1 PETER 3:18-222009 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 1 Peter 3:18-22

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2009. This morning as we finish off chapter 3, we have some powerful things that Peter shares, but we also have some very difficult things that we'll be looking at. So I want to encourage you to be careful not to get too stumbled by the things that we don't understand and forget.

lose the things that we do understand. It's always a good encouragement and reminder to hold fast to what we know and to not get too tripped up by the things that we don't know because there are some challenging things that Peter will share with us this morning as we close up this chapter. But as we look at these things, I want to again...

The Significance of Baptism

We often refer to baptism as an outward expression of an inward change. We recognize that it's not baptism that saves us, but the baptism is symbolic of something else. It represents something that has taken place within. It's that inward change that we refer to.

And what is that inward change? What is it that takes place within that makes baptism so significant? Well, Peter will be addressing that as we look at the passage this morning and five areas really that I'll be pointing out regarding the significance of baptism and what's really happening on the inside, the inward change that takes place that makes baptism so meaningful.

As we start the passage this morning, though, it's important to remember where we've been because Peter is continuing the context of suffering. We talked a little bit about suffering last week as we ended up the passage there in verse 17. We'll continue to talk about suffering on into chapter 4. And in between, as he's talking about suffering, Peter gives us Jesus Christ as an example of suffering. There in verse 17, he says,

He said, it is better if it is the will of God to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

And so as he was talking about suffering last week, he was letting us know that sometimes it's God's will for us to suffer. And that's hard for us to understand, especially when we're in the midst of suffering. But the reality is, is that God uses those times to do incredible works. He uses those times to work on our behalf and to accomplish good.

And so sometimes, Peter is explaining, it is good and it is right and it is according to God's will for us to suffer. And now as he goes on in verse 18, he gives us the example of Jesus Christ. Look at the first part of verse 18. He says, For Christ also suffered once for sins. See, they also, he's using that to make the point to show Jesus suffered. It was according to the will of God and it accomplished once

what God wanted, which is good. And so God can use those sufferings for good. And Jesus is our example of that. In 1 Peter 4, verse 1, Peter says, Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.

And so Peter is using this example of Jesus to show sometimes suffering is according to the will of God and it is good, it is for good. And also, since Jesus suffered, we're to arm ourselves and to give ourselves the same mind, the same attitude of Christ and prepare ourselves to suffer in the way that Christ did.

And we'll be dealing with that more next week. So we have this portion here in the middle where Peter is giving us the example of Jesus Christ. And as I said, it's really giving us the significance of baptism and what it means for us to be baptized.

The first point I want to share with you in the first of five about the significance of baptism is that Jesus suffered once for all my sin. Jesus suffered once for all my sin. That's the point he's making here right at the beginning of verse 18. He says, For Christ also suffered once for sins. Jesus Christ suffered one time for

For all sin.

Every single one of us sin. We are sinners. We fall short of the glory of God, Romans chapter 3 verse 23 tells us. There's not a single person who reaches the standard that's set by God, the standard of righteousness, of perfection that God requires. Not one of us reaches that. None of us attain to it. We cannot work hard enough to reach it. We all fall short of

of the glory of God. We all fall short of the standard that He has set. Now what that means is that every one of us also then deserves judgment. Because we fall short and we don't reach the standard that God has set for those who will spend eternity with Him, then that means that we deserve to spend eternity apart from Him.

We do not deserve to spend eternity with Him because we don't attain to the standard that He has set because we sin. The word sin means to miss the mark. And that's what we've done. Even though we try really hard, the mark is here. God set the standard here. And no matter how hard we try, we can't live good enough to reach that mark. We can't be holy enough on our own. We can't be religious enough to reach that mark.

We have sinned and therefore we deserve judgment. And judgment is right for us because we've sinned. Of course we would love for God to deal softly with sin, wouldn't we? We'd love to say, you know,

I'm not that bad. I'm only a little bit bad. I'm not as bad as that guy. Oftentimes when you ask people about how good they are, you know, they say, yeah, I'm pretty good. You know, I never killed anybody. And that's kind of like the standard that people set, right? As long as you've never killed anybody, well, you're pretty good. That's the standard that we would like. But that's not the standard that God has set. In fact, the Bible tells us in the book of Isaiah that our righteousness is as filthy rags.

