Baptism And 1 Peter 3:14-22

Early Christians understood the typology of this passage and its link back to the fallen angels of Genesis 6. Early baptismal formulas included a renunciation of Satan and his angels for this very reason.

Welcome to Baptism And 1 Peter 3:14-22

The language about baptism in some creeds used by many reformed churches, suggests a strong link between the act of baptism and salvation (spiritual birth).

This teaching violates the gospel, because if anything HAS to be connected to saving faith, in order to produce salvation, then we cannot claim that faith alone saves us.

That having been said. I'm not suggesting one shouldn't get baptized. Lets take a brief look at a passage that is often linked to the concept that water baptism is a vital part of producing salvation.

Study Passage

But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For 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, by whom also He 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. 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, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.

The overall theme here in the passage, is that Christians must withstand persecution and persevere in their faith. But what about the mention of baptism, and then adding the ark of Noah, and spirits in prison?

Some may understand this passage to say that baptism saves us. But to understand what's going on in Peter's head, we have to understand a concept called "types" or "typology." Typology is a kind of prophecy. We're all familiar with predictive verbal prophecy (when a prophet announces that something is going to come to pass in the future). Sometimes that comes out of the blue, with God impressing thoughts on the prophet's mind that is then spoken or written down.

On other occasions, a prophet might take an object or perform some action that prefigures something that will happen. Ezekiel was notorious for this. One such example is Ezekiel 5, where God told him to shave his head and beard and then weigh the hair in the balances, then burn a third of it, beat a third of it with a sword, and scatter the last third to the wind to visually portray the future of the city of Jerusalem. We only know what Ezekiel's antics meant because Ezekiel 5 tells us these are prophecies and what the fulfillment would be.

Not all types, however, were spelled out in real time. A type is basically an unspoken prophecy. It's an event, a person, or an institution that foreshadows something that will come, but which often isn't revealed until after the fact. For example, in Romans 5:14, Paul tells us that Adam was a "typos" of Christ. This Greek word means "kind" or "mark" or "type." It's actually where the word "typology" comes from. Paul was saying that in some way, Adam foreshadowed, or echoed, something about Jesus. In Adam's case, that something was how his act (his sin) had an effect on all humanity. Like Adam, Jesus also had an act (His death and resurrection) that would have an impact on all humanity. The point is that there was some analogous connection between the type (Adam) and its echo, or anti-type (Jesus).

Another example would be Passover, since it prefigured the crucifixion of Jesus, who was called the Lamb of God.

How does this relate to our passage in 1 Peter? Peter uses typology in 1 Peter 3:14-22. Specifically, he assumes that the great flood in Genesis 6-8 and the sons of God event in Genesis 6:1-4 typify or foreshadow the gospel and the resurrection in some way. For Peter, these events were commemorated somehow during baptism. Let's unpack this.

There are some tight connections between Genesis 6:1-4 and the epistle of 2 Peter and Jude. Peter and Jude were very familiar with Jewish tradition about Genesis 6, found in books like 1 Enoch. 1 Enoch 6-15 describes how the "sons of God" (called "Watchers" in Enoch) who committed their act of treason in Genesis 6:1-4 were imprisoned under the earth for what they had done.

In the book of Enoch, the "Watchers" appealed their sentence, and they asked Enoch (the biblical prophet who never died, according to Genesis 5) to intercede for them after he told them of the severe sentence that went out against them. Now after Enoch wrote down their petition and later found himself in the presence of God, God sent back His response to the imprisoned spirits, also by way of Enoch, that their appeal had been denied. That is described in 1 Enoch chapters 15 and 16. Here is an excerpt relaying the rejection of their petition.

In R.H. Charles translation it reads thus:

I wrote out your petition, and in my vision it appeared thus, that your petition will not be granted unto you throughout all the days of eternity, and that judgement has been finally passed upon you: yea (your petition) will not be granted unto you. And from henceforth you shall not ascend into heaven unto all eternity, and in bonds of the earth the decree has gone forth to bind you for all the days of the world. (1 Enoch 14:4-5 R.H Charles Translation)

A newer translation reads thus:

I wrote down your prayers—so it appeared in vision—for your prayers will not be heard throughout all the days of eternity; and judgment is passed upon you. From now on you will not be able to ascend into heaven unto all eternity, but you shall remain inside the earth, imprisoned all the days of eternity. (1 Enoch 14:4-5 The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, volume 1)

Enoch describes the prison term as being "until the end of the world."  This is language that refers to the end of time. 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6 make specific reference to the episode of Genesis 6:1-4 and the imprisonment of these fallen divine beings in the underworld. The incident was also on Peter's mind when he wrote the passage in this study. Peter saw a theological analogy between the events of Genesis 6 and the events of Enoch's intercession from 1 Enoch and their banishment from benefiting from the gospel and the resurrection. In other words, he considered these events to be types or precursors to New Testament events and ideas. Just as Jesus was the second Adam for Paul, Jesus is the second Enoch for Peter. Enoch descended to the imprisoned fallen angels to announce their doom. 1 Peter 3:14-22 has Jesus descending to these same spirits in prison—the fallen angels—to tell them they were still defeated, despite his crucifixion. God's plan of salvation and kingdom rule was still intact. In fact, it was right on schedule. The crucifixion actually meant victory over every demonic force opposed to God. The spiritual war was won at the crucifixion, and the Enochian typology here shows us that just as Enoch proclaimed the Watchers' doom, so Jesus repeats the act, announcing that his death certified victory over the realm of death and all those spiritual forces consigned to the dark world. The victory declaration of 1 Peter 3:14-22 ends with Jesus risen from the dead and set at the right hand of God above all angels, authorities, and powers.

So how does this relate to baptism? How is baptism tied to the logic of the passage? Here's the relevant portion once more, starting with verse 18:

For 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, by whom also He 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. 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, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.

Two words in verse 21 need consideration. We will first look at the Greek word "eperotema". Some Bibles use the word "appeal" but in the New King James Version used above "answer of" is used. This Greek word is best understood as "pledge" here, when comparing the meaning that it has in other material. The second word is the Greek word "syneidesis" (translated conscience) conscience here, does not refer to the inner voice of right and wrong. Rather, the word refers to an attitude or decision that reflects one's loyalty, or perhaps something like "conscientiousness" (a usage that is also found in other contexts).

So if we changed the wording a little to more closely to match the Greek word  meanings it would probably read more closely like this: "There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the pledge of loyalty (or conscientiousness) toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him."

So how does this help us understand the passage in relation to what Peter says about baptism? Briefly, baptism is not what produces salvation. It saves in that it first involves or reflects a heart decision - a pledge of loyalty to the risen Savior. In effect, baptism in New Testament theology is a loyalty oath - a public pledge of who is on the Lord's side in the cosmic war between good and evil. But in addition to that, it is also a visceral reminder to the defeated fallen angels. Every baptism is a reiteration of their doom in the wake of the gospel and the Kingdom of God. Early Christians understood the typology of this passage and its link back to the fallen angels of Genesis 6. Early baptismal formulas included a renunciation of Satan and his angels for this very reason. Baptism was, and perhaps still should be considered a form of public initiation (or pledge) of joining God's tangible army in a spiritual battle.