Difference between revisions of "Baptism"

<p> <strong> BAPTISM </strong> . This term, which designates a NT rite, is confined to the vocabulary of the NT. It does not occur in the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] , neither is the verb with which it is connected ever used of an initiatory ceremony. This verb is a derivative from one which means ‘to dip’ (&nbsp; John 13:26 , &nbsp; Revelation 19:13 ), but itself has a wider meaning, = ‘to wash’ whether the whole or part of the body, whether by immersion or by the pouring of water (&nbsp; Mark 7:4 , &nbsp; Luke 11:38 ). The substantive is used ( <em> a </em> ) of Jewish ceremonial washings (&nbsp; Mark 7:4 , &nbsp; Hebrews 9:10 ); ( <em> b </em> ) in a metaphorical sense (&nbsp; Mark 10:38 , &nbsp; Luke 12:50; cf. ‘plunged in calamity’); and ( <em> c </em> ) most commonly in the technical sense of a religious ceremony of initiation. </p> <p> <strong> 1 </strong> . The earliest use of the word ‘baptism’ to describe a religious and not merely ceremonial observance is in connexion with the preaching of John the Baptist, and the title which is given to him is probably an indication of the novelty of his procedure (&nbsp; Matthew 3:1 , &nbsp; Mark 8:28 , &nbsp; Luke 7:20; cf. &nbsp; Mark 6:14; &nbsp; Mark 6:24 ). He ‘preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins’ (&nbsp; Mark 1:4 ), <em> i.e. </em> the result of his preaching was to induce men to seek baptism as an outward sign and pledge of inward repentance on their part, and of their forgiveness on the part of God. ‘Baptism is related to repentance as the outward act in which the inward change finds expression. It has been disputed whether the practice of baptizing proselytes on their reception into the Jewish community was already established in the 1st cent.; probably it was. But in any case the significance of their baptism was that of ceremonial cleansing; John employed it as a symbol and a seal of moral purification. But, according to the Gospel record, John recognized the incomplete and provisional character of the baptism administered by him: ‘I indeed have baptized you with water; but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost’ (&nbsp; Mark 1:8 ). </p> <p> <strong> 2 </strong> . Jesus Himself accepted baptism at the hands of John (&nbsp; Mark 1:9 ), overcoming the reluctance of the Baptist with a word of authority. That Jesus Himself baptized is nowhere suggested in the Synoptic Gospels, and is expressly denied in the Fourth Gospel (&nbsp; John 4:2 ); but His disciples baptized, and it must have been with His authority, equivalent to baptism by Himself, and involving admission to the society of His disciples. On the other hand, His Instructions to the Twelve and to the Seventy contain no command to baptize. Christian baptism was to be baptism ‘with the Spirit,’ and ‘the Spirit was not yet given’ (&nbsp; John 7:39 ). It is recorded in Acts (&nbsp; Acts 1:5 ) that the [[Risen]] Lord foretold that this promised baptism would be received after His departure, ‘not many days hence.’ </p> <p> <strong> 3 </strong> . Christian baptism, although it finds a formal analogy in the baptism of John, which in its turn represents a spiritualizing of ancient Jewish ideas of lustration, appears as in its essential character a new thing after the descent of the Holy Spirit. It is a phenomenon ‘entirely unique, and in its inmost nature without any analogy, because it rises as an original fact from the soil of the Christian religion of revelation’ (von Dobschütz). It has been customary to trace the institution of the practice to the words of Christ recorded in &nbsp; Matthew 28:19 . But the authenticity of this passage has been challenged on historical as well as on textual grounds. It must be acknowledged that the formula of the threefold name, which is here enjoined, does not appear to have been employed by the primitive Church, which, so far as our information goes, baptized ‘in’ or ‘into the name of Jesus’ (or ‘Jesus Christ’ or ‘the Lord Jesus’: &nbsp; Acts 2:38; &nbsp; Acts 8:16; &nbsp; Acts 10:48; &nbsp; Acts 19:5; cf, &nbsp; 1 Corinthians 1:13; &nbsp; 1 Corinthians 1:15 ), without reference to the Father or the Spirit. The difficulty hence arising may be met by assuming ( <em> a </em> ) that Baptism in the name of Jesus was equivalent to Baptism in the name of the Trinity, or ( <em> b </em> ) that the shorter phrase does not represent the formula used by the baptizer (which may have been the fuller one), but the profession made by the baptized, and the essential fact that he became a Christian one of Christ’s acknowledged followers. But it is better to infer