Fr. Mike Schmitz

He says, yet do it with gentleness and reverence.

You do it with gentleness and reverence, not with a sledgehammer, not with any power tools, not with just this kind of club that you want to beat people over the head with, but do it with gentleness and reverence and keep your conscience clear so that when you're abused, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

That word legacy, it's just been kind of turning around in my heart and my mind lately and what you're describing.

That's so important.

I was just thinking of that, both with your mother-in-law and your grandfather here.

Now, next is in the same chapter three, just a couple lines down, Peter talks about the days of Noah, right?

And how God saved the people of Noah, eight people in all, through water.

In verse 21, he says, baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you.

And this is one of the places where we get the doctrine that baptism does something.

Baptism actually saves us.

It's not simply a sign of a preexisting condition.

It actually does something.

In fact, all the sacraments we believe

All the sacraments do something.

And here is Peter making it absolutely clear that baptism saves you.

That isn't just a kind of a sign of your salvation, but it actually does save you.

Just like living in an ark in the middle of a flood isn't a sign of your salvation.

It's actually what's saving you.

So that's kind of a kind of slightly important little piece there, both explaining the faith and be able to defend it in gentleness and reverence.

as well as the fact that baptism saves us now.