the imputation of our guilt to Him on the cross—without those things, baptism would be utterly worthless. If I thought for one second that baptism put people in a state of justification, I would stand on a corner with a fire hose and baptize as many people as I could. I do not think that is the point being made here. The water that saved Noah and his family saved them because they put their trust in the promises of God, and for those who did not, that same water was the occasion of their utter destruction.