- For if we have been united with him in a death like his...
- We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing...
- ...we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
- ...so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
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:
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.
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