Does baptism save? A look at 1st Peter 3:21
Is baptism symbolic? Does baptism save you? Does baptism remove original sin? Does baptism wash away sins?
We understand that grace through faith in Jesus is what saves us but we also understand that baptism saves as well. Is it the grace of God through faith in Christ which saves or baptism which saves? Or a combination of both? Is baptism merely symbolic? An outward sign of our faith? We could point to various bible verses and make different arguments as to which it is but that will lead us no where really for we all have the same bible (well almost) but we come to different conclusions. If you’re a baby but have original sin, which saves you, faith or baptism? If you’re an adult which saves you, faith or baptism? We understand we are born with original sin so a baby who is baptized is saved by baptism but it is the faith of his or her parents who make the baptism valid. If one is an adult he must show he has faith first before he is baptized. So which saved them? Faith or baptism. A baptist or evangelical would say that baptism is only symbolic of one’s faith and they would call their baptism a “believer’s baptism.” The baptism does nothing per se but is only symbolic. An outward gesture of inward faith. They would say they are baptized because Jesus commanded us to be baptized. He himself was baptized even though he didn’t need to be baptized.
To understand we can look at what the church teaches and what others teach. The Church will say that baptism saves but it’s not exactly that, it’s more of a new life or door that we enter through. Non-Catholic Christians will say that baptism is “believer’s baptism” and it is a symbolic action but that it has no salvific efficacy. I attended a Baptist church with family after mass and the pastor closed out the Gospel of Matthew. In the last verse of Matthew we see a command from Jesus “baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” The pastor went on to say that baptism is only a symbol. After, I thought of Peter 3:21 where it says “baptism, which saves” and asked what they thought that meant. I found out a couple things. One, in some bible translations, such as the NIV, it says Noah was saved and his saving “symbolically” precedes baptism but in others it says “pre-figured”. The word “symbolically” stood out because it seemed to mean that baptism is symbolic. However, this word “symbolic” is attributed to the flood, not Christian baptism. In other words Noah and the flood symbolized the salvation that comes through baptism not that baptism is symbolic. Confusing at first but bear with me. The Baptist Christian could also point to the verse concerning the “appeal to God” and state that baptism is an appeal to God to save us through Christ’s death and resurrection and that baptism is a symbol of that appeal and faith in Jesus’ resurrection. So, it’s not the baptism which saves but the appeal to God through baptism. Let’s look at the verse so it’s not so confusing.
NIV version of 1 Peter 3:19-22: “After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also — not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.”
And here is the NABRE (Catholic) translation 1 Peter 3:19-22: “In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water. This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.”
In the NIV version it says “this symbolized baptism…”. The thing its referring to is Noah and his family being saved in a flood. “This water” symbolizing baptism is the flood. The NABRE states “this prefigured” baptism. Or the flood pre-figured baptism. That’s a little easier to understand. It could be thought of as a type and anti-type. Where in the flood the water is what killed but through the water eight were saved. Through baptism, we are given new life as the water symbolizes a cleansing of the soul, a re-birth.
Re-read the NABRE version with that in mind. “This (the flood) prefigured baptism, which now saves you.” I read this as to say the flood came before baptism and the flood and Noah were a pre-figuring of salvation which comes through baptism. So, baptism, it NOW saves you. What pre-figured it, the flood, showed us how through water we can become saved. I don’t believe I am reading into the text but that is what it says. This thing happened but now we have a new thing, baptism. Baptism was pre-figured by the flood and by Noah being saved through the boat he was on and now this new thing baptism saves you.
Notice another difference in the text. In the NIV version it says towards the end “It (baptism) saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ…”
But the NABRE version does not say “It saves you…” but only “through the resurrection of Jesus…” Two very different versions and it would make one believe that baptism saves us through the resurrection of Jesus but not that baptism itself saves us.
Let’s double back on our Baptists brothers and sisters, how do they see it? They see the end of this chapter as the important part in the NIV translation,
“…not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.”
