Today we are talking about baptism and it’s great meaning. Baptism is one of the two sacraments our church performs. It is a mark of a Christian church to do baptisms. Jesus commands his disciples in the great commission to make disciples and to baptise them.
You might remember your own baptism, you might have been too young to do so, and may remember your confirmation. Paul is writing to people who he assumes are baptised and is reminding them of the great truth it symbolises. For Paul I think assumes, that believers are baptised, it is something Christians do.
It took me years to get baptized. I was 27, and when I finally got around to it I was one of the oldest people in the group that year. It wasn’t because I became a Christian when I was 27 but it was because I kinda missed out on doing the process in my teen years and never really got round to it.
I grew up a Baptist and so at that church when someone wanted to get Baptist it was a big deal. The whole service would change, there would be a testimony by that person, they could pick all the songs and they were normally an adult, not a teenager when this would happen. I switched to an Anglican church in Sydney when I was around 18 or 19, and kinda missed the Baptist boat. I remember seeing my first Anglican baptism. In that service, they poured a little water on their head and I verbally said to my friend “is that it?”, perhaps a bit too loud as the row in front of us turned to see who would say such a thing.
Anyway, I moved on my with life, moved here and attended this church for maybe 6 more years before getting baptised, and in those six years I think I was a little soft on the idea of baptism, and in this passage, Paul looks at the great importance of this sign; which I guess I didn’t really believe in my 20’s, for the sign of baptism is of something that is more powerful than death.
One commentator says
Paul wants the Christians in Rome to understand that their baptism is the most important event in their lives, because they will receive a different identity and become a new creation. No longer will they walk in darkness and be ruled by sin and death. They will now have a new life in Jesus Christ, a life in which they will walk not in darkness but in light, not in despair but in faith, hope, and love. (Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year B, Volume 2, George W. Stroup, Theological Perspective)
Paul in this section of Romans is talking about the new life of a believer. We have moved from being under Adam to being under Jesus. Those in Adam are under sin and death, but those under Jesus are under grace and life. Now that we are under grace and life, what does this mean for our stance before sin. If we are under grace, if the power of sin is no longer a threat to us, can we continue to sin? Paul seeks to answer this question by talking about baptism. And he starts off talking about death.
Death is all around us. It is in our movies, in it in our news and normally any talk of death isn’t a positive experience. But our passage opens up with a message of hope about death.
Martin Luther described baptism quite vividly as: nothing less than grace clutching you by the throat: a grace-full throttling, by which your sin is submerged in order that ye may remain under grace. (cited in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year A, Volume 2, Martha Moore-Keish, Theological Perspective)
Dead in Christ
In the Anglican prayer book for a funeral service, there are three main passages, plus a list of 11 more. This Romans passage is the first main passage. Death is a certainty of life.
Death is all around us. It is in our movies, in it in our news and normally any talk of death isn’t a positive experience. But our passage opens up with a message of hope about death.
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:3–4 NIV)We who were baptized are baptized into Jesus’ death. In baptism we are united, or joined or linked with Christ death is someway. One-half of Baptism is a symbol of death.
Martin Luther described baptism quite vividly as: nothing less than grace clutching you by the throat: a grace-full throttling, by which your sin is submerged in order that ye may remain under grace. (cited in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year A, Volume 2, Martha Moore-Keish, Theological Perspective)
This passage says in our baptism, we are joined with Christ in his death and burial. All those in Christ have died and have been buried. This may sound morbid, but it is actually good news.
This passage says in our baptism, we are joined with Christ in his death and burial. All those in Christ have died and have been buried. This may sound morbid, but it is actually good news.
United in life
It is good news because the other half of the symbol of baptism is that of life. verse 5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:5 NIV)The good news is that Jesus didn’t stay dead. He rose again from the tomb on that first Easter morning. We live in the real world where Jesus walked from the grave. And so, if we are united in death with Jesus we are also united in his new life. "Resurrection alone can answer the darkness of death. It is God’s final word and the gospel’s first word: life." (Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year A, Volume 2, Thomas R. Steagald, Homiletical Perspective)
In Jesus’ death, he took on the punishment for sin. Sin in this world was not God’s plan.
Cornelius Plantinga said:
Sin is an anomaly, an intruder, a notorious gatecrasher. Sin does not belong in God’s world, but somehow it has gotten in. In fact, sin has dug in, and like a tick, burrows deeper when we try to remove it. (cited in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year B, Volume 2, Charles B. Cousar, Exegetical Perspective)But in Christ, he was able to remove that great tick, by taking the full consequence of sin and dying to it. He did the time for our own crime, he paid the price, he dealt with the problem of sin for our behalf... And He didn’t stay dead. This means that sin has been done away with, and anyone in Christ is set free from sin.
The law only applies to people who are alive. You can’t prosecute a person who has died.
And Jesus was prosecuted under sin and then rose again. All who are with Christ have now been set free from sin.
"The old ideas about death are no longer valid. Whatever society understands death to be, it no longer carries weight. Being bound to Christ in baptism allows the believer to be freed from sin (Rom. 6:7), in fact, they are dead to it (v. 11)." (Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year B, Volume 2, Debra Carl Freeman, Homiletical Perspective)
Live with Christ
Since Christ has been raised form the dead, he can’t die again.
Death, the great final enemy is no long an enemy, He is defeated, His sing has gone. Death now has no power or control over Jesus. Because Jesus already has experienced death and come out the other side alive. He has won the victory and brings us with him. Verse 10
The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. (Romans 6:10 NIV)This only happens once. Jesus doesn’t need to die again and again. He has moved on with His life.
