{"id":66718,"date":"2024-02-24T14:56:50","date_gmt":"2024-02-24T20:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=66718"},"modified":"2024-02-24T14:56:50","modified_gmt":"2024-02-24T20:56:50","slug":"suffering-in-baptism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/suffering-in-baptism\/","title":{"rendered":"Suffering in Baptism?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

by Perry Hall<\/p>\n

Amid Peter discussing suffering and judgment, he mentions, “baptism now saves<\/em>” (I Peter 3:21). Contextually, what baptism saves us from is God’s judgment on a sinful world. The context from 3:14-4:19 is “Suffering and Judgment.” However, there are many ways baptism cannot save us from suffering because baptism is inherently tied to suffering.<\/p>\n

How?<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Historical Suffering<\/strong> – By identifying with Jesus, we historically identify with his death and suffering on the cross (I Peter 3:18).<\/li>\n
  2. Emotional Suffering<\/strong> – By identifying with Jesus, we suffer emotionally, knowing the world will suffer judgment (I Peter 3:19-20).<\/li>\n
  3. Spiritual Suffering <\/strong>– By identifying with Jesus, we reject our former lives, causing spiritual suffering as we deny ourselves (I Peter 4:1-2).<\/li>\n
  4. Societal Suffering <\/strong>– By identifying with Jesus, the world rejects us, causing our societal suffering (I Peter 4:13-16).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The advantage of context is learning deeper truths that do not contradict surface truths. “Baptism now saves you<\/em>” (I Peter 3:21) is about suffering and not suffering.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Jesus died for the unrighteous. However, Jesus’ dying was also by the unrighteous. They judged Jesus wrongly and persecuted Him.<\/li>\n
    2. Now, bring in the audience to whom Peter is writing. Being Christians, they, too, suffered wrongly (I Peter 4:16).<\/li>\n
    3. Now, bring in the flood analogy. That world was wicked and judged Noah wrongly.<\/li>\n
    4. What does God do? He saves Noah’s family by judging those judging.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Can you separate the ark from the flood? No. “Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you … through the resurrection of Jesus Christ<\/em>” (I Peter 3:21). The people to whom Peter wrote, when they had been baptized, identified them with Jesus and Noah.<\/p>\n

      What does baptism save us from contextually? God’s wrath and judgment on the ungodly because we appeal to God for a clean conscience. So baptism now saves us from death through the resurrection because the resurrection saved Jesus from death.<\/p>\n

      Just like you can’t separate Noah from the ark and the waters, don’t separate baptism from Jesus’s resurrection. And don’t separate baptism from its context – suffering and judgment.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      by Perry Hall Amid Peter discussing suffering and judgment, he mentions, “baptism now saves” (I Peter 3:21). Contextually, what baptism saves us from is God’s judgment on a sinful world. The context from 3:14-4:19 is “Suffering and Judgment.” However, there are many ways baptism cannot save us from suffering because baptism is inherently tied to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[52,182],"class_list":["post-66718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-baptism","tag-suffering"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61656,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-suffering\/","url_meta":{"origin":66718,"position":0},"title":"Notes on Suffering","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 2, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Joy in Suffering Matthew 5:10-12 - Suffering for being righteous leads to a great reward Romans 5:3-5 - Tribulation leads to perseverance, character, and hope James 1:2-4 - Suffering leads to patience and completeness I Peter 2:19-20 - Commendable to suffer wrongfully for doing good I Peter 3:14 - Suffering\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85985,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/but-it-hurts\/","url_meta":{"origin":66718,"position":1},"title":"But It Hurts!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson Why we suffer may be the most troubling of all questions. Atheists' strongest argument is: How could a good God permit suffering? It is important to know what the Bible says about this so we won't lose faith or grow bitter. Suffering is a complex issue. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44453,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/unashamed-of-the-shame\/","url_meta":{"origin":66718,"position":2},"title":"Unashamed of the Shame","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer \"Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler. But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in having that name\" (I Peter 4:15-16). There are many reasons why people suffer, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93390,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dont-be-surprised-by-suffering\/","url_meta":{"origin":66718,"position":3},"title":"Don’t Be Surprised by Suffering","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 22, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edwin Crozier Text: I Peter 4 Jesus told the apostles: \"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68973,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-wept-at-human-pain-and-hurt\/","url_meta":{"origin":66718,"position":4},"title":"Jesus Wept at Human Pain and Hurt","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 23, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton He saw and cared deeply about how His disciples hurt over Lazarus' death (John 11). Jesus cared so deeply that He wept with them. He suffered with them, and He knew the larger plan would be to raise Lazarus so that more good could come out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12721,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/baptisms-of-the-new-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":66718,"position":5},"title":"Baptisms of the New Testament","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ephesians 4:1-6 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How is it that Paul talks of one baptism in Ephesians 4:5 when the New Testament speaks of more than one? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Baptism means immersion \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0You can have different baptisms depending on what medium something is being immersed into, who administers the baptism,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66718\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}