Start Here - Going Public with Your Faith

Romans 6:1–4 KJV (WS)

1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Text Idea: In Romans 6:1–4, Paul teaches that believers possess a united identity with Christ through baptism, using the imagery of death, burial, and resurrection to correct the false notion that grace encourages sin and to show that our union with Christ demands a new way of life.

Sermon Idea: Through baptism, believers publicly declare their united identity with Christ in His death and resurrection, committing to live the new life His grace has made possible.

Purpose: This sermon aims to lead believers to embrace baptism as the public declaration of their union with Christ, to live consistently with the new life that union provides, and to identify joyfully with a local body that shares their faith and doctrine.

Interrogative: How does baptism declare our united identity with Christ and call us to live out the new life His grace provides?

Introduction

Attention

Every person longs to be identified with something that matters.

We wear team colors, display family names, and join groups that express who we are.

But when you come to Christ, you receive a whole new identity, one not earned or inherited, but given through grace.

Baptism is the moment that identity goes public.

It’s how you say, “I belong to Jesus.” And in Romans 6, Paul reminds us what that declaration truly means.

It’s not just a ceremony of faith, but a confession that the old life has died and a new one has begun.

Need

Many believers live forgiven but unchanged; saved from sin’s penalty but still carrying its habits and attitudes.

Some were baptized years ago but have never truly grasped what that moment meant.

Others hesitate to take that step at all, unsure why it matters.

This passage reminds us that baptism isn’t just about water, it’s about identity.

Until you understand what your baptism declares, you’ll never live with the confidence and freedom that come from knowing who you are in Christ.

History

Romans 6 comes right after Paul’s bold claim that grace abounds over sin.

Some took that to mean grace gives permission to sin.

Paul corrects that idea by showing that grace doesn’t leave us where we were, it unites us with Christ in His death and resurrection.

That’s the meaning of baptism.

Sermon Idea

Through baptism, believers publicly declare their united identity with Christ in His death and resurrection, committing to live the new life His grace has made possible.

Transition

Baptism declares that we have been united with Christ, our identity forever changed by His saving work.

So, how does baptism express that united identity and call us to live it out?

In Romans 6:1–4, Paul shows that baptism proclaims three life-altering truths:

We have died with Christ

We have been buried with Him

We have been raised to walk in newness of life.

Baptism declares our death with Christ; sin no longer defines us. (vv. 1-3)

Explain

Grace doesn’t excuse sin it ends sin’s rule.

Paul’s rhetorical question in verse 1 is meant to expose a misunderstanding.

Grace is meant by God to transform the believer.

It frees us to become progressively more and more conformed to the image of Jesus.

Which why the Bible says be ye holy for I am holy.

Grace is never meant to act as an easy out for sin.

Grace is not code for tolerant of sin.

God forbid that we would accept or teach that.

Instead, we must reckon that our old, sinful self died when Christ died.

Notice, Paul doesn’t say that we are dying to sin.

It is present.

We are dead to sin and its authority over us.

When you get saved their is an immediate reality that takes over.

Sin no longer has dominion over you.

You are forever changed.

One of the ways that we are to testify of this truth is to be baptized, showing that our death with Christ is complete.

Illustrate

Emancipation Announcement

When enslaved people in America were declared free, many had to be told again and again: “You are no longer slaves.”

Even then, some continued living on plantations under their old masters because they hadn’t yet believed their new status.

Connection: Paul’s question, “How shall we who are dead to sin live any longer therein?” is God’s reminder that your old master has no claim on you.

Argue

Grace doesn’t excuse sin, it kills it.

To keep living in sin would contradict the very purpose of grace.

When we were baptized into Christ’s death, we proclaimed that sin’s rule ended.

Living in it again denies what our baptism proclaimed.

Apply

Probing Question

If your baptism declares that your old self is dead, what habits, attitudes, or relationships still show signs of life from that old person?

Concrete Application

Identify one area of sin that you have tolerated or excused under the banner of “grace.” Write it down.

Confess it specifically to God this week, naming it as something incompatible with your new identity.

Replace it with one act of obedience that affirms your new life, something visible (e.g., reconciling a relationship, changing your media choices, restoring a spiritual discipline).

This week’s measure: Can someone close to you see a practical difference that confirms sin no longer defines you?

Transition

If dying with Christ means sin no longer defines us, then being buried with Him shows that the old life is truly over.

Death severs us from sin’s rule, but burial settles it, it’s final.

Baptism identifies us with Christ’s burial; our old life is behind us. (v. 4a)

Explain

Burial marks the finality of death.

Think about the morbidity of what Paul writes in verse 4.

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death.

This is literally saying that we are immersed in his death.

Burial is something that brings closure.

Typically, whatever is buried, it doesn’t come back.

This burial visually portrays the final break.

That’s why we believe the biblical method of baptism is immersion.

Just as you are completely under the water, you are communicating total change in your life.

Total identification with Jesus, even in death.

Totally committed, nothing held back.

It’s not a ritual, it is a representation of the spiritual reality that is at work in our life.

Baptism joins us with Christ’s people in shared confession.

The early church viewed baptism as the the entrance into visible fellowship.

Acts 2:41–42 “41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

To be buried with Him is to also be buried with them.

Notice the plural pronouns that are used as Paul addresses the church in Rome.

We x5, Ye, Us.

Illustrate

The Seed in the Soil

A seed must be buried before it brings life.

What looks like an ending is really a beginning.

Connection: Your burial with Christ is not defeat, it’s the start of something new that only grows after surrender.

Argue

Burial means final separation; no one buries what still lives.

Baptism shows the old life is over and a new loyalty has begun.

Returning to sin or refusing identification with Christ’s people contradicts what the burial imagery declares.