The best that we can do, the best that we can offer God is nowhere near enough. It's like filthy rags. It's like offering God these filthy rags and say, "This is the best I can do, God." It doesn't measure up. It's not enough. It's not good enough. Now, if the best that we can offer God is filthy rags, how about our worst, our sinfulness, our wickedness and our iniquity? What is that like to God?

Well, that is why God deals with sin severely. Because it's destructive. It's horrible. I think maybe we could understand it a little bit better in these terms. How much fecal matter do you tolerate in your home? That's poop if you didn't get that.

How much do you tolerate? You know, there's one place in your home where that's a little bit tolerated, but it's rushed right out, right? And if there's a little remnants left behind, you want to make sure you get it all out. Maybe do another flush, rub it a little bit. It's not tolerated. You don't allow it. And the same way, God says, look, I want you to spend eternity with me, but I don't tolerate any sin. I don't tolerate. It's not allowed.

God says, hey, I want to come in and dine with you and sup with you. I want to invite you to the wedding feast of the Lamb. But there's no poop tolerated. You can't bring in your sinful condition. You can't bring in your sinful nature. You can't come in the sinful condition. Sin is disgusting. It's gross. And it deserves judgment. It must be dealt with.

But here's the good news, and this is the point of what Peter's saying. Jesus suffered once for all my sin. So this is my condition. This is how I am. This is who I am. I am a sinner. I am deserving of judgment. But Jesus Christ suffered for my sin. He received the judgment and the penalty that was due to me because of my sin.

There upon the cross, He suffered so that I would not have to. So much so that there's no penalty left for my sin. He suffered enough that it paid the penalty for all of the sins that I have committed in the past. But not only that, He suffered to the extent that all of my sin and all of your sin that we will ever commit is already paid for.

The penalty has already been delivered. It's already been given out. And it was applied to Jesus there upon the cross. He dealt with it there once and for all. He suffered in your place and in my place. And there on the cross, it's recorded for us in John 19, verse 30, that Jesus, as He hung there, He's about to breathe His final breath and He said, It is finished. What is finished? The suffering is finished.

The penalty is finished. The payment is finished. Literally, that phrase, it is finished, could be translated paid in full. The judgment that was deserving for you and I, the judgment that we deserved, the judgment that is owed to us because of our sinful condition, Jesus Christ paid in full that price, that debt.

He received the full judgment for our sin. Hebrews chapter 9 verse 28 tells us that Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. One time he was offered. Not many times. The suffering that he endured there upon the cross for us was sufficient for all of man's sin, for all of humanity, for all of history.

He does not need to suffer again. And you and I cannot add to what Christ has done by our suffering or by our righteousness. We don't need to suffer in order to pay for and atone for our sin because the penalty has already been paid. Jesus suffered once for all my sin. Peter goes on to say, the second point I share with you this morning, that Jesus is sinless.

He said, for Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust. He says the just, that's Jesus, for the unjust. That's all of us, all of humanity. Jesus, the one just man, suffered and paid the price for all of the unjust, for all sinners. Jesus was not an ordinary man. He was not just a good teacher, good

or a prophet. He wasn't just a great man. Jesus Christ was the one, the only sinless man. He is the just. It means he has right standing with God. It means he's perfect before God. He never sinned, not once. And everyone around him knew that. Consider for a moment the

Pilate, Jesus stood before Pilate. Pilate issued the final command for Jesus to be crucified. But Pilate himself testified in Luke chapter 23 verse 4. Pilate says, I find no fault in this man. There is he examined him as he tried him. Pilate says, I can't find any fault. I don't find anything deserving of death. I don't find anything wrong with this man.

Even Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus, recognized that Jesus was just. In Matthew chapter 27, there Judas is feeling remorse for what he has done. And he says, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. He calls Jesus innocent. He recognized Jesus is innocent. He was sinless. He was perfect. There is Jesus was being crucified on the cross.

There was two thieves that were crucified with him, one on either side. And at first, both thieves were mocking him and ridiculing him along with the rest of the crowd. But something happened to one of the thieves and he recognized who Jesus was. And as the other thief continued to rail on Jesus and revile him,

The thief who recognized who Jesus was rebuked the guy. He corrected him and said, hey, in Luke chapter 23 verse 41, he says, look, we're receiving the due reward for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong. He tells the other thief, look, we deserve to be here. We're being put to death because of our crimes and it's right that we are here. It's the due reward for our deeds, but he has done nothing wrong.

