Baptism is one of those things we have reduced to a ritual. We baptize babies or converts, we get wet, we come up, and we move on. But what if there is so much more to it than that?
Paul writes to the Romans about baptism in a way that is almost shocking. He writes:
"We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."
Romans 6:4We were buried with him. Not we will be. We were. Past tense. Already done.
And this burial was through baptism. Not because of baptism. Not in the sense of representing something only. Through baptism, in the sense of in and by the act itself.
What Does It Mean to Be Buried?
When you are buried, you are in the ground. You are done. You are finished. There is no going back to the old life.
That is exactly what Paul is saying happened to us. The old you, the one who lived for sin, the one who was controlled by the flesh, that person died. They were buried. They are in the ground.
And a new person came up out of that water. A new life began.
Paul uses the word suntapho here, which means to bury together with, to be buried alongside. We were not only buried. We were buried with Christ. Our burial is joined to His. His death becomes our death. His burial becomes our burial.
The Old Man Died
Paul makes this even clearer in the next few verses:
"We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin."
Romans 6:6Our old self was crucified with him. Not we are trying to kill our old self. It was done. It was finished. The old self was crucified with Christ.
Here is what this means. The person you were before Christ is dead. That person does not exist anymore. They were buried. They were crucified. They are gone.
What lives now is a new creation. A new person. Someone who has the power to say no to sin.
Why This Matters for Your Struggle
Now here is why this changes everything. If the old you is dead, then you do not have to keep trying to kill the old you. You do not have to keep struggling to overcome sin as if it still has power over you.
It does not. You died to it. You were buried with Christ. The power of sin has been broken.
This does not mean you will never struggle again. It means your struggle has a different context. You are not fighting from defeat. You are walking in victory. The war is already won.
Living in the New Life
Paul says we too may live a new life. The purpose of our burial was new life. Not only death. Burial leads to resurrection.
So how do we live this new life? Paul tells us:
"So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."
Romans 6:11Consider yourselves dead to sin. This is not pretending. This is counting, which means reckoning, calculating, treating as true. Treat yourself as dead to sin. Because you are.
And treat yourself as alive to God. Because you are that too.
This is how we walk in the new life. We reckon it as true. We treat it as fact. We live from the position that the old is gone and the new has come.
That is baptism. That is the burial. That is the death that was real. And the new life that came up from the water is yours to live.
The old is gone
Think about the person you were before you came to Christ. The habits, the patterns, the ways of thinking. That person is in the ground. They are not coming back. The person you are now is new. You carry the life of Christ in you. Walk in it.
Father, thank You that I was buried with Christ and raised with Him. When sin shouts that nothing has changed, remind me what You finished on the cross. Holy Spirit, teach me to count myself dead to sin and alive to You. I want to walk in the newness of life You already gave me. In Jesus Name, Amen.
With honesty and hope,
Claire