The Christian life is the baptized life, united with Christ. Truly, the power of Christian baptism is our link with Jesus Christ, our identification with his Story, our sharing with his life, death, burial, and resurrection, and one day soon, his glory. To be a Christian means, for the rest of our lives, a union and oneness with Christ, a participation in his life. Now, his life is our life, and his purpose, our purpose.

Baptism encapsulates many images and symbols. Paul’s emphasis in Romans 6 is our union with the person of Jesus. Jesus died for our sin and was buried in a tomb. In baptism, we go down into the water symbolizing our own death and burial, not of our body, but of our old self enslaved to sin and death. Our old life is over. We died with Christ, and we were buried with him.

Lord Jesus, thank you for the cross. Through your suffering, death, and burial, we find freedom. I pray that all who have been baptized would truly be dead to sin and alive in you.

Baptism is more than a backwards-looking event rooted in the ancient past; it publicly changes our identity in the present and commissions us for future mission and ministry as members of Christ’s royal priesthood.

~ Uche Anizor and Hank Voss, Representing Christ. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2016. p. 124.

Let God Arise! Seasonal Focus
Live a Baptized Life, Romans 6.1-5

Book Reading
Breslin, Embracing Our Priestly Nature at Work