What is Baptism II?
Baptism glorifies God, declaring that we have died to sin, been buried, and be raised by to life by His power through faith in Jesus Christ whom God raised from the dead.
Does God forget our sin when we believe in Jesus Christ? Does this mean that we can go on sinning without giving it a second thought? Romans 6:1-4 teaches that baptism glorifies God by declaring what He has done to save us through faith in Jesus Christ. It is a visible declaration that we have died to the power of sin and now walk in the newness of life. Walking in the newness of life is far more than rejecting and repenting of sin, it’s taking every opportunity that God gives us to show the world His glorious power working through us.
Scripture
Romans 6:1-4 ESV What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? [2] By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? [3] Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? [4] 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.
Bible Study Questions
Saved by faith in Christ by grace
Galatians 3:26-27 reminds us that we can never be saved by anything other than faith in Christ by God’s grace alone. It assumes that everyone who has been baptised has put on Christ. What does it mean to put on Christ?
Galatians 3:26-27 ESV for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
God’s grace covers all sin
Which sins has God forgiven in Christ by faith in Him and by God’s grace?
Colossians 2:13-15 ESV And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Grace saves us from sin, it’s not a license to sin
In Romans five Paul argues that the law was given to make us aware of how terrible sin is, and that the law made sin more sinful. He then teaches that the more sinful sin became, the more God’s grace covered it. Some then accused him of teaching that Christians can sin without concern because our sin just makes God’s grace more amazing. What is Paul’s answer to this idea?
Romans 6:1 ESV What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Sin and the Christian heart
While God has forgiven all our sin in the one-time sacrifice of the perfect sinless Son of God, He makes it clear that we can not just live as we please and ignore the sin we commit as Christians. What must we do every day concerning our sin and why?
1 John 1:9-10 ESV If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Matthew 6:11-12 ESV Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Buried with Jesus Christ
Physical circumcision never changed the Old Covenant people. It was a physical sign that they were part of God’s chosen nation and thus heirs of His promise. Being an Israelite didn’t guarantee a right relationship with God (Deuteronomy 30:6). A right relationship with God requires a spiritual circumcision of the heart (Romans 2:28-29). Col 2:11-12 mentions a spiritual circumcision done by God on human hearts. It’s the cutting off of the desire and power of sin. Baptism is a sign of what God has already done in our hearts, it’s a sign that we have died to our sin and been buried with Jesus. We do not bury anyone until they’re dead, what does this say about when baptism should be administered?
Romans 6:3 ESV Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
Colossians 2:11-12 ESV In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
Deuteronomy 30:6 ESV And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
Romans 2:28-29 ESV For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
Raised with Jesus Christ
Baptism isn’t just a declaration of being our old sinful self having died and having been buried with Jesus, what else does it declare?
Romans 6:4 ESV 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.
Colossians 2:12 ESV having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
Walking in the newness of life by faith in the Son of God
When we have died to sin, and been raised to a new life in Jesus Christ we hate sin, and turn away from it. We can never enjoy sin again. Do we do this in our own strength, who does this in us?
Galatians 2:19-20 ESV For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.