6:1-2. The questions that open this section demand reflection. A review of God's provision by grace through Jesus Christ should elicit praise to God. But the teaching on God's justification of sinful people (
3:21-5:21) and the statement of
5:20 in particular might lead some to suggest what Paul expressed:
Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? Some may have reasoned that since grace increases "all the more" when sin abounds, then believers ought to sin more so they could experience more grace!
The apostle voiced this idea only to reject it vehemently:
By no means! ([FONT=Gentium !important]
mē genoito[/FONT]; cf.
comments on
3:4) In no way is the abundance of God's grace designed to encourage sin.
.
Then Paul explained why such a thought cannot be entertained. The fact is, Christians
died to sin (cf.
6:7,
11).
The Greek aorist (past) tense for "died" suggests a specific point when the action occurred, at salvation. Death, whether physical or
spiritual, means separation, not extinction (cf.
vv. 6-7,
14).
Death to sin is separation from sin's power, not the extinction of sin. Being dead to sin means being "set free from sin" (
vv. 18,
22). That being true, Paul asked,
How can they
live in it any longer? Obviously believers cannot
live in sin if they
died to it.
.
6:3-4. Paul explained in more detail the spiritual basis for his abrupt declaration, "We died to sin" (
v. 2). Whether the Roman Christians knew it or not, the fact is
that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death. The question here is whether Paul had in mind Spirit baptism (
1 Cor. 12:13) or water baptism.
Some object to taking Romans 6:3 as Spirit baptism because that verse speaks of being "baptized into Christ" whereas 1 Corinthians 12:13 speaks of Spirit baptism placing the believer into Christ's body. Of course, both are true: the believer is "baptized" (placed into) Christ and also into the body of Christ, and both are done by the Holy Spirit.
.
Others take
Romans 6:3 to refer to water baptism, but the problem with that is that it seems to suggest that baptism saves.
However, the New Testament consistently denies baptismal regeneration, presenting water baptism as a public attestation to an accomplished spiritual work (cf., e.g.,
Acts 10:44-48;
16:29-33).
The spiritual reality Paul spoke of is that by faith believers are "baptized (placed) into Christ" and thereby are united and identified with Him.
This spiritual reality is then graphically witnessed to and pictured by believers' baptism in water.
The one baptism (by water) is the visible picture of the spiritual truth of the other baptism (identification with Christ; cf. Gal. 3:27, "baptized into Christ... clothed with Christ").
.
This is supported by the statement,
We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death. Christ's burial shows that He actually died (cf.
1 Cor. 15:3-4).
Christians' "burial" with Christ shows that they in fact died with Him to their former sinful ways of living. The purpose of their identification with Christ in His death and burial is
that just as Christ was raised from the dead (lit., "out from dead ones"; cf.
Rom. 4:24;
8:11)
through the glory (a synonym for God's power; cf.
Eph. 1:19;
Col. 2:12)
of the Father, we too may live a new life (lit., "so also in newness of life we should walk about"). The Greek word "newness" (
kainotēi) speaks of life that has a new or fresh quality. The resurrection of Jesus was not just a resuscitation; it was a new form of life.
In the same way the spiritual lives of believers in Jesus have a new, fresh quality. Also, a believer's identification with Jesus Christ in His resurrection, besides being
the start of new spiritual life now, is also the guarantee of physical resurrection.
.
This work of God at salvation in identifying a believer with Christ's death, burial, and resurrection—thus
separating him from sin's power and giving him a new quality of life—
is the basis of the Holy Spirit's continuing work in sanctification.
.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty.