United with Christ: Dead and Alive Bullets

Union through Baptism vs 3-5

Romans 6:3 “3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?”

Paul’s safe assumption

This was a foundational reality for the NT believer

All of us - safe to assume that every believer was baptised

No special category for baptised believers

Safe to assume that every believer was taught and understood what their baptism meant.

As professor and theologian Thomas Schreiner puts it in his commentary, “For Paul baptism, faith, reception of the Spirit, repentance, and confession of Christ are one complex of events that all occur at conversion.”

Symbol Not an Instrument

Crucial to understand - Baptism not instrument of salvation - not a cause of our salvation - does not bring about our death to sin

Instead baptism signifies the spiritual reality of our death with Christ

Think through what we have learned in Romans 1-5

Is a man justified by faith and baptism?

Romans 3:28 “28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.”

Was Abraham justified by his faith and baptism?

Romans 4:2 “2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.”

Do we have peace with God because we have been justified by faith and baptism?

Romans 5:1 “1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

What then is baptism? And why does Paul use baptism here?

The outer physical act of baptism acts as a sign of the inner spiritual act of faith that unites us with Christ

Listen to what Paul says regarding faith and baptism to the Galatians, Gal 3:26-27 “26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

Baptism is the outward expression, the confession with mouth and body if you will, of the inward belief that Jesus is Lord

Paul is using baptism to illustrate its vivid picture of our union with Christ. Look back with me again at verse 3.

Into Christ, Into Death