A Symbol of Victory
July 4, 2021 Preacher: Luis A. Cardenas Series: First Peter
Topic: English Passage: 1 Peter 3:21-22
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Since we started studying this book, I’ve been telling you that one of the major themes of First Peter is suffering. Hopefully, that’s engrained into your biblical understanding.
But another big theme that we have been seeing lately is victory. Typically, we put suffering and victory at opposite ends. Someone might suffer for a time and then experience a kind of victory, but according to what the Apostle Peter has been teaching us, suffering is not necessarily opposed to victory. For the Christian, righteous suffering is the path to victory.
Peter has repeatedly told us that if we suffer for doing what is right, we will be blessed. Suffering, at times, is part of God’s will for our lives. And if we embrace His design by persevering in righteousness, we will please our heavenly Father, we will embarrass our enemies, and people will glorify God. They may be converted to the faith, having seen our testimony, or they may glorify God in defeat, when they see Christ for themselves and realize they rejected the Messiah and deserve their eternal punishment.
The victory we are taking part in was accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ when He died on the cross and was raised from the dead. Last week, when we looked at verses 19 and 20, we talked about how Christ proclaimed His victory to the fallen angels.
The verses we’re looking at today talk about a specific symbol or expression of that victory. That symbol is known as baptism.
When someone wins their event at the Olympics, they aren’t just declared the winner; they are given a symbol of that victory. They get a gold medal.
As a symbol of the victory which Christ has given us over sin and over death and over Satan, we have been given baptism. Baptism matters. It’s meaningful. More important than what any person or any tradition says, we want to understand baptism biblically. We don’t want to make it less than what it is, and we don’t want to make it more than what it is.
In these verses, as Peter discusses the salvation and the victory we have in Christ, somewhat suddenly, he starts to talk about baptism. You can see that in verse 21, when he says: “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you.”
What in the world is Peter saying? It’s important that we understand this properly. What does it mean when Peter says that baptism saves us? And what it is that baptism corresponds to?
Well, there are some who take the word “baptism” not as reference to a literal water baptism, but as a reference to being united to Christ. The word baptism could be taken literally, where it means to be dipped or immersed, but it can also be taken metaphorically, meaning you were inundated or overcome by something.
For example, Jesus spoke about His crucifixion as a baptism. He was going to be immersed in pain and agony under the wrath of God.
The word is also used as a reference to being baptized in the Holy Spirit or baptized into Jesus Christ. In that sense, it’s talking about the spiritual components of salvation. We receive the Holy Spirit. We are gathered into the family of Jesus Christ. We are united to Christ and His life is counted to us. Romans 6 and Galatians 3 say we are baptized into His death.
So, it’s possible that Peter is using the word baptism in a metaphorical sense, and if that’s the case, then it’s another way to refer to our salvation.
Personally, I don’t think that’s what’s happening. In the large majority of cases, the word baptism is talking about a literal dunking in water. Also, Peter was just talking about the flood in the time of Noah, so I think there’s a continuation of something related to water, even if it’s not a direct correlation.
When Peter says that baptism corresponds to something, we need to try to figure out what he’s talking about. I think it’s a little weird to compare the waters of baptism to a global flood, since the Flood was intended to wipe out the planet.
I think the best way to understand what Peter is doing is to say that he is connecting baptism to the idea of God saving Noah and his family. They were, like verse 20 says, “brought safely through water.” Just like God saved Noah’s family, He saves His people now through baptism.
Now, having said that, we need to understand what Peter means when he says that. How is it that baptism saves us?
Before we answer that question, let me just give you our outline for this morning. What we are going to be seeing in our passage for today, as we finish chapter 3, are three significances to baptism. And I hope these will help us gain a better appreciation for this beautiful ordinance Christ has given us.
The first significance is the answer to the question: How is it that baptism saves us? What does Peter mean when he says that?
Here’s our first principle for today: Baptism is a symbol pointing to our salvation. Baptism is a symbol pointing to our salvation.
When Peter says that baptism saves us, he doesn’t mean that it’s the actual act of being dunked in water that brings salvation.
Why do I say that? Well, for starters, the Bible teaches us that, although baptism is an important step of obedience, it is not necessary for salvation. The Bible teaches that salvation is by faith alone, not by works. The practical righteousness that comes because of our salvation is the fruit of what has happened, not the root of it. That’s a helpful way to remember this. The righteousness of a Christians is not the root of salvation; it is the fruit of it. Your obedience to Jesus Christ is an evidence of salvation, not the reason it happened.
This is why the Jerusalem Council was so important, and a lot of you looked at that when you were studying Acts. The Jerusalem Council comes in Acts 15, and it was intended to clarify a misunderstanding. Doctrines weren’t being invented, but they were being clarified so that everyone could understand. Gentiles don’t need to obey the Old Testament Law because salvation is by God’s grace alone, through faith alone. Anytime we add external works as a means to gain or maintain salvation, that’s called legalism.
