1Pet 3:21 Which water, as the antitype, also now saves you, that is, baptism, not a putting away of the filth of the flesh but the appeal of a good conscience unto God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Mark 16:16 He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned.
[Part 2 of 2] As we have pointed out elsewhere, believing is our reflection of all that Christ has accomplished. First, what Christ has accomplished for our salvation is preached to us as the gospel. As we listen to this preaching, the Spirit works upon us and within us to cause us to reflect what we have heard in the gospel, a reflection of what we have heard regarding Christ’s accomplishment. This experience of reflecting Christ’s accomplishment can be compared to taking a picture with a camera. A camera is focused on a certain scene, and then a reflection of the scene is impressed on the film. We may compare Christ’s accomplishments to a scene to be photographed with a camera.
The proper preaching of the gospel brings the view of this “scenery” into us, and the Holy Spirit enlightens us. Then the scenery is imprinted on the “film” of our spirit. The result is that, from within, we believe in Christ. Therefore, in our being there is a reflection of Christ’s accomplishments, and this reflection is our believing in Christ. Furthermore, when we are baptized, we, as baptized ones, appeal to God for a good and pure conscience.
After we have been baptized and rise up out of the water, we have a conscience that is good and pure, a conscience without condemnation. All our sins, offenses, transgressions, and trespasses have been forgiven, and all the problems that have entangled our life and our being have been buried in the water. This means that through baptism we have a clearance of our sinful past. Because of this clearance, we can have a good and pure conscience. Baptism, therefore, is the counterpart to our believing in Christ.
Prayer Confession Loving Father thank you for this knowledge. I am a man in Christ through baptism and I rise up to enjoy all that is in Christ. I believe in the accomplishments of Christ that buried all my problems of life, cleared my sinful past and gave me a good and pure conscience in the name of Jesus, Amen.
