|
BAPTISM INTO CHRIST JESUS, BAPTISM INTO HIS DEATH
Any study on BAPTISM must, at the very least, consider each baptism separately and fitting each into its own category of people, time, place, elements, and the end results,
or, stating it differently, distinctions must be made as to the BAPTIZER, The BAPTIZED, The BAPTISM, and THE RESULTS or EFFECTS of that baptism.
The ideal baptism should, at the least, meet certain criterions, a few are sugggested:
1. God must be the BAPTIZER.
2. The BAPTISMAL ELEMENT must be of intrinsic worth so that the inherent value derived from it is never less than the whole.
3. The BAPTISM must be operative irrespective of place, i.e., desert, arctic, space station, moon, a distant planet, or, as the malefactor--nailed to a tree without the
benefit of water or religion.
4. Such a BAPTISM must be for all people, everywhere.
5. Such a BAPTISM must be fully consistent with the Dispensation of the Grace of God, with the Salvation by grace, through the Faith, without works of neither merit or
demerit being involved.
6. If God ideally is the BAPTIZER then Christ in His perfect person and complete work must be the Baptismal element.
7. The result of such a baptism must have its impact upon God, Christ, the individual, and be effective and efficacious for all time.
Thankfully there is a BAPTISM that meets the ideal and transforms it into absolute reality in every respect.
The Old Testament mode of Baptism was primarily one of washing, or if purifying rites were involved then ceremonial sprinkling was practiced. The latter was usually
done by a priest and the other by ones own self.
The Greek language was the universal secular and trade language of the Roman Empire while Latin was the official and literary language. Most men of the street could
speak Greek or a dialect of it while the Jewish Diaspora were called Hellenists or Grecians because they were Greek speaking Jews that had, at least to a degree, embraced Greek culture--whereas those
spoken of as Hebrew were Aramaic-speaking Jews, Aramaic was the language of ancient Syria and about the 6th C.BC replaced Hebrew as the language in the Near East and it was written in the Hebrew alphabet. Some Aramaic utterances are preserved in the Gospels. The influence of the Greek language in the Greek New Testament has had far-reaching effects and in many ways has molded or deeply influenced theological concepts--some with disastrous results. The wealth and riches of the Greek language as well as its universality made it a worthy language-vehicle to carry the message of God to all. Nearly all N.T. reference and translating material is drawn from Greek manuscripts. So it is not amiss to look back into Greek culture and their usages of words to find their meaning and see how the N.T. uses these same words albeit with often a higher meaning.
The Greek meaning of BAPTISM as used in their secular literature was that of DEATH:
If an army was BAPTIZED, it was DESTROYED.
If a ship was BAPTIZED, it was SUNK.
If a swimmer was BAPTIZED, he was DROWNED.
If a city was BAPTIZED, it was put to
the SWORD.
If a SWORD was BAPTIZED, it was PLUNGED in a body so as to cause DEATH.
Because of the common violent associations with the word BAPTISM the Greek writers used it as a synonym for death, killing, or drowning. Out of this harsh usage came
the thought of DIRE INFLUENCE, that is, being overtaken and overwhelmed by death, suffering, destruction, debts, fear, corruption, destroying influences as drink or poison. In all these
baptisms, the closeness of the baptism and the baptized are held to, so that a close relationship between the two was established, hence a BAPTISM OF DEATH was common.
Two vital concepts were inherent in the classical Greek usage of Baptism:
1. DEATH or DIRE CONSEQUENCES.
2. THE IDENTITY OF THE BAPTIZED WITH THE BAPTISMAL ELEMENT and its ENSUING RESULTS.
|
To illustrate:
|
A city besieged
|
was
|
its Baptism
|
|
|
by the sword
|
was
|
its element
|
|
|
The Result
|
was
|
its death
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
To apply this:
|
Christs Cup
|
was
|
His Baptism
|
|
|
Crucifixion
|
was
|
Its Element
|
|
|
The Result
|
was
|
His Death
|
|
The Divine Purpose
|
The Result
|
Our
|
Death in Him
|
|
Note the prediction of Christ respecting a Baptism He looked for and was soon to experience:
But I have a BAPTISM to be BAPTIZED WITH, and how am I pressed till it be accomplished. Luke 12:50 Young's Literal Translation
Christ predicted for Himself a future baptism with which he was to be baptized. He was not the
BAPTIZER, rather He is the object to be baptized and God is the BAPTIZER. Christ had a death to die
and was under extreme pressure until this was fully accomplished. Luke 9:51 and John 18:11b bear this out:
And it came to pass, in the completing of the days of His being taken up (crucified, Cf. John 12:32-34, Greek Analepsis) that he fixed His face to go on to Jerusalem. . . Young's Literal
Translation
Put the sword into the sheath; the CUP that the Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it? Young's Literal Translation
Reference to the CUP followed the usual usage of the Greek culture, meaning the CUP OF DEATH.
