Romans 6:4

6:4 we died and were buried with Christ: The believer’s power over sin and the ability to lead a new life stem from identification with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection (see 6:5, 8). From God’s perspective, Jesus’ death to sin (see 6:10) is ours as well. His rising to new life means that we also begin to lead a new life, and in the future our bodies will also be raised.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rom 6:4. Συνετάφημεν, we were buried with Him) The fruits of the burial of Christ. Immersion in baptism, or at least the sprinkling of water upon the person, represents burial, burial is a confirmation of [facit ratam] death.—εἰς, into) Construed with baptism, with which comp. Rom 6:3.—ὥσπερ—οὕτω, as—so) An abbreviated expression for,[56] As Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we should also rise, and as Christ reigns for ever in the glory of the Father, and in that life to which He has risen, so we also should walk in newness of life.—διὰ, by) By concerning the Father is also found at 1Co 1:9.—τῆς δόξης, the glory) Δόξα is the glory of the divine life, of incorruptibility, ch. Rom 1:23, of the power and virtue, by which both Christ was raised, and we are restored to a new life, and are conformed to God, Eph 1:19, etc.—ἐν καινότητι, in newness) Ch. Rom 7:6; 2Co 5:15, etc. This newness consists in life.

[56] See App., under the title Concisa Locutio.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_6:4. An inference from Rom_6:3, by which the impossibility indicated in Rom_6:2 is now made completely evident.

Buried with Him therefore (not merely dead with Him, but, as the dead Christ was buried in order to rise again, buried with Him also) were we, in that we were baptized into His death. The recipient of baptism, who by his baptism enters into the fellowship of death with Christ, is necessarily also in the act of baptism ethically buried with Him (1Co_15:4), because after baptism he is spiritually risen with Him. In reality this burial with Him is not a moral fact distinct from the having died with Him, as actual burial is distinct from actual dying; but it sets forth the fulness and completeness of the relation, of which the recipient, in accordance with the form of baptism, so far as the latter takes place through κατάδυσις and ἀνάδυσις (see Suicer, Thes.), becomes conscious successively. The recipientthus has Paul figuratively represented the processis conscious, (a) in the baptism generally: now am I entering into fellowship with the death of Christ, εἰς τὸν θάνατον αὐτοῦ βαπτίζομαι; (b) in the immersion in particular: now am I becoming buried with Christ; (c) and then, in the emergence: now I rise to the new life with Christ. Comp on Col_2:12.

εἰς τὸν θάνατον] is necessarily, after Rom_6:3, to be joined with διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσμ., in which case, since one can say βαπτίζεσθαι εἰς τι, the connecting article was not required (comp on Gal_3:26; Eph_3:13); consequently: through baptism unto death. It is not however specially the death of Christ that is again meant, as if αὐτοῦ were again annexed; but the description is generalised, agreeably to the context, in a way that could not be misunderstood. Whosoever, namely, as Paul has just set forth in Rom_6:3, has been baptized unto the death of Christ, has in fact thereby received baptism unto death; i.e. such a baptism that, taken away by it from his previous vital activity, he has become one belonging to death, one who has fallen under its sway. This however is just that relation of moral death, which, in the concrete, is the fellowship of the death of Christ. The connection with συνετάφ., in which εἰς τ. θάνατον is sometimes referred to the death of Christ (Grotius, Baumgarten-Crusius), and sometimes to the death of sin (Calovius, Wolf, Winzer, Progr. 1831), is erroneous, for this reason, that whosoever is buried does not come into death, but is in it already; and hence the becoming buried into death would yield quite an incongruous conception. This also applies against the expedient tried by Hofmann of making θάνατος here the death-state of Christ, unto which we were given up. Even in this view that incongruity continues:[1394] but after Rom_6:3 θάνατος can only be again death simply, not state of death (as if Paul could not have conveyed that sense by εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον, or ΕἸς ΤΟῪς ΝΕΚΡΟΎς, or in some other suitable way). Observe, moreover, how Paul here also, since he has the bodily resurrection of Christ in view,[1395] mentions specially the correlative of the burial that preceded it. Comp on 1Co_15:4.

ἽΝΑ] purpose of the συνετάφημεν.… θάνατον, and this statement of purpose has the chief importance, corresponding to the Πῶς ἜΤΙ ΖΉΣΟΜΕΝ ἘΝ ΑὐΤῇ in Rom_6:2.

ΔΙᾺ Τῆς ΔΌΞ. Τ. ΠΑΤΡΌς] through the majesty of the Father was the resurrection of Christ brought about. The δόξα, כָּבוֹד, the glorious collective perfection of God, certainly effected the raising of Jesus chiefly as omnipotence (1Co_6:14; 2Co_13:4; Eph_1:19 f.); but the comprehensive significance of the wordselected with conscious solemnity, and in highest accordance with the glorious victory of the Sonis not to be curtailed on that account (in opposition to Koppe, Baumgarten-Crusius, and earlier expositors). According to the invariable representation of the N. T. God is the raiser of Jesus (Rom_4:24, Rom_8:11; Act_2:24; Act_2:31 ff. et al[1397]; see on Joh_1:19); but yet the δόξα of God does not in this case any more than elsewhere in the N. T. denote God Himself (Langer, Judenth. in Paläst. p. 210 ff.). Erroneously however Theodoret, Theophylact, and several Fathers explain: διὰ τ. δόξ. τ. πατρ., τουτέστι διὰ τῆς οἰεκίας θεότητος. Linguistic usage admits as in itself allowable the view of Castalio and Carpzov: in paterna gloria resurrexit, so that διά would be used of the state; to which also van Hengel inclines. But, had Paul desired to express a relation corresponding to the ἐν καιν. ζ. in the apodosis, he must have inserted ἐν also; since the conception of the raising of Jesus through the Father was one of so solemn importance, and all the more appropriate here, since believers also owe their moral resurrection-life to the Father of Christ (Eph_2:10 al[1398]); it is in fact the life of regeneration. Besides, the paterna gloria was attained by Christ only through His ascension. See on Luk_24:26.

ἐν καινότητι ζωῆς] in a new (moral) constitution of life;[1399] a stronger way of bringing out the idea of ΚΑΙΝΌΤΗς, than ἘΝ ΖΩῇ ΚΑΙΝῇ would be, for which it does not stand (in opposition to Grotius, Koppe, Reiche, and others). See Winer, p. 221 [E. T. 309]. Comp Rom_7:6. According to van Hengel ΖΩῆς is the genitive of apposition: in novo rerum statu, qui vita est. But this qui vita est is self-evident; and therefore the emphasis must remain upon καινότητι. This newness is the ethical analogue of the new estate in which Christ was alive from the dead, conceived in contrast to the ΠΑΛΑΙΌΤΗς which prevailed prior to baptism. Comp Rom_6:8.

[1394] This cannot be got rid of by any artificial turns (like that of Hofmann: His burial removed Him from the sphere of sin expiated through His death.… whereby His existence in the world of sin came to a complete close). Certainly the θάνατος of the Lord, even regarded as a state, occurred at that great moment when He cries His τετέλεσται and departs; and in nowise has He been translated into the θάνατος through His burial.

[1395] i.e. His resurrection as respects the buried body; so that the latter no longer remained in the grave, but came forth thence living and immortal. That the body of Christ vanished and made room for a new pneumatic body (Holsten, z. Ev. d. Paul u. Petr. p. 133), is an unsuitable conception, seeing that the pneumatic body must necessarily have been assumed even in death, and independently of the burial of the old body. Thus the resurrection of Jesus would be nothing else than the change of body that took place in death.

