Please notice what Peter wrote:
“...when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience...”
The water of baptism saved Noah how? From death? On the contrary, without the Ark the water would have killed Noah. So in what sense did the Flood ‘save’ Noah?
It saved him out of (separated him) from the surrounding evil world, as Peter preached in Acts 2:
“And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”
Salvation has two meanings: salvation from the effect of our sin (justification) and salvation from the surrounding evil world (sanctification). Baptism does not justify us, but it DOES separate us from the “crooked generation” in which we live - as Peter pointed out twice.
Since God cannot sanctify someone who has not been justified, water baptism has no meaning for a baby. The child will eventually need to “Repent and believe” - or die in his sin.
Good explanation. Thx!