To "give the cup" to someone was to cause him to be put to death. It was a method of death used among the Greeks, as with the CUP of Hemlock given to Socrates causing him to expire by
progressive paralysis.
The setting for this DEATH BAPTISM OF CHRIST is given in Matthew 20:18,19,22 & 23. Portions are quoted:
"Lo, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered to the Chief Priests and
Scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the nations to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify, and the third day He will rise again. . ."
The mother of James and John interrupted the Lord with a request that her two sons be given the
favored status in His kingdom; Christ resumed speaking so as to respond to the request and yet affirm His soon-to-Death Baptism:
“. . . ye have not known what ye ask for yourselves; are ye (all) able to drink of the CUP
that I am about to drink? And with the baptism that I am baptized with, to be baptized? They
say to Him, 'we are able.' And He saith to them, 'Of My Cup indeed ye (all) shall drink, and
with the Baptism that I am Baptized with, ye shall be baptized. . ." Matthew 20:22,23 Young's Literal Translation
The context here as well as in Mark 10:38,39, is His coming trial with its mocking, scourging,
crucifixion, and death. This was CHRIST'S DEATH BAPTISM. This, His CUP, given by the Father, He
would drain to its last bitter dregs. This was the Baptism that He was to be Baptized with--death was to be conquered by death, He alone of all its victims, need not have died.
The DEATH-BAPTISM of Christ was not enacted within the enclosure of faith or unbelief. It is God's
method of settling the problem of sin; by judicatorily and forensically exacting its penalty in the death
of Christ. He would still be just and holy in His person and yet acquit the offender. It was God in
Christ acting out the last great drama on the public court-stage of Calvary. Sin, embodied and personified as the barrier between God and mankind, is dealt its death-blow as creation goes into
its mourning garb of darkness as its Creator dies on an old rugged tree.
The enshrouding gloom was His baptismal dress, and the cry, "FINISHED" heralded the obliteration
of all the pages of sin's offenses that could ever keep God from men or men from God. In this Divine baptismal act God's redress of mankind's ills was accomplished.
This was not a spiritual baptism, it was historical, factual, and actual. William R. Newell wrote:
. . . but it is not our appropriation that makes it true. It is true of believers, of those in Christ, that they
are partakers of the death of that Christ (Who) died on Calvary, whether they know it and believe it or not. The Epistle to The Romans, P. 28, line 6.
Luke 12:50 . . . I have a BAPTISM to be BAPTIZED. . . I have a DEATH to be DIED. . .
Mark 10:38 . . . Can you drink of the CUP that I drink of? . . . Can you drink the CUP of DEATH?
The Apostles should have comprehended what Christ was saying to them; but Luke 18:31-34; 9:45,
etc. recounts their inability to understand what was being told them. Without understanding what
Christ had said, they claimed ability to share His Cup, His Death-Baptism. They were thinking of a geo-political kingdom, not of a death-baptism that would resolve the whole issue of sin and
redemption. Christ was not speaking of another WATER BAPTISM, which had already taken place for them years before, but of a baptism pending His death with which He and His hearers, and
others were to share.
THE BAPTISM OF ROMANS 6
The temptation is to ignore the great issues brought up in this chapter and to stress only the verses
mentioning baptism into death or baptism into Christ Jesus. The weighty issues involved deserve attention and it may be that in time to come the resolution of these issues will far outweigh the
question of whether or not "water baptism" is symbolized here in any way.
Young's Literal Translation of Romans 6:1-11 has the advantages of clarifying some of the tenses
involved with these great truths and seeks to be as literal to the Greek as a translation allows and
still be readable English. Robert Young is the author of the Young's Concordance. His translation follows: Vs.
