Yesterday in my study I saw how if we suffer for righteousness sake then we do well. v.18 shows us that Christ suffered. He was righteous and we are not. He suffered for us! He did this to bring us to God. We cannot be in fellowship with God if we do not have atonement for our sins. This was the atonement.
Baptism is an important aspect of being a Christian. There are two types of baptism, the physical and the spiritual. The spiritual baptism comes first after salvation. This is when the Holy Spirit comes upon a person. In Acts 8 and 9 when the Gospel is shared with people after repentance, through prayer, the Holy Spirit came upon these new believers. Although spiritual Baptism is necessary for salvation, physical baptism is not. We know that salvation is the only way to have fellowship with God. Salvation is turning from our sins and accepting the free gift Christ has offered us. That is what Peter is talking about here. Baptism saves us. Physical baptism is done as a representation to the salvation that we have just received. The physical act we go through does not save us.
Anyways, why would a physical act save our spiritual souls? Didn’t Christ already perform the physical act? Didn’t Christ already send the “Helper” as he states in Acts 1? We see this fulfilled in Acts 2. In Acts 1:5 Jesus explains that John the Baptist baptized with water but Christ came to baptize with the Holy Spirit. This is the salvation that is offered. Be filled with the Spirit, seek to glorify God with our lives, and be saved from eternal separation from God!! How awesome is our God for sending His Son to die for us?!
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