the authority of Christ for the practice from the prompt and universal adoption of it by the Apostles and the infant Church, to which the opening chapters of Acts bear witness; and from the significance attached to the rite in the Epistles, and especially in those of St. Paul. </p> <p> <strong> 4 </strong> . That baptism was the normal, and probably the indispensable, condition of being recognized as a member of the Christian community appears from allusions in the Epistles (&nbsp; 1 Corinthians 12:13 , &nbsp; Galatians 3:27 ), and abundantly from the evidence in Acts. The first preaching of the Spirit-filled Apostles on the day of Pentecost led to many being ‘pricked in their heart’; and in answer to their inquiry addressed to ‘Peter and the rest of the apostles,’ Peter said unto them: ‘Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ’ (&nbsp; Acts 2:37-38 ). ‘They then that received his word were baptized’ to the number of ‘about three thousand souls.’ At Samaria, ‘when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women’ (&nbsp; Acts 8:12 ), the earliest express statement that women were admitted to the rite. In this case the gift of the Spirit did not follow until Peter and John had come down from Jerusalem, and ‘prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost.’ ‘Then they laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost’ (&nbsp; Acts 8:17 ). Saul was baptized by [[Ananias]] (&nbsp; Acts 9:17 ) in accordance with instructions recorded by himself (&nbsp; Acts 22:16 ), and that he might ‘be filled with the Holy Ghost.’ In these cases the gift followed upon baptism, with or without the laying-on of hands. In the case of Cornelius and his friends, the gift followed immediately upon the preaching of the word by Peter, and presumably its reception in the heart of those who heard; and it was after that that the Apostle ‘commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord’ (&nbsp; Acts 10:48 ). It was on the ground of this previous communication of the Holy Spirit that Peter subsequently justified his action in admitting these persons to baptism (&nbsp; Acts 11:15-18 ). </p> <p> <strong> 5 </strong> . The preaching of St. Paul, no less than that of St. Peter, led to the profession of faith through baptism, though the Apostle seems as a rule to have left the actual administration to others (&nbsp; 1 Corinthians 1:14-17 ): ‘for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel.’ At [[Philippi]] Lydia was baptized ‘and her household’; there also the jailor, ‘and all that were his’ (&nbsp; Acts 16:15; &nbsp; Acts 16:33 ); at Corinth, [[Crispus]] and Gaius, and ‘the household of Stephanas’ (&nbsp; 1 Corinthians 1:14; &nbsp; 1 Corinthians 1:16 ). </p> <p> <strong> 6 </strong> . The conditions antecedent to baptism are plainly set forth in Acts, viz. repentance and profession of faith in Jesus as Messiah or as ‘the Lord,’ following on the preaching of the word. The method of administration was baptizing with water in or into the name of Jesus. Immersion may have been employed when the presence of sufficient water made it convenient; but there is nothing to show that affusion or sprinkling was not regarded as equally valid. That baptism was ‘in the name of Jesus’ signifies that it took place for the purpose of sealing the new relationship of belonging to, being committed to, His Personality. The blessing attached to the rite is commonly exhibited as the gift of the Holy Spirit; the due fulfilment of the condition of baptism involved <em> ipso facto </em> the due fulfilment of the condition of receiving the Spirit. In the Epistles, this, the normal consequence of Christian baptism, is analyzed into its various elements. These are in the main three: ( <em> a </em> ) the ‘remission of sins’ ( Act 2:38 , &nbsp; 1 Corinthians 6:11; cf. &nbsp; Hebrews 10:22 , &nbsp; 1 Peter 3:21 ). ( <em> b </em> ) In baptism the believer was to realize most vividly the total breach with his old life involved in his new attitude to God through Christ, a breach comparable only with that effected by death (&nbsp; Romans 6:2-7 , &nbsp; Colossians 2:12 ); he was to realize also that the consequences of this fellowship with Christ were not only death to sin, but a new life in righteousness as real as that which followed on resurrection (&nbsp; Romans 6:4 ). ( <em> c </em> ) Baptism conferred incorporation in the one body of Christ (&nbsp; 1 Corinthians 12:13 ), and was thus adapted to serve as a symbol of the true unity of Christians (&nbsp; Ephesians 4:5 ). The body with which the believer is thus incorporated is conceived of sometimes as the corporate community of Christians, sometimes as