[1397] t al. and others; and other passages; and other editions.

[1398] l. and others; and other passages; and other editions.

[1399] τὴν καινὴν πολιτείαν τὴν κατὰ τὸν παρόντα βίον, ἐκ τῆς τῶν τρόπων γινομένην. Ὃπου γὰρ ὁ πόρνος γένηται σώφρων καὶ ὁ πλεονέκτης ἐλεήμων καὶ ὁ τραχύς ἥμερος, καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἀνάστασις γέγονεν, Chrysostom.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom 6:4 . This symbolism interpreted. συνετάφημεν οὖν αὐτῷ κ . τ . λ .: Therefore we were buried with Him (in the act of immersion) through that baptism into His death burial being regarded as the natural sequence of death, and a kind of seal set to its reality. Cf. 1Co 15:3 f. It introduces a false abstraction to say (with Meyer) that εἰς τὸν θάνατον means “unto death,” not “unto His death”: death in the whole context is perfectly definite. διὰ τῆς δόξης τοῦ πατρός : in nothing was the splendour of God’s power revealed so much as in the resurrection of Jesus, Eph 1:19 f. ἐν καινότητι ζωῆς : in life of a new quality; cf. Rom 7:6 , 1Ti 6:17 : the construction makes the new quality of the life prominent. Winer, p. 296.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_6:4

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death. This is an inference from Rom_6:3, to confirm the proposition in ver 2, viz. that those dead in sin cannot live therein. Therefore, says the apostle, such being the nature of our union with Christ, expressed in baptism, it follows, that those who are baptized are buried with Christ; they are as effectually shut out from the kingdom of Satan, as those who are in the grave are shut out from the world. The words διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσμαπος εἰς τὸν θάνατον go together; by baptism unto death, i.e. by a baptism which has reference to Christs death, and by which we are associated with him therein. We are buried with him, i.e. we are cut off from the world in and with him. If the words unto death are connected with we were buried, the sense would be, we were buried unto death, i.e. we were buried so as to come into the power of death. But this is an incongruous idea, and an unexampled form of expression. As in Rom_6:3 the apostle had said εἰς τὸν θάνατον αὐτοῦ ἐβαπτισθημεν, there is no reason to doubt that he here designs to speak of baptism unto death. Compare Col_2:12, buried with him in baptism. The same idea is expressed in Rom_6:8, by saying, we are dead with him, and in Rom_6:5, we are planted with him in the likeness of his death. It is not necessary to assume that there is any reference here to the immersion of the body in baptism, as though it were a burial. No such allusion can be supposed in the next verse, where we are said to be planted with him. The reference is not to the mode of baptism, but to its effect. Our baptism unites us to Christ, so that we died with him, and rose with him. As he died to sin, so do we; as he rose to righteousness and glory, so do we. The same doctrine concerning baptism, and of the nature of union with Christ, therein expressed, is taught in Gal_3:27, and Col_2:12.

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 die with Christ, in order that we should live with him. We share in his death, that we may be partakers of his life. Justification is in order to sanctification. The two are inseparable. There can be no participation in Christs life without a participation in his death, and we cannot enjoy the benefits of his death unless we are partakers of the power of his life. We must be reconciled to God in order to be holy, and we cannot be reconciled without thereby becoming holy. Antinomianism, or the doctrine that the benefits of the atonement can be enjoyed without experiencing the renewing of the Holy Ghost, is therefore contrary to the very nature and design of redemption. As Christ died and rose again literally, so his people die and rise spiritually. As Christs resurrection was the certain consequence of his death, so is a holy life the certain consequence of our dying with Christ. There is not only an analogy between Christs literal death and resurrection, and the spiritual death and resurrection of the believer, but there is a causal relation between the two. The death and resurrection of Christ render certain the justification and sanctification of his people. Paul says Christ rose, διὰ τῆς δὸξης τοῦ Πατρός, by the glory of the Father. Δόξα, glory, is the excellence of God, the sum of all his perfections, or any one perfection specially manifested. The exhibition, therefore, of Gods holiness, or of his mercy, or of his power, is equally an exhibition of his glory. Here the reference is to his omnipotence, which was gloriously displayed in the resurrection of Christ. In 1Co_6:14, and 2Co_13:4, it is said Christ was raised ἐκ δυνάμεως Θεου~, by the power of God. In Col_1:11, the apostle refers the sanctification of believers to the κράτος τῆς δόξης Θεου~, to the power of his glory. It is according to the analogy of Scripture, that the same event is attributed at one time to the efficiency of the Father, and at another to that of the Son. Christ rose from the dead by his own power. He had power to lay down his life, and he had power to take it again. This is perfectly consistent with the apostles declaration, that he was raised by the power of God. The three persons of the Trinity are one God. The efficiency of the Father is also the efficiency of the Son. What the Father does, the Son also does. That we should walk in newness of life, ἐν καινότητι ζωῆς. The idea of purity is associated with that of newness in the word of God a new heart, a new creature, the new man. Newness of life is a life that is new, compared with what is natural and original; and it is a holy life, springing from a new source. It is not we that live, but Christ that liveth in us; and therefore our life is, in its manifestations, analogous to his. His people are like him.

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That Christ himself being discharged of his infirmity and weakness, might live in glory with God forever.

And we which are his members rise for this end, that being made partakers of the selfsame virtue, we should begin to lead a new life, as though we were already in heaven.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Therefore we are--rather, "were" (it being a past act, completed at once).

buried with him, by baptism into death--(The comma we have placed after "him" will show what the sense is. It is not, "By baptism we are buried with Him into death," which makes no sense at all; but, "By baptism with Him into death we are buried with Him"; in other words, "By the same baptism which publicly enters us into His death, we are made partakers of His burial also"). To leave a dead body unburied is represented, alike in heathen authors as in Scripture, as the greatest indignity (Rev 11:8-9). It was fitting, therefore, that Christ, after "dying for our sins according to the Scriptures," should "descend into the lower parts of the earth" (Eph 4:9). As this was the last and lowest step of His humiliation, so it was the honorable dissolution of His last link of connection with that life which He laid down for us; and we, in being "buried with Him by our baptism into His death," have by this public act severed our last link of connection with that whole sinful condition and life which Christ brought to an end in His death.

that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father--that is, by such a forth-putting of the Father's power as was the effulgence of His whole glory.

even so we also--as risen to a new life with Him.