1. What then shall we say? Shall we continue in the sin that the grace may abound?
2. Let it not be! We who died to the sin-how shall we still live in it?
3. Are ye ignorant that we, as many as were BAPTIZED to (Gr. eis=into, unto) His death were BAPTIZED?
4. We were buried (entombed) together (jointly), with Him through the BAPTISM to the
DEATH, that even as Christ was raised (roused) up out of the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we in newness of life might walk.
5. For, if we have become planted (grown) together to the likeness (sameness) of His DEATH, so also we shall be of the rising again;
6. This knowing, that our Old Man was crucified with Him, that the body of the sin may be made useless, for our no longer serving the sin;
7. For he who hath died hath been set free (Gr. Justified) from the sin.
8. And if we died with Christ, we believe that we also shall live with Him.
9. Knowing that Christ, having been raised (roused) up out of the dead, doth no more die, death over Him hath no more lordship.
10. For in that He died, to the sin He died once, and in that He liveth, He liveth to God;
11. So also ye, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to the sin, and living to God in Jesus
Christ our Lord.
The underlying theme of the Roman Epistle is God's equable means of justifying all, hence all types
of persons are illustratively singled out, the degraded, the ethically correct, those under Moses, those ignorant of the Law of God, the godless, the active enemy of God, the weak, and the religious
attainer. The setting is jurisprudential and answers the legal and ethical questions of how man shall
acquit himself before God. From God's side it resolves the issue of God being Holy and Just and yet does acquit and justify the race from guiltworthiness.
If one, however, seeks to read into this chapter the usual moral and spiritual life of the Christian, its
meaning will be forever elusive, since the concept of being "dead" as a corpse is dead to the
promptings of the flesh, is not true to life, fact or experience. That such expectations are striven for
and held by some in nowise detracts from the truth that others holding to the opposite view also
seek to live a life in accord with God's will while admitting their trials and temptations feel far from
being dead to sin, and very much alive to its pull. It is strange that those holding to "conditional
salvation" should teach sinlessness and yet be able to lose their salvation upon "sinning." Much of
the language used in Romans is that of a court room, that is, forensic-legal language, one must
therefore conclude that the arguments set forth are primarily legal ones. In this context the very
tenses of the Greek Text heighten the very grandeur of Christ's work having been fully, perfectly,
and completely accomplished so long ago and our being united to Him in it by God alone. The manacles of sin that would weigh man down before God must be struck from him--never to be an
issue to keep him from God. God proves this demonstratively in the events of Calvary, wherein He,
in the person of Christ, shows forth and yet vindicates His justice, holiness, and His love. It is true
whether or not it is known, understood, or realized. Believing it does not make it more true; unbelief
does not diminish it. The act was accomplished without our being consulted, and before our birth.
God, in Christ's person and work, assumed the penal liability associated with all the sin, as Creator
He can do no less; as Kinsman-Redeemer, relating Himself to our humanity in Christ's manhood, He
can do no more. No one need question God's justice or His love, ever. In Christ He gives . . . Himself.
"WE WHO DIED TO THE SIN" -- WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
The Authorized Version reading ". . . we that are dead to sin . . ." poses a dilemma that cannot be
resolved - for if you are dead to sin, as a corpse is dead, then the question of a corpse-like person
being able to sin is out of the realm of possibility. A better translation in line with the judicial aspect of the issue would be to place it in the Greek aoriat tense, not the present perfect:
This is saying, in effect, in some past event, you have, once for all, died to the sin. The whole sin
issue, which by its nature occasions alienation from God and interposes a legal as well as a moral
wall between man and God, must be bridged. This wall existed in respect to Christ in the same way it existed in respect to man, vs. 10:
. . . for in that He died, He died to THE SIN . . . (The Greek grammar is identical in both cases)
The fact that identical language is used of Christ and of man "having died to the sin" must act as a
means to safeguard any interpretation made of these verses. Man does not die to anything in his human nature--the human nature Christ took upon Himself was not sinful and He did not sin even
though His body was subject to weakness and to death--He alone of all humanity did not need to die
. He alone of all humanity could give His life. It was His life. It was His legal obligation and His
unique privilege; it was all of "law" because only God in Christ could assume the obligation, and all
of "grace" so that none would claim a ground for boasting, and none would be left out because
destitute of merit. So "grace" was to reign, the grounds of justification had been laid in a historic death . . .