They would say that baptism is an appeal to God and that we are saved by the resurrection of Jesus, not by baptism, because Jesus sits at the right hand of God and has the power to save us. The water itself which removes dirt is not what’s important because we know that water removes dirt. It is the “pledge” or “appeal” to God through Jesus’ resurrection which saves us. According to Baptists, not to put words in their mouth, St. Peter is saying that baptism is our appeal to God through Jesus Christ for a clean conscience which we can understand as a forgiveness for sins but the baptism isn’t what saves but it is Jesus who has the power to save. Seems like a solid understanding at first glance and one I can’t really blame them for having. Seems logical.
“But some Protestants who deny the salvific efficacy of baptism argue that Peter isn’t saying baptism actually saves us. Rather, what saves us is the ‘appeal to God for a clear conscience,’ which is interpreted as a pledge to God to follow Jesus, and baptism is merely an appropriate symbol for that confession of faith.” (Karlo Broussard, Catholic Answers, “Is Baptism Just a Symbol of Our Salvation? 11.13.2020). He continues to say that the Catholic would say that we appeal to God through our baptism as a pledge to follow Christ and for babies the parents make this pledge. Both Catholics and Protestants say the same sort of thing but just a little different. The Baptist would say we have faith in Jesus who died on the cross and sits at the right hand of the Father and therefore has the power to destroy death and sin and our faith in Jesus is symbolized by baptism. The Catholic would say that an actual grace is given through baptism which takes away our sin but that we must have faith before we are baptized and if it is our baby who is being baptized then the parent must pledge the faith of the child and the child will be brought up Catholic. It’s not that much different but it certainly seems to cause a lot of confusion. It seems both say there is faith first and then baptism. Jesus says in Mark 16 that one must believe and be baptized. One must believe and then be baptized. The Baptists seem to be on the right track but the Catholic also seems to be correct. Both say faith or belief precede baptism. We know that Catholics believe this because if an adult wants to be baptized they must wait a period of time so that their faith can be developed first. Seems Catholics don’t believe that baptism saves or why would we make people wait? If someone wants to be baptized right now, why not do it right now? Because we want their faith to be developed first. And yet, the Catholic would say that baptism does save. But let’s continue.
So, let’s get to the final part of this which concerns the cleansing. If baptism is only symbol then no actual interior cleansing would take place. In other words, according to Baptists and Evangelicals and other non-Catholic Christians, there is no forgiveness for sins through baptism but it is the believer’s faith which already removed the guilt of sin through the grace of God through faith in Christ, but not baptism itself which provides any interior cleansing. The difference is in how we view grace. Catholics believe grace is transmitted through the sacrament. This is a whole other topic but it is a difference between the Catholic and non-Catholic Christians. Because Catholics see grace being transmitted through the sacrament itself we see the work of God, through Jesus, through the Church being transmitted in a real way the thing that is symbolized. So, water which symbolizes cleansing is transmitted in a real grace through baptism. And what is cleansed? Peter says “It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” It is not the exterior removal of dirt. Stop there for a moment. Water removes dirt but Peter is saying that baptism is not the removal of dirt, so baptism is something else. Water actually cleanses us physically but he says IT IS NOT the cleansing of dirt… but it is an appeal to God for a clear conscience… Stop here for a moment. Is he not saying it is an appeal to God for a clear conscience? What that means to me is a cleaning of the interior which results in a clear conscience. Why would our conscience be clear? Because we have no sin remaining. While he does not say that specifically isn’t that what the words mean? When we confess our sins we leave with a clear conscience because no sin remains. We have been absolved and likewise through baptism we have no sin which remains. We have neither original sin nor actual sin for that moment in our life. Naturally, we can sin after, and this is why we have the sacrament of confession. Also, receiving the Eucharist removes venial sins. So, the Catholic has a number of opportunities to ACTUALLY cleanse the sin, not merely in a symbolic way, but in an actual way. And we call this grace - Actual Grace. Because of this grace we can say baptism saves. The church does teach though that one cannot be baptized against their will so there is also a cooperation of the person to have faith in the same sacrament.