should walk in newness of life--But what is that "newness?" Surely if our old life, now dead and buried with Christ, was wholly sinful, the new, to which we rise with the risen Saviour, must be altogether a holy life; so that every time we go back to "those things whereof we are now ashamed" (Rom 6:21), we belie our resurrection with Christ to newness of life, and "forget that we have been purged from our old sins" (Pe2 1:9). (Whether the mode of baptism by immersion be alluded to in this verse, as a kind of symbolical burial and resurrection, does not seem to us of much consequence. Many interpreters think it is, and it may be so. But as it is not clear that baptism in apostolic times was exclusively by immersion [see on Act 2:41], so sprinkling and washing are indifferently used in the New Testament to express the cleansing efficacy of the blood of Jesus. And just as the woman with the issue of blood got virtue out of Christ by simply touching Him, so the essence of baptism seems to lie in the simple contact of the element with the body, symbolizing living contact with Christ crucified; the mode and extent of suffusion being indifferent and variable with climate and circumstances).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. We are buried with him by baptism into death] It is probable that the apostle here alludes to the mode of administering baptism by immersion, the whole body being put under the water, which seemed to say, the man is drowned, is dead; and, when he came up out of the water, he seemed to have a resurrection to life; the man is risen again; he is alive! He was, therefore, supposed to throw off his old Gentile state as he threw off his clothes, and to assume a new character, as the baptized generally put on new or fresh garments. I say it is probable that the apostle alludes to this mode of immersion; but it is not absolutely certain that he does so, as some do imagine; for, in the next verse, our being incorporated into Christ by baptism is also denoted by our being planted, or rather, grafted together in the likeness of his death; and Noah's ark floating upon the water, and sprinkled by the rain from heaven, is a figure corresponding to baptism, 1Pe 3:20-21; but neither of these gives us the same idea of the outward form as burying. We must be careful, therefore, not to lay too much stress on such circumstances. Drowning among the ancients was considered the most noble kind of death; some think that the apostle may allude to this. The grand point is, that this baptism represents our death to sin, and our obligation to walk in newness of life: without which, of what use can it or any other rite be?

Raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father] From this we learn, that as it required the glory of the Father, that is, his glorious energy, to raise up from the grave tho dead body of Christ, so it requires the same glorious energy to quicken the dead soul of a sinner, and enable him to walk in newness of life.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. We have then been buried with him, etc. He now begins to indicate the object of our having been baptized into the death of Christ, though he does not yet completely unfold it; and the object is — that we, being dead to ourselves, may become new creatures. He rightly makes a transition from a fellowship in death to a fellowship in life; for these two things are connected together by an indissoluble knot — that the old man is destroyed by the death of Christ, and that his resurrection brings righteousness, and renders us new creatures. And surely, since Christ has been given to us for life, to what purpose is it that we die with him except that we may rise to a better life? And hence for no other reason does he slay what is mortal in us, but that he may give us life again.

Let us know, that the Apostle does not simply exhort us to imitate Christ, as though he had said that the death of Christ is a pattern which all Christians are to follow; for no doubt he ascends higher, as he announces a doctrine, with which he connects, as it is evident, an exhortation; and his doctrine is this — that the death of Christ is efficacious to destroy and demolish the depravity of our flesh, and his resurrection, to effect the renovation of a better nature, and that by baptism we are admitted into a participation of this grace. This foundation being laid, Christians may very suitably be exhorted to strive to respond to their calling. Farther, it is not to the point to say, that this power is not apparent in all the baptized; for Paul, according to his usual manner, where he speaks of the faithful, connects the reality and the effect with the outward sign; for we know that whatever the Lord offers by the visible symbol is confirmed and ratified by their faith. In short, he teaches what is the real character of baptism when rightly received. So he testifies to the Galatians, that all who have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. (Galatians 3:27.) Thus indeed must we speak, as long as the institution of the Lord and the faith of the godly unite together; for we never have naked and empty symbols, except when our ingratitude and wickedness hinder the working of divine beneficence.

By the glory of the Father, that is, by that illustrious power by which he exhibited himself as really glorious, and as it were manifested the greatness of his glory. Thus often is the power of God, which was exercised in the resurrection of Christ, set forth in Scripture in sublime terms, and not without reason; for it is of great importance, that by so explicit a record of the ineffable power of God, not only faith in the last resurrection, which far exceeds the perception of the flesh, but also as to other benefits which we receive from the resurrection of Christ, should be highly commended to us.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(4) We are buried with him.—Burial, is the consequence of death. It is the seal set upon it, as it were, which shows that no revival is possible. Besides, it is the one step which separates it from resurrection. The idea of “buried with Christ” is therefore introduced, on the one hand, to show that the ethical death with Him was final and decisive, and on the other, to prepare the way for an ethical (as well as physical) resurrection with Him.

Into death.—The ideas of physical and moral death and resurrection and life are inextricably blended in the thought of the Apostle.

By the glory of the Father.—The resurrection of Christ is more usually and more naturally ascribed to the power or Omnipotence of God. The word “Glory” is here to be taken as standing for the sum of the divine perfections, power being included among them, “the Majesty on High.”

Even so.—It is to be observed that the mysticism is here resolved into a relation of resemblance. The resurrection of Christ, and the new life of the Christian, are compared instead of being identified. The Apostle does not say “being dead with Christ, let us rise with Him;” but, “as Christ rose again, so we also should walk in newness of life.” The mystical expression for this is given in the next verse.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. we are buried with him] Better, we were buried, &c.; the reference being to the past fact of baptism. Burial is the final token of death, and so the strongest expression of death as a fact. Perhaps there is an allusion to the immersion of baptism, as a quasi-burial. (The only parallel passage is Col_2:12.) But the significance of the rite would not depend on such a form of it: the essential is that every true baptism is the ratification of covenant connexion with Christ and His Death. It thus lays the baptized Christian, as it were, with the Lord in that grave where He lay as the slain Propitiation; i.e. it ratifies our share in the Justification of the Cross.

by baptism] by means of baptism, i.e., of course, not by the mere act, but by all that is involved in a true baptism. Baptism is not an isolated thing, but a summary and seal.

into death] Better, into the death, the Lord’s Death. Connect these words with “we were buried.” The whole idea is a union with Christ as the Slain One, so real that it is expressed by the figure of a share in His grave.

that, &c.] The sequence indicated is as follows:—Our new position and conduct as Christians was both to be, and to seem, radically new; as new as resurrection-life after death. Therefore our admission to the covenant was by a rite essentially connected with the Lord’s Death, and thus intended both to remind us of the price of justification, and of the totally new position, principles, and conduct, of the justified.

by the glory of the Father] By the majestic harmony of His Power, Holiness, and Love; all consenting in the great miracle. Perhaps the thought is suggested here that the same “glory” shall be exercised in the “new life” of the justified.

walk in newness of life] i.e. move and act with the new principles and powers of those who, as the justified, are “born again to a living hope.”—“Newness:”—the Gr. word expresses not so much youth as novelty; a condition without precedent in our experience.—“Life:”—in the sense not of a course of life, but of the principle of life. Through the Death of Christ, the justified “live;” in the “newness” of that condition they are to “walk.”—Here again (as in Rom_6:2) note the transition of ideas; from a “death to sin” (with Christ) in respect of penalty, to a “life” (with Christ) in respect not merely of remission but of new principles and acts; i.e. from Justification simply to Justification as resulting in Sanctification. The “life” is not merely the extension of existence to a pardoned man, but the condition and use of that existence where the pardoned are also, as such, accepted among the “brethren” of Christ.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death,.... The nature and end of baptism are here expressed; the nature of it, it is a "burial"; and when the apostle so calls it, he manifestly refers to the ancient and only way of administering this ordinance, by immersion; when a person is covered, and as it were buried in water, as a corpse is when laid the earth, and covered with it: and it is a burial with Christ; it is a representation of the burial of Christ, and of our burial with him as our head and representative, and that "into death"; meaning either the death of Christ as before, that is, so as to partake of the benefits of his death; or the death of sin, of which baptism is also a token; for believers, whilst under water, are as persons buried, and so dead; which signifies not only their being dead with Christ, and their communion with him in his death, but also their being dead to sin by the grace of Christ, and therefore ought not to live in it: for the apostle is still pursuing his argument, and is showing, from the nature, use, and end of baptism, that believers are dead to sin, and therefore cannot, and ought not, to live in it; as more fully appears from the end of baptism next mentioned;