Jesus was so unique. Everybody around him knew he is a just man. He's sinless. As Jesus took his final breath there upon the cross, there was a great earthquake. There was darkness over the earth for several hours leading up to that point. All these catastrophic things take place and the centurion who was on duty, he was the guard, the captain there on the scene for Jesus' crucifixion,

It tells us as he looked and saw these things in Luke 23, 47, that he glorified God saying, certainly this was a righteous man. He recognized Jesus was righteous. He says he is the just one. He is sinless. He is perfect. Jesus never did anything wrong. He never did anything deserving of judgment or suffering or penalty or punishment. But he offered himself the just for the unjust.

to take our place, to receive the judgment, the punishment that was due to us. He suffered once for your sin and my sin. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5.21 that God made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. He knew no sin, but He became sin. He bore our sin.

that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. That is, that we might have right standing with God. That we might be reconciled to God. And that's the third point this morning. Jesus died to bring me to God. As we continue on in verse 18, Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit.

He did this in order to bring us to God. Although he didn't deserve any punishment, although he'd never sinned in his life, although he'd never had a wicked thought or a wicked action, he received the punishment that was due a wicked person that he might bring us to God, that he might give us access to God, that he might give us opportunity to stand before God as if we had lived a perfect life.

For those who believe in Jesus, understand that what God offers to us through Jesus Christ is not that, "Well, I just won't judge you," or "You don't have to spend eternity in hell." But what God offers to us is access to Himself as if we were Jesus, as if we'd never sinned, as if we were just, even though we are the unjust, even though we are unrighteous, even though we are wicked,

and we fall short of the glory of God. He took our place that we might have access to God, that we might come to God, that we might be reconciled to God and have relationship with God and be given the promise of eternity with God. Jesus Himself said in John chapter 14, a verse we quote often but not often enough,

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. There's no other way to God. There's no other way to the Father. There's no other way. It doesn't matter how sincere you are or how religious you are or how hard you try or how much you suffer. The only way to God is through Jesus Christ. And that's because He, being the just one, suffered for your sin and my sin.

We saw this as well in Hebrews chapter 10, specifically in verses 19 through 22. There the author of Hebrews says, we now have boldness to enter the holiest. The holiest is the presence of God. We have boldness to enter into the presence of God. He says, by the blood of Jesus. And so he tells us, let us draw near. Jesus suffered. He died for us.

Even though he didn't deserve it, that you and I might be able to come to God and have right standing before God, to be able to have a relationship with God. That's why he died. That was the purpose. That's what he sought to accomplish. But he didn't stay in the grave. He was also resurrected. Verse 18, the end of it highlights that for us. He says, "...being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit."

And so fourthly, we see that Jesus resurrected. Again, He was no ordinary man. He was not just a good teacher or a great prophet. He resurrected Jesus.

He was made alive by the Spirit. His resurrection proved His claim to be God. Now, anybody can claim. You can make the claim that you're going to be put to death and you're going to be in the grave for a certain amount of days and then you're going to be resurrected. Anybody can make that claim. But who can make that claim and then make it so? That's what Jesus did. He proclaimed ahead of time, I'm going to be put to death.

I'm going to be delivered to the Romans. I'm going to be in the grave for three days. On the third day, I will rise again. Several times he proclaimed. So much so that those who hated Christ, the Jewish leaders, they were able to quote him. They were able to say what Jesus said. And this is what Jesus proclaimed before he died. But then it was fulfilled. It proved his claim to be God.

It proves that he indeed is the Savior of the world, that he is the Son of God. It proves that he is who he claimed to be. He resurrected from the dead. He was made alive by the Spirit. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 deals with the resurrection in detail. You can spend a little bit more time there. But the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 deals with the importance of the resurrection in connection to our faith.

He explains that, look, if Christ is not resurrected, then our hope is in vain and our preaching is in vain and the gospel is in vain. It's worthless if Jesus Christ has not resurrected from the dead. It's the foundation, really, upon which the gospel is built. Jesus resurrected.

His resurrection proves that He is who He said He is. It also proves, and it's the guarantee, that you and I will be resurrected and that we can have new life in Christ. We have new life in Christ, but we also have the promise of eternal life in Christ with resurrected bodies, with new bodies that God has prepared for us that we will receive when we enter into eternity with Him.

