While that is true, that passage is not the only verse in scripture which speaks about what baptism represents. Jesus Himself was baptized in water before His death, burial, and resurrection. He wasn't doing it to identify with His future death, burial, and resurrection. He was doing it to identify with us. John was preaching "the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" (Mark 1:4). But what is it about being washed in water which allows for sins to be forgiven?
Water in scripture has represented several things, but nothing more than judgement. Judgement itself can destroy, but can also bring life. The Holy Spirit is a particular type of water, living water. That is, the Spirit produces God's judgments which bring life, as when the Spirit convicts us of sin which we then turn away from. In passing through the water of baptism we are submitting to God's just judgment and asking Him to send His life-giving Holy Spirit to convict us of whatever sin still clings to us and needs to be washed away by said water.
Without faith that God is just and His judgments right, baptism produces no salvation. It is not the act of passing through water which delivers, but the repentance with which the act is done which can deliver, when co-joined with faith. Repenting of sinful works by itself does not make them less sinful. One who murders is still guilty of murder, even if he later repents. So we dare not submit our lives to His just judgement without faith in Christ, that He has taken the wrath due us for love's sake. This is the only basis with which we can repent in confidence that we will be saved in the repenting. It is not enough to repent of dead works- as Judas did. That's not a saving faith. Repentance must go together with faith in Christ and His completed work.
Now I write most of what I wrote above based on the other main passage of scripture (besides Romans chapter six) which addresses the question of "what" baptism is supposed to be. That is First Peter 3:19-22. This is the passage on the "what" of baptism which I believe is under-preached for the simple reason that it is not comprehensible outside of the Christ-centered model for early Genesis. Indeed many versions now mis-translate this verse, and I think its because they can't comprehend what it actually says so they mis-translate it to speak of what they think it must mean instead. I will use the New King James here, which along with the KJV and a few others retain the original sense of the Greek...
19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 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. 21 There is also an antitype 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,
Notice it says the eight in the ark were saved in the ark but through the water. That too is a little unclear because "through" can mean "passing through" or "by means of". Is it saying they were saved by means of the water, or by the ark through the water? The original King James is better here, because it says "by water." It is saying that the water saved them who were in the ark. Though the translators have since tried to emphasize the "through" part while leaving out the sense of "through the means of" if you go look at the Greek and how the word translated "through" is used it is clear that it is saying "through means of" or "by". They were saved by the water, in the ark.
If you have any doubt that the text of verse twenty is saying that they were saved "by" water then simply keep reading to the next verse. The waters of the flood are considered a type of baptism, the waters of baptism being the anti-type. Not that the water can save us in itself- without the protection of being in the ark it would have destroyed Noah and without our protection of being in Christ the waters of God's judgement would also destroy us. Nevertheless, the water in some sense saves, though it is not the washing of the water which does the saving but the answer to the waters of judgment- which is to say Christ. Recognizing that we are evil does not in itself save us, it is faith and accepting that Christ paid the penalty for our sins in Himself that is necessary to complete salvation. And of course, faith is a gift of God, not a work of man. All we can do without God is feel miserable about our sins. We cannot answer for them in ourselves, but as the verse above says, He is our answer.
What I have written above is a limited view of what baptism does. It is as far as one can take that passage without a proper view of early Genesis. Yet we know that baptism is not just about taking us as we are, but the beginning of that which is impure in us being washed away by the Holy Spirit. It is the typical start of sanctification. Yes we are saved, but our flesh, that which is impure in us, dies. That in us which separates us from God is put to death. We are saved to be new creatures, not just the old version of ourselves escaping God's wrath, but the beginning of being a New Creature in Christ.
This comparison does not work if just Noah and his family are the church and those destroyed are the unbelievers. The picture fails.
The picture which God is painted with the flood, and baptism as the anti-type of it, does not fit well with this misunderstanding. Baptism is not when unbelievers are submitted to judgement and are destroyed, but rather what is sinful in believers is subjected to judgement and destroyed. It is a purification of God's people, not those who are not His people. As it is written "judgement begins with the house of God." (1 Pet 4:17). The flood works better as a picture of baptism if the line of Adam does not represent all of humanity, but rather those who are supposed to be God's people. It is they who are "saved' by the flood by what is ungodly in them being put to death.
This also explains why, from the perspective of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the destruction of the flood had to be seen as total. As an adherent of the tablet theory, I believe that the last part of chapter seven is describing what they saw in the flood. To them, the eradication was total. This is in contrast with scriptures before and afterward which indicate there were other people in the world, outside the clan of Adam, who survived the flood. But to them, the destruction was total.
In the same way, baptism is to be seen by the initiate as the total destruction and giving up of the sin nature. Not of the world outside of course because it is about believers. In practice the sin reappears and the struggle continues, but ultimately the old man is dead and all that remains is in Christ, even as it seemed to the sons of Noah that all that remained was in the Ark. By the way, this also answers the question of "why a flood". God told Noah "with thee I will establish (set up) my covenant" (Gen. 6:18). He was going to use these events to point to baptism so that no other means of wrath or of deliverance would do. Leaving the area wouldn't do. They had to pass through the judgement, not avoid it. Just like we stay and submit to the waters of baptism, not because they are worldwide and we can't avoid them, but because we accept that they are just. This is another reason why the flood had to be local or regional rather than world-wide. It fits the picture of baptism better if Noah could have avoided the judgement, but instead passed through it protected by God's grace.
The picture which God is painted with the flood, and baptism as the anti-type of it, does not fit well with this misunderstanding. Baptism is not when unbelievers are submitted to judgement and are destroyed, but rather what is sinful in believers is subjected to judgement and destroyed. It is a purification of God's people, not those who are not His people. As it is written "judgement begins with the house of God." (1 Pet 4:17). The flood works better as a picture of baptism if the line of Adam does not represent all of humanity, but rather those who are supposed to be God's people. It is they who are "saved' by the flood by what is ungodly in them being put to death.
This also explains why, from the perspective of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the destruction of the flood had to be seen as total. As an adherent of the tablet theory, I believe that the last part of chapter seven is describing what they saw in the flood. To them, the eradication was total. This is in contrast with scriptures before and afterward which indicate there were other people in the world, outside the clan of Adam, who survived the flood. But to them, the destruction was total.
In the same way, baptism is to be seen by the initiate as the total destruction and giving up of the sin nature. Not of the world outside of course because it is about believers. In practice the sin reappears and the struggle continues, but ultimately the old man is dead and all that remains is in Christ, even as it seemed to the sons of Noah that all that remained was in the Ark. By the way, this also answers the question of "why a flood". God told Noah "with thee I will establish (set up) my covenant" (Gen. 6:18). He was going to use these events to point to baptism so that no other means of wrath or of deliverance would do. Leaving the area wouldn't do. They had to pass through the judgement, not avoid it. Just like we stay and submit to the waters of baptism, not because they are worldwide and we can't avoid them, but because we accept that they are just. This is another reason why the flood had to be local or regional rather than world-wide. It fits the picture of baptism better if Noah could have avoided the judgement, but instead passed through it protected by God's grace.
In the Christ-centered model for early Genesis Adam is a figure of Christ, not the father of the human race. He fathered the line of Messiah in a world already full of those who were not yet His. The line of Adam represents God's chosen people, they were the original chosen people. Like those later chosen people the children of Israel, they went astray. The rest of mankind was not a target of the flood. They are the unbelievers in this scenario and are not a part of the picture of baptism. The flood was aimed at the descendants of Adam, not all of humanity. It was a picture of judgement beginning with the house of God, and meant to point to baptism. The waters "saved" the chosen people in that God's judgment was purifying, destroying what is wicked in His people. God's judgment is purifying in our lives, condemning that in us which leads to death. This is the result of the flood, the result of baptism, and the result of the Holy Spirit. The water saves us, as the judgement of God which we submit to saves us, when combined with the Ark of Christ.
For more about the scriptural support of the Christ-Centered model for Early Genesis see.....
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