22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did. 1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.” (Genesis 6:22–7:1, NKJV)
Noah was a righteous man. This does not mean Noah never sinned. This does not mean Noah earned his way onto the ark. It means God accounted Noah righteous when he did “according to all that God commanded him” (Gen. 6:22). Noah built the ark “by faith,” and in so doing he “became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (Heb. 11:7). Thus, Noah “found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Gen. 6:8). Noah was saved from the flood waters “by grace, through faith.” This is a perfect type of God’s salvation of sinners in Christ, the antitype of which “now saves us—baptism” (1 Pet. 3:20-21). Water baptism no more earns salvation than building the ark earned Noah’s salvation from the flood. Salvation is “by grace” and it is “through faith” (Eph. 2:8). Yet, the faith that saves is the faith that obeys. Is it essential to obey God’s command to be baptized in order to be saved? Yes. If you doubt it, just ask Noah.
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