the Personality of Christ; ‘for as many of you as were baptized into Christ, did put on Christ’ (&nbsp; Galatians 3:27 ). </p> <p> Conversely, as with the [[Sacrament]] of the Lord’s Supper, all the elements both of qualification and of experience are sometimes summed up in a pregnant phrase and without regard to the order in which they emerge. &nbsp;Ephesians 5:26 may find its best interpretation through comparison with &nbsp; John 15:3 (cf. &nbsp; John 17:17 ), <em> i.e. </em> as referring to the continuous cleansing of the Church by the word; but if the reference is to baptism, then the phrase ‘by the word’ probably alludes to the profession of faith by the baptized, whether it took the form of ‘Jesus is Lord’ (&nbsp; Romans 4:10; cf. &nbsp; 1 Corinthians 12:3 ), or whether it expressed the content of the faith more fully. In &nbsp; Titus 3:5 , while baptism is the instrument by which salvation is realized,’ regeneration’ and ‘renewal’ are both displayed as the work of the Holy Spirit. And here the Apostolic interpretation of the rite touches the anticipation of it in our Lord’s words recorded in &nbsp; John 3:5 . Faith wrought by the Spirit and faith professed by the believer are alike necessary to entrance into the [[Kingdom]] of salvation (cf. &nbsp; Romans 10:9-10 ). </p> <p> In &nbsp;1 Corinthians 15:29 Paul refers to the practice of persons allowing themselves to be <strong> baptized on behalf of the dead </strong> . Such a practice appears to have had analogies in the Greek mysteries, from which it may have crept into the Christian Church. As such it may be regarded as ‘a purely magical, and wholly superstitious, vicarious reception of the sacrament.’ Of such a practice the Apostle expresses no approval, but ‘simply meets his opponents with their own weapons without putting their validity to the proof’ (Rentdorff). </p> <p> <strong> 7 </strong> . The NT contains no explicit reference to the baptism of infants or young children; but it does not follow that the Church of the 2nd cent. adopted an unauthorized innovation when it carried out the practice of infant baptism. There are good reasons for the silence of Scripture on the subject. The governing principle of St. Luke as the historian of the primitive Church is to narrate the advance of the Kingdom through the missionary preaching of the Apostles, and the conversion of adult men and women. The letters of the Apostles were similarly governed by the immediate occasion and purpose of their writing. We have neither a complete history, nor a complete account of the organization, of the primitive Church. But of one thing we may be sure: had the acceptance of [[Christianity]] involved anything so startling to the Jewish or the Gentile mind as a distinction between the religious standing of the father of a family and his children, the historian would have recorded it, or the Apostles would have found themselves called to explain and defend it. For such a distinction would have been in direct contradiction to the most deeply rooted convictions of Jew and of Gentile alike. From the time of [[Abraham]] onwards the Jew had felt it a solemn religious obligation to claim for his sons from their earliest infancy the same covenant relation with God as he himself stood in. There was sufficient parallelism between baptism and circumcision (cf. &nbsp; Colossians 2:11 ) for the Jewish-Christian father to expect the baptism of his children to follow his own as a matter of course. The Apostle assumes as a fact beyond dispute that the children of believers are ‘holy’ (&nbsp; 1 Corinthians 7:14 ), <em> i.e. </em> under the covenant with God, on the ground of their father’s faith. And among Gentile converts a somewhat different but equally authoritative principle, that of <em> patria potestas </em> , would have the same result. In a home organized on this principle, which prevailed throughout the Roman Empire, it would be a thing inconceivable that the children could be severed from the father in their religious rights and duties, in the standing conferred by baptism. Thus it is because, to the mind of Jew and Gentile alike, the baptism of infants and children yet unable to supply the conditions for themselves was so natural, that St. Luke records so simply that when Lydia believed, she was baptized ‘with her household’; when the Philippian jailor believed, he was baptized, and all those belonging to him. If there were children in these households, these children were baptized on the ground of the faith of their parents; if there were no children, then the principle took a still wider extension, which includes children; for it was the servants or slaves of