Holy Baptism in the Midst of Judgment (Romans 6:1-14)

God brought His people safely through the judgment that fell on Christ at the cross, and God will bring His people safely through the judgment that is to come upon the whole world at the end of the age. In the days of Noah, God visited the earth in a two-fold manner. He brought judgment upon the world of the ungodly, yet brought salvation to Noah and his family. Later in the days of Moses when God brought His people out of the land of Egypt, God visited the Egyptians in judgment while at the same time bringing salvation to the Israelites.  God is able to make a distinction between the righteous and the ungodly when He visits the earth in judgment. This is a pattern we see throughout the scriptures.
The flood of judgment in Noah’s day is typological of Christ. The waters of judgment came upon the earth, but Noah and his family we brought safely through the judgment by abiding in the ark. That ark is Christ. The Israelites were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and as a result of their abiding in Moses, they were brought safely through the judgments which fell upon the Egyptians. Moses is a typological figure of Christ. Those who are baptized into Christ are brought safely through the judgment at the cross and through the judgment to come upon the whole world at the end of the age.
For details on these baptismal accounts of Noah and Moses, see “Noah, Baptism, Good Conscience” 1 and “Moses, Baptism, Christ, Perseverance.” 2
We are now going to take an in depth look at baptism into Christ and what exactly that means and accomplishes for us. This will be based on Romans 6. To begin, let us look at Romans 6:1-4,
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 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.”
Since we are forgiven of our sins through the grace found in Christ, should we continue in sin? No way! We have died to sin. How have we died to sin? Paul says that all of us who were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death. The judgment of God fell upon Christ who absorbed the wrath of God on our behalf. Christ brings us safely through that judgment at the cross, just as the ark brought Noah and his family safely through the judgment of the flood waters, and as Moses brought the Israelites safely through the judgment of the sea. What brought salvation to the righteous, brought judgment upon the ungodly. The flood waters saved Noah and his family because they abided in the ark, but the same flood waters destroyed the ungodly. The sea saved the Israelites because they abided with Moses, but the same sea destroyed the ungodly Egyptians.  The wrath of God being poured out on Christ saves us believers because we abide in Christ who absorbed the wrath of God on our behalf, and this same wrath of God crushed Christ who was esteemed stricken and treated as ungodly.
As Christ died, we died; as Christ was buried, we were buried; and as Christ rose from the dead, we also walk in newness of life, because we abide in him. Now the meaning behind this newness of life is two-fold.  We walk in newness of life now, and we will walk in the newness of life more fully at the resurrection. There is a spiritual fulfillment, which we experience now, and there is a physical fulfillment, which we will experience at the resurrection. I believe Paul has both of these in mind. Our spirits were dead to the things of God, but now our spirits are alive to the things of God. Our spirits receive life through the Holy Spirit, just as branches receive nutrients from the vine, which enables us to walk in newness of life. Not in the old way of the flesh, but in the new way of the spirit (cf. Romans 7:6). To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace (Romans 8:6). At the resurrection we will receive imperishable bodies and be enabled to walk forever in the fullness of the newness of life, in body and in spirit.
Looking at verses 6 and 7 we read,
“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.”
Once again we have a two-fold meaning and again I believe Paul has both in mind. I see a parallelism in Paul’s writing here:
1. For if we have been united with him in a death like his...
1. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing...
2. ...we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
1. ...so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
Jesus was tempted just like us, yet without sin. When he died on the cross, his body was brought to nothing. Our old self was crucified with Christ, and our old self is our body of sin. We were united with Christ in a death like his, and so just as Jesus’ body was brought to nothing, so also is our body of sin brought to nothing through our baptism into his death. That is the first parallelism.