If we have original sin then that sin must be dealt with. A baby is born with original sin. Baptists believe the wages of sin is death per the book of Romans but they do not believe that sin would lead to hell if a baby were to pass away before he or she were baptized. They would say God’s mercy would take care of the baby because the baby had no culpability. So, there is no need for baptism of a baby. Now, this is interesting isn’t it? Because don’t we Catholics teach that one without culpability cannot be found guilty of the sin he may commit? Don’t we say a person who through no fault of his own who never knew of God or Christ can still go to heaven through the mercy of God? Yes, we do. But that person also has original sin, do they not? And yet God’s mercy can save a person who never knew of Jesus even if they have never been baptized and likewise then, why could not God’s mercy be extended to babies who also do not know God or Jesus and also have no culpability? I don’t see why God’s mercy couldn’t or wouldn’t whether or not the baby has been baptized.
Catholics and many Protestant traditions believe it is necessary to baptize babies. Lutherans, Presbyterians, Anglicans and others believe in the baptism of babies. To them, there must be something that happens during baptism or what would be the point of a baby being symbolically dunked in water? There would be none. To the baptist, the baptism is a symbolic sign of inward belief. Faith is what saves. However, a baby cannot have faith so how can a baby be saved? Catholics and some protestants would say “through baptism.” If a baby were baptized and then were to pass away, the baby would be in heaven because it would have no stain of original sin due to the cleansing nature of baptism. If an adult lived their entire life a sinner but were to believe and be baptized and die immediately after, they would go to heaven because no sin would remain. The rest of us who are baptized at some age but continue to live for years to come could lose their salvation even if they believed and were baptized. We would hope that weren’t the case but it is possible. In that case, confession would be necessary. If one were to confess who was baptized and then immediately pass away they would go to heaven because no sin remained.
Baptism does save but it isn’t the last thing one must do to stay in the state of grace. One must continue to live a Christian life but when one fails, go to confession. If one hasn’t committed a mortal sin but goes to Mass every Sunday then all venial sins are removed each time one receives the Eucharist. Even if one does all these things one needs to go to confession once per year, usually during Lent. A time to reflect and find healing.
After reflecting on the Baptists point of view on baptism I can certainly see why they believe what they believe but we are so much better off receiving the sacraments which are the channels of grace and give us the grace of the thing that is symbolized. In the case of baptism the thing symbolized is water and water cleanses so the grace we are given is a cleansing grace or as St. Peter says “a clear conscience.”
Does baptism save? Yes, it does but it is really Jesus who saves. God’s love for us through the death on the cross and His resurrection save us. Baptism provides us with grace. It gives us an indelible mark. It removes original sin and actual sin. Baptism is a wonderful sacrament and being baptized as a child is powerful because it unites the family’s faith to the sacrament and to the baby child. It provides grace for us and should not be overlooked or understated. The world would be a different place if more babies and persons were baptized. What some people don’t understand as well is that the Catholic Church recognizes most Christian non-Catholic baptisms and since baptism is indelible, it is a one-time sacrament. There is no need to be re-baptized. The Baptists’ baptism and the Evangelicals’ baptism are enough for the Catholic Church. Ironically, many non-denominational churches will require a Catholic to be re-baptized and they don’t recognize the Catholic baptism. Ironically, also though is that the Catholic Church says baptism saves but It will not baptize you on the spot even if you ask for it. It is also ironic that the Baptists believe baptism is only symbolic, should they change their names to “Baptists, but only symbolically”? Also weird is that Catholics say a person who has never heard of Christ can be saved, see Vatican II, but that a baby who isn’t baptized still has original sin. Yet, both have original sin and both are unbaptized. We also teach that someone who has entered into the church as a catechumen has now received a “baptism of desire” because of their faith which means they would still be saved if they were to perish before receiving baptism because of their desire to join the church but the church will not baptize them until later even if they have faith already.
I have to admit that it seems that if Baptism saves then we would baptize immediately if one were to ask for it for if we hold off to make sure that there is faith and discernment then aren’t we saying that it is faith which saves? In the case of the child being baptized we say it is the faith of the parents which allows a baby to baptized and in this case we also say it is faith which saves? And yet, we still say “baptism saves” because a grace is conferred upon us and this grace is cleansing and re-birth. It is a mystery to me and difficult to understand but also it seems that the Baptist who says that baptism is symbolic of one’s faith is not too far off from the Catholic. And that is good news too. Maybe we have more in common than we think.