Apply

Probing Question

If baptism means your old life is buried, are there still “graves” you keep visiting?

Places or people that tie you to who you used to be?

Concrete Application

Make a list of three “old life” attachments that still pull your heart or influence your walk.

Take one deliberate action this week that symbolizes burial; delete or distance yourself from what keeps you tied to the past.

If unbaptized or unsure: set a date today to meet with me or with one of our staff to discuss baptism or church membership.

This week’s measure: Can you point to one concrete action that declares, “My old life is behind me, and I belong with Christ’s people”?

Transition

But our story with Christ doesn’t end in the grave.

The same baptism that pictures burial also points to something greater, resurrection.

If we’ve been buried with Him, then we must also rise to live for Him.

Baptism proclaims our relationship with Christ; new life now defines us. (v. 4b)

Explain

Christ’s resurrection is the model and the power of ours.

We shouldn’t forget that, as we look ahead, we have already been resurrected.

The same power that raised Jesus, now works in us to enable us to walk in newness of life.

Our new life is more than just a future hope, it’s a present reality.

Everlasting life has already started.

Resurrection life is supposed to start now, not at heaven’s gate.

If we are going to “walk in newness” it implies that there will be changes to our conduct.

Our baptism unites our new life with a new fellowship.

Living out our resurrection identity means joining with Christ’s people in doctrine and purpose.

This is probably a good place to address our church’s practice of re-baptism fits.

History

Throughout church history, sincere believers have often returned to the waters of baptism to align their public testimony with biblical conviction and doctrinal clarity.

In Acts 19, Paul met disciples of John who had been baptized before, yet he baptized them again in the name of the Lord Jesus, not to erase their earlier obedience, but to mark their new understanding and identification with Christ.

In the centuries that followed, the Novatians and Donatists of the early church practiced rebaptism to preserve the purity of the church’s fellowship and confession.

Later, the Anabaptists of the Reformation era rejected the idea of state-sponsored or infant baptism, choosing instead to be baptized as conscious believers who professed personal faith in Christ.

That same conviction continues among many Baptists today, not as an act of judgment on another’s sincerity, but as a joyful, unifying declaration: “I stand with Christ and with the doctrine of this church.”

Rebaptism, in this sense, is less about repeating a ritual and more about reaffirming an identity, one rooted in Scripture, conscience, and community.

When believers join this church and choose to be baptized here, they’re not rejecting their past obedience or saying their earlier baptism was meaningless.

Rather, they’re reaffirming their new life in visible unity with this body’s doctrine and discipleship.

Baptism is not only identification with Christ, it’s also identification with Christ’s people.

The early believers in Acts 2 were “baptized and added” to the church.

That pattern reminds us that baptism is both personal and communal: it publicly declares, “I stand with Jesus, and I stand with those who teach and follow His Word.”

So, when someone comes from another background and chooses to be baptized here, we don’t view it as a denial of what God has done before, but as a joyful confession of shared faith, shared doctrine, and shared mission.

It’s a declaration of united identity, with Christ and with His people in this place.

Illustrate

Emancipation Announcement

When enslaved people in America were declared free, many had to be told again and again: “You are no longer slaves.”

Even then, some continued living on plantations under their old masters because they hadn’t yet believed their new status.

Connection: Paul’s question, “How shall we who are dead to sin live any longer therein?” is God’s reminder that your old master has no claim on you.

Argue

Christ’s resurrection didn’t restore an old life, it began a new one.

The same power that raised Him enables us to walk differently.

To claim resurrection life but remain unchanged is a denial of the gospel baptism represents.

Apply

Probing Question

If you’ve been raised with Christ, what visible difference does that resurrection make in your daily routine and relationships?

Concrete Application

Evaluate your daily walk; how does your schedule reflect newness of life?

Add one new spiritual rhythm that demonstrates resurrection living (e.g., consistent prayer, serving someone weekly, sharing your faith).

Public identification step: if you’ve never been baptized or are transferring membership, take a step of obedience this week toward baptism.

This week’s measure: By next Sunday, can you point to one new action that publicly or practically shows you’re living as one raised with Christ?

Transition

So baptism tells a complete story, death, burial, and resurrection, and every part declares our united identity with Christ.

But that story isn’t meant to stay in the water; it’s meant to be lived.

The question now is: are you living what your baptism declares?

Conclusion

Visualize

When believers truly live as those united with Christ, grace stops being a theory and becomes a way of life.

Homes grow quieter and kinder because the old anger is buried.

Temptations lose their pull because sin’s authority has been broken.

Baptism no longer feels like a ceremony in the past, but a calling that shapes every decision in the present.

A church full of people like that becomes a powerful testimony; a community where new life is visible and unity is strong.

That’s what happens when God’s people walk in the reality of their baptism: the old life stays buried, the new life shines, and Christ is clearly seen through His people.

Reiterate

Baptism tells the whole story of our faith.

We’ve died with Christ, buried the old life, and been raised to walk in newness of life.

It’s a story meant not just to be declared in water, but lived out every day in grace and unity with His people.

Action

 So, let’s live what it proclaims; die to sin, bury the past, and walk in the power of new life, openly identified with Jesus and His people.

Appeal

If you’ve never trusted Christ as Savior, everything baptism represents is what God offers you today.

Jesus died for your sins, was buried, and rose again so you could be forgiven and made new.

He’s not asking you to clean yourself up or join a church first, He’s inviting you to receive His life and His identity as your own.

You can turn to Him now by faith, believing that His death was for you and His resurrection gives you life.

And for every believer who has received Christ: maybe today you need to take your stand, through baptism or through a fresh surrender that says, “I’ll live what my baptism declares.”

The water isn’t the change, it’s the witness.

Grace is what makes the change possible.

And the same Christ who died and rose again is here to make you new.