Not at all. Because he never said baptism saves.
Funny.
who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21 There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
It isn't washing of dirt off the body - it is washing of
sin - made effective by Christ's sacrifice. If the purification of sin doesn't create in you a good conscience toward God, nothing does.
It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ"
You're right. So first you say it doesn't save you and now you say it does. That's how convoluted your logic is.
What saves you? The pledge, not the water.
The word pledge is not used here. That's your pretext. Peter explains, by using the word
αντιτυπος here that Noah's ark is the 'type' of which baptism is the 'antitype.'
The word antitype means 'the impression left by the image.' It denoted the imprint in wax made by the stamp of a signatory on official documents which was a mirror of what was on the stamp. So the ark, in which 8 people were baptized and who were inside the ark remaining dry, were saved, while the water around the ark literally removed the sin of the world. Peter says those lives were literally saved from physical death by the ark - a figurative image of Christ himself. The 8 souls of Noah and his family were "in Christ."
In baptism, the person makes contact with the water. And this contact with water is what allows a person to come into contact with the blood of Christ's sacrifice (see Romans 6). John says that our baptism, the water, testifies with the Holy Spirit that we are His.
That water and blood is what removes our past sins. That's the very definition of salvation. The fact that we do this cannot provide us any credit for our salvation since it was Christ's sacrifice that made it effective. Paul even references baptism in Ephesians 2:1-6 to let that church know that baptism was not a work "of yourselves." We can't claim credit for saving ourselves because without Christ, baptism is just a bath, washing physical dirt off of our flesh. And since the flesh 'profits nothing,' a mere washing of our flesh has no effect. It also cannot be removed from the subset of works "of yourselves" since Paul includes it in his statement that it was our baptism that has saved us, perfective past passive participle - past completed, ongoing action. That word by itself could be translated - "having been saved not of yourselves". It is the passive mood which denotes that a person receives the result of the action.
Baptism washes our sins away. That's what John the baptist preached. It's what Peter preached. It's what Paul preached. It is how we contact the blood of Jesus' sacrifice. We can't credit ourselves with our salvation since we didn't die on the cross but, we must do this thing in order to share in Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. We are commanded to do it "for the remission of your sins."
It's not a sign or a pledge but actual salvation from our past sins. It's a work, but it isn't our work. It's not a work "of yourselves."
When Paul says "not of works," the words he uses there are modifying the phrase, "of yourselves." He didn't say that no works save us, he said that no works of ourselves save us. Baptism isn't our work, even though we do it. Neither is belief, as Jesus tells us. Those works are God's works which Paul explains in verse 10 of Ephesians chapter 2, we are created to walk in. Since only God is good, it his his good works which save us, not our own invented works which save us.
But we certainly must do those works and they save us. What did Ananias say to Paul?
14 Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. 15 For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’
Ananias had no qualms in telling Saul that by getting in the water he would be washing away his sins. He tells Saul that the result of his baptism, something he would
do, would result in his purification. Not in the sense that he could take credit for the result but that doing it would result in purification.
Anyone who preaches against this, simply has not studied the subject. We are saved by works. It's written all over the New Testament. We are not saved by the works of the obsolete law of Moses (Romans, Galatians) or works we invented which we think God will accept (Ephesians). Nor can we take credit for the works we do which God has commanded. Jesus explains this perfectly in Luke.
Luke 17
10 "So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’ ”
What Paul was teaching in Ephesians was this very message that Jesus taught his apostles. The scriptures harmonize, they do not invalidate.