And some of them actively revile the believers who refuse to act like they do: "They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you" (v. 4). It is easy to see that Peter's point is just as relevant to believers today.

Then, verse 21 says in the RSV, "Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you." The flood is not a precise type of baptism, and the two do not correspond at every point. But given what we have said, it is easy to see the specific relevance and correspondence in this context. The water of the Red Sea was a force for destruction, and the Lord protected the Israelites through it when he made them to pass through on dry land. But the same water then destroyed the pursuing Egyptian army, and in this manner saved Israel. This water is also a type of baptism (1 Corinthians 10:2).

Likewise, Christians are "saved" by baptism in the sense that it cuts us off from the godlessness and wickedness of the world. And one day, our salvation will be complete when God throws all ungodly men – all non-Christians – into the lake of everlasting fire, while believers are taken into the presence of the Lord. However, it is not the water or the rite of baptism that saves Christians from God's wrath. This is because when the subject is salvation from divine wrath, it was the ark that saved Noah, and it was Moses and his staff that enabled Israel to cross on dry land. These are types of Christ.

Therefore, we are saved not because of the water and the rite of baptism, but because we are hidden in Christ (Colossians 3:3) as Noah was shut up in the ark, and because we follow Christ and cling to him, as Israel followed Moses and crossed over the Red Sea on dry land. And of course, the verse itself prevents misunderstanding, for it adds, "not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

That is, it is not the water or the rite that saves, but the fact that God has placed us in Christ, who "died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous" (v. 18), and who then rose from the dead (v. 21) and ascended to the right hand of God – "with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him" (v. 22).

We have offered a credible interpretation of the passage. Although it has been considered difficult and controversial, it is unlikely that Peter intends for it to be this way, and indeed his main point is very clear. Therefore, if any uncertainty remains about it, there is still no need to miss its thrust and intent.

The passage is prefaced by the statement, "It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil" (v. 17). Serving to illustrate and reinforce it, the subsequent verses cite the work of Christ, that he endured and died under unjust punishment, but then he rose from the grave and ascended to the right hand of God with all power and authority. God has ordained something similar for us, so that as we follow Christ's example, we shall also inherit his destiny. Our suffering shall lead to vindication and exaltation.