Romans 6:1-4 – Baptised Into Christ’s Death

Now Romans 6:1 asks,

WHAT shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

 

The questions about our life here now, on earth, before glory.

Romans 5 told us what we have and Romans 6 asks what we do now that we already have those blessings.

The last chapter ended with Romans 5:20-21 saying,

Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

The law came in and showed up sin. But grace overflowed all of it.

Christ appeared, and the kindness and love of God brought salvation through grace as Titus 3:4–7 says.

Romans 5:21 is the first time Paul mentions eternal life. And it’s not just life after death — it’s life now, in Christ.

Most people think eternal life starts after we die and Paul knows that, so Romans 6 starts with the question: If we’re justified by faith and have eternal life in Christ, what about now? Do we just keep living in sin because we’re still in this flesh? Is grace just for later? Or is it OK to just keep on living the most ragged life we can knowing we’re saved anyway?

Paul answers: “God forbid.” It’s the same strong answer he gave back in Romans 3. Back there, people said, “If our sin shows God’s righteousness, isn’t God unfair to judge us?” Paul said, “God forbid.”

Just because our sin makes God look good doesn’t mean He needs us to sin.

He’s righteous no matter what.

People slandered Paul, saying he taught, “Let’s do evil, that good may come.” But Paul said, “Their damnation is just” . That’s Romans 3:8. That’s not the gospel and it’s certainly not what Paul taught.

Romans 5 made it clear — what we do plays zero part when it comes to being in Adam or in Christ. Our works don’t put us in Christ. Christ’s work does.

So someone might think, “If I’m saved by grace, maybe I’m supposed to sin so grace can abound.” But that’s wrong. God didn’t need us to sin to show grace. He gave grace out of His love and righteousness.

So why do people ask, “Can we continue in sin?”

Because when grace is taught, people think it’s about doing whatever we want because we’re saved anyway.

Romans 6:15 asks it again:

What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

 

But that doesn’t register with the religious mind that thinks if we’re not under law, we’re allowed to sin. Paul says no — grace teaches us how to live.

Romans 4 and 5 taught that grace doesn’t depend on our actions. So now Romans 6 asks: Do we just keep living in sin? If grace reigns unto eternal life, why does death still reign in the world? People still die. People still sin. So they ask, “Don’t we still live in Adam?”

That’s the real question behind “Shall we continue in sin?” It’s not just rebellion — it’s confusion. Paul’s going to answer that in Romans 6.

In the last episode we drew the picture how that Adam sinned, and death reigned. Christ died and rose again, and now grace reigns through His righteousness.

That’s Romans 5. One man brought death, the other brought life. But people still think this’s just about eternity which is all after we die in the body and we’re still here in Adam in this life.

Paul says no. Grace doesn’t need sin to exist.

When Romans 6:1 asks, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” And Paul answers: “God forbid,” that phrase shuts the door. It’s a very strong no. Sin is not allowed or encouraged.

“God forbid” shows up 24 times in the Bible, 14 of those times are in Paul’s letters and 10 of those are in Romans.

The Apostle of Grace is the one saying “God forbid” the most. He’s not saying, “Well, if you have to…” He’s saying, “No way.”

Just because we’re saved and in Christ doesn’t mean sin’s okay now.

That idea gets nailed shut here.

There’re some who say “God forbid” is a mistake in the King James Bible because the word “God” isn’t in the Greek and that’s true — but it’s not a mistake.

Translation isn’t always word-for-word and we’ve discussed this before. Sometimes we need idioms to get the meaning across.

An idiom is a saying that doesn’t mean exactly what the words say. It’s a phrase people understand because of how it’s used, not because of the words themselves.

For example, “It’s raining cats and dogs.” Nobody thinks animals are falling from the sky. It just means it’s raining hard.

Or “Break a leg.” We know it doesn’t mean go and hurt yourself. It means “good luck.”

Or “Spill the beans.” Everybody knows it’s not about beans. It means “tell the secret.”

“God forbid” says it better than “Certainly not” or “May it never be.” It’s not wrong — it’s just strong.

So don’t let anyone tell you the King James messed up there. It’s not a mistake — it’s a choice. And it’s the right one.

Paul’s saying sin is never okay.

Romans 8:8 says,

So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

 

So if we’re thinking we’re still in Adam, Paul says, “No — we’re in Christ.” Not just in eternity — now.

That’s a big deal. Being in Christ now wasn’t taught before.

