The Heavyweight Champ

We’ve already seen many powerful Bible passages about baptism, but few give the punch Romans 6 gives. We have arrived at the heavyweight champion among baptism Bible passages when we get to Romans 6.

What makes the passage so great is that there is little need for interpretation. Paul writes about baptism in black and white terms. Here it is:

Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the Dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin (Romans 6:3-6; NASB).

How happy the Romans were to receive these words of Paul! They received clarity on the doctrine of baptisms. They understood salvation so much better with this explanation.

Something Everybody Knew

For Paul to start his lesson to the Romans with the question ‘Do you not know?’ means that what he says is obvious. It is a given that baptized believers participate in the death of Christ. Paul’s question is:

… do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death? (Romans 6:3)

Paul did not say that people who perform the “prayer of faith” can lay a claim the Cross. He did not say that people who demonstrate a certain degree of anointing have a claim to the Cross. He did not say that people listed on a congregation’s roll books or those who have a ministry can claim Calvary. No. Paul said that ‘all of us who have been baptized’ can claim Christ’s death for ourselves.

In other words, only someone who has been baptized can claim that Jesus died for them. Jesus’ payment for the price of sin applies only to those who claim it. His death is a coupon for forgiveness, but not everyone redeems that coupon. Jesus died for all, but not all have died with him. We die with Christ in baptism.

Paul was astounded that there might be someone in the Church who might not know that through baptism we are crucified with Christ. He was astounded that someone among us might not know that we are set free from the power of sin in baptism. It was rare in the Church of Paul’s day to find someone who did not know such things—but today it’s prevalent.

In fact, almost nobody in Christian churches today knows that we must be baptized. You’re much more likely to hear in a sermon today an explanation of how you do not need to be baptized than an exhortation to be baptized. The prayer of faith has replaced baptism in the minds of almost all Evangelicals.

If we were to perform a survey, and asked people in Evangelical churches today “At what point in a person’s life are they crucified with Christ and free from condemnation?” what percentage would respond that it’s when we “receive Jesus in our heart as our personal Lord and Savior”? Approximately 80%. And if approximately 80% of Evangelicals believe that “the prayer of faith” is the means of salvation then the Evangelical church is in trouble!

A New Life

Our baptism was in order that we might walk in newness of life—that is, the goal of baptism is to open the way for you to have a new life—a new lifestyle of love, holiness, and power. Baptism is the door to a new life of freedom from addictions, temptation, and sin. We become new people by virtue of the new birth—a new birth which becomes available to us only when we come out of the waters of baptism.

… we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the Dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4).

You get baptized to get a new life! Yes, you can begin to be sure of your Resurrection if you are baptized. The Resurrection is an excellent thing to hope in, and you’ll get a new body at the Rapture, but your new life in Christ starts now—at the moment you’re baptized. Why? Because that’s when the Holy Spirit will start to live within you.

The Spirit of God responds to your baptism with his baptism. He reciprocates! Anybody who is baptized in water should do it with the expectation he will receive the baptism of the Spirit immediately afterwards.

Furthermore, Paul points out that ‘we have been buried with him [Jesus] through baptism,’ declaring baptism to be how we die to the old self. The leaving behind of a life of sin officially takes effect at baptism. Only someone who has been baptized can say that they have died with Christ. Therefore, only they can say that Christ lives in them! And how does Christ live in them? Through the Spirit.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20).

Your Resurrection is Conditional

Finally, we must face the reality that our resurrection is conditioned upon whether we have become united with Jesus through baptism or not. Paul expresses this conditionality with the grammatical structure if… we will. Observe it here:

For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, certainly we will be also in the likeness of his resurrection (Romans 6:5).

We will not begin our new life, the one that will usher us into Eternity, if we aren’t first baptized in water. Baptism is a condition that must be met for eternal life to initiate. The first condition is to believe. The second condition is to be baptized. Only by meeting these two conditions will a person be saved. As Jesus said:

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned (Mark 16:16).

Victory and Freedom

There is a purpose in baptism, and the purpose is that your flesh might be destroyed. Your flesh is your human nature of sin, the carnal desires within you. When you say “goodbye” to your old way of life, and start a new path on the road to the Kingdom of God, you seal that farewell in baptism. There is no other means by which you can break the bonds of sin.

Paul calls your flesh your body of sin in this passage. Once you defeat it by applying the death of Christ to your life, you are no longer a slave to sin. Christ has set you free!

Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin (Romans 6:6; NASB).

You’ll have to deal with your flesh your entire life, but you win a great victory over it once you commit your entire body to Christ in baptism, because that body is buried with the Savior, Jesus Christ. By faith, you have died with Christ and your body of sin has been buried with him in baptism.

The old you is dead to sin, now you are free to live to God! You are no longer a slave to sin. Below is an image of shackles that were used in the 17th century to bind slaves in the United States. The tag identifies the slave by number and location.

Freedom and forgiveness are not available outside of baptism. It is the means by which we are freed from our flesh, sin, and condemnation. God uses means. Have you taken advantage of the means he uses to save you? Have you been baptized?

If you're already a Christian, then when you evangelize, do you use baptism to set people free from the shackles of sin? Don't replace it with cheap substitutes. They don't work.