Book of Romans Bible Studies
Romans 6:3-4 Baptism into Christ - What does it mean and what difference does it make?
by Fraser Gordon
Last time we looked at the first two verses in Romans Chapter 6 which was about Paul's question, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” Paul comes to this natural conclusion. Do we have the right to carry on living and doing whatever we want because we are now under super-abundant grace which covers everything? He pretty much says, “Certainly not”, how dare you!
If we really knew who we were in a risen Christ we would flee from such things and pursue and enjoy fellowship with Him. “Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”. Last time we also looked at Colossians 1.13 how we've been completely delivered out of the kingdom of darkness and delivered into the kingdom of the Son of His love and the wonderful benefits that it gives us. We've been moved from one paddock into another and are under a completely different realm - one of grace. We are not under the rule and realm of sin, death and condemnation any longer but are now under the rule of the risen Christ and under His righteousness. It's a kingdom of life and fellowship and of rest in Him.
Union with Christ
Rom 6:3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
There's certain things that Christians need to know and understand about our relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to know what happened and we need to know about our relationship to sin. It's all tied up in our union with Christ in His death, His burial and in His resurrection. When you read this passage one of the first things that pops out is the word baptised. Church practices around baptism vary. Some sprinkle from birth and it is called a baptism but I don't agree with that. In Scripture people believed and then were baptised so baptism is something that is done after believing. The real crux of the matter is that baptism is union with Christ but that is often put to one side and it becomes more about what people should do or about the act of being baptised. Baptism is a picture of something that has already happened in the past - union with Christ.
Baptism means immersed into or placed into. The core issue of baptism is union with Christ. Christians get baptised as a picture of what happened when Christ took us into union with Him in His death and burial. Baptism is the imagery that Paul used to show we've been joined in union with Christ. I want to have a look at this from two examples in the Old Testament.
Baptised into Moses
1Cor 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptised into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.
In verse 6 Paul goes on to say that “these things became our examples”, and again in verse 11 he says the same thing, “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition”. What happened in the Old Testament is a picture of the spiritual truths in the New Testament. Paul writes that everyone was baptised into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. So let's have a look at this in Exodus 14. These are all scriptures you already know but let's hope we can look at it with new eyes and glean something that will be useful to us.
Exo 14:10 And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 Then they said to Moses, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? 12 Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, 'Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians?' For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness." 13 And Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." 15 And the Lord said to Moses, "Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.
A beautiful passage for us to remember when we're afraid and don't know what's going on. When we're hemmed in Moses' words of ‘stand still’ allow God to work in our situation. Whatever it is that you're going through, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord because He is active. “He will accomplish for you today... The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace”.
Then the Lord said to Moses in verse 15, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward”. God is the one who will act on your behalf. You are to keep walking and going forward but God is the one who is active. It's Him who will bring about salvation and He will part the waters. In 1Corinthians 10 it says they were baptised into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They came under Moses' leadership, his rule, influence and also his power.
Exo 14:19 And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. 20 So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.
The presence of God manifested Himself in the form of a cloud. This scripture speaks of the resurrection power of God. The Israelites were baptised or immersed into the sea and the cloud. The cloud was protection and prevented the Egyptians from seeing where the Israelites were but it also gave them light to see where they had to go. It was darkness to one and light to the other and speaks of the resurrection power of God. When it moved, they moved.
It’s an interesting analogy, that it's darkness to one and light to the other. I was reminded of 2Corinthians 2.14, which says, Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. 15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? It is only God. The cloud was darkness to one and light to another and the fragrance of Christ is death to one and life to another. God is the only one who is sufficient enough to know what to do with these things. The cloud stood for their protection and their light. But they also went through the sea.
Exo 14:21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24 And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, 25 clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.” 26 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the LORD threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea.
The sea was a place of death for Israel's enemies but Israel was led through and out the other side into a new land, a new walk and a new relationship with God. Romans 6 states that you were baptised into Christ Jesus' death and were buried there, then you came out the other side in a risen Christ. The picture is the same as the Israelites who were led through the place of death, a miracle that only God could do. He parted the waters by the hand and the rod of Moses and they were led through the place of death and walked safely out the other side while the enemy was defeated. This is Romans 6, you and I died. We don't see it, we don't feel it, but it is a fact that we were buried in the Lord Jesus Christ. For Israel, the enemy was the Egyptians. They were under the slavery of a wicked ruler. Our enemy is the self-life which loves to dominate. We will look at that more in a bit.
