1 Peter 3:21-22

V.21. The like figure whereunto eyen Baptism doth also now save us, (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, v.22. who is gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him.

The apostle now makes a splendid application of Noah's rescue: Which now saves also us as Baptism, its counterpart, not the removal of the dirt of the flesh, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The words of the apostle are so simple and so clear that the deliberate misunderstanding of their import by a great number of Christians is a mystery. Water is to us Christians a means of salvation. It is water that saves us, that transmits to us the salvation of Christ in Baptism, which is the antitype or counterpart of the Flood, as Peter has just shown.

This salvation, of course, does not consist in washing off the dirt which may have gathered on the skin of the body, but it cleanses the heart of sins; it is a pledge, a contract of a good conscience toward God; it guarantees to us that we may have, by virtue of its application, a clean conscience before God, thus being enabled to lift up our eyes to Him without the slightest trace of fear.

This is true because the spiritual gifts and blessings which are the result of the resurrection of Christ, the certainty that God has accepted the sacrifice of His Son and granted forgiveness of sins to the whole world, are transmitted to the believer in Baptism. Thus all Christians are, by reason of their baptism, happy and blessed people, having the certain hope of eternal life through the grace of God in Christ Jesus which they received in the water of Baptism.

In concluding this paragraph, the apostle adds this confession concerning Christ: Who is at the right hand of God, having gone to heaven, angels and authorities and powers being subject to Him. Here Peter briefly indicates how the exaltation of Christ was consummated. He ascended up on high, into heaven, He took His place at the right hand of God, entering upon the full and unrestrained use of His divine power and majesty, also according to His human nature.

And He now rules in all eternity as the almighty Lord over all, every order of angels, of the blessed spirits, being subject to His command. There is nothing which has not been put under His feet. Cp. Heb. 2, 8; Ps. 8, 7; 1 Cor. 15, 24 ff.; Rom. 8, 38; Eph. 1, 21. This Man at the right hand of God, Jesus Christ, our Savior, will guard and protect His Church on earth in the midst of all the tribulations and persecutions of these last days. He will deliver us from every evil and translate us into the kingdom of His glory. To Him be glory and power, both now and forever!

Summary. After an exhortation to Wives and husbands the apostle summarizes his admonitions to the Christians in general, showing the need of true brotherly love, of following and defending that which is good, and basing the entire admonition on the benefits of Christ’s work as we have received them also in Baptism.