The text does not say, "Christ died FOR sin . . .," nor does it say, "Christ died BECAUSE of sin," or,
"Christ died in BEHALF of sinners." It does not say that man has died to an "old" nature--as some would have it.
To have died TO something means that first you must have died in some way. The next state would
follow in due course. If you have already died, then in the normal course of events you would be
dead to everything. In the case of Christ it is to be understood as a literal death, not a spiritual death
--this sounds profound but is unknown in Scripture. When Scripture states that Christ became sin
on our behalf, 2 Cor. 5:21, it does not mean He became sinful, nor did He commit sin--nor was the horror of all the evil deeds done since the dawn of time placed upon Him so that He was too
"aweful" to be looked upon as the darkness crowded around His form on that afternoon. To be
made "SIN" meant exactly what it meant in the O.T., i.e. "Sin" and "Sin-Offering" are the same word
in the Hebrew language (cf. Gen. 4:7). In Ex. 30:10; Lv. 4:3; 6:25; 8:2; and Ps. 40:6 "Offering" is
added to clarify the meaning and it should have been added in 2 Cor. 5:21 for the same reason: and
Eph. 5:2 should add "Sin" to Offering, and translate . . . "hath given Himself up for us, a SIN Offering
. . ." This was a judicial act of identification whereby the death of the ONE was accepted as that of
the other. The victim was not tortured or defaced in any way, rather it was treated with the utmost
dignity and honor; indeed, it had to be perfect to be accepted, not defiled. Christ died only ONE
DEATH, once for all. It is never to be repeated even in a symbolical form regardless of how sentimental the reasons--certainly not because of the David-Prince of Eze. 45 who offers sin
-offerings for himself and the people (Eze. 45:22), this would include his own sons, (Eze. 46:18).
This is NOT Christ, the whole context belies this. God accepted the ONE for the ALL. Christ did not
reflect in any way what was most wretched in humanity or the world at that moment of death. Rather, He reflected what is most noble in God, God IN CHRIST reconciling the world unto Himself,
becoming in Christ the SIN-OFFERING. The end of a perfect life is not death but uncorruptibility--yet
death by sin had invaded humanity, not merely the death of body-parts wearing out from old age but
that a death-factor had been introduced like a virus into mankind. It was this SIN-DEATH factor with which God was ultimately concerned. The first step toward its remedy was a legal one,
justification in respect to the sin that would call into question God's essential holiness and justice, yet--love and grace to the errant race. Both principles must be operative:
Who was delivered up (to death) on account of our offenses, and was raised (from the dead) on account of His having justified us. Rm. 4:25.
So also, the GRACE (Gift) may reign through the justification unto life eternal through Jesus Christ our Lord. Rm. 5:21. Williams Translation
How then did we die to the sin?
The same way that Christ died to the sin! We died in the person of Christ. His death was literal and
actual; by God constructively making Christ's death ours, we died to the sin. The sin of the race
was that for which He died, once for all. Having accomplished that task perfectly, He was therefore, because of this perfect accomplishment, raised from the dead as Romans 4:25 (quoted
above) states it. The sequence is logical:
HAVING BEEN JUSTIFIED, therefore, from faith (the faith of Christ as bluntly stated in Gal.
2:16, 17, 20) we have peace toward God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Rm. 5:1.
Peace toward God was now a reasonable response on our part as a result of Christ's faithfulness.
In respect to God He offers an intimate relationship based upon the very same terms with which His Christ is regarded, esteemed, positioned, and loved. God will regard us with the same love He
expresses to and in Christ. He sees us "in Christ" and Christ "in us." He positions us as a recipient
of all that is "promissory" in Christ Jesus. His love arouses a kindred love in our hearts for He is
worthy. He will ever be faithful to Himself and to us. What is said of Christ is said of us, truly the way to and from God is wide open:
In keeping with the aforegoing is the following:
Or, do you not know that we, so many as were BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST JESUS were BAPTIZED INTO HIS DEATH? Rm. 6:3
To express the thought another way:
. . having died to the sin, do you not know that we, so many as were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death and all that this death signifies?
This is "CHRIST'S DEATH BAPTISM." This is that of which Christ spoke to His Apostles.
God was the BAPTIZER.
