“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” (Romans 6:3,4).
IN THE GOSPEL, THERE IS AN INSEPARABLE LINK BETWEEN CHRIST’S DEATH AND OUR BAPTISM. The death of Christ is obviously important; it is by His death that the forgiveness of our sins was made possible (Matthew 26:28). But to whom is this forgiveness granted? And at what point is the gift received? Paul gives us a clear answer when he says that when we are baptized into Christ, we are baptized into His death. “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death.” It is in baptism that we die with Christ, and it is when we submit to this command that God fulfills His promise to forgive us, based on Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf.
Baptism is the crucial turning point in our obedience to the gospel. Separating “before” from “after,” it is the point at which, dying with Christ, we are resurrected to our new life. Just “as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,” it is now our duty and privilege to “walk in newness of life.”
How could there be a more radical turning point in a person’s life? As Paul described it in another letter: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
Baptism, then, is an act in which we become connected to Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. There is nothing meritorious about it as far as we are concerned; it is purely an act of faith, commanded by the Lord. “Having been buried with him in baptism,” we are “raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12).
In 2 Timothy 2:11, Paul spoke of the hope made possible by the gospel when he said, “If we have died with him, we will also live with him.” It is no exaggeration to say that whether we have died with Christ is the most important question we will ever ask.
Buried with Christ and raised with Him too,
What is there left for me to do?
Simply to cease from struggling and strife,
Simply to walk in newness of life.
(T. Ryder)
Gary Henry – WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
