神对挪亚的救恩不仅是把他从神的审判下拯救出来，更是把他从他那弯曲、悖谬、邪恶的世代中拯救出来。为着蒙拯救脱离那邪恶的世代，他需要藉水得救。彼前三章二十节说，挪亚是藉水得救的。藉水得救是甚么意思？我们必须知道挪亚那个世代的背景。
挪亚活在一个弯曲悖谬的世代中。那世代在神的眼中是被定罪的。挪亚就生在这样一个世代中。那黑暗邪恶的权势已经败坏了地，使地满了强暴。结果神来干涉，审判并了结那世代。
今天我们生活在同样的世代中。在马太二十四章和路加十七章，主耶稣把我们这世代比作挪亚的世代。挪亚的背景正和我们的背景一样。请看今天世界的局势，亳无疑问是在神的定罪之下，也是在邪恶的权势，败坏的影响力之下。所以神完全的救恩不仅救我们脱离祂的定罪，还要救我们脱离这黑暗世代邪恶的权势和影响力。在五旬节那天，彼得劝勉百姓说，“你们要得救，脱离这弯曲的世代。”（徒二40）。
在创世记中几乎每件事都是一粒种子。藉水得救是一件受浸的事。彼前三章二十至二十一节启示，挪亚所经过的水是受浸的豫表，也可以当作是圣经中头一次题到的受浸。所以这是受浸的种子。这粒受浸的种子首先在以色列入过红海这事例中得着发展。在出埃及记，以色列人享受了双重的救恩。第一面的救恩是救赎的血，第二面的救恩是审判的水。
对我们来说，审判的水乃是基督的十字架。主耶稣在十字架上的死就是审判的水。撒但和世界都在十字架上受了审判。主耶稣将要钉十字架的时候宣告说，“现在这世界受审判，这世界的王要被赶出去。”（约十二31）。撒但和世界都在十字架上受了审判。主藉着审判世界拯救祂的百姓脱离世界。祂在埃及人身上施行审判，那审判对以色列人乃是拯救。对撒但和对世界，十字架是审判；但对我们，这十字架的审判乃是救恩。这不是脱离神定罪的救恩，乃是脱离撒但权势和这黑暗世代的邪恶势力的救恩。
请享受诗歌 (点击诗歌名）
Noah’s Ark – Saved Through Water (1) – 1 Pet. 3:20
God’s salvation to Noah was not only to deliver him from God’s judgment, but also to rescue him from his crooked, perverted and evil generation. To be saved from that evil generation, he needed to be saved through water. 1 Peter 3:20 says that Noah was saved through water (1 Pet. 3:20). What does this mean? To understand this, we need to consider the background of Noah’s time.
Noah lived in a crooked, perverted generation that was condemned in God’s eyes. Dark and evil powers had corrupted the earth, filling it with violence. Consequently, God intervened to judge and terminate that generation.
Today we live in a similar age. In Matthew 24 and Luke 17, the Lord Jesus compares our generation with the days of Noah. The background of Noah’s time closely resembles our own. If we observe the condition of the world today, it is undoubtedly under God’s condemnation and under the influence of the evil powers of darkness. Thus God’s complete salvation not only delivers us from His condemnation but also saves us from the evil power and influence of this dark age. On the day of Pentecost, Peter exhorted men, “Be saved from this crooked generation” (Acts 2:40).
Nearly everything in Genesis is a seed. Being saved through water is a seed of baptism. 1 Peter 3:20–21 shows that the water through which Noah passed was a type of baptism — the first mention of baptism in the Bible. This seed develops later in Israel’s passage through the Red Sea. In Exodus, Israel experienced a twofold salvation: first, the salvation of the redeeming blood, and second, the salvation of the judging water.
For us, the judging water is the cross of Christ. His death is the water of judgment. Satan and the world were judged on the cross. Before the Lord was crucified, He said, “Now the judgment is upon this world, now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” (John 12:31).The Lord saved His people from the world by judging the world. He judged the Egyptians, and that judgment became salvation to Israel. To Satan and the world, the cross is judgment; to us, that judgment is salvation — a salvation not only from God’s condemnation but from the evil power of this dark age.