So you are saying that the Bible is lying?
You know that usually you folks whine that the main things are the plain, and the plain things are the main things.
What could be more plain than "Baptism now saves you" Unless of course it would be "This is My Body", and This is My Blood."
Let me know when you guys decide to get your stories straight.
How can a mechanical act performed once in the past continue to save anybody?
That is Trent's sacramental theory, ‘If anyone shall say that grace is not conferred ex opere operato (i.e., ‘by the act performed’), but that belief in the divine promise alone suffices to obtain grace, let him be anathema.’ i.e. grace is objectively conveyed in a sacrament by virtue of the execution of the sacramental action. The emphasis is upon the right administration, then the grace is automatically conferred as long as the baptismal candidate is not in a state of mortal sin.
The answer of course, it doesn't. That is why the last part of the verse places the emphasis on the baptismal confession of faith consistent with the whole scheme of God’s dealings with men on the basis of faith.; which is what Peter says in 1:5.
“Where did verga say continuing? “
When he posted the Greek form for “doth also now save”; it is the present, active, indicative. Peter is writing to believers in the churches that have already been baptized and that mechanical act “ex opere operato (i.e., ‘by the act performed’)” regardless of their faith is saving them as he writes and they read, according to that interpretation.