And so right off the bat here in verse 18, we see four solid things that Peter says about Jesus in regard to his suffering and what it's accomplished. He suffered once for all my sin. He's sinless, and yet he died in my place in order to bring me to God, but he didn't stay there in the grave. He resurrected, showing that he has the power over death and he has the power to give us life.

Well, now as we go on into verse 19 and 20, here we enter into very difficult ideas that Peter is presenting. In fact, these two verses are troubling for many people throughout the years since Peter has written them. There's been a great amount of discussion and debate. There's been a great amount of attempts to interpret and prove what Peter is saying, but it's difficult. It's hard.

to come to a solid and clear decision exactly what Peter is saying here in this passage. And that's okay. You know why it's okay? Because we have a big God. Our God is infinite. And we, well, we're much more limited than God. In Isaiah chapter 55, God is explaining the difference between Himself and us. And He says, look, my ways are not your ways. In fact, as high as the heavens are above the earth, well, that's how different...

Your ways are to my ways. There's a lot about God that we do not understand. There's a lot about God that, well, as we read His Word and we look at passages, we look at certain things and situations and we have to kind of put into a category of, well, God's going to explain it one day. Until then, I don't fully know.

And that's really where verses 19 and 20 fall. Let's read them together and we'll talk a little bit about them. He says, "...by whom..." Okay, now he's talking about the Spirit. "...he was made alive by the Spirit, and by the Spirit also he..." That's Jesus. "...went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few..." That is, eight souls were saved through water.

I'm sure it made a lot of sense, so let's just move on to the next verse. No, I'm just kidding. What is Peter talking about here? Well, there's, again, many different ideas, many different approaches. All of them have their difficulties. All of them leave us asking some questions. And so it's kind of like we look at some of the ideas and we think,

and some of the perspectives that people have shared, and we can hold to one of them, or we can not hold to any of them, we can come up with our own, but it's not very clear what Peter is talking about, and so we have to wait further instruction from the Lord, and further clarification, and that's not today. So I apologize, I know I fall short, but

but that's why Christ died for me. I can't explain to you what has not been explained for the past 2,000 years, especially in our limited time together. If I had more time, maybe I could. No, I'm just kidding. No, it's one of those things that I'll share with you some of the different perspectives and then we'll move on because we don't want to get caught up in what we don't know and miss out on what we do know and that is what Jesus has done for us. So, a couple of things. Well, two main questions that are brought up by these two verses. One,

Number one, who did Jesus preach to? That's the major question that is usually asked when we're talking about these verses. But the second question is also important. Why does Peter bring it up here? So why does Peter talk about, why does he throw this into the middle of what he's talking about here with Jesus and his sufferings and him being our example? And so there's several different perspectives that attempt to answer this question.

Looking at verse 19 again, he says, Who is it that Jesus went and preached to? Who is it that Jesus went to who was in prison? Now, the word preach simply means to proclaim. You and I, we often use preach. We call someone a preacher. And we call someone a preacher.

And by that we mean someone who proclaims the gospel, someone who gives invitations for people to respond to the gospel message. When we use the word preach, we often connect it with the idea of the opportunity of repentance or the opportunity to receive the gospel message. But the word preach actually just means to proclaim, to make a proclamation, to make an announcement. That's what the word preach means. And so in...

None of the cases that I will share is the idea of preaching that there's another opportunity for repentance. You know, maybe after death, you know, you get another chance. No, that's not what the Bible teaches and it's definitely not what Peter is trying to teach here. The first perspective, one of the more common ones, is that Jesus went to Hades to proclaim himself to the unbelieving dead.

And you say, well, what's Hades? Well, we don't have time for all of the details. And so forgive me, but I encourage you to look it up on your own and spend some time considering and wrestling with these things. It is a good practice for us to wrestle with these things, but just not to get so tripped up and caught up in them that we miss out on what God really wants to speak to us. In Luke chapter 16, Jesus tells a story and teaches us about this place called Hades.

This place called Hades, it was a temporary place for the dead.

It was a temporary place for those who believed in God, those who were right with God, because Jesus Christ had not yet come, and so it was not yet open for them, or the opportunity was not there for them to enter into the presence of God yet, because the final sacrifice, Jesus Christ, had not yet been fulfilled. And so before Christ, there was a place in Hades called Abraham's bosom.

