I never said we are not commanded to have a water baptism, nor have I claimed it was unimportant. However, it is the Spirit that gives life, not water.
Water baptism saves you out of the wicked world we live in and show we are a people set apart. It follows new life, but does not give it.
“If you could literally be buried be buried in the tomb, wrapped in the same linen with Christ, then you would literally have his blood on you.”
True, and irrelevant since none of us literally have the blood of Jesus splashed on our physical skin. But when JESUS baptizes us in the Holy Spirit, we receive a new life. That life is not based on water but on what Jesus does - filling us with the Holy Spirit.
Water baptism is important, but it is important for the reasons Peter explained - it is part of sanctification, and separating us from this wicked world. There is no doubt about the “one baptism” that unites us with Christ:
“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”
Not water, but the Spirit is our baptism into Christ. There is a reason why the baptism in the Holy Spirit is so important:
“For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” - 1 Cor 12
You can argue with Peter and Paul all you want, but it is not water that gives us life:
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Another thing about this comment of yours:
**Water baptism saves you out of the wicked world we live in and show we are a people set apart. It follows new life, but does not give it.**
Noah did not have a new life until he was out of the water.
The life on the ark was not sustainable. Eventually the feed would run out, and the animals would perish, and then also Noah and family. New life follows death and burial.