Is baptism necessary for salvation? For the Christian, this sounds like a no-brainer. What must I do to be saved? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. "Not so!", many say. After all, does 1 Peter 3:21 not say "baptism now saves you"?
As it turns out, no. No, it does not say "baptism now saves you". It contains those words (at least, depending on the translation), but not in that order, and certainly not as sole contextual indicators. As you should be able to see in the header image, it's actually only a small portion of the verse. What you should also be able to see in the header image is that I have done the same thing to 1 Corinthians 15:15. Using the same digital brush, I cut off a much smaller portion of this verse so that it says "...we are found to be false witnesses to God, because we have testified about God that He raised up Christ - whom He did not raise up...".
Evidently, this is a horrible, horrible twist of Scripture. Using the exact same strategy as the heretics who twist 1 Peter 3:21, I just made Paul "admit" that the entire Gospel is a lie. In context, Paul is engaging with a heretical sect of Christians who denied the resurrection of the dead, like the Sadducees did before them. He is telling them that if there is no resurrection, then Christ is not risen, and our faith as Christians is in vain. However, Christians do believe Christ rose, and so Christians cannot reject the resurrection. Yet, by drawing over the context with red pen, I made Scripture say the opposite of what it says.
This actually hurts me to do, and well it should. Though my intentions are pure, Scripture is still Scripture, and if I was not trying to explain what is underneath the red pen, I would never have done it. Altering Scripture is wrong. It doesn't matter if you're crossing words out, making misleading memes, or even quoting an entire unedited verse out of context: no Christian should ever try to twist Scripture. But those who cite 1 Peter 3:21 in an attempt to defend baptismal regeneration are doing exactly that.
First, let us quote the entire verse. In the image, I used the HCSB, as that and the ESV are the ones that most clearly use the words "baptism (...) now saves you", so let's look at what they both say:
"Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." - HCSB
"Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ," - ESV
Already we see that that which was cut out completely changes the context. First, we see what baptism is. It is not about the act itself, which merely washes dirt away from the body. Rather, it is about taking a pledge of good conscience towards God. This is why baptism should be reserved only for believers. Many who were baptised will, sadly, still be condemned all the same, and indeed, many who were never baptised will be saved.
The classical example of this is the penitent thief. This example is so prominent, it borders on being a cliché. And it is so cliché for a reason: it settles the argument, since the penitent thief was, indeed, under the New Covenant (Hebrews 9:15-17), and yet, he was saved with just a few heartfelt words: "Lord, remember me in your Kingdom". He was saved by faith alone because he had faith alone. They weren't going to take him off the cross just so he could get baptised.
In the modern day, I like to use the example of a baptismal service in which 8 new believers are to be baptised. As the 4th man leaves the water, a group of terrorists open fire, killing all 8 converts. How many of them go to Heaven? A Christian can answer anywhere between 0 and 8. If salvation is by grace through faith, then as many as had true faith were saved, regardless of whether they lived long enough to be baptised. But if baptism is necessary for salvation, a maximum of 4 were saved, even if all 8 of them had the exact same faith in the exact same Risen Lord, simply because they didn't make it to the water in time.
You see the problem, then, with the idea that baptism is required for salvation. So what did Peter mean? For this, let's focus on the bit between "baptism (...) now saves you". It actually says "baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you". So, corresponds to what, exactly?
In the ESV, 2 Peter 3:18-22 reads "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him."
That is a lot of context to cut out! Now we see that baptism corresponds to the global flood, and the ark which saved Noah and his family. The issue in view here is typology! It's like the Old Testament sacrifices. Were the Jews saved by the blood of bulls and goats? No! (Hebrews 10:4). Even the blood of the lambs during passover was a mere picture of Christ. The Jews weren't saved because they painted their doors with blood, they were saved because of their faith, which, of course lead to obedience.
And that really is the issue here. Faith leads to obedience. We are commanded to be baptised. If you don't get baptised, that's very suspicious. Unless you're in an iron lung or something that prevents you from safely being baptised, why would a true believer not immediately want to get baptised? I know this much: I didn't get baptised hoping to get saved. I got baptised because I wanted to obey God, and publicly proclaim my faith to my church, to my family, and to the world. This is how it has always been in the Church. Those who get saved get baptised (e.g. Acts 2:41).
So, is baptism required for salvation? Not at all. To say otherwise requires a leaking red pen, but the only pen that one should ever use on a Bible is a highlighter. Baptism, while necessary for obedience, is not necessary for salvation, which is received through faith, not of works.