Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Burying Old Man in Baptism
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Galatians 2:15-21
Verse 15 declares that being born an Israelite indicates a privileged birth. The privilege results from being part of the Old Covenant nation, thus having direct contact with God's Word, which contains His promises and instructions. This provides the possibility of faith because faith comes from hearing God's Word (Romans 10:17). However, even having that privilege is of itself no benefit regarding justification. Why? Because a person is justified only through faith in Jesus Christ. Through this means and this means only, a person is declared righteous or innocent of sin. Thus, if one does not take advantage of its availability, the availability itself is of no value. Faith in Jesus Christ and His message is what is important about this way of life. Paul makes a definitive statement regarding obedience following justification by faith in verses 17-18. The thing that he destroyed through faith and repentance was his former way of life with its mountain of sin accumulated during his unconverted life before justification. Paul was determined not to return to that sinful way. To do this, he had to live to God (verse 19), that is, to obey God's laws so that he would not sin and therefore bring to naught his justification through Christ's sacrifice. He is clearly stating that keeping God's laws is required, even though keeping them does not earn salvation. We need to make sure that we understand this important reality: Being justified is a major step toward salvation, but this does not mean that the person's character is now fully changed. It means only that the charges for sin against him are removed, and he is legally declared innocent on the basis of Christ's divine righteousness. Justification is a judicial action by a judge—God. The term indicates an aligning of a forgiven person with a standard. In this case, the standard is the law of God. Justification does not happen automatically to all but solely to those whom God calls, forgives, and unites with Christ because they believe in the efficacy of His death as the divinely given Substitute to pay the death penalty for their sins. They have humbled themselves before Him and fervently desire to glorify God through a vastly changed life. Character is a group of qualities that cannot be transferred by fiat. It is created throughout life, either by experiences in this world or by experiences within a relationship with God. We desire to be in the character image of God. In His purpose, the creating of godly character takes place during the sanctification process. The New International Version renders Romans 10:17 as, "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Paul uses "faith," one's belief, in the sense of trust. At the point of justification in a person's spiritual life, faith is not producing works; it is merely the mental activity of believing. The works come later as the sanctification process begins and continues. This faith, this trust, has its foundation in knowledge that God has supplied by enabling the called person to reach the right conclusion, a conclusion based in fact. His trust is therefore not blind; it is based, not on speculation, but truth. In Galatians 2:18, Paul shows that being justified by faith does not lead to a life of sin. Being justified by faith indicates a commitment in the mind of the justified to go forward, building on the relationship by being established with Christ. Verse 19 begins with the word "for," indicating the reason why the justified person will not return to the old way of life. By faith, Paul understands the reason: As far as the law is concerned, he is dead. His debt to it has been satisfied. Verse 20 continues the thought. Like Christ died, the "old man," the carnal Paul, also died and was symbolically buried in the waters of baptism. Also like Christ, he has been raised from the dead—symbolically—from the waters of baptism. This is done for the sole reason that, by means of the very faith of Christ that he has been given, he would live life as Christ lived. The life Christ lived was sinless. He did not break God's laws, and that is the objective of the new creation and salvation.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Living By Faith and God's Grace (Part Two)
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Hebrews 9:27
Both Hebrews 9:27 and Romans 6 make use of the same verb, apothnesko, for “die.” Additionally, the context of Hebrews 9:27 is general, providing no specific meaning of the verb “die.” It simply says everyone dies once. Logically, therefore, apothnesko in Hebrews 9:27 could refer to baptism, as it clearly does in Romans 6. Is there conclusive evidence that the general statement in Hebrews 9:27 can refer to the death of baptism? Indeed, there is! Romans 6:9 is key: “[F]or we know that the Messiah, who was raised from the dead, will never die gain; death no longer has mastery over Him” [ISV]. Herein is the connection between Romans 6 and Hebrews 9: “Once” is at the core of the concept of both. Christ died once and was resurrected. Human beings die biologically once, their sleep to be ended by a resurrection. Through baptism, Christians die once “as far as sin is concerned,” and ascending from the water, experience a resurrection to “an entirely new life” (Romans 6:4). Paul's enigmatic, almost oxymoronic, statement in Colossians 3:3 provides a second witness to the idea that baptism is death: “For you have died [apothnesko], and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Manifestly, the apostle does not have biological death in mind here since, after a person physically dies, he has no life, hidden or otherwise. Paul does not mention baptism in this verse, realizing that God's people understand this hidden life to be the new life that begins at the death of the old man. The use of the present perfect tense in Greek (rendered “is hidden” in the ESV) indicates that this life exists now. It is not a life that begins at a later time. Our new life in Christ begins at our baptism, not at the time of the first resurrection. (Our life in and with Christ continues as a result of the first resurrection, our bodies then having been changed from mortal to immortal.) We are now enjoying that new life. Pointedly, none of this—our descent into the water, our rising from it to “newness of life” (Romans 6:4 [KJV]), or our experiencing the first resurrection—has anything to do with our biological death. Biological death may interrupt the new life that began with baptism. But, in the case of those alive at Christ's return, their new life will not be interrupted by biological death. Those individuals will simply experience a change from mortal to immortal, as Paul describes in I Corinthians 15:53, where biological death is not requisite for change to take place. No physical death will take place for those people. Thus, the clause “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” has at least two valid applications: 1. In the case of those whom God has not called in this age, the verb “die” refers to biological death. After this death is the White Throne Period, evidently a period of a hundred years (Isaiah 65:20) during which those participating in the second resurrection will be "judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done" (Revelation 20:12). 2. In the case of those whom God has called in this age, the verb “die” refers to the death represented by the first part of the act of baptism, the death (and burial) of the old man. Subsequent to this death as well is a period of judgment, as the apostle Peter mentions at I Peter 4:17: “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God.” Romans 6:4 indicates that the death of the old man in baptism is just as real, from God's viewpoint, as is biological death: “Therefore, through baptism we were buried with Him into His death.” The Christian may or may not experience biological death, depending on circumstances, as expressed by Paul in I Corinthians 15:51. But, by definition, the Christian will experience death through baptism. From God's perspective, the death mentioned in Hebrews 9:27 can refer to the death a child of God experiences in baptism. I Corinthians 15:51, referring to the fact that some Christians of the last days will not die, and Hebrews 9:27, referring to the fact that all die, do not contradict. For, true Christians of yesterday and today have died—or better, their old self is dead—through baptism. That death is all that is necessary in respect to God's decree that all die (at least) once. The true Christian, alive at the time of Christ's return in power and great glory (Matthew 24:30) has already died. His proximate continuance of eternal life (as defined in John 17:3) at the time of the resurrection of the just (Luke 14:14; Acts 24:15) does not constitute a contradiction to the twofold meaning of Hebrews 9:27.
Charles Whitaker
Dying—Once in a Lifetime (Part Two)
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