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; for the end of baptism is not only to represent the death and burial, but also the resurrection of Christ from the dead, which is here said to be "by the glory of the Father", some read the words, "unto the glory of the Father"; meaning either, that the Father might be glorified hereby; or that Christ, being raised from the dead, might enjoy glory with the Father, as he does in human nature; but rather the phrase expresses the means by which, and not the end to which, Christ was raised from the dead: and by the "glory of the Father" is meant, the glorious power of the Father, which was eminently displayed in raising Christ from the dead; and as baptism is designed to represent the resurrection of Christ, which is done by raising the person out of the water, so likewise to represent our resurrection from the death of sin, to a life of grace: whence it must be greatly incumbent on baptized believers, who are raised from the graves of sin by the power of Christ, to "walk in newness of life"; for since they are become new creatures, and have new hearts and new spirits given them, new principles of light, life, grace, and holiness implanted in them, and have entered into a new profession of religion, of which baptism is the badge and symbol, they ought to live a new life and conversation.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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.

Ver. 4. We are buried] Burial is a continuing under death, so is mortification a continuation of dying to sin, Mors quaedam perpetuata; sin is by degrees abated, and at length abolished, when once our earthly tabernacles are dissolved.

Walk in newness of life] Resurrectione Domini configuratur vita, quae hic geritur. Walk as Christ walked after his resurrection.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore we are buried ... - It is altogether probable that the apostle in this place had allusion to the custom of baptizing by immersion. This cannot, indeed, be proved, so as to be liable to no objection; but I presume that this is the idea which would strike the great mass of unprejudiced readers. But while this is admitted, it is also certain that his main scope and intention was not to describe the mode of baptism; nor to affirm that that mode was to be universal. The design was very different. It was to show that by the solemn profession made at our baptism, we had become dead to sin, as Christ was dead to the living world around him when he was buried; and that as he was raised up to life, so we should also rise to a new life. A similar expression occurs in Col 2:12, “Buried with him in baptism,” etc. See the Editors’ Notes at Mat 3:6, Mat 3:16.

Into death - εἰς eis. Unto death; that is, with a solemn purpose to be dead to sin and to the world. Grotius and Doddridge, however, understand this as referring to the death of Christ - in order to represent the death of Christ - or to bring us into a kind of fellowship with his death.

That like as - In a similar manner. Christ rose from death in the sepulchre; and so we are bound by our vows at baptism to rise to a holy life.

By the glory of the Father - Perhaps this means, amidst the glory, the majesty and wonders evinced by the Father when he raised him up; Mat 28:2-3. Or possibly the word “glory” is used here to denote simply his power, as the resurrection was a signal and glorious display of his omnipotence.

Even so - As he rose to new life, so should we. As he rose from death, so we, being made dead to sin and the world by that religion whose profession is expressed by baptism, should rise to a new life, a life of holiness.

Should walk - Should live, or conduct. The word “walk” is often used to express the course of a man’s life, or the tenor of his conduct; Rom 4:12; Rom 8:1 notes; 1Co 5:7; 1Co 10:3 notes; Eph 2:10; Eph 4:1 notes, etc.

In newness of life - This is a Hebraism to denote new life. We should rise with Christ to a new life; and having been made dead to sin, as he was dead in the grave, so should we rise to a holy life, as he rose from the grave. The argument in this verse is, therefore, drawn from the nature of the Christian profession. By our very baptism, by our very profession, we have become dead to sin, as Christ became dead; and being devoted to him by that baptism, we are bound to rise, as he did, to a new life.

While it is admitted that the allusion here was probably to the custom of immersion in baptism, yet the passage cannot be adduced as an argument that that is the only mode, or that it is binding on all Christians in all places and ages, for the following reasons:

(1) The scope or design of the apostle is not to discuss the mode of baptism, Or to state any doctrine on the subject. It is an incidental allusion in the course of an argument, without stating or implying that this was the universal mode even then, still less that it was the only possible mode. His main design was to state the obligation of Christians to be holy, from the nature of their profession at baptism - an obligation just as impressive, and as forcible, from the application of water in any other mode as by immersion. It arises from the fact of baptism, not from the mode. It is just as true that they who are baptized by affusion, or by sprinkling, are baptised into his death; become professedly dead to sin and the world, and under obligations to live to God, as those who are immersed. It results from the nature of the ordinance, not from the mode.

(2) If this was the mode commonly, it does not follow that it was the only mode, nor that it was to be universally observed; There is no command that this should be the only mode. And the simple fact that it was usually practiced in a warm climate, where ablutions were common, does not prove that it is to be observed amidst polar snows and ice, and in infancy, and age, and feebleness, and sickness; see the note at Act 8:38-39.

(3) If this is to be pressed literally as a matter of obligation, why should not also the following expression, “If we have been planted together,” etc., be pressed literally, and it be demanded that Christians should somehow be “planted” as well as “buried?” Such an interpretation only shows the absurdity of insisting on a literal interpretation of the Scriptures in cases of simple allusion, or where the main scope is illustration by figurative language.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Therefore: q.d. Because we are thus dead with Christ, therefore, & c.

We are buried with him; i.e. we have communion with him in his burial also, which represents a farther degree of the destruction of sin, by putting it, as it were, out of our sight, Gen 23:4, and having no more to do with it.

By baptism into death: he seems here to allude to the manner of baptizing in those warm Eastern countries, which was to dip or plunge the party baptized, and as it were to bury him for a while under water. See the like phrase, Col 2:12. Baptism doth not only represent our mortification and death to sin, but our progress and perseverance therein. Burial implies a continuing under death; so is mortification a continual dying unto sin.

That like as Christ was raised up from the dead; look as, after the death and burial of Christ, there followed his resurrection, so it must be with us; we must have communion with, and conformity to, the Lord Jesus Christ in his resurrection as well as in his death; both these are represented and sealed to us by the sacrament of baptism.

By the glory of the Father; i.e. by the power of the Father, which is called, Col 1:11, his glorious power. God is said elsewhere to have raised him by his power, 1Co 6:14; and in 2Co 13:4, he is said to live by the power of God. Some read it thus, he was raised from the dead, to the glory of the Father.

The preposition δια is sometimes rendered to: see 1Pe 1:3.

Walk in newness of life; i.e. live a new life, being actuated by new principles, aiming at new ends, and bringing forth new fruits of holiness: see Rom 7:6.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. Therefore—Since we die, a cognate burial must follow. The faith which precedes baptism produces a death; the holiness which should follow is a newness of life, a resurrection.

Buried… by baptism—Where our regenerating faith is a death, and our sanctified new life is a resurrection, what should be the fitting burial between the two? Obviously, as said in Rom_6:2, our baptism consecrating us into Christ, embodying us into his mystical body the Church, is the burial. Faith insures our mystical death, baptism our mystical burial, sanctification our mystical resurrection.