The fact that baptism is not a requirement for salvation is also seen in Paul’s ministry. He gave his life to proclaiming the gospel. That’s what brings salvation, when it’s received by faith. And so, in 1 Corinthians 1:17, Paul explicitly says, “Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.” That statement wouldn’t make much sense if baptism were a requirement for salvation. It only makes sense because baptism is not a requirement.
This is part of the major differences between what the Bible teaches and what the Roman Catholic Church teaches. According to the official teaching of the church of Rome, baptism is a requirement for salvation. Their official catechism says, “Holy Baptism… is the gateway to life in the Spirit… Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word… [It] signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one can enter the kingdom of God.”
That is the way Roman Catholicism interpret verses that link baptism with salvation. That’s why they are so desperate to get those babies baptized, because according to their belief, it saves them. It brings about regeneration.
But again, that’s not what the Bible teaches. When the Apostles preached that the people needed to be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins, they weren’t trying to say that the act itself brought salvation. They were talking about what the act signified. Like we said, baptism is a symbol that points to our salvation; it is not what actually brings about our salvation.
Let me just give you one example. Let’s say you are trying to apply for a job and one of the requirements for that job is that you have a high school diploma. What are they actually after? Do they really intend to say that as long as there’s a piece of paper with your name on it and the name of some school, you qualify for the job? That isn’t what they’re after. It’s not the literal piece of paper they want. It’s what the paper symbolizes.
If you lost your high school diploma, does that mean you’re disqualified? Should you not bother applying? Of course not. It’s not the paper the company is after. It’s what the paper signifies. That you meet some minimum level of competence in some basic skills. The diploma is shorthand for what’s behind it. Does that make sense to you?
The diploma is a symbol of the work you completed and the competence you demonstrated. It’s similar with baptism. Baptism is a symbol of something. It’s an external sign, based on a credible profession of faith, that symbolizes your salvation.
And the fact that Peter isn’t saying there is some supernatural power in being dunked in water becomes even more clear in the rest of the verse. This is going to be our second point for today, a second reality about baptism.
Number one: baptism is a symbol pointing to our salvation. Number two: Baptism is a symbol pointing to our faith. Baptism is a symbol pointing to our faith.
Baptism is important, and it’s linked with salvation, not because there’s some special or supernatural act of God’s grace in the ceremony, but because it’s an expression of our faith.
Look at what Peter says at the end of verse 21. How is it that baptism saves us? Peter says it saves us, “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.”
Dunking or immersing someone in water is a way of cleansing them. It removes dirt from the body. That’s why we take a bath or a shower. Water cleanses. But Peter says, it’s not the removal of dirt that saves us, it is the appeal to God for a good conscience.
When someone hears the message of Jesus Christ, they are confronted with the truth that they will be judged by God. They are confronted with the truth that they don’t measure up to God’s standard. They can either reject that truth, or by God’s grace, they can believe it.
If someone believes that truth, they are going to be assaulted by conscience because of their sinfulness. That’s part of the Holy Spirit’s work in someone’s life. They recognize that they stand condemned before a holy God.
John Newton , in “Amazing Grace,” says it like this: ‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear.” An unbeliever doesn’t fear God. A regenerate person does. He recognizes his unworthiness. So, what does he do? He calls out for mercy.
That was the point of Jesus’ story when we contrasted the self-righteous rich man with the repentant tax collector. All the tax collector could do, burdened by his guilt, was bow his head and beat his breast and say, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” And what did Jesus say? He said, “that man went home justified.” He had been declared innocent by God.
That’s the simplicity of salvation. If you’re visiting us this morning, we want you to know the truth of Jesus Christ. The bad news is that you stand condemned before a holy God. That’s the truth whether you accept it or not. The good news is that you can be forgiven through Jesus Christ. If you will stop living for yourself. If you will surrender your life to Christ and trust in Him, you will be forgiven. On the basis of what He did on the cross and in His resurrection, you can be forgiven. Everyone who genuinely comes to Him will be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.
Now, as a symbol of our faith in Jesus Christ, we get baptized. That was the initiation, if you will, of a Christian. It has been the publicly identifying marker of who it is that belongs to Christ.
Getting dunked in water only seems normal to us because it’s what’s Christians have been doing for the past two thousand years. But apart from religious circles, it might sound weird to think that Jesus wants you, as an expression of your faith to get dunked in water. Why choose that as a symbol?
Well, there are multiple significances to baptism, but one of them is that getting baptizes is a symbolic way of declaring, “I need to be cleansed. I need to be washed. My sins have tainted my life, and I need something outside myself to purify me.”
What truly brings salvation, as Peter says is an appeal to God for a clean conscience. “Father, please wash me. Cleanse me. Purify me. Only You can do that. And I believe that that only happens through Jesus Christ who died for sinners and who was raised in victory.” That’s what baptism points to—your faith in Jesus Christ.
That faith in Christ isn’t just a belief that He died, it’s a belief that He was raised again. That’s why Peter says that we appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
As Romans 10 says: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 4:25 says that Jesus was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Baptism is an expression of your faith that salvation and forgiveness is only possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If there were no resurrection, Paul says, we would still be dead in our sins. So, on the basis of Christ’s resurrection, we beg God to have mercy on us.