And there the righteous dead waited. They were comforted. It was a place of waiting. And Jesus deals with that in Luke chapter 16.

The other compartment though in Hades that Jesus deals with in Luke 16 was a place of waiting not for the righteous but for the wicked. Those who had died that did not believe in God, that were not right with God, they went to this second place and this other compartment or the other side of Hades was a place of torment. And it still is a place of torment actually. It's a place of waiting for the final judgment that will take place

after the millennial kingdom, after the millennial period, when Jesus reigns for a thousand years, the final judgment, when those who are not written in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire, that's when Hades will be emptied out and those who have been waiting for judgment will receive the final judgment of eternal separation from God. And so that's

Luke chapter 16, check it out, Hades. And so the perspective that some hold for this passage is that Jesus went there to preach to, to proclaim himself to the unbelieving dead, to those who died not believing God and are waiting for their permanent judgment that will take place in the lake of fire.

Now, some who hold this perspective take it a little bit farther and say that not only did he proclaim, but during the three days he was there in Hades, uh, in torment along with them in that place and suffering, uh, there in Hades as he proclaimed himself to the unbelieving dead. Uh,

That part I certainly do not believe. I certainly reject because Jesus said on the cross, it is finished. He suffered once for all sin. There was no more suffering that was needed. But it is possible that he was there in Abraham's bosom

And from there he was able to proclaim a cross to those who were waiting to be judged. And you can see why I say that in Luke chapter 16 as Lazarus and the rich man and Abraham actually have this dialogue that goes back and forth. And so that's a possibility. But there are some questions.

The question here in this passage is, well, if that's what Peter's talking about, why does he specifically mention the days of Noah? There in verse 20, who formerly were disobedient when once the divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah and the ark was prepared. And so then the question is, how does that connect specifically with the days of Noah and how does that fit into that perspective?

Well, that's the question that is not answered and that's why there's other perspectives. Now, I know these things can be difficult. You can put on your thinking cap or you can just listen and then move on to the next thing and that's fine too. The second perspective. Jesus preached to disobedient angels or demons. So, the second perspective is,

says that he went and preached to the spirits in prison, that is talking about demonic spirits, and he went and proclaimed himself to them. And it was a proclamation of judgment, basically saying, see, you failed, and I'm victorious, and you're going to be judged.

Now, they draw that from a couple different places. In Jude chapter 1 verse 6, it talks about, Jude mentions, the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, and how he's reserved them in chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day. So he's talking about these specific demons,

These fallen angels who are right now presently held, there's many more demons who are not imprisoned at the moment, but there are these specific ones who they left their proper domain, which there's all kinds of discussion you could have about what that might be, but that they've left that. And so as a result, they're held in judgment. They're held for judgment sooner than the rest of the fallen angels.

a little bit of an answer to the previous question in this because in Genesis chapter 6 there's

a possibility of some demonic activity there and it would make sense connecting it with the days of Noah then when Peter shares that in verse 20 here, 1 Peter chapter 3. I'm sure I've confused you. If you're interested in these things, you already know all these things and if you're not interested, you can look them up, you can wrestle with them, but no need to hurt yourself over it. Okay, third perspective.

The third perspective is that the preaching that is talked about here was done by Noah as he was building the ark. So this takes a more like figurative sense so that Jesus didn't actually go somewhere in his life or right after his death, but that Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, through Noah, back several thousand years prior, preached to the world around him as Noah was building the ark.

So that's quite a stretch. You have to make some twists and turns in the passage that really it cannot support. And so I don't know that that's the way, but you can hold that view if you like. Now there is a fourth view, and I'll just share it really briefly, that I heard this week and I thought it was really interesting.

And Brian Broderson was sharing this. And it seems to fit the passage. It still leaves some questions, but you can take it or leave it. And so Brian was sharing that perhaps it's that Jesus went and preached to those who were judged in the flood, but repented before they died in the flood. So there's Noah. He's building the ark, preparing for the worldwide flood. He's preaching the gospel. Nobody else receives it. Him and his family are the ones who go in the ark.

And so then God brings this judgment. The waters begin to pour out upon the earth. And what Brian is suggesting is that perhaps there are some who recognize as the flood is coming, whether they heard Noah or not, but they recognize that this is God's judgment upon the world for our sin. And so he suggests that perhaps there are those who repented as they recognized Noah.

