The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed by Anjela Paje of Spokane, WA, from the tape, GC 1301-T, titled "Bible Questions and Answers Part 22."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE.  ©1982. All Rights Reserved.

Question

The scripture I would like to have explained, it's 1 Peter 3:21. The part where it says, “And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you. Not the removal of dirt from flesh, but the appeal to God for a good conscience.”

Answer

What that verse is saying is that...Peter has just talked about...First, we are talking about 1 Peter 3:18. Christ has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust that He might bring us to God, and so forth. It talks about there Christ’s provision of salvation. And then it says that when His body was on the cross dead, His spirit was alive--not the Holy Spirit there in verse 18--but His spirit. And, He went and preached to the spirits in prison. And, I believe these were demon beings, and the word "preach" is not "to preach the gospel" euaggelizo, but kerusso, "to proclaim a triumph."

I believe, that when He was dying on the cross (this is a marvelous truth), when He was dying on the cross, it looked to Hell and the demons like perhaps they had won the victory. And, so, at the very moment when His body was dead, during that period of time, "His spirit was alive," it says in verse 18, and He went right down into the prison where the spirits are kept. And, you want to know what spirits they were? Verse 20 says they were the ones disobedient during the time of Noah. And, you remember, in those days, in the time of Noah, God sent the flood because the sons of God co-mingled with the daughters of men. So they were spirit beings who cohabited with women creating a sort of "Rosemary Baby" race of people, and God destroyed them all in the flood. So, these are demon spirits. That is all you really need to know. He went into the place, proclaimed a triumph over the demon spirits, even in the midst of His death.

And then, it talks about the Ark in which people were saved by water. The Ark, then, becomes a symbol. And, in verse 21, "The like figure under which even baptism doth also now save us. But, it is not the putting away of the filth of the flesh." In other words, He is saying that as that Ark was saved in water, so are we saved in water. But, it is not external water. Do you see that? It is not the water that washes the flesh, the physical body. Not that at all. But, it is that purification of the conscience. It is the purification of the conscience that He is really referring to. In other words, it is symbolic as the ship was saved by the water. It floated on the water. The water was its salvation. So, we are saved by a certain kind of being in water. But, it is not the water of the physical baptism. What water is it? Titus 3:5, tells us, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us"...here it comes..."by the washing of regeneration." Okay? It is that washing of the heart.

Now, you go back with Peter and go back with Paul to a Jewish concept that really starts in the New Testament with Nicodemus, doesn’t it? Jesus says, “You must be born of"...what?..."water," John 3, "and spirit." What water was that? Well, what would Nicodemus understand? Nicodemus was a Jew. He was The Teacher in Israel. He was erudite scholar of the Old Testament. And, he would know that back in Ezekiel’s prophecy, in Chapter 36, Ezekiel said someday God is going to come in a unique way, and He is going to wash you with clean water. Take out the stony heart and give you a heart of flesh, and put His spirit within you. So, Nicodemus knew that someday the Messiah would come and He would do a washing work in the heart and plant the spirit. That is the water and the spirit of John 3. And, so, water, which, always in the Old Testament, was outward cleansing symbolized inward cleansing, always does the same in the New. So that the Ark, then, becomes a figure of being saved through a water. And, that water is not an external baptism. This verse in Peter argues against baptismal regeneration, but rather, a washing of the heart through the working of God and forgiveness through Christ.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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