Jesus was tempted just like us because he lived in a fallen body, yet without sin, but after his resurrection, his perishable body becomes an imperishable body, and this imperishable body is not in opposition to the spirit, but in full agreement with it. Since we are united with Christ in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his, which means we are to consider our own body as nothing since we were crucified with him and walk only according to the spirit, as if we already had our imperishable bodies. I think it is clear that we are going in the right direction, because in a short while Paul will say, “so you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus,” and immediately after, “let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions” (verse 11 and 12, respectively). This is what it means to be united with Christ in a resurrection like his. We are no longer enslaved to sin, because we were crucified with Christ and our body of sin has been brought to nothing. This is the second parallelism.
Re-quoting the passage will summarize this for us. “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.”
I will now quote the rest of our passage that we will look at today, and most of it is Paul’s way of saying all that I already explained above in my own words. Romans 6:7-14 says,
“For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 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. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 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. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”
So what is the meaning of being baptized into Christ? Well, let us look at some of the comparisons here between Christ and us, in light of the fact that we have been united with Christ in a death and resurrection like his. Jesus died to sin, once for all, and the life he lives he lives to God. Paul says that we also have died to sin, and that the life we live we are exhorted to live to God. Death no longer has dominion over Christ, so Paul says that we are not to let sin therefore reign in our mortal bodies. Our body of sin has been brought to nothing.  Christ has brought us from death to life, so Paul says we are to present our bodily members as instruments for righteousness. Our bodily members are things like the tongue, the eyes, the hands, the feet, the mind, and the heart. Christ was esteemed as a lawbreaker on our behalf, and thus the wrath of God which we deserved was absorbed by Christ, so that we are no longer under law but under grace. As Paul says later on in his letter to the Romans, we have died to the law through the body of Christ. Paul speaks a lot about the law later on in his letter. All of this stuff ties in so closely, but we do not have the time and space to go in depth on the law. The whole Bible ties in so closely, does it not?
Before we end, I do want to speak more about baptism, in particular, water baptism. Salvation is not found in water baptism,  but is found in spiritual baptism. The latter is simply being united to Christ. It is being fully immersed into Christ, just as branches are connected to a vine to receive life and nutrients to bear fruit to the glory of God. Water baptism is a ritual which points to the reality of our spiritual baptism. It points to the past, present, and future.  In the order of salvation that the Bible lays out, we get baptized in water after we have confessed Christ as Lord. This ritual of going under the water and rising up from the water points back to the reality of our spiritual baptism which occurs as we believe and exercise faith in Christ. This ritual points to the present reality of our being united with Christ and how we are to live our lives in response. This ritual points to the future when our physical bodies will be raised imperishable. The reality of baptism into Christ illustrates the entire gospel and the proper response we are to have to it.
The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is foreshadowed in the account of Noah and the flood, and in the account of Moses and the sea. Christ brought us safely through the judgment of God upon our sins, so that we do not perish. Christ will also bring us safely through the judgment of God that will fall upon the world of the ungodly at the end of the age, so that we do not perish with the ungodly, just as Lot did not perish with the rest of the inhabitants of Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding cities.  The Son of Man will separate the sheep from the goats at the end of the age; not a single sheep will be lost in the judgment, and not a single goat will escape the judgment. The sheep are baptized into Christ and have eternal life.  Noah and his family were baptized in the ark in the midst of the judgment of the great flood. The Israelites were baptized into Moses (a type of Christ) in the midst of the judgment upon the Egyptians. The sheep are baptized into Christ Jesus in the midst of the judgment upon the Suffering Servant and the sheep will be baptized into Christ Jesus in the midst of the judgment to fall upon the whole world at the end of the age.
Holy Baptism in the Midst of Judgment!
Holy is the Lord, and blessed be His name forever. Amen.
1 http://goodnews4somalis.blogspot.com/2011/12/noah-flood-baptism-judgment-deliverance.html (as of 26 Dec 11)
2 http://goodnews4somalis.blogspot.com/2011/12/moses-baptism-christ-perseverance-1.html (as of 26 Dec 11)

