[TruthTalk] one last try

[Terry Clifton]

Brother David: I woke up early this morning, still wondering why you cannot see what I and so many others see as being so obvious.  There were several possibilities, one of them being that I am not explaining it well enough to overcome the opinion that you now hold.  With that in mind, let me give it one more try, then I will forever let it rest.   Peter says that Noah,et al, were saved "by" water.  You take that to mean that the water somehow saved Noah.  What if Peter said that ol' Joe sinner died by the sword?  That would not mean that he laid down by a sword and died.  It would clearly mean that he was stabbed with a sword.  Now, if dying "by" the sword means death "by" stabbing, can we not look at Noah's predicament and see that what is meant is that he was saved from death "by" drowning?  Before you answer, try to get a mental picture of Noah as all this happens.  Do you see him in the ark, safe from drowning along with the lost ones, or do you picture him in the water with the rest of humanity? If the latter, please explain to me just how the water saved him, and why an ark was necessary.   Then go and look again at what Peter says in verse 21.  Not the removal of the filth of the flesh.  If we wanted to remove the filth of the flesh, we would use water, but that is not what we are trying to do here, so water is out.  Our goal is a good conscience with God.  That means, as Kevin pointed out, that we have to be baptized into Christ.  That is a spiritual thing.  I hope this time it will soak in. All done.   Terry