20250504 Romans 6:1-7 Baptized into Christ, Buried with Christ, Raised with Christ

Welcome to Vertical Church

Acts 2:42 LSB

42 And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.

As a church we seek to uphold the values of the NT church as seen in Acts 2:42 -

We are Trinitarian - while God is one in essence, He is three in person: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit

We believe in the sovereignty of God - sovereign over all creation, sovereign over the affairs of men, sovereign over salvation

We believe in the authority of the Bible - Scripture alone is the Word of God

We are Biblical in our theology - we are a bible teaching church

We believe that the Church is not a building or a denomination but a people - those who are truly in Christ and embrace the truths that were embraced and confessed by the New Testament Church, the apostolic church.

We are evangelical - we believe that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

We are a Vertical Church - we believe that all true worship and living is Vertical, God directed and for the glory of God alone.

Call to Worship - Psalm 63:1-4

Psalm 63:1–4 LSB

1 O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land without water. 2 Thus I have beheld You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. 3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will laud You. 4 Thus I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.

Scripture Reading - Romans 6:1-7

Romans 6:1–7 LSB

1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died has been justified from sin.

Introduction: Baptized into Christ, Buried with Christ, Raised with Christ Romans 6:1-7

The Kentucky Derby. Every one of the 21 horses running in this year's Kentucky Derby is a descendant of Secretariat, the legendary Triple Crown winner of 1973.

In a similar way, we are intimately connected to Christ. Romans 6:5 tells us that we are united with Christ and this union with Christ means not only that we are in Christ but that Christ is in us.

Slide of Union with Christ

The concept of union with Christ as the hub of a wheel is a way to visualize how justification and sanctification are interconnected and derive from our relationship with Jesus. Justification, the declaring of us righteous, and sanctification, the ongoing process of becoming more righteous, are both grounded in and flow from our union with Christ.

Union with Christ as the Hub: Imagine a wheel. The hub is the central point where all the spokes connect, and the spokes radiate outwards, connecting the hub to the rim. In this analogy, Christ is the hub, and our union with him is the central connection from which everything else stems.

(1) The death of the reign of sin (6:2)

Romans 6:2 LSB

2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

(2) We have been baptized into Christ (6:3)

Romans 6:3 LSB

3 Or do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

There is no water in these verses. This is the baptism of the Spirit.

However, believer’s baptism perfectly portray what happens in salvation

Romans Baptized into Christ

We have lost touch with the riches of the sacraments that God has given to his people. Luther used to say, when the Devil would tempt him, “Get away from me! I’m baptized!” Baptism is not what saves us, but in our baptism God gives us a tangible sign of his promise of redemption. All the processes that are wrought through the redeeming work of Christ are contained in that sign. Baptism is a sign of our being regenerated by the Holy Spirit. It does not effect regeneration, but it is a sign of it. It is the sign of God’s promise that all who believe will, in fact, be justified. It is a sign of our sanctification. It is the sign of our being indwelt by the Holy Spirit. It is a sign of our glorification. It is a sign of our identification with Christ. We are in Christ and he is our champion.

I differ from my Baptist friends on whether babies should be baptized. Of all the doctrines we wrestle with in the church, there is none I am more certain of than that we ought to baptize our babies. The one thing I concede to my Baptist friends is the existential benefit of waiting for baptism until a later point at which one is aware of his faith and of being immersed. There is powerful symbolism in going under the water and being brought up out of it.

Even Calvin, a great advocate of infant baptism, said that where possible the preferred—although not required—method of baptism is immersion, because it carries so brilliantly that symbol of burial and resurrection. Paul says that if we are believers, if we have received the grace of justification, baptism is a reminder of our union in the death and burial of Christ. We are not only baptized into his death and burial, but also we are baptized into his resurrection. All these things are part of what is being communicated graphically with the sign of baptism.

(3) We have died, been buried, and raised from the dead with Christ

Romans 6:4 LSB

4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

(4) Union with Christ produces transformation

Romans 6:4–5 (LSB)

4 … so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,

The word “newness” (kainotes) describes ‘a new state of existence’ that is of a different kind.

The believer’s union with Christ is a major doctrine. The noted Scottish theologian John Murray argues that the central truth of the doctrine of salvation is this close union of believers with Christ. Any reading of Paul’s epistles reveals that the little prepositional phrase “in Christ” or “in Him” is used often in his writings. Moreover, this truth is intensely profound. Throughout Paul’s writings, he tells us that we were chosen in Christ, predestined in Christ, redeemed in Christ, forgiven in Christ, made alive in Christ, and enthroned with Christ. This is the grand reality of being in Christ. More specifically, every believer enjoys a two-fold union with Christ. Every believer is in Christ, and Christ is in every believer. We could not be more closely identified with Christ, as we share a common spiritual life with Him. Therefore, what Jesus possesses becomes our possession to enjoy.

(5) The old you has been crucified, not just prettified

Romans 6:6–7 LSB

6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died has been justified from sin.

2 Corinthians 5:17 LSB

17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

Our rebellion, the bondage of our will, our spiritual hardness of heart - in Christ we have new life and we bear the righteousness of Christ

Now the companionship of the man of sorrows, the power of the King of glory, rest upon you all. Amen.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 LSB

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was being betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes.