Harrell Davidson
There are many claims as to types of baptism that we are not so sure about. In research for this topic, we found some that claimed almost every form of cleansing under the Law of Moses was a reference to baptism. There may be a reference to, but not a type of, since baptism is an immersion—a dipping and not some method under the law of purifying something with washing it with water. The way Peter describes this in First Peter 3:21 will dispute these notions. He wrote: “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
“Not putting away the filth of the flesh” denies that this is a cleansing method like taking a face cloth and washing one’s face. We all do that in the day’s activities, and many times so for some. This is not what Peter is talking about. He refers to baptism with the words “like figure” and points to the subject with 1 Peter 3:20 where he wrote, “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” Therefore, it cannot be denied that the type he is referring to was the flood we read of in Genesis 6:14 where Noah was told to build an ark and given specific instructions as to how to build it, including the materials that must be used in order for, in order to obtain, salvation of his family from the ravages that others would face who were not prepared.
The salvation of which we speak came about through the grace of God. The thoughts and imaginations of the heart of man was evil continually. “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Gen. 6:5). It is the same grace of God that saves today as Paul wrote, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph.2:8). God owed Noah nothing as well He owes us nothing. He is not obligated to us in any way. He makes salvation possible through His Only Begotten Son, but He does that out of love for our souls (cf. Jno.3:16) and by his grace (cf. Eph. 2 cited above).
Noah did as God commanded going into the ark, and the rains came of which the world had never seen a rain before. The Hebrews writer would write, “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith” (Heb. 11:7). Noah’s actions proved his faith in what God said. The water of the flood covered all the places of the earth even to the highest peaks of the mountains. The family of Noah was saved by the water that floated the ark. The water coupled with his faith saved him and his family.
The world was lost in sin in the time of Noah. While the flood destroyed mankind, it did not destroy sin, for sin started immediately after the ark came to rest on the mountain. The answer to sin had not been made known to mankind and would only be made known centuries later under the command of Jesus Christ. Jesus was sent to undo what started in the Garden of Eden nearly four thousand years before His time. Jesus commanded baptism (cf. Mark 16:15, 16 and Matt. 28:19-20). We, today, are under these orders if we are to be saved from our sins.
The water that saved Noah and his family saves us today. Some might immediately say that we believe that water saves, but that is not a correct assertion. It is faith that saves when we comply with what the Lord commands. If the Lord had commanded baptism in honey or buttermilk, someone might say that those substances saves, but that also would be incorrect. It is a demonstration that we believe what the Lord has commanded, and in that train of thought, water saves. If He commanded to stand on one’s head in order to be saved, we would do it to the best of our ability because He commanded it. Did not Noah have faith? Indeed he did, and it led to his salvation.
Furthermore, Peter wrote that it was not the taking of a bath or a washing of the face, for he said it was not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but an interrogation—answer of a good conscience—of the soul. Water baptism is a soul washing by the hand of God made possible by the death of Christ and His shed blood on Calvary. It is through the action of baptism that we apply the blood to our souls. All of those saved in New Testament times, as well as today, have been baptized into Christ for the remission of their sins (Acts 2:38). There is no exception, as only those saved in the ark were in the ark and not on the outside. Those outside perished in the flood through the lack of obedience to God. They perished in the water while those who obeyed were saved. Those today who fail to apply the blood through obedience to the command of our Lord will also be lost.
Another type of baptism is outlined in 1 Corinthians 10 where Paul wrote, “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (Vs 1, 2). All were baptized to Moses. Some use this as an argument against baptism being immersion. Notice the reading that they were baptized in the cloud and the sea. It was not merely the sea. There was the sea on one side and the cloud on the other. They were immersed, and this is what the word baptidzo translates, immersion. In the cloud and in the sea. One person said that only the Egyptians were baptized. This is pure folly. They did not live following their baptism, but one who is baptized into Christ lives a new life and does not die physically in the pool of water. They were drowned—not baptized.
This calls attention to something that we need to understand. Some think that because baptism is in water that all there is is in the water. Those who believe in salvation by faith only refer to us as those who believe in “water salvation.” That is not so. Pharaoh and his soldiers were immersed in the Red Sea, but they were not baptized. Certain things accompany baptism before it is baptism, and without that, it is not baptism. Water is the element in which baptism takes place, but water is not baptism. There are some things that are requisites before one can be buried and raised up out of the water. Until these things are present, it is not baptism.
The Israelites were baptized by Moses in the Red Sea, but that was by faith. Hebrews 11 says it was by faith that they passed through the Red Sea. They were following Moses, obeying God’s commands that He gave Moses. If you go back to Exodus 14, you will hear Moses say, “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.” In Exodus, we have the song of redemption. It is not recorded in chapter 13 or 14, but after they were baptized in the Red Sea. When this happened, they became separated from Egypt. From henceforth, they are to be led by Moses as He was led by God. This is the same idea that we have in baptism. We are baptized into Christ whereby we become united with, identified with, and we are to follow Him wherever He leads.
Wherever Moses was led by God, in the cloud or pillar of fire, that is where they were to go. It did not matter what time of the day it was. When the cloud stopped they stopped, and when it moved they moved until finally they came over into Canaan. When we are baptized, we move at Christ’s direction. When He says go, we go. When He says stop, we stop. Unless we are doing that, we did not understand what we committed ourselves to when we were baptized. We need to learn where He wants us to go, what He wants us to do, and where He wants us to stop. Because we are identified with Him, He becomes our Leader and our Master. He becomes our Lord, and He is the Light. We are to follow that light wherever it goes. We must follow that light wherever it takes us.