This mystical burial would be accomplished with equal completeness whether the rite of baptism were performed by affusion or immersion. For, 1. Christ was not buried at all, but temporarily deposited in a new tomb preparatory to burial. 2. A burial is as well symbolized by affusion, picturing the covering over of the body, as by immersion. The amount of water poured upon the body can make no difference; for in Rome, whither this epistle was sent, a handful of dust thrice flung upon a corpse was held to be a legal ritual burial. So in the parallel passage, Col_2:11-12, so minute a rite as circumcision is the figure of an entire “putting off the body of the sins of the flesh.” 3. Immersion, even if it represented burial, does not symbolize the outpoured baptism of the Spirit. Affusion represents both.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore we were buried (not are, as in the Authorized Version) with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life. The mention here of burial as welt as death does not appear to be meant as a further carrying out of the idea of a fulfilment in us of the whole of Christ"s experience, in the sense As he died and was buried, so we die and are even buried too. Such a conception of burial being in our case a further process subsequent to our death in baptism, is indeed well expressed in our Collect for Easter Eve: but the form of expression, "buried into death," does not suit it here. The reference rather is to the form of baptism, viz. by immersion, which was understood to signify burial, and therefore death. So Chrysostom, on John 3, Kayaper gafw tw udati kataduontwn hmwn tav kefalaptetai kai katadutw kruptetai olov kayapax . The main intention of the verse is to bring out the idea of resurrection following death in our case as in Christ"s. The sense, therefore, is As our burial (or total immersion) in the baptismal water was followed by entire emergence, so our death with Christ to sin, which that immersion symbolized, is to be followed by our resurrection with him to a new life. As to the doxa tou patrov , through which Christ is here said to have been raised, see what was said under Rom_3:23. Doxa est gloria divinae vitae, incorruptiblitatis, potentiae, et virtutis, per quam et Christus resuscitatus est, et nos vitae novas restituimur, Deoque conformamur. Eph_1:19, seqq." (Bengel). In some passages our Lord is regarded as having been raised from the dead in virtue of the Divine life that was in himself, whereby it was impossible that he should be holden of death. (see under Rom_1:4) And he said of his own quch , "I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again". (Joh_10:18) But here as most commonly elsewhere, his resurrection is attributed to the operation of the glory of the Father the same Divine power that regenerates us in him. (cf. 1Co_6:14 2Co_13:4 Eph_1:19, etc.; Col_2:12; also our Lord"s own prayers to the Father previously to his suffering, as given by St. John) The two views are not inconsistent, and may serve to show Christ"s oneness with the Father as touching his Godhead. The marked association here and elsewhere of union with Christ, so as to die and rise again with him, with the rite of baptism, supports the orthodox view of that sacrament being not only a signum significans, but a signum efficax; as not only representing, but being "a means whereby we receive" regeneration. The beginning of the new life of believers, with the power as well as the obligation to lead such a life, is ever regarded as dating from their baptism. (cf. Gal_3:27 Col_2:12) It is true, however, that in all such passages in the New Testament the baptism of,adults is referred to; that is, of persons who at the time of baptism were capable of actual repentance and faith, and hence of actual moral regeneration, and they are supposed to have understood the significance of the rite, and to have been sincere in seeking it. Hence what is said or implied cannot fairly be pressed as applicable in all respects to infant baptism. This, however, is not the place for discussing the propriety of infant baptism, or the sense in which all baptized persons are regarded by the Church as in their very baptism regenerate.

"Newness of life:" a New Year"s sermon.

Things new and old make up the sum of human experiences. All that is new becomes old, and the old disappears to come before us again in new combinations, in new shapes. The mind of man seems to have a natural leaning in both directions; we like the old because it is old, and the new because it is new. This is one of the contradictions inseparable from human nature. There is some truth in the common saying that the young prefer novelty and the aged cling to "use and wont." It is easy to see how, to the youthful, change should be welcome, for their knowledge is yet very limited, and new experiences are the appointed means of furnishing and equipping the mind. It is less easy to explain the conservatism of age and its dread of innovation, for experience must have taught the old how imperfect is everything that concerns man"s culture and condition; this trait of character may be largely owing to the increasing feebleness which indisposes to the unwonted exertion of the faculties, or to accommodation to new circumstances. True religion takes advantage of both these tendencies of human nature. It appeals to the natural attachment we feel to what is ancient and sanctioned by prolonged existence; and it appeals also to the yearning for progress and for fresh experiences, which we all either have felt in the past or feel today. But observe in what way revelation makes use of these natural tendencies, and remark the harmony there is between the moral necessities of man and the Divine communications of Scripture. Broadly speaking, whatever concerns God is commended by its antiquity and unchangeableness; whilst that which refers to man approaches us with the charm and the allurement of novelty. A moment"s reflection will show us why this should be so with true religion. Man, in his brief life, with his feeble purposes and his petty achievements, looks away from himself for the eternal and the unchanging. This he knows is not in himself or in his race; and he seeks it in the unseen God. And herein he is right. He does not seek these attributes in vain. For, knowing God, he knows that in him there is absolute being, unaffected by the changes to which all creation is subject. Man can find his true stability and his true peace only when he rests in the care and love of "the Father of lights, who is without variableness and shadow of turning." But, on the other hand, man, when he knows himself, is aware that his past has been a past unsatisfactory to himself, and blamable by his Creator and Judge. His changes have often been from evil to evil; and he looks forward, rather than behind him, for relief. His only hope is in his future. The old he can regard only with pain, with regret, with distress. If there is improvement, it must be in what is new in a new condition, new impulses, new principles of the soul, in new associations and new help. Accordingly, Christianity comes to man with gifts of heavenly newness in her hand. Christianity establishes with man a "new covenant," and gives to him a "new commandment;" makes of him a "new creation," transforms him into a "new man." It opens up to him a "new way" unto the Father by the Mediator of a "new testament," gives him a "new name," and teaches him a "new song," and inspires him with the hope of a "new heaven anti a new earth." In short, it enables him to serve in "newness of spirit," and to walk in "newness of life." "Life" is, in the New Testament, used as equivalent to the history of the spiritual nature. The Lord Jesus professed to be "the Life," "the Life of men;" he came that "we might have life, and that more abundantly," and the acceptance of him as the Divine Saviour is designated the "passing from death unto life." This being understood, it will not be supposed that by "newness of life" the Apostle Paul refers to the life of the body, or to the outward circumstances in which physical life may be passed. And yet the context shows that he is not treating of the future and blessed life in the nearer presence of God. Accordingly, we understand by "newness of life" that which contrasts with the spiritual deadness which hung as a cloud of darkness over heathen humanity, and which contrasts also with the earlier and imperfect developments of spiritual vitality. It is a newness of life which is peculiar to the Christian dispensation, but is yet found wherever Christ is known, trusted, and loved. We greet the new year with gladness and with hope, because it seems to offer us the opportunity to begin life anew. We are thankful for the relief of leaving the past behind, and we cherish the hope that each new year will be one of greater spiritual progress and happiness than the years that are past. Christians wish to forget the things that are behind, and to reach forth to those things that are before. Some who have been undecided as to their course have resolved with the new year to make a fresh beginning in life, and henceforth to live by the faith of the Son of God, and to his service and glory. The subject ought, therefore, to be appropriate and welcome to such as are hopefully and prayerfully aspiring unto "newness of life.

