The death, burial, and resurrection of baptism

“Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 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” (Romans 6:3-4). In this passage, we notice three facts about what happens to us when we are baptized.

First, we are buried with Christ in the waters of baptism. In this burial, we take the old man of sin and bury him, becoming submissive and obedient to the authority of Christ.

        

Secondly, we become dead to sin. This means that when the old man of sin is buried in the waters of baptism, he is destroyed and we become dead to sin. Therefore all of our sins no longer live in us; our slate is wiped clean.

Finally, we are resurrected, arising out of the waters of baptism, having become a new person. The old man of sin is completely gone and in his place is the new man. At this point the person who is baptized has a new beginning.

Sadly, too many people choose to put the old man of sin right back on again and live as though nothing had happened. The significance of becoming a new person is that you have a new purpose or a new goal in life. That goal is not to put the old man back on after you have been made anew, but to start over and live a godly life so that it can truly be said that you were born again (John 3:3, 5).

Jonathan Glaesemann