The Ark of Safety
Let us examine the Word of God and consider a man by the name of Noah. God dealt with Noah in a very particular manner and recorded this for the benefit of all.
(1 Pet 3:20-21) Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. {21} The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Here we have a very plain and straight-forward passage teaching us that God saved Noah from the flood. In Genesis 6:8 and 13, we read that Noah found grace in the eyes of God. We then read that God told Noah to build the ark which would protect him and his family from the flood. So from this we learn that a man (Noah) found grace in the eyes of God then God gave him a work to do which protected him from the destructive elements of the flood. Consider how this harmonizes with the next verse.
(2 Pet 2:5) And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
Relating this verse to those already considered, we learn more details about Noah before he entered the ark. Earlier it was pointed-out that he had found grace in the eyes of God. It was also observed that he had been serving God by building the ark. Now we also learn that he was a preacher of righteousness. If nothing else could be concluded, by these points alone it should be clear that Noah was already a child of God before the flood came. So then, the salvation being referred to in 1 Pet. 3:20-21 was dealing strictly with physical deliverance.
By the verses referenced in this article, it is plain that the flood destroyed the ungodly. Where was safety found? Can we not see that the ark provided safety, or salvation, for Noah and his family? If we would take a sober moment and carefully consider the ark in relationship to the flood we would note that the ark floated on top of the water and was never immersed during the flood. If the ark was never immersed, then neither were the occupants of the ark immersed. Neither immersion nor water saved Noah but the provision God made by providing the ark.
Let’s be careful to rightly divide the word of truth.