6:3-5 What baptism is Paul referring to here?

It is widely taught in the contemporary church that this passage of scripture illustrates the spiritual significance of water baptism; that going down into the water symbolizes dying to sin, and coming up out of the water symbolizes being raised again in a new power to live a righteous life before God in Christ. But that is not correct.

The real significance of water baptism is taught elsewhere in scripture which we will look at shortly, and it has nothing whatever to do with what Paul is teaching here. The baptism referred to here is spiritual: the baptism of believers into Jesus as members of his church at their conversion to Christ, by the Holy Spirit (CP 1Cor 12:12-14, 27). Here the church is called "Christ" and is compared to a human body with its many members.

This shows us how the church is constituted: the Holy Spirit unites believers with Jesus as members of His body, the church, when they put their faith in Jesus for their salvation. This is what being baptized into Christ means (CP Ro 12:5; 1Cor 6:17; 10:17; 12:12-14; Ga 3:26-27; Col 1:12-14).

It is when believers surrender their lives to Christ that they identify with His death, burial and resurrection. This is when they are born again spiritually and the power of sin over their lives is broken. It is not when they go through the waters of baptism as so many suppose Ro 6:3-5 teaches (CP Ro 6:14 with 2Cor 5:14-15, 17; Col 2:8-13; 1Jn 3:6-10; 5:4, 18).

This is the "newness of life" Paul refers to in Ro 6:4. It speaks of the new life imparted by the Holy Spirit at their new birth, which is a motivating energy providing both the desire and the power for believers to live a Godly life in Christ (CP Ro 6:17-18 with 2Cor 3:18; Ga 2:16-19; Eph 2:1-9; Php 2:12-13; 1Pe 1:3-5; 2Pe 1:1-4).

Newness of life does not refer to what kind of a life believers are to live before the world as their Christian witness, but how to live that life in the resurrection power of Jesus, and this is the theme of Paul's teaching throughout Ro 6 and many other scriptures (CP 6:4-5 with Ga 2:20; Eph 4:17-24; Col 3:1-11). V5 in Ro 6 is not referring to the future physical resurrection of believers (although that is guaranteed), but to their spiritual resurrection when they placed their faith in Christ for their salvation (CP V6-7, 11-13).

There is one more scripture pertaining to the spiritual baptism of believers into Christ as members of His church which we should look at here before moving on (CP Eph 4:1-6). This is another scripture many Christians believe refers to water baptism also, but it does not.

Paul illustrates here the seven-fold spiritual unity of God and man: one body - the church; one Holy Spirit; one hope of our calling; one Lord; one faith; one baptism and one God. In V1-3 Paul exhorts believers to be unified in the Spirit, because as he points out in V4-6, there is only one body in Christ and we were all baptized into that one body, which is the church. Clearly, none of the scriptures we have examined so far in this study have anything to do with water baptism.

Let us now look at the real significance of water baptism according to scripture (CP 1Pe 3:18-21). This fully explains the significance of water baptism and it clearly is not a symbol of the spiritual reality of Ro 6:3-5 as many are taught in the contemporary church.

Water baptism takes place after one is baptized into Christ. It is the visible and tangible testimony of the repentant sinners' new-found faith in the resurrected Christ and the salvation benefits we are given as a result of that faith.

But it cannot, and does not save us, as the baptism of Ro 6:3-5 does, and Peter is very careful to spell this out for us in his letter (CP 1Pe 3:21). This clearly refutes also the teaching that God buries the believers' old sin nature in the waters of baptism. (See also comments on 1Pe 3:20-21).

The following is a translation and paraphrase of the Greek text of Ro 6:1-5 from Kenneth Wuest's Word Studies in the Greek New Testament Vol 3 Great Truths to Live by Ch 3, which clearly underlines the subject matter of Paul's teaching in this passage and the theme of his teaching in Ro 6:

"What therefore shall we say?

Shall we who profess to be Christians, continue to sustain habitually the same relationship to the evil nature which we did before we were saved, in order that this aforementioned grace might abound?

Let not such a thing take place. How is it possible for such as we, who were once for all separated from the indwelling sinful nature, any longer to live in its grip? Or, are you ignorant that we who were introduced into vital union with Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit, into a participation in His death were introduced?

Therefore we were entombed with Him through this aforementioned introduction into His death, in order that, just as there was raised up Christ out from among the dead through the glory of the Father, thus also we in the energy of a new life imparted might order our behaviour.

For in view of the fact that we have become those united with Him with respect to the likeness of His death, certainly also we shall be those united with Him in the likeness of His resurrection."

When repentant sinners are baptized into Christ the power of sin over their lives is broken and they need never yield to its power again.

This is the theme of Paul's teaching throughout Ro 6 as he exhorts Christians not to go back into sin but to live completely new resurrected lives in Christ. Through Christ God's resurrection power flows in us, and thus we are able to live holy, righteous lives (CP 8:1-4).

See comments on all Ro 6 questions, also Ro 3:9, 5:12-14, 7:4, 7:7-23, 8:1-2, 8:3-4; Ga 5:17; Jas 4:5 and 1 Jn 3:6-9 and author's studies Romans 6 - a Study on God's Empowering of Believers through Jesus Christ to Overcome Sin in his book Advanced Studies in the Christian Faith (Volume 1),

The Power of God in Christians to Overcome the Devil, The Doctrine of Grace and Regeneration and Sanctification Defined in his book Advanced Studies in the Christian Faith (Volume 2), and What being Born Again Means in his book Foundational Truths of the Christian Faith.

"Romans"