Romans 6:1-11 - This is one of my favorite passages of scripture because it gives us insight into the process of salvation. I love knowing how things work, and this tells me, in part, how salvation works. By understanding that, I get a vision of what I should be where I should go and what I should do as a result.
When we are baptized, we die and are raised again, just as Jesus was. We go into the water and are buried in it, just as Jesus was buried in the ground and raised up our of it. Read the passage, that's exactly what it says in verse 3-4:
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.But the amazing part, to me anyway, is in verses 5-11. It is this death, our own actual death in baptism, that sets us free from sin. Dead men have no sin, they can sin no more and they can be held responsible no more. They are "set free from sin" as it says in verse 7.Romans 6:3-4, ESV
Free.
But, usually, when one dies, their chances are over. Their turn is done, their time is up. That wasn't true for Jesus, and it is not true for us. We die in baptism and return to life, free from sin and free from death's dominion. Death is a line we all must cross one day, however, to the Christian, they've already crossed that line in baptism. They've willingly surrendered their life to God and willingly, under His terms, crossed the line of death.
You know those movies where the bad guy chases the hero. The bad guy has the faster car and more powerful weapons, but somehow the hero stay one step ahead. The chase goes on, over hills, crashing through fences, over rough terrain and through impossible circumstances. They round a bend and the bad guy knows it leads to the drawbridge, and it's time for the ferry to cross. The bridge will be up, and our hero will be caught. As they near the bridge, the hero floors it in a last ditch attempt, one final hope. The hero jumps his car over the opening drawbridge and the bad guy is trapped on the other side, unable to cross. He can only watch as the hero escapes to freedom.
As I read this passage, I get his kind of chase in my mind. Sin has chased us all our lives, nipping at our heels, just waiting for our death so it can finally catch us and claim its victory. It is persistent, yet patient, for it knows that we will come to the line of death and at that line, it has won. What sin doesn't expect is for us to floor it and veer suddenly right toward the line, trusting in God's promise, jumping across to a new life in Christ. There sin stands, at that line of death, unable to cross and touch us and bring us death anymore. For the line we've crossed, it cannot. And because we crossed that line willingly, surrendering under God's terms, we go on living after death, just as Jesus did. We are now free from sin to go on and live for God.
Call me a Church of Christ wacko, but this passage shows baptism to be an amazing, mysterious, powerful and absolutely crucial aspect of Christian life because it is the connection to the blood of Christ, to His death, to His resurrection, to His new life and it's the portal from slavery to freedom, from death to life.
We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.Romans 6:9-11, ESV
How cool is that? And, more importantly, as the rest of the chapter implores us to think about, if this is true, how should we live then? In sin? No!
Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.Romans 6:13, ESV
The most interesting thing that hit me (with the help of a book or comment someone made, but I can't remember who to give them credit) is that Paul is arguing *from* baptism, not really trying to *explain* baptism per se other than to remind them/us what it meant (or should have) in their/our lives.
It's kinda "how can someone who had this happen do what your're doing?"
My lifetime in the Restoration Movement had me so pickled that I always saw Romans 6 as simply an explanation of the mechanics of baptism and I believe I'd missed the point almost every time I re-read this.
Hi Doug,
Good commentary.
I think Mark's point is also a good one, that Paul is using this explanation of baptism in order to make a point about how Christians should live. That doesn't diminish the truth or importance of the points he makes about baptism however. On the contrary, he makes baptism a foundational concept. Baptism changes everything. He presents it as the reason (well, "a" reason) why we should not continue in sin. Of all the reasons he could have used, he chose to use baptism.
I think it is also important to note that he is teaching these things to people who were baptized sometime in the past. In scripture, we don't see these things being taught to people at the time of their baptism.
It seems Paul thought they should already understand this, but it also seems that at least some of them did not. That did not invalidate their baptisms.
It also seems clear that they all had been baptized.
But the point he was making is that *therefore* they should stop sinning.
Alan
Hi Doug I enjoy your study on Romans. Salvation begins at the cross the point in time where Jesus had taken on our (my) sins and what I am truely grateful for is that baptisim brings us in contact with the cross. it is only the blood of Crhist that washes away our sin. yet Jesus died 2000 years ago so how else to come incontact with the blood of Christ except through Baptism. Ive always look at Baptism as a time machine as I entered the water of Baptism I was transformed back to the time Jesus was on the cross so I would be able to come in contact with his blood to die with him at his death and to be raised again just as Jesus was raised to a new life I to was raised with him when I was brought back up out of my watery grave. Thanks Bob
Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I used this as a lesson to the Kingdom Kids teachers on Sunday, with the perspective from you guys that this was to folks who knew what baptism was on a basic level, but perhaps didn't understand it on a deeper, more profound level. It went well and I received some good comments.
Bob - Good to see your comment and I like your time travel idea. Missed you on Sunday, I hope you had a good trip.