Relearning the truth
The first picture is that the Israelites were baptised into Moses. They came under his leadership, his rule and his authority in the cloud and in the sea. Now turn in your Bibles to the second example in Joshua Chapter 4. We have already looked at some of this in the study of the book of Joshua, but it's good to be reminded. In Joshua Chapter 4, 40 years have passed since the Red Sea crossing. What do we know about the nation's wanderings in the wilderness? What was it dominated by? Grumbling, complaining, moaning, and frustration. God provided for them, yes, but they were dominated by unbelief, always looking back and hunkering for the things of the land of Egypt. Scholars tell us that had Israel acted in faith from the beginning it would have only been a short journey into the promised land, something like 11 to 13 days. If they had acted in faith and walked in relationship with God, they could have walked straight into the land of Canaan in a short period of time. But because of unbelief, they wandered for forty years round and round in the backside of the desert. Eventually they had to do another crossing which they wouldn't have had to do if they had acted in faith in the first place. Forty years later they find themselves not with a Red Sea to cross, but a Jordan. Israel had to relearn truths they had forgotten and relearn principles that God had set in place before.
For most Christians freedom from self and the flesh comes after the realisation of what the flesh really is. The wilderness brought into the open what the Israelites were like in their unbelief and their fleshly nature. For us it's exactly the same. When you first become a Christian and realise your sins have been forgiven, there's this initial woompha. Everything is good but at some point God opens our eyes to the real state of our heart. Then we can spend many, many years in defeat, failure, and frustration trying to live for God, trying to do the best we can yet dominated by a nature that hates God, hates His principles, and doesn't act in faith. Just like the nation of Israel, we have to relearn principles that God has already shown us. The nation of Israel had to cross the Jordan in the same way they crossed the Red Sea.
In Romans 7 Paul writes of his defeat, failure, and frustration as a Christian. The very thing that he didn’t want to do, he found himself doing. He loves God's law, but found himself dominated by a nature he couldn't get on top of. He comes to the end of that and thanks be to God, he sees that there is freedom and victory. Even though Paul explains his experience in Romans 7, the real victory is actually in Chapter 6. We died, we were joined in union in Jesus Christ’s death, His burial, and were also joined in union with His resurrection. That is a victory passage. I know this for myself because I've been through years of failure and defeat. I used to try and attend every Christian meeting I possibly could, thinking that was the answer. I read books, there are so many books! 10 steps to victory. It doesn't work, we need God to open our eyes to what has already been done for us in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. I went through a really bad, dry patch where I thought I might as well almost give Christianity away. But the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to the truths in Romans 6. It was a revelation that brought freedom from my wretched flesh. When we really rest in these truths there is victory, freedom and power. I've learnt though that it's not a one-off experience. As we will see further on, it’s about reckoning the truths in Romans 6 to be true.
Two monuments
The nation of Israel went round and round in circles for 40 years and then had to relearn certain principles. Just as there was no bridge over the Red Sea, there is also no bridge over the Jordan. The only way is through it. Through the place of death and out the other side. In Joshua Chapter 3 the priests carried the Ark into the Jordan which represented the presence of God going into the place of death. Then the nation crossed over after them. It's the Lord Jesus Christ who goes into the place of death first then the nation is joined to Him and they come through and out the other side.
Jos 4:1 And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying: 2 "Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, 3 and command them, saying, 'Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.' "
They were to take stones from the place of death where the presence of God stood in the middle of the Jordan.
Jos 4:4 Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; 5 and Joshua said to them: "Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, 6 that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?' 7 Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever." 8 And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the Lord had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. 9 Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day. 10 So the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua; and the people hurried and crossed over.
The priests planted their feet in the middle of the Jordan and Joshua set up 12 stones where they were standing. So there are two sets of stones. One is taken out of the river and set up in Gilgal. We’ll look at that next. The other is a monument in the place of death. The priests stood in the middle of the Jordan until everything that the Lord had commanded was finished as a picture of the finished work of Christ. He finished all that God had accomplished by taking our sin and the power of sin and including us in His death and burial.
