Thursday 18 April 2024
But If we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. (vs 9-10)
Background
What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘baptism’? For many people it’s a baby being sprinkled with water, hopefully cooing and smiling. Paul’s picture of baptism would have been very different. Those being baptised were completely immersed in water, often in a river. It must have felt as though they were drowning – and that is Paul’s starting point for explaining how we find new life in Christ.
Baptism is a symbol of dying and rising. We have died with Christ, not on the cross but in the waters of baptism, which overwhelm but are then overpowered in turn. And now we live with Christ, in God’s new future. In this future, sin can no longer harm us because its power over anything and everything is broken by death – so the resurrection life is a place where sin cannot have any impact.
For Paul, this is a ‘now and not yet’ reality. When we read his letters, it’s obvious that he is writing to churches who can fall out with each other and go astray in all sorts of ways – just like churches today. Baptism does not make people perfect, and all Paul’s references to life with Christ are set it in the future. Yet if we are already baptised, we have already died and risen with Christ.
Is Paul contradicting himself? Maybe rather he is holding together two different perspectives on the times we live in. Some scholars see the present day as ‘in between times’. The power of sin is broken but not yet gone. God’s future is open to us but not yet fully accessible. One day, Christ will return and our life will be made perfect with Christ. We are not there yet, but neither are we in the times before Christ when sin reigned unchecked. We are in transit, the earlier stage left behind, the later stage in sight but not yet in reach. We have died with Christ; we will also live with him.
To Ponder:
- What would you want to talk about with someone who asked you why baptism matters?
- Many Christians think of themselves as being on a journey. How helpful do you find it to set our individual journeys in the context of a community journey from a sin-filled past to a sin-free future?
Prayer
God of past, present and future, thank you that you promise us life with Christ, free from the power of sin. Help us to live as people on the way to perfect love and, when we fail, help us to keep on hoping and trusting in Jesus' victory over death. Amen.
Bible notes author: The Revd Dr Caroline Wickens
Caroline currently serves as Superintendent for the Manchester Circuit. She has previously worked in theological education in the UK and overseas, mainly teaching biblical studies, and enjoys exploring the ways in which theological studies interact with life in the circuit.