Part 1: The death of the old man.
(Romans 6:1-6) “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”
We are in the grace of God when we have been justified by faith and by faith we have access into the grace of God. (Romans 5:1-2) “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: {2} By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
This being true, it is the grace that does away with our sins. (Romans 5:21) “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so, might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Now in chapter 6, Paul starts to tell us just how God deals with our sins and how we are to live in the grace of God.
Paul starts with the truth that we are not to sin so that we can have more grace. We must understand that in the grace of God there is death, but it is not our death, that is separation from God, but the death of Christ by which we are separated from our sins unto eternal life. (Genesis 2:17) “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” The death that God is talking about here is the separation from God when man disobeys God. Now the death that is the separation from God Jesus took on him when he was crucified.
Jesus’ death became our death. Jesus was the separation from God because of our sins. Jesus took our sins on Himself and paid the penalty for us so we do not have to pay it.
Since the penalty for our sins has been paid by Jesus’ death, we do not have to die because Jesus died for us. This means that we can live and we do not have to be separated from God.
(Romans 6:3-4) “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? {4} Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we also should walk in newness of life.”
I want to look at just what these verses say:
Note that we are “baptized into Jesus Christ”. It is not saying that we were baptized into the Spirit. (Acts 1:5) “For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”
Note that here Jesus promises that he was going to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not in the Spirit. Here in Romans 6:3-4, we that are baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death.
We are baptized with the Holy Spirit, but here we are baptized into Jesus Christ. This means that we were in Jesus when He was crucified so that we died to our sins when Jesus died.
To understand this better we need to understand the Greek word baptized.
“This word should not be confused with baptô (911). The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C. It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both words. Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be ‘dipped’ (baptô) into boiling water and then ‘baptized’ (baptizô) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptizing the vegetable, produces a permanent change.”*
Baptize means to immerse. These verses are saying that we are immersed in Jesus. You must realize that if you are saved, you are in Jesus and Jesus is in you.
(Romans 6:6) “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”
Our old man died when Christ died, so now we can live a life that we do not have to serve sin. In this chapter and the next two chapters, Paul will make the point that a saved person should not and does not have to sin. In the following chapters, he will tell us just how God will do this in us who are saved.
I pray that God will let me look into this next time.
*Devotional written by Ralph Williams, retired pastor and member of One Hope Mobile.
* Apostles [Greek Text Commentary], London: Tyndale, 1952, p. 98, n. 1.)
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