This is God's judgment. We need to turn from our sin. We need to get right with God. But they still died in the flood.

And so he suggests that perhaps Jesus went and preached to them so that they might have the opportunity to know what they didn't know because it was very early on in history and God hadn't fully revealed his plan yet. And so then they were then able to know and enter into eternity with God. There's some questions that remain still with that view as well. And so all of these, these are kind of the four main ones. There's hundreds of variables and hundreds of perspectives, but it's kind of the four main ones here.

that I share with you today. Again, you can wrestle with these things and you can have your opinion and some people feel very strongly but there's questions with all of them, there's difficulties with all of them.

And so we should not get so consumed with these things that we forget about the rest. So what is Peter talking about? Why does Peter bring it up here? Well, one thing to consider is we've been talking about ourselves being sojourners, that we're going to stand before God, everyone around us is going to stand before God, and that we ought to conduct ourselves and live in such a way that when they defame us, when they speak against us, that they'll be ashamed when they stand before God, they'll glorify God because of what He did in us,

In a sense, that's what he's saying Jesus did. Whatever perspective you take, Jesus lived as a sojourner. He suffered for doing what's good. And there he appeared before those who are disobedient that they might be ashamed, that they might glorify God and agree with God. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Even though they rejected it, they had that time where they stood before him. And so, that's all I'm going to say about that. Let's move on to verse 21. Verse 21.

He says, there is also an anti-type which now saves us. Baptism. Not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so as he goes on now, he's still got Noah, the flood, that picture in his mind. And he says, there's an anti-type which now saves us. And what is that? He says, baptism. The word anti-type means

is simply a fulfillment of an Old Testament picture. In the Old Testament, there are lots of pictures that represent, that foreshadow, that foretell something that is yet to come. For example, the Passover lamb. The Passover lamb pictures for us, foreshadows and foretells us of Jesus Christ who is our Passover lamb.

That is called a type. It's a picture. It's symbolic. It happened. It took place. But it's also a picture of what is to come or what was to come. What Peter is saying here is that this picture of the flood, the picture of Noah being saved and his family being saved through the ark in the midst of the judgment, the waters that are being poured out upon the earth, that that's a picture of what saves us now, which is baptism.

The Old Testament picture is that believers were preserved in the ark through the waters of judgment upon the world. The parallel or the fulfillment of that today is that believers are preserved not in the ark but in Christ through the judgment that is going to be poured out upon the world. And so just as Noah believed God, he was preserved by the ark through the judgment that came upon the world.

You and I as believers, believing in God, were preserved in Christ through the judgment that comes upon the world. And that is what Peter refers to as baptism. Now when you and I talk about baptism, almost always we are thinking about water baptism. We're talking about being dunked and being brought back up. Sometimes we talk about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and that's appropriate as well.

The word baptism simply means immersion. It means to be immersed. And so water baptism, to be immersed, it fits. The baptism of the Holy Spirit, to be immersed in the Holy Spirit, it fits. It's appropriate. It's the language the Bible uses, and so it's okay. But immersion doesn't have to be a reference to water. When Peter is talking about it, he's not talking about water baptism. He's talking about immersion baptism.

into the body of Christ. Being immersed, being baptized into Christ. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 13 tells us, For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. We were baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. We were immersed into the body of Christ by believing in Him. When we receive by faith the offer of salvation through Jesus Christ,

We are born again. We're given new life by the Holy Spirit. And we're included with Jesus in his death, his burial, and his resurrection. We're immersed in Jesus Christ. And we have new life in Jesus Christ. It's a spiritual reality that takes place. In Noah's day, the waters of judgment brought death upon the whole earth, but Jesus

There's also the picture of the new life that was brought forth through Noah and his family because they were preserved, because God saved them there in the ark. Baptism as well is a picture of judgment.

And death. It's the judgment and death of our sinful nature that we've been talking about earlier on. The judgment and death of our old life. But it's also the new life that we have now in Jesus Christ. And so it speaks of both judgment and death, but also of the new life.

In Romans chapter 6 verse 4, Paul says, Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

He says, look, we were buried with him because we are immersed in him. We are part of him. We're immersed into the body of Christ. We're included with him in his death, his burial, as well as his resurrection. So that we walk in newness of life now, being born again, life led by the Spirit of God, but also that we have the promise of new life in eternity, eternal life with God.