Jesus said “abide in me” in John 15, but people didn’t understand it. Paul says you’re in Christ by the mystery — not by fruit, not by law, but by grace.

Ephesians 3:6 says the we’re fellow heirs, part of the same body, in Christ Jesus now!

So if we’re justified by faith, we’re not in Adam anymore.

We still live in the flesh, but we’ve been quickened with Christ, given life out of our inherited death, inherited from Adam.

The Holy Spirit sealed us and baptized us into His body. That’s something we have now.

But sin never glorifies God.

Romans 5:21 says grace reigns through righteousness — not through sin. Grace doesn’t need sin to exist. Grace was in Eden before sin ever showed up. God gave Adam and Eve everything by grace. Grace is what God does that we didn’t earn.

Grace reigns because of what Christ did — not because sin abounds.

He died, He rose, He conquered death. That’s why grace reigns.

Romans chapters 6, 7, and 8 will show us what life in Christ looks like.

Romans 6 says grace separates us from sin. Romans 7 says grace separates us from the law. And when our mind gets changed — when we realise we’re not under sin or law anymore — we start to live by grace. The law tried to separate people from sin, but Romans 7 says we’re dead to that too.

So, Romans 6, 7, and 8 all deal with how a saved person actually lives now. Romans 8 will later show how the Spirit helps us walk without condemnation, but Romans 6 starts with this big question: “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” to which Paul answers in Romans 6:2,

God forbid. (Then he says), How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

 

Up until we believed the gospel, we lived in Adam. Now we’re in Christ. So why keep living like we’re still in Adam? We don’t owe that old man anything. Paul calls “the old man,” our old life in Adam. That old man is dead. Grace doesn’t just save us — it gives us a new way to live now.

So the progression through Romans continues seamlessly through Romans 5 telling us of all the blessings we have in Christ to Romans 6 showing that grace also teaches us how to live in that new life. It’s not the law, it’s not our works, but Christ in us. This is the grace life.

Paul talks about this again in 2 Corinthians 5:15–17.

And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

 

Since Christ died for all, those who live should not live unto themselves anymore. We don’t know any man “after the flesh” now. Even Christ we don’t know after the flesh anymore. That destroys a lot of Christianity that only focuses on Jesus’ earthly ministry. Paul says if any man be in Christ, he’s a new creature. Old things are passed away, all things are become new.

That’s exactly what Romans 6 is dealing with. The “old things” are Adam, sin, the flesh, the law. The “new things” are life in Christ. So when someone asks, “Shall we continue in sin?” Paul says no — that’s the old thing. You’re in newness of life now.

Paul also says we’re dead to sin in this passage of Romans 6:2.

Notice he doesn’t says we’re dead in sin. Dead in sin is Adam — that’s the whole world. Dead to sin is the believer. And notice he says “we are dead to sin,” meaning right now.

It’s not “will be dead to sin someday.” Not “after we die.” Not “after we get to glory.” Right now.

That’s why the question comes up: “If I’m dead to sin, why do I still walk in it?” Paul’ll answer that in this chapter.

But the truth is that our eternal life begins now. Our position in Christ begins now. Death is no longer the end for us. It’s just the last step before glorification.

Romans 5:11 said, “We have now the atonement.” Not later — now. Atonement means that the separation between us and God has been fixed and we’re reconciled back to Him.

Christ died, and we get the benefit of His death. His death is counted as ours. His death has paid our wages, the wages we’re due for sin which is death. That’s why we’re dead to sin. That’s why we have eternal life now and that’s why grace reigns.

Grace doesn’t reign because sin’s around. Grace doesn’t need sin. Grace was in the Garden before sin ever showed up. Grace reigns because of what Christ did — His death, His resurrection, His victory. Romans 6 will show how grace separates us from sin.

Romans 7 will show how grace separates us from the law. And Romans 8 will show how the Spirit helps us walk in that new life.

Paul’s been showing how in Adam we got everything Adam brought — sin and death — and in Christ we get everything Christ brought — righteousness and life.

That’s why he keeps saying we’re in Christ now. So when we ask, “How should we live?” Paul basically says, “Don’t you remember what we just learned? You’re dead to sin now. Why live in it any longer?”

In Adam, death was the end. Romans 5:12 says death came by one man. Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death. Death used to be the final stop. But Christ died and rose again, and that changed everything. His death doesn’t just pay for our sins — it becomes the starting point of our new life. Death is no longer the thing that crushes us. It’s the doorway into walking in newness of life.

Paul will teach that the first step of the Christian life is to quote “reckon yourself dead”.