Christ was the BAPTIZMAL ELEMENT
a. In His Death the sin met its nemesis - its retributive justice so that the race could be
justified and God could be just.
b. In His entombment and His being roused out from among the dead was proof that God accepted His perfect person and complete work.
The Result: His identification with us, and ours with Him. What was ours became His, and His became ours.
. . . so many as were BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST JESUS were BAPTIZED INTO HIS DEATH.
No man, whether priest, prelate, pastor, or pope, can place a person "INTO CHRIST JESUS" and 'INTO HIS DEATH."
Kenneth S. Wuest expresses it well:
No ceremony of water ever did that. The entire context is supernatural in its character. Studies in the Vocabulary of the Greek N.T.
William R. Newell, in his earlier book on Romans, wrote:
The expression, "Baptized into Christ Jesus" must refer to a far deeper thing than an external ordinance.
Christ spoke of a future BAPTISM that He was to be BAPTIZED with . . . death cast its shadow upon
Him in the garden where with strong crying and tears He was saved out of a premature death, Heb.
5:7, its immediacy was withheld until the appointed time, at Calvary. God initiated persons into Christ Jesus, they are initiated into His ACTUAL death, that being His vicarious death.
Note the preliminary results of this BAPTISM:
1. For the death that He died, He died (as to) the sin, once for all . . . Rm. 6:10
2. We died with Christ . . . Rm. 6:8
3. We died to the sin . . . Rm. 6:2
Thus, in Christ's death the legal factor of sin is canceled out so as to be a dead issue in respect to
man's approach to God and God's approach to man. He was thereupon freed from the constraint
imposed upon Himself by His inherent holiness. In the death of Christ, in Christ's DEATH BAPTISM,
He was judicially free to JUSTIFY THE UNGODLY, Rm. 4:5, and all others. Because of this legal
justification, the aborted penalty, and the total lack of hindrance on God's side, we are able to
believe in Him, to have faith, and to trust Him. It is the height of folly for one to believe in someone he
does not know, to have faith in someone who might be faithless, to trust someone who has given
no proof by deeds of trustworthiness. God has embodied all these credentials in Christ, in Christ's
faith and faithfulness. So stemming from Christ's faith we have faith, out of God's forgiveness we are forgiven and because He loves . . . we love.
The next step in this Divine Baptism is ENTOMBMENT.
We, then, were ENTOMBED TOGETHER (jointly) with Him through BAPTISM INTO DEATH . . . Rm. 6:4a Concordant Version
The Greek text reads, ". . . jointly entombed . . ." We were placed in Joseph's stone enclosed tomb.
The A.V. leaves the impression of a modern-day burial beneath the earth. Joseph's Sepulchre was
. . . hewn out in the rock . . . Mt. 27:60. The entrance could be opened or closed by moving a large
(likely round) stone door, Mk. 16:4. It was a Sepulchre in the midst of a garden, Jn 19:41. It
employed a gardener, Jn. 20:15. It was an enclosed area with gates needing keys - the reference to ". . . the gates of hades . . ." Mt. 16:18. Hell=Gr. Hades, a Greek word meaning the "Unseen,"
referring the body hidden away in the Sepulchre-tomb. The quotation of 1Cor. 15:55 comes from
the LXX (Gr. O.T.) which reads, "O Unseen where is your sting?" The A.V. uses "death" as it translates from some manuscripts that have "hades" in the text while others do not. If Paul was
quoting from the LXX text then it would be his only usage of "Hades." While usage is the only safe
guide to the meaning of words it is interesting to observe that at the time the Bible was first
translated into English "hell" had a different meaning than the supposed "hell-fire" usually attributed
to it. Potatoes were "helled," covered out of sight by earth. Children were sent to "hell" at night,
sent out of sight to the garret or attic. Skeat observes: "(E) M.E. helle. A.S. hel, gen. Helle; orig., that which hides, fr. Teut. to hide, allied to Cell, conceal." What Christ was saying in Mt. 16:18 was
that the gates of hades, the enclosing gates of the Sepulchre area as well the enclosing walls and
door of the tomb could not hold Him. Death's abode had upon it the Imperial Seal with its Guardians
to insure it would stay closed until after three days. The word translated "buried" in the A.V. means
to "pay the last dues to a corpse" whether to burn or entomb it. To "entomb" it was to lay it in a