And so we have this picture, baptism. Now he makes sure that we understand he's not talking about water baptism because he puts in parentheses there, he makes this clarifying statement, not the removal of the filth of the flesh. Not the removal of the filth of the flesh. Not just washing dirt off of your body. If that were the case, then you would get saved every time you took a shower. And that's not what Peter's talking about.

He's saying, not the outward, not just getting wet, but the answer of a good conscience toward God. Do you have the answer of a good conscience toward God? The answer of a good conscience toward God comes from a clean conscience, which cannot come from religion, and it can't come from good works, and it can't come from suffering. We know that we're guilty of sin. And although...

doctors and psychologists and psychiatrists try to release people from the guilt of sin, we know that we're guilty of sin. The release from that guilt, the answer of a good conscience, the clean conscience comes not from good works, not from suffering, not from being religious.

But it comes from believing in Jesus Christ and His finished work for us. The things that we've just been talking about there in verse 18. That He suffered once for all my sin. That He is sinless and yet He died in my place in order to bring me to God. That the punishment is fully received. There's no more penalty due to me. That I've been set free.

The answer of a good conscience toward God comes from knowing that there is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The answer of a good conscience toward God comes from knowing that if I confess my sin, He is faithful and just to cleanse me of all unrighteousness, to forgive my sin. I have a clean conscience. I have the answer of a good conscience toward God. Not because I don't sin.

but because I believe in what Christ has done for me upon the cross. Do you have the answer of a good conscience toward God? Do you have a clean conscience? Or do you have a guilty conscience? You keep trying to make up for and compensate for sin, but it cannot be done. It can only be released by faith in Jesus Christ. Finally, verse 22, he says,

who has gone into heaven, that's Jesus has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God. Angels and authorities and powers have been made subject to him. The fifth point about Jesus this morning and the significance of baptism is that Jesus is at the right hand of God. It's the place of authority and it's the place of power. Jesus has all authority and all power.

He's in his rightful place. Angels, authorities, and powers have been made subject to him. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the one to whom all things will give account, to whom all people will give account. He's the one before whom every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

He is seated at the right hand of God. Again, he is no ordinary man. Not just a good teacher or a great prophet. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is seated at the right hand of God there in heaven. The position of power, the position of authority. For us, it becomes significant. Because if that's who he is, that's where he sits. And all things are subject to him. The question we must ask ourselves is,

Am I subject to Him? Have I subjected and submitted myself to Him? Is He, He is the Lord. Is He my Lord? Is He my Lord? When Peter was preaching there on the day of Pentecost, he makes reference to the fact that Jesus is at the right hand of God. Quoting a Psalm of David there, chapter 2, verse 34 and following,

And Peter, making reference to Jesus being at the right hand of God, he says, The word Christ means Messiah, Savior. God has made Jesus both Lord and Savior. He is at the right hand of God. He is Lord. All things are subject to him.

But the question for us is, am I subject to Him? Now, again, I'm sharing with you, these things are the things that are significant for baptism. Because when a person desires to be baptized, or when a person is baptized, they are proclaiming there's been an inward change. And what is that inward change? What is that change that has taken place? Well, looking at these things about Jesus, we can...

draw some conclusions about the statement that is being made when a person is baptized number one Jesus suffered once for all my sin when I am baptized when I was baptized it was a proclamation that I believe that Jesus suffered for my sin and that I am forgiven in Jesus Christ number two Jesus is sinless when I was baptized it's a proclamation that I recognize that I admit I am a sinner that I fall short

of the glory of God. That I don't measure up to God's standards and that I need a Savior. Number three, Jesus died to bring me to God. When I was baptized, the proclamation that I was making, the inward change that had taken place is that now I have access to God through Jesus Christ. I'm reconciled to Him. I'm right standing with Him. Jesus has brought me into a personal relationship with God, the Father.

Fourthly, Jesus resurrected. When I was baptized, it's a proclamation of the new life that I have in Jesus Christ. And my old life is dead. I was included with him in his death, his burial, but also his resurrection, that I could walk in newness of life. And fifthly, Jesus is at the right hand of God. To be baptized is to proclaim, Jesus is my Lord. I obey him. He's my master.

