B. H. Carroll on:

      “1 Peter 3:21 - I make this point on the picture of baptism: ‘Baptism doth now save us.’

      Baptism doth now save us in a figure; baptism doth now save us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

      That is the figure, but baptism does not put away the impurity of the carnal nature – does not put away the filth of the flesh.

      These are the four points:

(1) Baptism saves us in a figure.
(2) That figure is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
(3) Paul says, ‘You have been planted in the likeness of his death, so ye shall be in the likeness of his resurrection.’ Wherever you see a baptism you see a burial and a resurrection. This is not a real salvation, but a pictorial one – a figure of salvation, and baptism does save us that way, and nobody will deny it.
(4) The answer of a good conscience toward God. And the force of this last is:

(a) The conscience is bad before it is cleansed,
(b) How made good? Hebrew 9:14: ‘By the blood of Christ.’
(c) The place of a good conscience – 1 Timothy 1:5 explains.”

=========================

B. H. Carroll (1843-1914), An Interpretation of the English Bible, Volume 12, Acts, Broadman Press; 1948, p. 98; via R. L. Vaughn. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]

---

More on B. H. Carroll
Baptist History Homepage