“Baptized into his death”

In Romans 6, Paul in answer to the suggestion that that believers ought to continue in sin that grace may about declares that believers have died to sin and therefore cannot still live in it. This death to sin, Paul says, occurred at baptism when we were united with Christ in his death. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.”

In my experience from Bible studies and sermons, Evangelicals, in their right concern to be wary of teaching sacraments save us ex opere operato as the Romanists erroneously assert, can get a little bit sniffy about Romans 6.3-4. By baptism, we are told, Paul means conversion. So we are reminded that in Paul’s day, baptism closely followed conversion. If someone wanted to become a Christian, they would ask for baptism. (From the New Testament material, we can see that this is of course true, and isn’t there a rebuke here for our tendency to delay the baptism of unbaptised believers for months and even years after their conversion? From what follows, it should be evident that to delay the baptism of an unbaptised believer deprives them of not only a means of great assurance, but also of sanctification.) Or we are told that Paul means the baptism of the Spirit, which occurs at conversion and unites us to Christ. One can imagine someone peering over Paul’s shoulder as he wrote, saying, “I wouldn’t put it quite like that, Paul.”

I think that when Paul says that we were buried with him by baptism into death, he means that we were buried with Christ by baptism into death, plainly and simply the pouring-water-over-you kind of baptism. If Paul meant that we were united with Christ when we believed on him, he would have said so. If he meant that we were united with Christ when we received the Holy Spirit, he would have said so. Paul is saying that at our baptism, we were baptized into Christ’s death, that we were united with him in his death.

He says this, because baptism is the sign and seal of that inward work of the Spirit in the heart of the believer who creates faith in Christ and the union with him that results, proclaiming God’s grace to the recipient, the church and the world. It is, if you like, the official rebirthday of the recipient. That is the day to which we are to look back to see our union with Christ and thus to see that we have died to sin in him and so are no longer to live under its mastery. The Puritans, far from advocating mere individualistic internal piety, affirmed the value of “improving” one’s baptism. It makes sense in light of the widespread experience of Christians that they cannot specify a particular time when they were converted, but that the Spirit of God worked in their lives over an extended period of time.

This is perfectly consistent with the baptism of infants (the propriety of which I intend at some later stage to defend more systematically). The child can be brought up to look back to its baptism, the promises of God which baptism advertises and the death to sin which it proclaims, and thus be summoned to faith and holiness. On that day their public life as a Christian began and to that they must remain faithful.

Oh that we would shake off the fetters of mere private pietism that characterises so much Evangelicalism of the present age, and recover a Reformed view of the importance of baptism which would allow us when we are tempted to sin to say with Luther, when he was lacking assurance, “Baptizatus sum“: I have been baptized.

Romans 5.1-5

Click below for the sermon I preached on Romans 5.1-5:

Romans 5.1-5 (17:23, 1.99MB)

Romans 5.1-5

I shall, DV, be preaching in the Chapel of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, at Evensong on Trinity Sunday (June 3rd). My text is Romans 5.1-5. Do let me know your thoughts.

Introduction

Stanzas 2 & 3 of Ungratefulness
Belief in the Trinity: affirm, but little impact on thinking about God / a barrier, doesn’t make sense
Brilliance denies access, do not fully see riches
Statelier cabinet unlocked - a jewel betrothing human beings to himself in everlasting pleasure because through work of Trinity relationship with God established & guaranteed for eternity
2 ways

1 We have peace with the Father through the Son (vv. 1-2)

Quick explanation of justification by faith - God’s declaration that those who have faith in Christ, who simply trust promise of forgiveness through Christ’s death are justified, declared not guilty, have a right standing with him
By faith in contrast to works
Implication - peace with God
Objective status
By nature war between us & God
Wrath being revealed and will be revealed (Rom 2.8-9)
What all of us deserve
True of me: true of you?
Hope in degree, relationship, career, pleasure rather God; seek own glory, honour, success, disobeying God
If Christian believer, God who was at war with me now at peace
Trust in Christ –> justified –> wrath no longer upon me –> peace
Through Christ - death on the cross in the place of all who trust him
Result: access to grace (= access to the Father); permanent & established status
Consequence: hope of glory
George Bernard Shaw quote about heaven
Explanation of glory - resurrection, liberation of this world from bondage to decay
C.S. Lewis illustration from Last Battle - Farewell to Shadowlands
Consequence - joy

How can I be sure? Will it stand up?
Yes…

2 We know love from the Father through the Spirit (vv. 3-5)

Joy of Christian believer lasts in the midst of suffering
Suffering –> endurance; illustration of training for a rece
Endurance –> character (=proven, tested character); illustration of ‘acid test’ of authenticity of jewellery
Produces hope - certain
v. 5b - 2 past actions
Christians have been given the Spirit & have received God’s love
Not subjective feeling - can get those through listening to right music, often fades
Objective
Love shown in the death of Christ
Through the Spirit - pointed to death of Christ for us, weak ungodly sinners, thereby assured that God loves us
So may be sure will receive glory
Romans 8.32

Implications

For the believer:
See hope of glory - rejoice!
Difficult time of exams, personal life, relationships, home, health
Doesn’t make it any less painful
But glory awaits Christian so can rejoice
Secure because God loves you, demonstrated in the death of Son to which Spirit points

For the unbeliever:

See privileges belonging to the believer
Secure relationship with God possible because of work of trinity
Rather than be guilty & face anger forever, can be justified & have peace with God & hope of eternal life, everlasting pleasure
Even through difficulties of life - hope will not put to shame because will know love from the Father through the Spirit
Through faith - will you come?

Conclusion

Read stanza 2 of Ungratefulness again
Summary of points

Daniel Newman Audio Ministries, Inc.

Below are links to two sermons I’ve given this year in BNC Chapel - feedback appreciated!

Romans 8.23, Michaelmas 2005 (10.1MB)
2 Peter 3.11-18, Trinity 2006 (3.17MB)

Comments along the lines of “boring” or “the content’s very exciting” are not allowed any more. Well, you can write such comments if you wish, but only if you haven’t told me already and it’s what you genuinely think I need to hear to develop!