I The newness of the Christian life will appear from the consideration that it is A LIFE IS CHRIST. This very language must be at first unintelligible to a person unacquainted with the gospel. That life should be in a person seems monstrous and meaningless. Yet Christ himself has said, "Abide in me, and I in you;" and his Apostle Paul has taught us that "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation." Christ is the Basis upon which the Christian builds, the Foundation of the edifice of his new and higher life. Christ is the Vine-stem into which the Christian is grafted, and from which he draws all his vitality, his vigour, and his fruitfulness. Christ is the Head, in dependence upon whom the Christian is a living, active, and obedient member. The signs and evidences of this life are these:

1. The renewed man learns who Christ is, and what Christ has done and suffered for him.

2. The renewed man admits the claim Christ has upon his gratitude, his faith, his love; and trusts in him.

3. The renewed man consciously accepts life as the gift of God in Christ.

4. The renewed man, by maintaining fellowship with Christ, advances in the new and higher life.

II The newness of the Christian life is manifest from THE AGENCY BY WHICH IT IS EFFECTED.

1. A spiritual agency.

2. A Divine agency.

3. A freely acting and gracious agency.

4. A transforming agency.

5. A ceaseless and progressive agency.

III The newness of the Christian life is displayed in THE MOTIVES AND PRINCIPLES BY WHICH IT IS GOVERNED.

1. The love of Christ revealed and responded to is the motive power of this life.

2. The law of Christ becomes a law of friendship.

3. The approval of Christ is an animating and cheering power in the heart.

4. Thus self and the world, the common motives to action, fall into their proper place, or are banished from the Christian"s soul.

IV NEW ASSOCIATIONS are a feature of the Christian"s new life.

V The Christian life tends and points to A FURTHER AND HIGHER REGENERATION IN THE FUTURE.

APPLICATION. Newness of life depends comparatively little upon outward circumstances. There is nothing in the colour of a man"s skin, the climate of a man"s birthplace, the nature of a man"s occupation, his condition whether of poverty or wealth, his education whether scanty or liberal, his age or his station, there is nothing in all these things which can interfere with or hinder him from becoming a new man in Christ. Does it seem to any one that for him this is an impossibility, because of the unfavorable circumstances in which he finds himself? Disabuse yourself of this illusion, for illusion it is. It may not be within your power to become a learned man, or an eloquent man, a rich man, or a powerful man; but the circumstances which may prevent you from becoming learned or wealthy, mighty or persuasive, have no force to hinder you from becoming "a new man." The obstacles to this renewal are to be sought within, not without; they are to be found in the will, which is often resolved to resist the authority, to reject the truth, and to ignore the love of God. If you take a savage from his native woods, clothe him in civilized attire, place him in a lordly palace, surround him with books and with music, with paintings and with flowers, does he cease to be a savage? Not until the mind is changed. The man himself may remain the same, whilst all his surroundings are altered. These external changes do not make of him a new man, and his life has not in virtue of them become a new life. So is it with man in relation to the kingdom of Christ. Deprive a human being of the liberty which he has abused, remove him from his evil companionships, shut out from him the temptations to which he has been wont to yield, introduce him into Christian society, constrain him to frequent the means of religious instruction; yet his life has not thereby become a new life. The old nature is still there. The Ethiopian has not changed his skin, nor the leopard his spots. The man"s true life lies in the bent of his thoughts, the affections of his heart, the bias of his will; and whilst all these are toward evil, the old nature is supreme, and the new life is not yet. Love is the one only potentate at whose master-bidding old things will pass away. Before"s Love"s wizard wand alone, the ancient shadows will depart from the gloomy cave of the unregenerated soul, and that cave will become a temple peopled with the forms of the holy, and echoing with the songs of heaven. Divine love can make the wilderness a paradise, can change each thorn into a flower, and all the thistles into fruits. When Love smites the rock, the spring of health and of refreshing will gush forth. He who hears Love"s voice shall forget the weakness and the weariness of the pilgrimage; and his footstep, erst so heavy and so dull, shall bound elastic onwards.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We are buried with him - Alluding to the ancient manner of baptizing by immersion. That as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory - Glorious power. Of the Father, so we also, by the same power, should rise again; and as he lives a new life in heaven, so we should walk in newness of life. This, says the apostle, our very baptism represents to us.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

To urge Christians to farther measures and degrees of mortification of sin, and living unto holiness, the apostle uses here a double argument, one from our baptism, the other from the resurrection of Christ.

Observe, 1. The argument to move us to die unto sin, drawn from our baptism; We are buried with him by baptism into death. The apostle alludes, no doubt, to the ancient manner and way of baptizing a person in those hot countries, which was by immersion, or putting them under water for a time, and then raising them up again out of the water; which rite had also a mystical signification, representing the burial of our old man sin in us, and our resurrection to newness of life.

Learn hence, That the ordinance of baptism lays every baptized person under the strongest engagements and highest obligations to die unto sin, and walk in newness of life. The metaphors of burying and rising again, do imply and intimate thus much: Burial implies a continuing under death; thus is mortification a continued act, a daily dying unto sin; and raising again, supposes a person never more to be under the power of death.

Observe, 2. Another forcible argument to encourage us to die to sin, and walk in newness of life, is drawn from the resurrection of Christ; As he was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so should we also walk in newness of life.

Here note, 1. The proposal of a pattern and examplar to us; Christ was raised from the dead.

2. The author and efficient cause of Christ’s resurrection; He was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father; that is, by the glorious power of the Father; yet not without his own power as God: So Christ told the Jews, Destroy this temple of my body, and in three days I will raise it up again.

Note, 3. The conformity or similitude on our part: as Christ arose, so should we arise out of the grave of sin, and walk in newness of live.

Learn hence, That Christ’s resurrection is a powerful motive, and lays a Christian under strong obligations and engagements to arise from sin, and walk in newness of life. Christ’s resurrection is both a pattern and a pledge of our resurrection; a pattern after which we are to conform in our rising from the grave of sin.

Did Christ rise early and speedily? so should we: He arose early in the morning of the day, so should we in the morning of our youth; he rose voluntarily and cheerfully, so should we, rejoicing at our spiritual liberty and resolution never to die more; so should we arise, with desires and endeaveours, that spiritaul death may never more have dominion over us.

And if Christ’s resurrection be thus a pattern of our resurrection now, it will be a pledge of a blessed resurrection at the last day.

Observe, lastly, The duty which every baptized person lies under an obligation to perform, in conformity ot Christ, into whose death they are baptized; and that is, to walk in the newness of life.

Where note, For our encouragement, the account which the scripture gives of the properties of the new life, which such are buried and risen with Christ, do assuredly live: And here we find it is the most noble life, the most delectable life, the most profitable life, the most holy and heavenly life: holy in its principle and motive, holy in its aim and end, holy in its rule and actings.

In a word, newness of life is a preparation for and an introduction into eternal life, and must needs be the most excellent life; for it is a life from God it is a life laid out for God, ye, it is the life which God himself lives ; and none must expect to live with him in heaven hereafter, that do no walk in newness of life but if we have our fruit unto holiness our end will be everlasting life.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. “Therefore we have been buried along with him through baptism into death.” We find here that the baptism is the agent who executes the work of the burial into the death, which means the atonement of Christ, which is the receptacle of all sin which escapes damnation; i. e., every old man of sin must either be buried into the atonement of Christ and be left there forever, or be burned in hell fire world without end. It is astounding that Bible readers identify this baptism with the burial which is positively contradictory of Paul’s plain statement which makes the baptism the undertaker instead of the interment. “In order that, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so may we also walk in newness of life.” Here we see that the resurrection must be homogeneous to the interment, being performed by the omnipotent power of the Holy Spirit, who raised the body of Christ from the dead. Therefore it follows as a logical sequence that the Holy Ghost Himself is the agent in both operations, i. e., the internment and the resurrection, thus clearly and demonstratively proving that this is none other than the baptism of the Holy Ghost slaying the man of sin and burying him forever into the death of Christ, the only receptacle of sin as an alternative of hell. When this old body of sin is thus forever removed, eternally buried in the death of Christ, the new man, having been resurrected in regeneration, now utterly disencumbered and free, walks on forever with God in “newness of life.” We must bear in mind that water is not mentioned in this chapter, while all the language is homogeneous with the baptism of the Spirit and out of harmony with a material transaction. If your conscience demands baptism by immersion in water, do not hesitate to satisfy your convictions in the beautiful symbolism of the material ordinance. Yet it is exceedingly pertinent that we do not mar this beautiful, clear and demonstrative statement of the supernatural baptism of the Spirit by confounding it with an outward ceremony. The thing buried in this transaction is not your physical body, which is buried in water and baptized by immersion, and the same identical body immediately raised up by the muscular power of the administrator; but that old body of sin, which is invisible and spiritual, having been crucified by the Holy Ghost in sanctification and now buried into the death, i. e., the atonement of Christ, and left there forever; because if unfortunately Satan raises him up, “the last state is worse than the first.” Hence we see the utter heterogeneity of two transactions, the internment involving the old man of sin after he has been crucified by the Holy Ghost, putting him down deep into the death of Christ, the exterminator of all sin, there to abide forever; while the new man, the son of God, created in the heart by the Holy Ghost in regeneration, is raised up to walk in newness of life forever. Hence we see that one thing is buried, so to remain forever. An infinitely different thing is the subject of the resurrection; i. e., the old man, the son of the devil, is the subject of the interment; and the new man, the son of God, the subject of the resurrection. Hence we see the impertinency in the interpretation of this Scripture as simply applying to water baptism by immersion, in which the same physical body is the subject both of the interment and the resurrection.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life . [The apostle's argument rests on the nature of Christ's death, etc. Jesus died to take away our sins, to bear them for us, and rid us of them ( Joh_1:29 ; 1Pe_2:24 ); but in order that he may do this for us, so that we may partake of the benefits of his death, it is necessary that he be our representative; i. e., that we be in him, and in him at the very time when he thus gave himself unto death, so that his death becomes, representatively, our death. To aid us in conceiving the accomplishment of this unity with him in the act of death, the ordinance of baptism was instituted, so that, by it, we are not only baptized into him, but also into his death. One purpose, therefore, of baptism is to so unite us with him that, in him, we may die to sin and a life in a sinful kingdom of darkness, and rise to live again in righteousness in a sinless kingdom of light ( Rom_7:4 ; Rom_8:13 ; Gal_2:19-20 ; Gal_5:24 ; Gal_6:14 ; Col_2:11-20 ). Such being the nature of the ordinance, it precludes the idea that a baptized person could continue to commit sin. You must therefore recognize, says the apostle, that in baptism you died with Christ unto sin, or are ye so ignorant of the meaning of that ordinance that you do not understand that it symbolizes your death to sin and your resurrection to righteousness? If you are thus ignorant, then know that all we who were immersed into Christ were immersed into his death. We were buried with him, through immersion, into death as to our sin: that like as Christ was raised from the dead, because the glory of the just and holy Father required it, so we also might walk or act in a new manner of life; i. e., a sinless life. Thus baptism, which is a burial and resurrection performed in water, attests, in the strongest manner, the Christian's obligation to be sinless. Only the dead are buried. Brief as is the momentary burial of the immersed, it is, nevertheless, a seal of their death to sin, and hence of their cleansing from it ( Act_2:38 ; Act_22:16 ). Only the resurrected rise from the grave. Therefore, one who has not fully resolved to live as having died unto sin has no right to be lifted from the waters of baptism. If he is still dead in trespasses and sin, he should remain buried.]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. We are buried (Revision) through baptism into death. The argument is that a burial implies death. Baptism is a burial, therefore its subject has died. As Christ died through sin, we die to sin; as the Crucified Christ was buried, we who have died to sin through the gospel are buried with him. As death and burial separate from the natural life, so death to sin and burial into Christ should completely sever our relation to sin. That like as Christ was raised up from the dead. The glorious power of the Father lifted up Christ from the tomb. So we, too, rise from the watery burial, with death and burial between us and the old life of sin, in order to walk in newness of life. “This passage cannot be understood unless it is borne in mind that the primitive baptism was by immersion.”—Conybeare and Howson. “That the custom of baptism by immersion is alluded to is generally admitted, but the emersion is as significant as the immersion.”—Dr. Philip Schaff. “It seems to us very probable that the apostle alludes to the external form of the baptismal rite in the primitive church.”—Godet. “The apostle alludes to the ancient manner of baptizing by immersion.”—John Wesley.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

We were buried, then, with him through baptism into death

Here Paul speaks of a believer's baptism in water as if it were a death and burial. AT: "When someone baptized us, it is just like that person buried us with Christ in the tomb" (See: Metaphor)

just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so also we might walk in newness of life

To raise from the dead is an idiom for causing a person to live again. This compares a believer's new spiritual life to Jesus coming back to life physically. The believer's new spiritual life enables that person to obey God. You can translate this in an active form. AT: "just as the Father brought Jesus back to life after he died, we might have new spiritual life and obey God" (See: Simile and Active or Passive and Idiom)

from the dead

From among all those who have died. This expression describes all dead people together in the underworld. To be raised from among them speaks of becoming alive again.

become united with him in the likeness of his death ... be united with his resurrection

Paul compares our union with Christ to death. Those who are joined with Christ in death will share in his resurrection. You can translate this in an active form. AT: "died with him ... come back to life with him" (See: Metaphor and Active or Passive)

translationWords

bury

baptize

Christ

raise

glory

God the Father

walk

life

resurrection

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

4. συνετάφημεν. Col 2:12 only; cf. 1Co 15:4; Act 13:29. It is remarkable that S. Paul, alone in N.T. outside the Gospels, lays stress on the Burial: he alone was not an eyewitness of the circumstances of the Death, and therefore for him the burial was of high significance, in its evidential value.

εἰς τ. θ. Closely with τοῦ β.—through that baptism into His Death.

ἵνα. The purpose of this sharing the death and burial is negative as regards the old life of sin, but positive also, that we might enter into the atmosphere of the new life and walk in it.

δοὰ τῆς δόξης τοῦ πατρός, here δόξα is used of the manifest action of the Father in the raising of Christ; διὰ, instrum.; cf. Joh 11:40, Col 1:11. The resurrection of Christ is a revelation of the Father.

τοῦ πατρός. Cf. Joh 5:21; Act 1:4; Act 1:7; Act 2:33 (only in A); Eph 2:18; Eph 3:14; Col 1:12 (?); 1Pe 1:17; 1Jn 1:2-3; 1Jn 2:1; 1Jn 2:15 alibi (7); 2 Joh. (3); Rev. (4).

The use of ὁ πατήρ absolutely is dominantly characteristic of S. John (but cf. also Mat 11:25 f. |[144] Luk 24:36 |[145]; Mat 28:19). It occurs in S. Paul and Acts only as above (but n. Gal 4:6). This is the only place where it is used alone in connexion with the resurrection; and consequently it calls marked attention to the character of the resurrection as an act not of power only but of the love of the Father to His Son, and through the Son to those that are His. This thought emphasises the obligations of the new life which has its ultimate source in that love.