the household who were ‘added to the Church’ by baptism on the ground of their master’s faith. </p> <p> <strong> 8 </strong> . Baptism was a ceremony of initiation by which the baptized not only were admitted members of the visible society of the disciples of Christ, but also received the solemn attestation of the consequences of their faith. Hence there are three parties to it. The part of the baptized is mainly his profession of faith in Christ, his confession ‘with his heart’ that he is the Lord’s. The second is the Christian community or Church (rather than the person who administers baptism, and who studiously keeps in the background). Their part is to hear the profession and to grant the human attestation. The third is the Head of the Church Himself, by whose authority the rite is practised, and who gives the inward attestation, as the experience of being baptized opens in the believing soul new avenues for the arrival of the Holy Spirit. </p> <p> C. A. Scott. </p>

<p> Jewish Background As with most Christian practices and beliefs, the background of baptism lies in practices of the Jewish community. The Greek word <i> baptizo </i> , “immerse, dip, submerge” is used metaphorically in &nbsp;Isaiah 21:4 to mean, “go down, perish” and in &nbsp; 2 Kings 5:14 for Naaman's dipping in the [[Jordan]] River seven times for cleansing from his skin disease. The radical [[Qumran]] sect which produced the [[Dead]] Sea Scrolls attempted to cleanse Judaism. The sect laid great emphasis on purity and purifying rites. These rites normally involved immersion, though the term baptizo does not seem to appear in their writings. It is quite possible that such a rite was used to initiate members into the community. Along with the rite, the Essenes at Qumran emphasized repentance and submission to God's will. </p> <p> At some point close to the time of Jesus, [[Judaism]] began a heavy emphasis on ritual washings to cleanse from impurity. This goes back to priestly baths prior to offering sacrifices (&nbsp;Leviticus 16:4 ,Leviticus 16:4,&nbsp;16:24 ). Probably shortly prior to the time of Jesus or contemporary with Him, Jews began baptizing Gentile converts, though circumcision still remained the primary entrance rite into Judaism. </p> <p> John's Baptism John the Baptist immersed repentant sinners: those who had a change of mind and heart (&nbsp;John 1:6 ,John 1:6,&nbsp;1:11 ). John's baptism—for Jews and Gentiles—involved the same elements later interpreted in Christian baptism: repentance, confession, evidence of changed lives, coming judgment, and the coming of the kingdom of God through the Messiah, who would baptize with the Spirit and with fire (&nbsp;Matthew 3:11 ). John thus formed a purified community waiting for God's great salvation. </p> <p> Jesus' Baptism John also baptized Jesus, who never sinned (&nbsp;Matthew 3:13-17; &nbsp;John 1:13-16 ). Jesus said that His own baptism was to fulfill all righteousness (&nbsp;Matthew 3:15 ). Thus Jesus acknowledged that the standard of life John demanded was correct for Himself and for His followers. In this way He was able to identify with sinful mankind and to be a model for others to follow. In this way Jesus affirmed John and his message. The coming of the Spirit and the voice from heaven showed that Jesus represented another point in God's revelation of Himself and formed the connection between baptism and Christ's act of redemption. </p> <p> Christian Baptism John's baptism prepared repentant sinners to receive Jesus' baptism of the Holy Spirit and of fire. (Note that Jesus did not do the water baptizing; His disciples did—&nbsp;John 4:1-2 .) Jesus' baptism and the baptizing by His disciples thus connected baptism closely with the Holy Spirit. When Jesus comes into a life, the Holy Spirit comes with His saturating presence and purifies. He empowers and cleanses the believer in a spiritual baptism. The main differences between John's baptism and Jesus' baptism lie in the personal commitment to Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit in Jesus' baptism (&nbsp;John 1:33 ). </p> <p> A thorough study of the Holy Spirit is helpful to understand what “baptism with the Holy Spirit” means (&nbsp;John 1:33 ). The sequence of baptism and the coming of the Spirit into individual lives will show some differences (&nbsp;Acts 8:12-17 ). The usual sequence of events is: the Spirit comes into a person's life at conversion, and then the believer is baptized. The Holy Spirit is the gift who comes with salvation (&nbsp;Acts 2:38 ) and is its seal (&nbsp;Ephesians 4:30 ). The Holy Spirit saturates the new Christian's life. Or we might say that Jesus baptizes the new