Union With Christ
How does Paul describe the incorporation of humans into Christ? Rom. 6:3–6, 2 Cor. 5:17.
No one is automatically in Christ apart from a personal faith commitment to Him. Our incorporation by faith into Christ expresses itself in baptism. The importance of this rite is vast.
First, it is a public declaration that the death of Christ was our death and that through His resurrection we are part of a new creation, a new humanity. Second, we did not die “in Christ,” but we were “baptized into his death.” Through baptism we joined Him in His sacrificial death, thus establishing a permanent relationship with Him. Third, the phrase “baptized into Christ” is interpreted by Paul to mean that we died “with Christ” (Rom. 6:3, 8, NIV) and that we were made alive “with Christ” (Col. 2:13, NIV). This is participatory language, indicating that our death to sin and our new life take place only and exclusively in union with Christ and never apart from Him.
In other words, the full benefits of Christ’s death are appropriated by us only when we by faith join Him in His death and resurrection. Dying with Him means recognizing Him as our Savior. To recognize Him as Savior means that we see in Him the Son of God dying on the Cross for our sins and rebellion, and that we experience repentance, baptism, and the forgiveness of sin (Acts 2:38). True conversion requires more than recognizing and accepting biblical truth. It calls for an acknowledgment of our true condition as sinners in order to help us realize that, separated from Christ, we are destined to a life of total slavery to sin and death and that our desperate condition can be radically changed only by coming to Jesus. This happens as we are united to Christ’s death.
Finally, our incorporation in the resurrection of Christ means that He has become our only Lord. Our participation in the power of His resurrection indicates that sin no longer rules over us. Paul asked, “We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Rom. 6:2, NIV). For him it is inconceivable that Christians will be controlled by the power of sin. Yet, he is aware of the fact that sin, though dethroned in our lives, is still attempting to rule over us again. Hence he writes, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires” (Rom. 6:12, NIV). This is possible through the power of the Holy Spirit received at our baptism. Our participation by faith in His death and resurrection are inseparable and testify to the fact that we belong to Him (Gal. 3:27, 29; Col. 2:12).
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