That’s what Ananias told Paul. Paul talked about it when he gave his testimony before the crowd and the Roman tribune, a leader of the soldiers. Ananias said to Paul, “Why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on His name.”
Baptism mattered, and it still matters today, but not because something supernatural is happening when someone gets dunked, but because it’s a symbol pointing to someone’s faith in Jesus Christ and their reliance on Him for salvation.
This is what made baptism such an offense to the Jews in Jesus’ day, and it still is to many religious people today. People think, “I’m clean already. I’m a righteous person. I’m part of God’s people. I don’t need to wash myself. I’m clean already.” So, their refusal to be baptized means they refuse to repent. They refuse to accept they are sinners in need of a spiritual cleansing. So, they reject God and God rejects them because they will not surrender to Jesus Christ in faith. Baptism is an expression of our faith.
This is also why our church doesn’t baptize babies—because a baby can’t make an appeal to God. They don’t have that kind of faith. If they die, they go to heaven because of God’s mercy, but not because of their personal faith in Jesus Christ. They don’t make these kinds of appeals. They don’t pray. They don’t express faith. They don’t confess their sins. They don’t recognize their unworthiness before a holy God. They don’t understand what Christ has done.
As an expression of our faith, we could say that a good parallel would be a wedding ring. Wearing a ring doesn’t make me married. I’m still married even if I take it off. But just because it’s not the ring that makes me married, doesn’t mean it’s not significant. This ring is a symbol of the promise I made. It tells the world I made a commitment.
The same thing happens with baptism. Baptism communicates to the church and to the world, “I am surrendering my life to and trusting in Jesus Christ who died for my sins and rose from the dead.”
We’ve got one final point for today, and it’s what we see in verse 22. Number 1: Baptism is a symbol pointing to our salvation. Number 2: Baptism is a symbol pointing to our faith. And number 3: Baptism is a symbol pointing to Christ’s triumph. Baptism is a symbol pointing to Christ’s triumph.
Look at verse 22 again. Peter goes on to continue his description of Jesus Christ. [He] has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
This is talking about what happened after the Resurrection, which is the Ascension and Exaltation of Jesus Christ. After being with His disciples for forty days, teaching them about the kingdom of God, Jesus went back to heaven. He didn’t teleport, He ascended. His resurrected body was lifted up from the ground, and He kept going up until a cloud took him out of the people’s sight.
Where did He go? He went back to the Father in heaven. And in multiple places the Bible tells us He sat down at the right hand of the Father. Jesus went back to heaven because His mission of accomplishing redemption was done. His once for all sacrifice was complete.
And even though Jesus is eternal God, there was a special exaltation given Him by the Father. His death and Resurrection was the completion of His mission and the accomplishment of His victory. He has always been supreme over Satan and his demons, but their defeat in the cross and the Resurrection put His supremacy on full display. And it pleased the Father, who had planned redemption in eternity past, to see it brought to completion by the Son.
Ephesians 1:20 says that after God raised Jesus from the dead, He seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
In theology, we call that the exaltation of Christ. Again, He didn’t gain eternal glory, but having completed the Father’s plan, the Father visibly exalted Him. He put the eternal glory of Christ even more on display. In the incarnation, the full glory of Christ was veiled. Now, as the resurrected God-man, He fully demonstrates His victory over Satan and his demons and his authority over all creation and over the church.
Having lived a human life, Christ is forever our great and merciful High Priest, and He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Philippians 2 tells us that because of what Jesus has done, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
We talked about Christ’s victory last week, and we saw the same idea in Colossians. Jesus triumphed over Satan and every demonic force. That power was shown in his earthly ministry, when He cast demons out, but it was most fully shown when He died for sinners, making Satan and the demons absolutely powerless over the eternal state of His people. Sins were forgiven. His people were sealed. Redemption was accomplished. Every power, every authority, Peter says, has been subjected to Jesus Christ.
Do you believe that? Do you believe that there is no greater power in this life than Jesus Christ? More powerful than sickness. More powerful than death. More powerful than sin. More powerful than demons. More powerful than Satan. Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Nothing can take away our eternal inheritance and our living hope which is through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
So, when you come on a Sunday night, and you see someone get baptized, what you are seeing is a symbol pointing to the triumph of Jesus Christ. Just like they come up out of that water, Christ came up from the grave in victory. Everyone who believes in Him walks in newness of life with Resurrection power, and they are all guaranteed the final victory.
Let’s not forget that when we think about baptism. It is a triumphant ceremony. Because Jesus has been raised from the dead, we will be raised as well. We will take part in His eternal victory.
And since the victory is guaranteed, let’s persevere. Like we have been hearing Peter say, let’s fight the battle for holiness and for righteousness. Let’s fight so that more and more people will come to know Jesus Christ. And having come to salvation by faith, they too will partake in the glorious and triumphant symbol which is baptism.
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