For A Good Conscience - 1 Peter 3:18-22

1 Peter 3:18-22 NASB 

" For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him."

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The resurrection of Christ turns the believers world upside down. Prior to belief in Christ a person is alive in the flesh, but dead in the spirit with regard to God. Belief begets life, but the flesh is put to death. This new creature may appear the same on the outside though there is something different on the inside. As the body of flesh is put to death the heart begins to transform into a new type of flesh on which the word of God can be written and be lived. 

Baptism here is defined as a type of confession, an appeal to God to fulfill His promise of salvation. A good conscience is the sign of a repentant heart which finds rest in God's grace. Christ has been resurrected above all things, including our sins. We are told elsewhere that He is greater than our conscience when our conscience condemns us. With God all things are possible.