Moses, Baptism, Christ, Perseverance (1 Corinthians 10:1-5)

We will begin with the reading of God’s Word. The passage is 1 Corinthians 10:1-5,

“For I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.”

Moses is a typological figure of Christ (see Deuteronomy 18:15). Just as Moses delivered God’s people from slavery in Egypt, so also Christ delivers God’s people from slavery to sin. Moses brought the people through the wilderness to the Promised Land, and Christ will bring His people through the wilderness of this world to the Promised Land of the new heavens and new earth.

The people were baptized into Moses and brought safely through the righteous judgments which God brought upon the Egyptians. In the same way, those who are baptized into Christ will be brought safely through the righteous judgments which God will bring upon the entire world.

The people were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. This means that they were abiding in Moses, their deliverer, of whom God appointed for them, and were thus brought safely through the judgment upon the Egyptians. God protected His people because they were baptized, or abiding, in Moses. A detailed account of this can be found in Exodus 13-14. In the same way, our deliverer Jesus, of whom God appointed for us, will bring us safely through the judgment to fall upon the entire world at the end of the age, as we are baptized and abide in Christ. Since Moses is a typological figure of Christ, it is appropriate to use the language of “baptized into Moses” which points forward to our day as we are baptized into Christ. The prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:15, namely that God would raise up a prophet like Moses among their brethren, is fulfilled in Christ Jesus our Messianic Lord.

Next, let us look at Christ as the spiritual food and spiritual drink, how the people of Israel responded, and what that means for us today.

All the people ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual Rock which is Christ. They ate from the spiritual Manna which is Christ. The manna from heaven was a tangible food which pointed to the spiritual reality of being sustained by Christ who is our spiritual food whom we are to hunger for. The water from the rock was a tangible drink which pointed to the spiritual reality of being sustained by Christ who is our spiritual water whom we are to thirst after.

The Israelites were designated as God’s people, yet Paul and scripture declares that God was not pleased with the majority of them, and they were overthrown in the wilderness. They tasted the goodness of Christ through the manna from heaven and the water from the rock, but because of their rebellion and unbelief, they were cut off from Christ. They were God’s people by name, but because they did not persevere, they were overthrown in the wilderness and cut off from the presence of God.

Today there are many people who are God’s people by name. They say they are Christians and may even attend church regularly and be very involved in church activities. They are tasting the goodness of Christ, but through their rebellion and unbelief, they will be cut off from Him. They will not persevere.

We will not do a full survey of the New Testament, but we will look at three passages which speak of tasting [Greek word: geuomai] and then apply its meaning to our text for today.

The first passage is Hebrews 2:9, “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” Jesus tasted the second death, which is the death the wicked will be consumed by forever in Hell, but it was only a taste. He was not fully consumed by that death, but only a brief taste, which was just enough to satisfy the wrath of God and make His sacrifice as the Lamb of God sufficient for paying the penalty for our sins. He tasted the second death on our behalf, so that we will never taste it. He tasted it on our behalf, so that we would not be consumed by it.

Our second passage is 1 Peter 2:2-4, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation--if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious...” Peter is telling his audience that if they have tasted that the Lord Jesus is good, then they are to continuously long for more of Him [the pure spiritual milk) and to “come to Him” continuously. In other words, Peter is telling these Christians to persevere to the end. Persevere in your longing for Christ. Persevere in your coming or drawing near to Christ. If you have tasted that He is good, then persevere in your longing and coming. To taste alone is not salvation, but only in fully consuming the goodness of Christ is salvation obtained.

And the third passage is Hebrews 6:4-6, “For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.” The author of Hebrews speaks of those who have tasted the heavenly gift and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, yet do not persevere but fall away. I think taste involves some level of enjoyment and desire for more, and in the case of those who fall away, they do not want to do what is necessary to fully consume the gift, so instead of persevering they turn away. They have shared in the Holy Spirit, meaning they have experienced the Holy Spirit to some degree, but have not fully experienced Him the way a Christian is to experience Him. He is a stranger to them. We can experience good things from strangers without actually knowing them. They have tasted all these good things, but have not fully consumed them.

Applying this idea of taste to our own passage, we can see that the majority of Israelites, of whom God was not pleased with, tasted of the spiritual food and of the spiritual drink, but they did not long for and draw near to God in order to fully consume His glory and beauty and majesty. They wanted to consume Him on their own terms, which is not possible. They were rebellious and did not believe, and thus God was not pleased with them and overthrew them in the wilderness, cutting them off from Christ. Those who were designated as God’s people did not persevere.

In the verses following our passage, Paul goes on to explain that “these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did” [v. 6]. Paul encourages the Corinthians to persevere. “Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” [v. 12]. We are to persevere in obedience and faith. We are not to “sit down to eat and drink and rise up to play” [v. 7], or “indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day” [v. 8], or “put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by the serpents” [v. 9], nor are we to “grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer” [v. 10]. Let us not desire evil, but desire God. Let us persevere, lest we be destroyed and overthrown in the wilderness of this world and never reach the promised land of the new heavens and new earth where we would be granted eternity to fully consume the glory and majesty of God. This consuming, not mere taste, begins now in our life of obedience and faith and perseverance. I end with Paul’s words in v. 13, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

Be imitators of Paul and of Christ and of God, but be not imitators of the disobedient and rebellious people in the wilderness, or you too will be cut off from Christ after having tasted His goodness.