That sounds strange because death is what we’re trying to avoid. But Paul says Christ died, and we died with Him, so let’s start there. His gospel begins with death and resurrection. Under Israel’s covenants, Christ’s death was the final act of atonement. But for the body of Christ, His death is the beginning of our life.

Galatians 2:20 says,

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

 

That means sin and the law have no more power over us. Yes, we’re still living in this flesh, but our real life is Christ in us. And the life we now live, we live by the faith of the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us. If righteousness came by the law, then Christ died in vain — but He didn’t. His death’s the only way we live.

Many Christians don’t fully understand that Christ’s death was needed. That’s ignorance of Romans 5 and the mystery. The apostle Peter blamed Israel for killing their Messiah because he didn’t yet understand what Christ’s death would accomplish. It looked like a sad, necessary sacrifice, like killing a lamb. But Paul shows the glory of it.

Christ didn’t just die — He gave His death to me and you.

He performed the act so we could be crucified with Him and reap the benefits of now being freed from the judgment of sin and the penalty, eternal death.

Romans 6:7 says,

For he that is dead is freed from sin.

 

The good news is we’re freed from the consequences and the penalty of sin. Romans 6:8 says,

Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

 

Romans 6:11 says

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Romans 7:4 says we’re dead to the law.

Romans 8:10 says,

But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

 

The body’s dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life.

Colossians 3:3 says,

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

 

This sounds strange because in this world death is bad. But in Christ, death becomes something else.

That’s why believers don’t sorrow like those with no hope. Being “dead” in Christ means we don’t work to earn anything — dead people don’t work. Romans 5 already said we contribute nothing. We’re in Christ, and all the blessings as a result of that are ours by grace.

So Romans 6:2 asks, “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” And the next verses explain what that means.

Paul says, “Know ye not…?” because he’s reminding believers of things they should already know: they’re in Christ, dead to sin, alive to God, and called to walk in that new life.

A lot of true ministry in the church today is reminding believers of what we have and what we are and that’s exactly what Paul’s doing when he says, “Know ye not…?”  He’s reminding people of what they’ve already been taught.

Then he brings up baptism for the first time in Romans 6:4.

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

 

Then right away people go directly to their church traditions of water, sacraments, ordinances, confession, tubs, pastors. But none of that came from Romans.

Paul never mentioned water once. What has he talked about?

Christ’s death, our faith, and us being in Christ. So when he says we were “baptised into Jesus Christ,” he means we were baptised into His death. That’s the whole point. Baptism is identification and we’re identified with Christ’s death.

He says “so many of us” because not everybody in Rome was saved. If you’re still in Adam, you’re not baptised into Christ’s death — you’re just dead in Adam’s sin. But if we believed the gospel (Romans 4–5), we’re in Christ, and that’s how we got baptised into Him. Not by water. Not by a priest. Not by a pastor. By faith.

Water isn’t mentioned in Romans at all. Paul barely mentions it anywhere. But he does talk about baptism in 1 Corinthians 12:13:

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

 

That “One body” is Christ.

That’s the same thing he’s saying in Romans 6. How were you baptised into Christ? “By one Spirit.” Not by water. Not by man. But by the Spirit of God.

Why do so many miss this? Through a failure to divide the Word of God correctly as per 2 Timothy 2:15. The result is one more case of seeing what Jesus and the 12 apostles instructed Israel and missing what Jesus, through Paul, instructed us, the Body of Christ, today.

Tradition and history replace the whole counsel of the Word of God.

But tradition and history isn’t the Bible.

For most of church history, the Bible wasn’t even the final authority. Remember that it wasn’t till the 1600’s that the Bible began to be available to every person, commoner and elite alike.

Even the Nicene Creed — which most churches claim — says “we believe in baptism for the forgiveness of sins.”

That’s water baptism saving you. Catholics believe that. The Orthodox church believes that. Lutherans believe that and a lot of ordinary Christians believe that. But, Paul never teaches that.

Romans 4–5 says salvation is by faith, not works, not rituals, and not water.

Yes, Jesus taught water baptism in Matthew 28. Peter preached it in Acts 2. John baptized with water. Israel had water ceremonies. But Paul is the apostle of grace, the apostle of the Gentiles, the one who received the revelation of the church. And Paul never commands water baptism for salvation or blessing.

The real question isn’t “When did the church begin?” was it with the disciples? If so wouldn’t the teaching they received from Jesus be the same for us today?

Well the real question is “When was the message of the church revealed?” How could anyone be the church when there was no message relating to it, no message that defined it?