Christian by plunging the person into the Holy Spirit's presence and power (&nbsp;John 14:16-17; &nbsp;Acts 11:15-16 ). </p> <p> To be baptized is to clothe oneself with Christ (&nbsp;Galatians 3:27 NRSV, NIV). Baptism refers to the suffering and death of Christ (&nbsp; Mark 10:38-39; &nbsp;Luke 12:50 ). Christian baptism is in a sense a sharing of this death and resurrection and all that brought Christ to those events (&nbsp;Romans 6:1-7; &nbsp;Colossians 2:12 ). Baptism shows that a person has died to the old way of life and has been raised to a new kind of life—eternal life in Christ (&nbsp;Matthew 28:19-20; &nbsp;Colossians 3:1; &nbsp;2 Timothy 2:11 ). The resurrection from the water points to the Christian's resurrection also (&nbsp;Romans 6:1-6 ). </p> <p> Believers' Baptism In the New Testament baptism is for believers (&nbsp;Acts 2:38; &nbsp;Acts 8:12-13 ,Acts 8:12-13,&nbsp;8:36-38; &nbsp;Ephesians 4:5 ). Water apart from personal commitment to Christ makes no difference in the life of anyone. In the New Testament baptism occurs when a person trusts Christ as Lord and [[Savior]] and obeys the command to be submerged in water and raised from it as a picture of the salvation experience that has occurred. Baptism comes after conviction of sin, repentance of sin, confession of Christ as Lord and Savior. To be baptized is to preach a personal testimony through the symbol of baptism. Baptism testifies that “ye are washed ye are sanctified ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 6:11 ). </p> <p> Church [[Practice]] The church has attempted to build its practice upon that of the New Testament but has not found agreement always as to what the practice was. Several church groups practice the baptism of infants. This necessarily moves away from immersion to sprinkling as the mode. They have tried to justify infant baptism on the basis of the baptism of households (&nbsp;Acts 11:14; &nbsp;Acts 16:33; &nbsp;Acts 18:8 ), by connecting Christian baptism with Jewish baptism of Gentile converts which may have included baptism of children, and by interpreting Christ's saying in &nbsp;Mark 10:4 as indicating an invitation to bring young children or infants into the church. Others have tried to see continuity between the covenant theology of the Old and New Testaments joined by the rites of circumcision and baptism, so that if introduction into the Jewish covenant community was through circumcision of the infant, so introduction into the Christian community would be through baptism of the infant. Most New Testament scholars find these arguments as fitting the practice of the church rather than resting on strong exegetical grounds, for the New Testament emphasized the connection of faith and baptism. </p> <p> The setting of baptism is often restricted to a church setting with an ordained person. In the New Testament baptism takes place in varied settings wherever there is another person to do the baptizing (&nbsp;Acts 8:36-39; &nbsp;Acts 9:18; &nbsp;Acts 10:47-48 ). Both Jesus and Paul let others do the baptizing, so that the restriction of baptism to a leading professional minister does not seem to be the New Testament practice. </p> <p> [[Rebaptism]] Scriptural baptism (baptism because of belief in Christ) occurs once. Sometimes people are baptized again because they feel they were not saved when they were first baptized. If that was the case, the first baptism simply wasn't scriptural baptism. Others are baptized because something changes in their beliefs—other than their salvation experience—and they either want to be or are urged by someone else to be rebaptized. The purpose of baptism was never to affirm each change in beliefs. For example, Apollos got his understanding corrected, but no mention is made of his rebaptism (&nbsp;Acts 18:24-28 ). The disciples grew spiritually and changed in understandings, but no mention is made of their rebaptism. Christians are to become learners along with their baptism, but no mention is made of any need to rebaptize them if they were scripturally baptized the first time. Rebaptism in the New Testament seemingly occurred only when a group of people never had received the Holy Spirit, who is the seal of salvation (&nbsp;Ephesians 4:30; see also &nbsp;Acts 1:4-5; &nbsp;Acts 2:38 ,Acts 2:38,&nbsp;2:41; &nbsp;Acts 8:12-13 ,Acts 8:12-13,&nbsp;8:36-39 ). Although the dozen people focused on in &nbsp;Acts 19:1-7 had John's baptism, they were then properly scripturally baptized as they trusted in Jesus and received the promised Holy Spirit. </p> <p> Baptism and [[Salvation]] Baptism is not a requirement of salvation, but it is a requirement of obedience. Baptism is a first step of discipleship. Although all meanings of baptism are significant, the one that most often comes to mind is water baptism as a picture of having come to know Christ as Lord and Savior. Baptism is never the event but, rather, the picture of the event. So the pattern of obedience is to come to Christ in trust and then to picture that through the symbol of baptism. </p> <p> Johnnie [[Godwin]] </p>