I'm his follower. As we look at these things, the subject of baptism, the significance of it, I want to encourage you. It's so appropriate as we get to have our baptisms a little bit later on today. If you've never been baptized, as we mentioned, it's not necessary for salvation. It's not what saves you. You can be saved and not have been baptized, much like the thief on the cross. He didn't

have time to get off the cross and be baptized. But he was saved. You can also be baptized and not be saved. You just got wet because, well, it's an outward expression of an inward change. But if that inward hasn't changed, if you've not put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and this isn't the state of your heart, well, you're not saved just because you're baptized.

Baptism is significant because of the statement that is being made, because of the reality that is taking place within. And so if you've never been baptized, you have a great opportunity today to make this proclamation, to show this expression that God has done a work in me. It's not necessary for salvation, but I would suggest to you that it is necessary for discipleship. If you want to be a disciple of Christ, you must be baptized.

If you want to follow Him, look at the example for us throughout the book of Acts. People got saved, they got baptized. It's the model. It's what God has given to us. And we might think it's silly, we might rebel against it, but then I would ask, are you rebelling against the Lordship of Jesus Christ? Just because you don't understand or you don't think it's that important, are you going to disregard what He has commanded us to do? If you've never been baptized, I invite you, join with us this afternoon. Be baptized.

Maybe you've been baptized, but you feel this pull in your heart to be baptized again. Some people wonder, is that okay? Can I be baptized again? Is that bad? Hey, you know, baptism, it's symbolic. It represents the change that is in. You can be baptized as many times as you want. It doesn't affect your salvation. But I do believe that sometimes it's absolutely appropriate.

I know in my own life I've been baptized more than once. And why is that? Well, let me share with you. As we look at these things in regard to the significance of baptism, I can think of a specific time in my life where number five I had some trouble with. Jesus is no longer my Lord.

I had taken back my life. I wanted to live my own way. I still wanted to be saved. And so, yeah, He's still my Savior. I still believe that He died on the cross for me. But I don't want to obey Him. I don't want to walk with Him. I don't want to listen to what He has to say. I just want to do what I want to do and live my life the way I want to live it. And it was a rebellious period that I went through. And God brought me back from. And when He did, well, there was...

The church baptisms that were taking place and I really felt that God had spoken to my heart, listen, I want to do a new work now that you've come back and got right with me, that you've placed me back as Lord of your life and there's a new work that I want to do and you have a new season I'm starting and so go be baptized. And I think it's appropriate. Maybe for some of you, you have walked away. The Lordship maybe is at one time not what it once was.

Where you've taken your life back into your own hands or maybe somewhere else. You've kind of fallen away from the faith, but God has brought you back. It's appropriate to testify again, to express again. This is what I'm saying. This is the state of my heart, that I am forgiven in Jesus Christ, that I am a sinner and need a Savior, that I have access to God only through Jesus Christ. I have new life in Him and He is my Lord.

And so if that's you, I would encourage you as well. Join with us today. You have a great opportunity to make this profession, this outward demonstration of what God has done within you. Maybe you're here today and you've never received Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. You've never been baptized because you've never walked with God. You've never known God. You've never had a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And I want to encourage you this morning, listen.

Jesus suffered once for your sin. It's taken care of. It's paid for. It's atoned for. Your sin, it was dealt with at the cross. Jesus Christ, being God, became man, the perfect sinless man, and died in our place. But you must receive the gift that he has offered to you of eternal life and forgiveness. You must believe in him. Jesus said you must be born again.

You must believe in Jesus Christ and receive for yourself and say, yes, I believe that Jesus died in my place for my sin and that there's no other way for me to have relationship with God. And I want Jesus to be my Lord. And if that's the state of your heart, then today you can get right with God. You can be forgiven. You can have the hope of eternal life because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. Let's pray. God, I pray for you

All of us here, whatever condition our heart may be, wherever we may be right now, Lord, I pray that these truths, that these realities would come alive in our hearts. Lord, that we would know truly beyond a shadow of a doubt that you suffered for us. Lord, that you died in our place. That you accomplished for us the opportunity to have relationship with the creator of the universe.

to have the hope of eternal life. We thank you, Jesus, for what you've done for us. I pray, Lord, that you would help us to believe it, to hold fast to you, and to respond to you as you're speaking to our hearts. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.