room as Christ was laid. In Deut. 34:6 the A.V. mistakenly speaks of Moses being "buried" whereas
the LXX speaks correctly when it says, "They funeraled him." They could not entomb him without
knowing where his sepulchre was located, Deut. 34:6 (LXX). They could have a funeral-memorial
service for him. Lazarus was entombed in a cave, Jn. 11:38, not under six feet of earth. It is
unfortunate that "buried" is left in the text of Rm. Ch. 6 and Col. 2:12 --a watery baptismal grave
imagery theory has been built around the concept of an under earth burial. Most spulchres were
"up." not "down," and if possible, in a mountainside cave. Jews did not bury in water, so the
"watery grave" theory is flawed when it is spoken of as representing an entombment with Christ; a
flooded sepulchre would be more in keeping if one must retreat to types, rites, rituals, and shadows to convey a sense of the reality of what God has given in Christ - having been already given the
reality, what purpose is served by types? They belong to a bygone "kindergarten" day. As surely
as we have already died with Christ in His death, just so surely did God co-entomb us in Joseph's
rock-walled Sepulchre. Christ's death and entombment was not for Himself, but for the race He
died and was entombed. The "three-days" entombment with soldiers guarding the Sepulchre was
considered legal proof of His death. The "foot-long" spear-head entering His side and heart was
confirmation to Pilate of His death. The five leaden-weighted whip-scourging-examinations (Romans induced confessions by means of torturous scourging, thinking this to be the easiest and
best means of obtaining the truth) were more than sufficient to kill an ordinary man.
The outmost reach of Christ's death is clearly stated:
In 2Cor. 5:19 it is reconciling the whole world--whether Christ dying for the ungodly "weak," Rm. 5:6
, or merely the "mark-missers" (sinners), Rm. 5:8, or the actual or would-be enemies, Rm. 5:10.
This is beautifully expressed in another way:
The Scriptures speak of THE OLD SERPENT, (Rev. 12:9), and, OLD THINGS, 2Cor. 5:17; and that the
conduct belonging to the OLD MAN is to be put off as the mind is renewed and thus the NEW MAN is
put on, Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:9,10. The NEW MAN is an "imaging" or "living" out the Life of Christ from
within. The OLD MAN must therefore be ADAM, in whose image and likeness was not only Seth
begotten but all that followed, Gen. 5:3-4. Adam is reflected in the race, the good and the bad, but
he is not the goal nor height of God's aspirations for mankind. This is set forth in a beautiful way in the following passages:
. . . until we all advance into the oneness of The Faith and of the full-knowledge of the Son
of God, into a Man of Full growth, into a Measure of Stature, of the Fulness of the Christ. Rotherham, Eph. 4:13
. . . put on you the NEW who is being moulded afresh into full-knowledge, according to an IMAGE of Him that created him. Rotherham, Col. 3:10
. . . to get to know the knowledge-surpassing love of the Christ, that ye may be filled up to all THE FULNESS OF GOD. Rotherham, Eph. 3:19
In looking at the goal to which all of God's designs for mankind was aimed one can then see what
was THE SIN that all of mankind was involved in. That all should have missed this mark of God's
design is no cause to go on to despair-guilt trip but one should rather ponder that God aspired so high for us all. A much abused text is that of Rm. 3:23:
For all sinned, and are coming short of the Glory of God. Rotherham
The word used for "sin" here and mostly throughout the greek N.T. is "Hamartia," literally, a missing
of the mark. In the LXX (Gr. O.T.) it is used of one shooting an arrow and missing a target. The
"coming short" of the Glory of God has reference to the person of Christ in Whose face is seen the Glory of God, 2Cor. 4:6. To paraphrase the text would make it read:
For all have missed the Mark (Christ), and as a consequence are constantly coming short,
(as an arrow falling short of its mark) of the Glory of God exemplified in the person of Christ.
The OLD MAN, the old humanity of Adam's race, the offspring of Adam - what we are conceptually
by nature and heredity - this too must meet its end, however "good" it might have been, or ill with
sin's disease. All must go through the crucible of Christ's DEATH BAPTISM, so that God may treat
the whole race on an equal basis, and so none may boast because of having special privileges nor others look at their sinful unworthiness and feel there is no redress or remedy for their waywardness.