Noah, the Flood, Baptism, Judgment, Deliverance, and Good Conscience (1 Peter 3:20-21)

First Peter 3:20-21 says,

"...because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ…"

Noah and his family were the righteous ones living amongst the pagans around them. The flood that God sent upon the earth was a judgment upon the unrepentant pagans, but at the same time the flood was a form of salvation for Noah and his family from the pagans. When God visited the earth, the many were judged and the few were saved. The many pagans were destroyed in the flood waters of judgment, while the few saints were brought safely through the waters of judgment.

In the same way in Peter's day, despite the few saints suffering at the hands of the many pagans around them, so too will the many pagans be judged by God while the few suffering saints will be brought safely through that judgment. In application to our own day, we few saints may suffer at the hands of the many unrepentant sinners that surround us, or at least feel the tension, yet Jesus will return, and when he does, judgment will fall upon the many sinners around us, yet Jesus will bring us few saints safely through that judgment as we are in Christ who is our Ark.

The flood of judgment in Noah's day	The flood of judgment at the end of the age
Noah and his family were safe in the ark	The saints of God will be safe in Christ
Many perished and few were saved	Many will perish and few will be saved
The ark was being built	The body of Christ is being built

I am called into ministry to Somalis, and this passage can provide comfort to the Somali Christians who may be suffering at the many unrepentant Somalis which surround them. As with Noah and his family, so also with the Somalis who trust in Christ. Let them not fear the opposition and persecution, but let them fear the Lord and trust him to bring them safely through the judgment which is to come. They are in Christ. As Noah and his family were baptized in the waters of judgment while abiding in the ark and were delivered from death, so also will we be delivered from death through the flood of judgment at the end of the age as we abide in Christ.

Let us speak in a little more depth about baptism. To begin, which baptism is the Apostle Peter talking about? Water baptism? Spiritual baptism? Or both? Water baptism is a physical ritual which points to the reality of our spiritual baptism.  We'll get to spiritual baptism afterwards, but let us speak further of water baptism first. We go under the waters of judgment to illustrate our identification with the death and burial of Christ--just as the judgment of God fell upon Christ while he hung on the cross, so also this judgment of God fell upon us at the cross, yet we are not consumed today because we are in Christ who has brought us safely through the judgment at the cross and will bring us safely through the judgment yet to come at the end of the age.  This aspect of being brought safely through the judgment at the cross is illustrated in our coming up out of the water during the ritual. Not only does the ritual of water baptism point backwards towards our judgment at the cross, so it also points forward to the judgment on the world at the end of the age and thus gives us assurance and confidence that Jesus will bring us safely through that judgment as well. God is faithful. He was faithful in the past judgment, and he will be faithful in the future judgment.

Turning now to spiritual baptism, of which water baptism illustrates, this is a baptism which we do not experience in a tangible way. Water baptism is experienced in a tangible way. Our bodies experience the water and we experience it all with no doubts. It is real. Spiritual baptism, on the other hand, is not experienced in a tangible way. None of us can provide a specific time when we experienced our spiritual baptism. We don't know it happened until we see evidence of it through our changed lives, but that evidence doesn't tell us exactly when it happened.  Similar to animal sacrifices: the Israelites could not experience their sins being forgiven in a tangible way, but through the sacrificial system of the Mosaic Law, a tangible experience was provided. The tangible points to the reality of the intangible.  Same is true with the bread and wine in communion, the Passover lamb, and other parts of Holy Scripture. This is God's design.

Further depth on spiritual baptism is beyond the scope of this writing. I don't want to leave this entirely incomplete, so I want to at least provide a reference to Scripture that can be read and pondered over and meditated on to come to some further revelation on the meaning of spiritual baptism. Much can be extracted from this passage on both spiritual baptism and water baptism, which in turn would grant us more understanding to help our walk with Christ, the Ark in whom we abide. Ponder and mediate and pray and think over Romans 6.

I end with a final note on verse 21 of 1 Peter 3. Baptism into Christ, which would lack power without his resurrection from the dead, provides us with a good conscience, so that we can live our lives striving for holiness and obedience and faithfulness, even in the midst of suffering at the hands of our persecutors, because we know with assurance and confidence that Christ will bring us through it all safely and we shall not see death but only life forevermore. Glory to God in the highest, and peace to men and women and children with whom God is pleased.