The doctrine of the church is found only in Paul’s epistles. We can’t pattern the church after something that wasn’t revealed yet. Before Paul, nobody knew Romans 5 truth. Nobody knew about being in Christ, justified by faith alone and walking in newness of life.

So even if the church existed, they couldn’t live like it because the message wasn’t revealed yet.

That message was given to Paul directly by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself which we see in Acts chapter 9.

So when Paul says in Romans 6:3 that we were baptised into Christ’s death, he’s not talking about water. He’s talking about what he’d already taught, that Christ died for our sins, we’re justified by faith, we’re in Christ, and His death is counted as ours.

That’s how we get the all-important atonement which enables reconciliation back to God. That’s how we get eternal life. We’re baptised into His death by the Spirit the moment we believe.

Paul’s reminding them — and us — of what we should already know. We’re in Christ. We’re dead to sin. We’re dead to the law. We’re alive to God. And none of that came by water. It came by the gospel of Christ and the Spirit who put us into His body.

All this about baptism matters because people tend to turn back from the teachings to the church in Romans to the time before Paul and before this mystery dispensation of grace was revealed to him by Christ.

They grab water‑baptism instructions, given before the mystery was revealed, before Acts chapter 9, and try to squeeze them into them into the Body of Christ.

For everything else — salvation, Christian living, walking in the Spirit — they’ll go to Pauls epistles yet turn back to the time before the dispensation of grace, to the time of the law to pull water baptism out and try to force into the body of Christ.

Why?

Traditions of men, traditions of the organised church and it’s denominations, traditions that very often discount or outright reject the change in dispensation that happened as a result of Israel’s rejection of their Messiah.

How critical it is for us in the Body of Christ to recognise this change in God’s dealings with mankind.

Paul does teach baptism in Romans 6. But the Bible has more than one baptism, and not all of them are water and there’s a list below this recording of the different baptisms mentioned in the Bible.

Galatians 3:27 says,

For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

 

That’s the same thing as Romans 6 — being identified with Christ. But how did we get baptised into Christ?

Galatians 3:26 tells us:

For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

 

Children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” No water mentioned.

Ephesians 1:13 says,

In whom (Christ) ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

 

When we hear the gospel and believe it, we’ re sealed with the Holy Spirit.

That Spirit baptism puts us into the body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:13 says it this way,

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

 

That happens the moment we believe — not later, not after a class or after a ceremony.

Acts 8 shows something totally different.

The Samaritans believed, but didn’t receive the Holy Ghost until Peter came and laid hands on them.

That fits Israel’s kingdom program, not the body of Christ.

In the church today, we receive the Spirit when we believe — not by so called apostles laying hands on us, not by water, nor any other rituals.

Some churches say water baptism is needed for salvation, forgiveness, or membership. But that can’t be the body of Christ, because we’re placed into the body by the Spirit when we believe.

If a local church group wants a ceremony, fine, no one’s going to be damned for partaking in the ceremony but we should realise, through rightly divided study, that it’s not God’s baptism, it’s a ritual that man wants to hang on to from the time of the law, before this dispensation of grace that we live in today.

The Romans 6:3 baptism is simple.

It only becomes confusing when people bring church traditions into the text. Paul never mentions water in Romans. He hadn’t baptised anyone in Rome.

In 1 Corinthians 1:17 Paul’s writing to the Corinthians who had many problems with their spiritual walk. He’s trying to sort out the confusion and the wrong doctrine that had entered and corrupted what he’d first taught them. Remember, the letter to the Corinthians was written before the letter to the Romans.

Baptism was one of the doctrines the Corinthians were messed up about and Paul’s sorting them out. He says to them,

For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

 

He even says, in 1 Corinthians 1:14, “I thank God I baptized none of you… He says, “Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel.”

If water baptism were required for salvation or forgiveness under Paul’s ministry, He could never have thanked God he didn’t do it.

That’d be like saying, “I thank God I didn’t get any of you saved”, and that’s nonsense, of course.

Paul’s commission was different from the commission given to Israel through Peter and the other 11. In Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:16, and Acts 2:41 we do see water baptism Paul wasn’t even saved then.

His gospel doesn’t include water baptism. His gospel was preached after the blinding of Israel, shown in Romans 11:25, and the introduction of this new dispensation of grace that was the result of Israel’s rejection of all that happened in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and early Acts.

His message is the preaching of the cross — the gospel of grace — and by that gospel the Spirit baptises us into Christ the moment we believe.