Jos 4:18 And it came to pass, when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet touched the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks as before.
There is a monument in the midst of the Jordan that you can’t see. It speaks of death and burial. Do you know that you have died? Can you see you have been buried? You can’t physically but the eye of faith believes the word of God. The monument is there to this day in the Jordan and only the eye of faith can see it. The Israelites went into the place of death and came out the other side. We too have been buried, we have been through the place of death and come out the other side.
Those stones in the river Jordan mean that all you are in Adam was left buried there. You don’t see it or feel it but the word of God says it is true. We need to apply faith to it even though we don’t understand it, see it or feel it. God's word declares that He has joined you in union to the Lord Jesus Christ. Those stones in the Jordan are a picture of our old life, what we are in Adam, and the fleshly nature that likes to rule. We’ve all been buried at the beach with our heads sticking out of the sand. What about Lazarus? He was four days dead and buried. If you had been there what would you have asked him? “Where’ve you been Lazarus? No really, where have you been? What did you see? What was it like to be buried?” I would have loved to have spoken to him. He probably went to Abraham’s bosom and was bought back by the command of God. It’s no wonder the chief priests in John 12 sought to kill him because he was a testament of the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ. A testimony of the fact everyday. ‘That’s him! He died and was buried but he's alive now!’. I looked up some examples of people who have been buried and brought back to life. There's some nasty ones. I was telling Iain yesterday while we were shoveling some stones and he said don’t tell those ones!
There are people who have been buried alive on purpose and others by accident. There was one about a man in France around the 1920s. He was ripping around on his motorbike when he fell off and went headfirst into a brick wall. The doctors pronounced him dead and so he was buried. This man’s father had taken out insurance on his son only two days before the accident happened for a large sum of money, around 200,000 francs. The insurance company became suspicious of the circumstances so after two days they dug up the body. They found that he had a pulse so took him to the hospital. He became famous in France as the one who had died, been buried and come back to life. He went on to make coffins with security latches on the inside so that if it ever happened to anyone else they had some way of trying to get out. You'd hope for a shallow burial, wouldn't you! You might need an auger in there too.
Jos 4:19 Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. 20 And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. 21 Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, 'What are these stones?' 22 then you shall let your children know, saying, 'Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land'; 23 for the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, 24 that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever."
The Israelites had gone through the waters and came out the other side and they set up the twelve stones in Gilgal. This set of stones speaks of the resurrection power of God. God wanted this monument visible so that children would ask their fathers “What are these stones for? If left to ourselves we would wander. We are like dumb sheep really and need reminding constantly of spiritual truths and God's power, “that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty”. God is the only one that is mighty. He is all-powerful to include you in Christ's death, his burial and his resurrection.
We also have two reminders. One is baptism which is a reminder that we have gone into the place of death. We were buried there and we've come out the other side. It's more of a reminder of God's power in joining us in union with His Son. Sometimes, like I said before, we lose sight of it and it becomes more about the act of what we do rather than the significance of what it represents. We only get baptised as a reflection of what God has already done by including us in Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. The other reminder is communion representing the power of God in saving us from our sins. The Lamb that was slain and the blood placed over the doorposts of our lives so the angel of death would pass over. We need a reminder that there is now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. The stones are in Gilgal so the children of Israel would ask what they were and be reminded of how they went through the place of death and came out the other side.
Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh
Jos 4:11 Then it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over, that the ark of the Lord and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people. 12 And the men of Reuben, the men of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them.
Within the nation of Israel there are the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh. Can you remember what happened? These tribes made a deal with Moses in Numbers 32.1-5. They were travelling in the wilderness side of the Jordan and had a lot of cattle. They were good farmers and as they travelled they saw that “the region was a place for livestock” so they asked Moses “if we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan”. They didn’t want to possess the land that God had for them in Canaan; they were happy to settle on the wilderness side of the Jordan.
They were willing to fight on behalf of the other tribes and help possess the land but at the end of it all they wanted to come back to this land. This is a picture of two groups of people. One group wanted to go into all that God had for them in the land of Canaan (by the way the land of Canaan is not heaven one day, Canaan represents all that God has for you and me here and now, enjoying His presence and His provision). While all the tribes of Israel experienced the working of God and all went through the place of death and out the other side, this group's heart was in the inheritance they had taken on the other side of the Jordan. That's what they really wanted.