<p> &nbsp;Matthew 3:11 (b) Two baptisms seem to be included in this passage. </p> <ul> <li> the first is the baptism of the believer in the Holy Spirit. </li> <li> the second one seems to be the baptism of the sinner in the lake of fire from which there is no resurrection. </li> </ul> <p> The Lord [[Jesus]] gives us over to the Holy Spirit when He saves us, and this seems to be called a baptism as in &nbsp;Acts 1:5. We should note that it is never the element that is moved, but always the person. The water is not put on the person, but contrariwise the person is always put in the water. It is the person who is put in the Spirit, or in the body of CHRIST, which is the church. It is always the person who is moved and placed in baptism. </p> <p> &nbsp;Luke 3:21 (c) The baptism of JESUS certainly had nothing whatever to do with salvation, nor the new birth, nor forgiveness. He said that He did it "to fulfill all righteousness." He took His place publicly by this rite with those who were to walk in newness of life and be known as Christians, believers or saints of GOD. </p> <p> &nbsp;Luke 7:29-30 (b) A type of burial wherein the believer accepts GOD's condemnation of himself, admits that he had to die at Calvary, and therefore should be buried out of sight in a watery grave. Thus he justifies GOD's diagnosis of his case, and proves it by going through this symbolical burial. Those who refuse to be baptized thereby reject GOD's testimony about their wickedness and sinfulness. They refuse to admit that they are so bad that they should be put to death and buried. </p> <p> &nbsp;Luke 12:50 (a) This is the baptism of our Lord JESUS which He endured on the Cross when GOD poured out His wrath upon Him and engulfed Him as it were in the burning billows of His anger. He had already been baptized by John in the water. Now He is baptized in the mystic fire of GOD's wrath. It was said by Him in prophecy "all thy waves and thy billows rolled over me." That is the baptism that saves us. He went down under the flood instead of us. He was baptized there at [[Calvary]] in our place. He is the ark of safety into which we enter for protection from the deluge of GOD's anger against sin. </p> <p> &nbsp;Romans 6:3 (b) This baptism seems to represent that mysterious and rich experience which any person enjoys in the Lord JESUS. Immediately upon trusting [[Christ]] the believer is reckoned as having been baptized in or buried with the Lord JESUS in contrast with his former position of being buried in the world. The believer is said to be "in Christ," whereas, before, he was "in the world." </p> <p> &nbsp;1 Corinthians 10:2 (b) This is the baptism accomplished in the Red Sea when the walls of water on each side, and the cloud above hid Israel from the sight of the Egyptians. They went through what was apparently a tunnel, and this is called a baptism. They were set free from the damnation of [[Pharaoh]] into the leadership of Moses. They were released from the bondage of Egypt and brought into the liberty of the children of GOD. </p> <p> &nbsp;1 Corinthians 12:13 (b) In this place the believer is in a mysterious way put into the body of CHRIST, the church, by the Holy Spirit as soon as he trusts his soul to JESUS CHRIST. In every case the word "baptism" is used to indicate that the change or the transfer is a complete transaction which involves the entire person and personality. </p> <p> &nbsp;Colossians 2:12 (b) Here again baptism is a symbol of burial in order that the world may know that the Christian is dead and buried so far as the world is concerned. The Christian emerges from the watery grave to bear witness and testimony that he is "alive unto God" and is walking with Him. </p> <p> &nbsp;1 Peter 3:21 (a) We should note in this case that Noah and his family were not in the water at all. They were "in the ark," which is a type of the Lord JESUS. CHRIST was baptized under the waves and billows of GOD's wrath, and it is His baptism that saves, not our own baptism. The passage says "in like figure." Those who stayed out of the water were saved by the ark which was in the water. Those who are "in Christ" are saved by the baptism of CHRIST on Calvary. He endured the wrath of GOD and we who belong to Him go free. </p>