Our God is alive and not dead. Our God has united us in salvation with His son and has given us His victory. In being united with Christ, this means we do not die alone, and we will not rise alone. We are linked with Christ. Baptism into death and life means baptism into the death and life of Christ.
Since we are united with Christ in His death and resurrection, we too can now live for God. Knowing the destiny of the power of sin and death has been defeated.
I found a website that lists a bunch of people who have read their own obituaries in the newspaper. This apparently happens more than we would think. Mark Twain was one of the more famous ones who responded with “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” Ernest Hemingway was another famous non-death in the paper.
On one such embarrassing occasion, a man whose obit was printed in the paper rushed to the editor. The “corpse” lodged his protest: “How dare you print my obituary in the paper! I’m alive. See me. Here I am.” “I sure am sorry,” the editor answered, “And it’s too late to do anything about it. The best thing I can do for you is to put you in the ‘Birth Column’ tomorrow morning and give you a fresh start (1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching, Not Yet Dead)
I don’t know how true that story actually is, but this is the reality of those who have died with Christ. They have died and are given a fresh start. In this new life, or new birth, we are now free from the rule of sin, but we are not absolutely free. We get a new ruler over us. We move from being under one sovereign to another.
I don’t know about you, but my life really didn’t change when King Charles III took the throne. In that change of sovereignty from the Queen to the King, I barely noticed. There were some great pompous ceremonies on TV, and next year our coins are going to change, but really, I think my life will carry on as usual.
Paul in this passage talks about having another change of ruler over our life. One from sin to God. We are to count ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom 6:11). Once we were ruled by sin, but now in Christ that had been dealt with. Sin no longer has any mastery over us, God and his victory over death does. We are changed people.
So do we go on sinning so that grace may increase? No. That is not who we are any more. Jesus has been killed because of sin. Jesus has been prosecuted under the law of sin and we are united with Him. This means we don’t keep on sinning, for we are no longer slaves to sin. We are to do something else. We are to live for God. This sovereign change affects how we live, knowing that we are not under the curse of death, but instead under our resurrected king. We are now different citizens.
Like any cross-cultural citizens that change countries, there may be habits and idioms and mistakes made, which are brought across from their original culture. These may be out of place, or even offensive. But these mistakes, carried over from the first culture, don’t change their status in the new culture. They are still under the new country. We need to see ourselves like this, as those who are now in the new country under God, not the old country under sin. We may bring old sinful habits in, but that is not who we are anymore. As we live under God, in this new country, surrounded by other citizens of this new country, our old habits and inclinations are to be put to death. Our allegiance is to God now, and so we follow Him, and this isn’t done reluctantly, this is good.
We are now under grace, a good kind gift of eternal life, that we did not deserve, but received in Christ. This is shown in our baptism, which is like our new citizenship ceremony. This symbol shows the story of God’s saving activity in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a powerful symbol because it points to something powerful. Baptism is the mark of our identity as Christians. Who are brought into Jesus and his body the church, where we can worship our new master for under Him we have been given a new life.
So if you have been baptized, even if you can’t remember it, know that it was a powerful sign, showing your death and your new life under God. That is now who you are. As our 27th article says, those who have been baptised are grafted into the Church; [they receive] the promises of forgiveness of sin and are adopted to be sons of God by the Holy Ghost. This is life-changing. After the service, you may want to ask someone here about their own baptism or confirmation. It probably is an encouraging story to hear.
But, if you haven’t been baptised believe the Apostles Creed, can I gently ask, why not? Are you like me when I was in my mid-20s, I was a Christian, attending and involved in this church, but baptism was sort of something I just never got round to doing. Do you turn to Christ? Do you repent of your Sin? Do you reject selfish living and all that is false and unjust? Do you renounce Satan and all evil? If say yes to then you should get Baptised, for those are the four questions you are asked. They aren’t even special Anglican questions, they date back to maybe the 4th century or even earlier.
Next week we are starting a course called Foundations. This goes for 5 weeks on a Sunday afternoon. In that course, it looks at the Apostles Creed, Jesus’ death and resurrection from Mark’s gospel, and gives you help in writing your own faith story. Already there are 12 people going to this who are considering baptism or confirmation. Five are teens, the others are adults. In the last Synod report, they said in our diocese there were 238 baptisms. Last year at St Matt's we had 21 people be baptized and 14 were confirmed.
And look, there isn’t some sort of quota that we are trying to meet in appealing to you to get baptised. We don’t get any bonuses, we don’t have some KPI or target we need to meet. But the church is in the business of making disciples, and one aspect of that is that disciples of Christ get baptised.
If you are a Christian, if you believe you have died with Christ and have been raised again in new life with him, so that you can live for God, then get baptized. Why wouldn’t you be visibly signed and sealed in the faith? It is something Christians do.
Years ago, the ancient church would sometimes train candidates for two years before baptising them. Cyril of Jerusalem had 23 lectures he would give to candidates who were seeking baptism. Our one only lasts 5 weeks.
Remember when old churches would have gravestones next to the church? In the past, the church would sometimes delay baptism till Easter Sunday. On the Saturday they would have an Easter Vigil and wait till just before sunrise. On that Eater morning, candidates for baptism would walk through the gravestones next to the church in the dark, with nothing but a flicking candle for light, before they enter the well-lit church. This tangible moment is also symbolic, the walking from the cemetery to the sanctuary, from darkness into light, from past memories of death to the hope of new life. (Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year A , Volume 2, Thomas R. Steagald, Homiletical Perspective) In baptism, we wrestle with death and life, and in that order. To mix up the order is to miss the very great news that in Christ, death is not final. In Christ’s death, we die to sin and are alive for God.
This changes everything. Do you believe it? Rejoice in this good news.
This changes everything. Do you believe it? Rejoice in this good news.
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