GROWN TOGETHER IN THE SAMENESS OF HIS DEATH
. . . planted together in the likeness of His death A.V. Rm. 6:5
What means this "planted?' The Authorized Version leaves the impression of something "planted" in
the ground. Rather, the thought is of one being united in the likeness of Christ's death. Translated
literally the text would read "grown" together in the sameness of His death." This would be a fusion
with Christ in His death--Likeness-sameness. God has united us in the "same" death Christ died in His Death-Baptism.
THE ROUSING FROM AMONG THE DEAD
The sequence of events as they relate to the DEATH BAPTISM are as follows:
Christ was crucified. Christ died. Christ was entombed in a Sepulchre. Christ was roused from
among the dead, experiencing a renewal of life. Christ was glorified. Others shared this Baptism.
Not one of the above items are symbolized by immersion in water. Not one of these items are made
a reality by water baptism in any manner, form, or fashion. Not one of these items are made operative by man's efforts or by any denominational-hierarchical religious sytem.
AWAKENED FROM THE DEATH-SLEEP BY THE GLORY OF THE FATHER.
We then, were entombed together (with) Him through BAPTISM INTO DEATH; that, even as Christ was roused from among the dead through the Glory of the Father, thus we also
should be walking in newness of life. Rm. 6:4 Concordant Ver.
The A.V. uses "raised" from the dead in this passage. It is more in keeping with the usage of this Greek verb, "egeiro" to translate it by the word, "roused" or "awakened:"
Mt. 8:25: . . . and awoke Him, saying . . .
Rm. 13:11 . . . it is time for you to awake out of sleep . . .
Eph. 5:14: . . . Awake (egeire) you sleeping one, and arise (anasta) from among dead.
To cease to be asleep is to be awake. Christ had been awakened from among the dead. 1Cor
.15:20 speaks of Him as being a "First-fruit" (not, "First-fruits") of those who had been asleep, i.e., dead. Egeiro=to rouse up from sleep. Passive, to awake, occurs 141 times, of which 70 refer to
an arousing from the sleep of death. "Anasta," the other word cited in the Ephesian passage, is
translated in the Nestle-Marshall text as "stand up." Paul applies this Isa. 60:1,2 passage in a
paraphrase form to those who might be tempted to live indolent lives - this might also be the meaning
of the Phil. 3:11 passage, except there the "dead ones" might well be those of his nation, as in Isaiah, of whom he would want to stand up and out from their blindness.
The GLORY of the FATHER awakened Christ from the sleep of death. It is usual to be awakened or
roused from sleep, not "raised up" from sleep. When the "Glory" of God has been seen, other than
in the direct person of Christ, it has taken the visual form of a "Cloud of Splendor" - seemingly a
living flame and spoken of as beyond the brightness of the sun. This glory entered Joseph's Sepulchre, and death fled. Christ had prayed:
I glorified Thee on the earth, the work finishing which Thou has given to Me that I should do
(it). And now GLORIFY ME, Thou, Father! With Thyself, with the GLORY which I was
having, before the world's existence, with Thee. Jn. 17:4,5. Young's Literal Trans.
Upon leaving the sepulchre, it is recorded, Mt. 28:3,4, that Christ's countenance was like lightning -
from the fear of Him the guards became as dead. The GLORY was restored. This portraiture of His
"arousing" from among the dead is carried over into the Ephesian Letter (Eph. 1:17-23) as a pattern
of the riches of the glory of the heritage of God to His own, even to the excelling greatness of God's power displayed in the seating of Christ in the supra-heavenlies as being what God has in
store for the Body of Christ, and that as a precursor of what God has for the greater whole. The
passage cited (Eph. 1:17-23) is illustrative of the variegated facets of our hope, God uses Christ as
that illustration, since our future is infinitely united to His. God would be remiss if He did not also
grant the "GLORY." This is granted, Col. 3:4. Whenever, however, or wherever Christ is made
visible, then , too, the Body of Christ, individually and collectively, will be seen with Him, in glory.
Thus, we all are hidden, as Christ is hidden, in God, where the GLORY resides, Eph. 3:3,4.
No wonder that all have missed this wondrous mark in their efforts, seeking and striving. Christ is
the rightful IMAGE of man: his person, hopes and dreams.
|
Scripture Research - The Baptism Edition 