Jesus appeared to Paul (Acts chapter 9) and sent him personally with the dispensation of the grace of God — a message nobody knew before then. Paul was saved by grace without works, and he was sent to preach that same message to the Gentiles. That’s why he doesn’t bring up water in Romans.

The list included below shows different baptisms in the Bible. There’s more than one.

Many of them are dry, no water. That alone shows baptism doesn’t automatically mean water.

So when Romans 6 mentions baptism, and Paul hasn’t said a word about water, sprinkling, pouring, or dunking, it’s clear he’s talking about being identified with Christ, not a water ritual.

The only baptism he talks about is the one that puts us in Christ, not in Adam, identified with Christ and no longer identified with Adam — and that happens by faith, not by works or rituals.

We don’t get newness of life or the atonement by water. Some say you “touch the blood through the water,” but that’s just not in Scripture. Baptism means being immersed into something for identification. Israel used water to identify with ritual cleansing. They dunked themselves in mikvahs to show they were clean. But that was symbolic cleansing, not spiritual salvation.

If we’re baptised into Christ’s by the Holy Spirit, we’re identified with His atonement, redemption, and forgiveness — all the things churches wrongly try to attach to a water ritual.

John’s baptism was for forgiveness of sins, but he wasn’t preaching the cross. So baptism never meant to be a water only thing. It meant identification.

Romans 5 already taught that we’re either in Adam or in Christ. If we’re in Christ, we’re identified with Him. That’s baptism.

So when Paul says, “Know ye not that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?” he’s saying: “Don’t you know you’re identified with His death?” That’s the whole point. If you’re in Him, you’re in what He did — and what He did was die.

Church tradition later tried to explain Romans 6:3 by saying water baptism symbolises Christ’s death. But Paul never said that.

The water‑symbol idea came centuries after Romans 6:3. Jesus isn’t water. Being baptized into Christ doesn’t mean being baptised into water. Paul says you’re baptised into His death in Romans 5 — the one act that brought life.

Jesus Himself had two baptisms.

Luke 3 shows His water baptism, where the Father said, “Thou art my beloved Son.” That identified Him with Israel. But in Luke 12:50 Jesus says,

But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!

 

He’s talking about His death.

“How am I straitened” means to hold everything together till it was accomplished.

That’s the baptism Paul’s talking about. If Jesus had a water baptism and a death baptism, and Paul says you’re baptised into His death, it’s obvious which one he means.

Water never put anyone into Christ. The Spirit does. Water never gave atonement. Christ’s blood does. Water never made us dead to sin. Christ’s cross does. The only baptism we need is the one Christ accomplished — His death — and the Spirit places us into that the moment we believe.

So let’s read Romans 6:3-4 together,

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

 

We’re identified with Christ, His death, His burial, and His resurrection. We’re buried with him by baptism into death.

Why?

Because if we’re in Christ, then what He did counts for us. He died — so we died. He was buried so we were buried. He rose so we rose to have newness of life.

Paul’s taking everything he taught in Romans 5 about being “in Christ” and now applying it to how we live. If we’re in Him, then you walk in the life He gives.

Some say the burial here is water. But if the burial is water, then the resurrection must be you coming up out of the water — but that doesn’t give new life. Romans 6:4 says our new life comes from Christ being raised by the glory of the Father. That’s God’s work, not yours.

 

Colossians 2 teaches the same thing. The whole chapter says we’re complete in Christ.

Colossians 2:10,

And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

 

We don’t need ordinances or rituals.

Colossians 2:12 says we’re,

Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

 

That’s not the operation of a minister or a ceremony. God does it. The same God who raised Christ from the dead is the one who gives us life. That’s why Paul says in Romans 8 that the Spirit who raised Christ will quicken our mortal body.

This’s the whole point: in the body of Christ there are no priests, no spiritual superiors. Christ is the Head. We’re the body. God does the saving, the sealing, the baptizing, the raising. We preach the gospel — He does the work.

So the question was in Romans 6:1, “Shall we continue in sin?”

Paul says, “How can we? We’re dead to it.” Why dead? Because we died with Christ. And if we died with Him, we also live with Him. That’s the life we walk in now — His life in us.

Paul isn’t really trying to teach a whole doctrine of baptism. He’s reminding us who we are. We have new life, eternal life now. So, the life we live in the flesh is the life of Christ. That’s how we live by grace. And Romans 6 is going to keep building on that and showing the mechanics of how we walk in that new life while we’re still here in a corrupted world in corrupted flesh.