This is a symbol of baptism, which now saves you-- not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
baptism now saves -- It is true that Peter often uses baptism as a crucial act of faith (cf. Acts 2:38, Acts 2:41; Acts 10:47). However, it was/is not a sacramental event, but a faith event, symbolizing death, burial, and resurrection as the believer identifies with Christ’s own experience (cf. Romans 6:7-9; Colossians 2:12). The act is symbolic, not sacramental; the act is the occasion of profession, not the mechanism of salvation. - Utley