Baptism is not the moment of the forgiveness of sins. *Acts 10:43 - "Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name
everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.” These Gentiles
believed in Him/received the gift of the Holy Spirit/spoke in tongues and were obviously saved BEFORE water baptism (Acts 10:43-47). *Crystal clear.
Once again, in Acts 11:17, we see that these Gentiles received the gift of the Holy Spirit
when they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, so it was an established fact that these Gentiles
believed on the Lord Jesus Christ BEFORE water baptism and in Acts 16:31, we read -
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved..” *Show me just one example in the NT where a lost unbeliever received the gift of the Holy Spirit. I'll be waiting.
False. The Amplified Bible reads - 1 Peter 3:21 - Corresponding to that [rescue through the flood],
baptism [which is an expression of a believer’s new life in Christ] now saves you, not by removing dirt from the body, but by an appeal to God for a good (clear) conscience, [demonstrating what you believe to be yours] through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
*Footnotes:
1 Peter 3:21
Baptism is a public representation of that which actually saves the believer—one’s personal faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3:21&version=AMP
A symbol can be used to refer to the reality and that seems to be what is confusing you. A FLOOD of confusion.
1 Peter 3:21 tells us that baptism now saves you, yet when Peter uses this phrase
he continues in the same sentence to explain exactly what he means by it. He says that baptism now saves you-
not the removal of dirt from the flesh (that is, not as an outward, physical act which washes dirt from the body--that is not what saves you),
"but an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (that is, as an inward, spiritual transaction between God and the individual, a transaction that is
symbolized by the outward ceremony of water baptism). Baptism is a pledge to God made from a good conscience. We could paraphrase Peter's statement by saying, "Baptism now saves you--
not the outward physical ceremony of baptism but the inward spiritual reality which baptism represents."
By saying, "not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience - through the resurrection of Jesus Christ," Peter guards against saving power to the physical ceremony itself. So in 1 Peter 3:21; it's not the water itself that saves us, but the "appeal-to-God-for-good-conscience". Just as the eight people in the ark were "saved THROUGH water" as they were IN THE ARK. They were not literally saved "by" the water. Hebrews 11:7 is clear on this point (..built an
ARK for the
SAVING of his household). NOTE: The context reveals that ONLY the righteous (Noah and his family) were DRY and therefore SAFE. In contrast, ONLY THE WICKED IN NOAH'S DAY CAME IN CONTACT WITH THE WATER AND THEY ALL PERISHED.
In regards to Acts 2:38, as I have already explained to you numerous times -- Faith in Jesus Christ implied in genuine repentance (rather than water baptism) brings the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:47; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 10:43-47; 11:17,18; 15:8,9; 16:31; 26:18). *Perfect Harmony*
This event not only demonstrated to the Jews that God has accepted the Gentiles into the body of Christ, but also demonstrates that these Gentiles
received the gift of the Holy Spirit when they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ AND
spoke in tongues (
spiritual gift which is ONLY for the body of Christ - 1 Corinthians chapter 12) and were a part of the body of Christ and saved BEFORE water baptism (Acts 10:43-47; 11:17; 15:8,9; 16:31). They were commanded to be water baptized AFTERWARDS (Acts 10:47,48). Your biased church doctrine does not alter this truth.
The remission of sins is SIGNIFIED, yet not procured in the waters of baptism. You need to quit fighting the truth and BELIEVE the gospel. Again, if you can believe that
"believed on the Lord Jesus Christ/received the gift of the Holy Spirit/spoke in tongues" BEFORE water baptism = still lost in your sins, then you can believe anything!
You would walk around mountains of grace in order to find water.