Tuesday

Related Verses
Rom. 6:4
4 We have been buried therefore with Him through baptism into His death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we might walk in newness of life.

Rom. 5:17
17 For if by the offense of the one death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

Col. 2:12
12 Buried together with Him in baptism, in which also you were raised together with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who raised Him from the dead.

Rom. 5:18, 21
18 So then as it was through one offense unto condemnation to all men, so also it was through one righteous act unto justification of life to all men.
21 In order that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rom. 12:2
2 And do not be fashioned according to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect.

Rom. 8:29
29 Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers;

Related Reading
Many people when reading Romans 6 always miss one phrase. They read that they have been baptized into Christ’s death and that they have been buried with Him, but they miss the phrase baptized into Christ Jesus [v. 3]…Only those who have been baptized into Christ can be baptized into His death. Thus, to be baptized is to be immersed into Christ. Because we have been baptized into Christ, we are in Christ and are identified with Christ. Hence, when Christ died, we also died. (CWWL, 1952, vol. 1, “The Crucified Christ,” p. 446)

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The Christian life is a life of baptism. On the one hand, baptism has been accomplished; on the other hand, baptism continues until we are fully transformed and conformed to the image of Christ. Hence, until this goal has been attained, we continue to live a life of baptism. This means that we are daily under the application of the death of Christ as we experience the effectiveness of His death, which is now one of the ingredients, the elements, in the all-inclusive Spirit. In our daily life we may experience the putting to death of the negative elements within us. This takes place not by doctrine or by a particular practice but by the killing element in the death of Christ included in the all-inclusive Spirit.

[In Romans 6:4] Paul introduces the thought of burial, indicating that we may experience Christ in His burial. In the natural realm death always comes before burial, but in the spiritual realm burial comes before death. When we were baptized, we were buried with Christ. When we were buried with Him, we entered into His death. We do not die directly; we enter into Christ’s death through baptism.

Suppose a certain person repents and believes in the Lord Jesus. He should then be baptized into Christ. To baptize this new believer into Christ is to put him into the death of Christ. When he is baptized, he is actually buried. This burial results in death. This is what it means to be buried with Christ through baptism into His death.

Furthermore, the believers, having been resurrected as Christ was, should walk in newness of life [v. 4]…We were buried with Christ into His death, and now we have been resurrected as He was. Hence, we should walk in newness of life. This newness of life is very much related to the life-giving Spirit, who is Christ Himself in His resurrection. The way to walk in newness of life is the Spirit.

When we are immersed in the water, we enter into death, but when we come out of the water, we enter into resurrection…After baptism we become a new person in resurrection. Resurrection is not only a future state; it is also a present process. To walk in newness of life means to live today in the realm of resurrection and to reign in life [5:17]. This kind of living deals with all that is of Adam in us until we are fully transformed and conformed to the image of Christ (8:29).

We all should walk in this newness of life. We must see that we have grown together with Christ in the likeness of His death, that is, in baptism, and that we will grow together with Him in the likeness of His resurrection, that is, in the newness of His resurrected life…We were buried with Him in baptism, and we are now growing with Him in His resurrection, in His divine life. We must walk according to this vision; that is, we must walk in newness of life. In our daily life and our meetings, we need to live, behave, act, work, and do everything in newness of life. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3051-3053)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1952, vol. 1, “The Crucified Christ,” ch. 9