A basic mark of being a Christian is to have received the sacrament (the sign and seal) of baptism. What does your baptism mean? It is often thought of as something that we are saying–as we receive baptism we are confessing our trust in Christ. Though that is certainly part of what baptism means, especially when an adult is being baptized, at its most basic level, baptism is not about something that we are saying or doing, but, rather, about what God is saying or doing. As you are baptized, God is, in effect, marking you as belonging to him.
In the 101 Bible Study we are looking at Romans 6 this Friday. The inspired apostle reflects that you have been baptized into Christ, united to him in his death and resurrection. Because of that union with Christ, the believer has experienced a definitive break from the power and domain of sin.
“As surely as Christ rose from the dead so surely shall we walk in newness of life.” (John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans, NICNT Vol. 1, p. 216).
And:
“It is only because sin does not reign that it can be said, ‘Therefore let not sin reign.’. . . To say to the slave who has not been emancipated, ‘Do not behave as a slave’ is to mock his enslavement. But to say the same to the slave who has been set free is the necessary appeal to put into effect the privileges and rights of his liberation. So in this case the sequence is: sin does not have the dominion; therefore do not allow it to reign.” (John Murray, p. 227)
