Wow. Still going, after 142 pages and 2,825 posts.
The title of this thread is what is wrong. There is no verse that says "saved by water".
There IS a verse about being "saved THROUGH water", and that is where most of the problem is.
To be saved THROUGH water means to be saved FROM water. Let's see what the Bible says about this.
1 Pet 3:20 - 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,
In biblehub.com out of 28 translations, only 6 showed "saved by water". Here are some very clear ones:
New Living Translation
those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood.
New American Standard Bible
who once were disobedient when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through
the water.
NASB 1995
who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.
NASB 1977
who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through
the water.
Amplified Bible
who once were disobedient, when the
great patience of God was waiting in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons [Noah’s family], were brought safely through the water.
Contemporary English Version
They had disobeyed God while Noah was building the boat, but God had been patient with them. Eight people went into that boat and were brought safely through the flood.
Weymouth New Testament
who in ancient times had been disobedient, while God's longsuffering was patiently waiting in the days of Noah during the building of the Ark, in which a few persons--eight in number--were brought safely through the water.
The water couldn't have saved them. What did the water do to everyone else on the planet? It drowned them. Killed them.
Only the 8 that were INSIDE the ark were saved FROM the water. It is being INSIDE the Ark that saved the 8 from being killed.
Here is the Greek word translated "saved"-
diasózó: to bring safely through (a danger), to save thoroughly
Original Word: διασώζω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: diasózó
Phonetic Spelling: (dee-as-odze'-o)
Definition:
to bring safely through (a danger), to save thoroughly
Usage: I
save (rescue) through (some danger), bring safely to, escaped to.
HELPS Word-studies
1295 diasṓzō (from
1223 /diá, "through, thoroughly," which intensifies
4982 /sṓzō, "save") – properly,
save all the way through, i.e.
completely deliver from danger and into safety (note the force of the prefix,
dia); literally,
"to save all the way across" which brings someone through danger and into a safe condition ("thoroughly rescued").
What is clear is that water never saves anyone. It kills when it rises above one's head. They drown by suffocation.
Ask the Egyptian army about water. Or the population of the earth in Noah's day after all that rain, etc.
Water kills. The ark saves.
And it is the ark that symbolizes Jesus Christ the Savior.
How people can get so confused as to think that one's soul salvation is on the basis of literal water is amazing.