What is the meaning of Believers Baptism?
(Romans 6: 1-6)
Baptism is a Declaration of Faith backed up by a transformed life.
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
This is the third major section of Romans. It deals extensively with the doctrine of sanctification, or growth in Christ likeness.
(Romans 6:1-8:39)
If salvation cannot be forfeited by one who has experienced God's forgiveness
(cf. 5:10; 8:23-39),
what is there to prevent the development of careless
behavior? The answer, which Paul gives, is that those who have died to sin cannot live in sin any longer. The apostle
skillfully avoids any idea of sinless perfection. He does not say that those who are dead to sin never again are guilty of doing sinful acts. He does declare that those who are dead to sin do not live in sin as a way of life. They have a new life in Jesus.
Christians do commit acts of sin but we don't have to.
Verse 3 says,
Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
The discussion of the presence or absence of water in this passage has caused considerable disagreement. Some claim that the baptism of the Spirit is the object of discussion
(cf. 1 Cor. 12:13)
Others say that water baptism is intended. Interestingly, both positions are probably true.
Verse. 3 probably speaks exclusively of the immersion of the believer into the body of Christ at conversion. This is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Paul speaks of this in
1 Cor. 12: 12,13.
"The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13
For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Note, that ALL were baptized into one body. ALL were given the one Spirit to drink."
At conversion, EVERY believer is born again by the Holy Spirit
(John 3:3-6). He/she is also baptized by the Holy Spirit, which unites us to the body of Christ, the church, and to Christ in His death, burial and resurrection
(Rom. 6:3-5). By this one baptism (Eph. 4:5), we are in Christ Jesus.
(Gal. 3:26, 27). (cf. Acts 2).
Since Pentecost, the Holy Spirit is the agent who is baptizing every believer into the Lord's body. Spirit baptism is a miracle of God bestowed on every believer at the New Birth.
Verse 4 almost certainly refers to the picture of this "spiritual" baptism in water baptism.
In other words, Water baptism is a picture of Spirit baptism. The word
"baptize" translates the Greek baptizo. The only adequate and accurate translation must include the idea of totally enveloping something into another. Thus, in the baptism of the Spirit, the believer is immersed or enveloped into the body of Christ.
In water baptism, we are immersed or enveloped in water as a public testimony. The baptizing performed by John the Baptist was by immersion. Otherwise the Jordan River would scarcely have been of such consequence in John's ministry. Clearly Jesus was immersed
(Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10).
The compelling argument favoring immersion as the proper mode of baptism grows directly out of the meaning of the act as expressed in the present passage,
(1) A candidate for baptism confesses in a public declaration that he believes that Jesus died and rose again in history to purchase the sinner's redemption. This death, burial, and resurrection we picture through our own burial in the baptismal waters. Like the eunuch the candidate declares believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
(2) A candidate also bears beautiful witness to his own experience of regeneration through baptism. Through baptism we declare that we have died to an old life and we are resurrected with Christ to walk in newness of life In Christ. Without a changed life baptism is a horrible contradiction. In other words, a person shows that he/she has become a disciple of Christ and is following Him through this ceremony. Baptism is the door of induction into discipleship
3) Finally, the baptismal experience has a futuristic dimension. The disciple declares his/her confidence that though we may die and be buried, at the return of Christ we shall rise to be with the Lord.
Only immersion can picture such truths effectively.
Baptism teaches identification with Christ. 4-6
"We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5
"If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection."
6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin."
NOTE: Notice the language of
verse 5
UNITED Planted together
(KJ) It means to grown along with someone or to be closely united ---planted
together. This means that there is a resemblance we have with Christ or a likeness, a shape or similitude. Another way of saying it is that we are grafted together like Christ was in His death and resurrection. In other words, if we are united by being grafted together in the likeness of his death, we are united by growth--grafted vitally connected in the likeness of His resurrection.
We actually share the life of Christ like a limb grafted into a tree shares the life of the tree. The life of Christ is our life now. When believers are immersed in water this is what we picture. When the believer is immersed under water he shows his I.D. with Christ in his death showing that he is dead with Christ. When we come out of the water we show that we are raised with Christ to live in newness of life.
In believers baptism the water symbolizes positional truth.
Positionally, we are dead to sin.
"If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with,
(rendered inoperative) that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin."
Unfortunately, this is not our experience. We often fail to live up to that standing. As I said earlier all Christians commit acts of sin.
But we don't have to. We can consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God and alive in victory. We often excuse our sin by saying that we are just human. However, in Christ we have a perfect standing, dead indeed to sin and alive to God. the rest of
Romans 6
explains it.
"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace."
(Rom 6:11-13)
Christians have a real Identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. In Romans 6 water baptism is a symbolic identification with the person and work of Christ.
The act of believers' baptism tells a story of salvation. How is a person born again, baptized into Christ's body and made a disciple of Christ. It is all by grace by faith.
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