The two monuments which God commanded Joshua to set up had no value to the tribes of Rueben, Gad and the half tribe of Manessah. They didn't value the miracle of going through the Jordan on dry land and coming out the other side. Some Christians are happy to have their sins forgiven and be on their way to heaven and that's about as far as they'll go. They still want to do what they want when they want. They want their own lot but as far as God having any sway in the direction that their life takes and His calling on them, they'll only go so far. They are happy that their sins are forgiven, happy that heaven is going to be their home but they want to be where the land is good for their cattle. They don't want the land of Canaan. They're almost like the question in Romans 6. Shall we continue in sin?
There were groups of Christians in Paul's day that thought they could abuse grace and do whatever they wanted knowing that grace would super-abound. To them the value of the stones and death don't mean much. They don't value the fact that Christ has taken us into death and burial and they don't value the land of Canaan, the new life we have in Christ. The stones that stood in Gilgal on the other side of the Jordan represented a new direction for the nation of Israel, a new life. God’s purpose for them is the same for us. It's not just that our sins are forgiven, it's that He may have you as a possession by which He can do whatever He so desires. With each one of us it's different. Joshua Chapter 4 is about how God has taken us into His death and burial so that we can experience newness of life and that's what God's purpose for us is.
A new life
What happened to the nation of Israel after the Jordan crossing is also true of us.
Jos 5:9 Then the Lord said to Joshua, "This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day.
Gilgal became central to the nation of Israel on the other side of their wilderness wanderings. Gilgal means ‘a rolling away’. The pull that Egypt had on the nation was rolled away in that place. The sin, the shame of being under the Egyptians, the defeat, the failure, that was all taken away from them. That's what Gilgal means. The monument of stones which represents resurrection was set up in Gilgal. It was the place they went to battle from and the place they came back to. It was their base camp.
Jos 5:10 Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho.
The first thing that happened was the Passover. For 40 years in all their wilderness wanderings they had not observed it or remembered the lamb that was slain and the blood on the doorpost that rescued them. They couldn't enjoy, observe or celebrate what God had done for them in liberating them from Egypt. But the moment they came through the Jordan there was a celebration of all that God had done. For Christians there is a celebration of joy and thankfulness for all that God has done for us, the forgiveness of sins, the reproach, the shame of everything that happened before is rolled away. We are now free to fellowship and serve God. The second thing that happened was that they ate the produce of the land on the day after Passover. The manna ceased. It had been a provision in the wilderness until they got to the good stuff. Everything was new for the nation of Israel. It was a new life, new food, not froth and bubbles but meat, the good stuff. All the produce of the land of Canaan was theirs to take.
Jos 5:13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, "Are You for us or for our adversaries?" 14 So He said, "No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, "What does my Lord say to His servant?" 15 Then the Commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, "Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy." And Joshua did so.
Now that Joshua was in a new land there was also a new commander in his life. This Man hadn't come to be alongside, He had come to take over. He is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ who doesn't take sides. We need to obey Him and let Him rule in our lives. They were in a new land, they observed Passover, they had new food to eat and a Man had come to take over.
Conclusion
The two Old Testament examples are really good pictures, I believe, of what Romans is teaching us about union with Christ, going through the place of death, and being buried with Christ in baptism for the purpose of sharing His life in resurrection. We are in a risen Christ. Just as the nation of Israel had to relearn what they had forgotten, it's exactly the same for you and I. We need to relearn these principles. You can’t see that you are buried with Christ, but God declares that He has joined you in union with Him. The flesh nature, which has no time for God, doesn't have to rule you any longer. You've been placed in a risen Christ so that His life in you can now rule in you. It's part of the wonderful abounding grace you've come into.
Col 2:9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. 11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
This passage in Colossians is the same as in Romans. God has joined you by His Spirit in union with Christ. God has not only dealt with your sins He's taken you into the place of death and burial and you've been raised with the Lord Jesus Christ. You are now in a risen Christ. As we carry on through the book of Romans we will see that the sin machine has been dealt with because we have been buried with the Lord Jesus Christ. The sin producing factory doesn't have to rule over our lives any longer. We will read about an old man that was crucified. It’s not your father, he's not the old man here, it's a different old man.
God bless saints.