[144] | parallel to

[145] | parallel to

οὕτως therefore covers the whole thought of the ὥσπερ clause: as in rising Christ left all that was dead behind, as that rising was due to the Father’s love and power, as we share that rising, so we must leave our dead selves behind and walk etc.

ζωή is the principle of life, not the manner of life (cf. Gifford and see Lft, Igna. Romans 7); the fresh vigour of a new principle of life (cf. Rom 8:2) is the motive power of Christian conduct (περιπατήσωμεν). This is the answer to Rom 6:1.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4.] A further explanation of the assertion in the last verse proceeding (οὖν) on its concession by the reader. We were then (not the temporal but inferential ‘then:’ q. d. “You grant my last position: Well then,” …) buried with Him (καθάπερ ἔν τινι τάφῳ τῷ ὕδατι καταδυόντων ἡμῶν τὰς κεφαλὰς ὁ παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος θάπτεται, καὶ καταδὺς κάτω κρύπτεται ὅλως καθάπαξ, Chrys. on Joh_3. Hom. xxv. 2, vol. viii. p. 151) by means of our baptism into (His) death (τοῦ βαπτ. εἰς τὸν θάνατον belong together, not συνετάφ. εἰς τ. θ., which would hardly bear any sense. The absence of the art. before εἰς is no objection to this;—it is unnecessary, because no distinction from any other baptism is brought out, and τὸ βάπτ.-εἰς-τὸν-θάν. is connected as one idea); in order that, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory (δόξα and δύναμις are cognate ideas; compare the import of the Heb. עֹז and the LXX in Psa 68:35 (67:34 LXX), Isa 12:2: and τὸ κράτος τῆς δόξης in Col 1:11. The divine δόξα includes all that manifests the Creator to the creature: and hence also his Almightiness. Tholuck.

The renderings ‘in Dei gloriam’ (Beza, Bretschneider), and ‘because He is the image of the Father’ (Dr. Burton, altern.), are inadmissible for διὰ with a gen.) of the Father (Theodoret makes ἡ δόξα τοῦ πατρός = ἡ οἰκεία θεότης of the Son, which is manifestly wrong), thus we also should walk in newness of life (not = ‘a new life;’—nor are such expressions ever to be diluted away thus: the abstract καινότητι is used to bring the quality of newness, which is the point insisted on, more into prominence, compare 2Th 2:11; 1Ti 6:17 [and notes]; Winer, edn. 6, § 34. 3.

The comparison is not only (as Stuart) between our Lord’s physical death and resurrection, and our spiritual; but reaches far deeper: see notes on vv. 10, 11).

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. συνετάφημεν ̣ ̣ ̣ θάνατον. A strong majority of the best scholars (Mey.-W. Gif. Lips. Oltr. Go.) would connect εἰς τὸν θάνατον with διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος and not with συνετάφημεν, because of (i) ἐβαπτ. εἰς τ. θαν. αὐτ. just before; (ii) a certain incongruity in the connexion of συνετάφ. with εἰς τὸν θάνατον: death precedes burial and is not a result or object of it. We are not sure that this reasoning is decisive. (i) St. Paul does not avoid these ambiguous constructions. as may be seen by 3:25 ὃν προέθετο ̣ ̣ ̣ διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ αἵματι, where ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ αἵματι goes with προέθετο and not with διὰ τῆς πίστεως. (ii) The ideas of ‘burial’ and ‘death’ are so closely associated that they may be treated as correlative to each other—burial is only death sealed and made certain. ‘Our baptism was a sort of funeral; a solemn act of consigning us to that death of Christ in which we are made one with Him,’ Va. (iii) There is a special reason for saying here not ‘we were buried into burial,’ but ‘we were buried into death,’ because ‘death’ is the keynote of the whole passage, and the word would come in appropriately to mark the transition from Christ to the Christian. Still these arguments do not amount to proof that the second connexion is right, and it is perhaps best to yield to the weight of authority. For the idea compare esp. Col 2:12 συνταφέντες αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ βαπτίσματι ἐν ᾧ καὶ συνηγέρθητε.

εἰς τὸν θάνατον is best taken as = ‘into that death (of His),’ the death just mentioned: so Oltr. Gif. Va. Mou., but not Mey.-W. Go., who prefer the sense ‘into death’ (in the abstract). In any case there is a stress on the idea of death; but the clause and the verse which follow will show that St. Paul does not yet detach the death of the Christian from the death of Christ.

διὰ τῆς δόξης τοῦ πατρός: δόξης here practically = ‘power’; but it is power viewed externally rather than internally; the stress is laid not so much on the inward energy as on the signal and glorious manifestation. Va. compares Joh 11:40; Joh 11:23, where ‘thou shalt see the glory of God’ = ‘thy brother shall rise again.’ See note on 3:23.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We are buried with [συνεταφημεν] . Rev., more accurately, were buried. Therefore, as a natural consequence of death. There is probably an allusion to the immersion of baptism. Compare Col 3:3.

Into death. Through the baptism into death referred to in ver. 3. Both A. V. and Rev. omit the article, which is important for the avoidance of the error buried into death.

Glory [δοξης] . The glorious collective perfection of God See on 3 23. Here the element of power is emphasized, which is closely related to the idea of divine glory. See Col 1:11. All the perfections of God contribute to the resurrection of Christ - righteousness, mercy, wisdom, holiness.

We might walk [περιπατησωμεν] . Lit., walk about, implying habitual conduct. See on Joh 11:9; 1Jo 1:6; 3Jo 1:4; Luk 11:44.

In newness of life [εν καινοτητι ζωης] . A stronger expression than new life. It gives more prominence to the main idea, newness, than would be given by the adjective. Thus 1Ti 6:17, uncertainty of riches; not uncertain riches, as A. V.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vv. 4. “Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: in order that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

If baptism were, or represented, the death of which Paul had spoken, the therefore would be very hard indeed to explain (see the commentaries). But if baptism is in his view the external proof of death, as burial is the proof of decease, he can take up again the course of his argument and say: “In consequence of this death to sin undergone in Christ, we have therefore been buried with Him...in order also to rise with him,” which signifies: “buried with Him, not with the aim of remaining in the tomb or of issuing from it to return to the past life, but to penetrate into a new life, whence a return to the old is definitely precluded.” The clause into death cannot depend on the verb we are buried, as Grot., Hofm., and Ostervald’s version would have it. How could it be said of one interred that he thereby descends into death? The converse would be the truth. This clause, therefore, must be made directly dependent on the word baptism: “by baptism into death.” The substantive βάπτισμα, baptism, like those generally derived from verbs in ιζω, has a forcible meaning which allows it easily to have this position and the relation between the notions expressed by the two substantives is so close, that no article was needed to connect them. What also guides us quite naturally to make the words into death dependent on the word baptism, is Rom 6:3: We were baptized into his death. Undoubtedly we must explain the phrase: baptism into death, like the similar ones preceding: “baptism (with water) in relation to death.” Our versions translate: “into His death” (Osterv., Oltram.). But if this had been the apostle’s view, he would have expressed it by adding the pronoun αὐτοῦ, of Him. He evidently wished to leave the notion of death in all its generality, that the word might be applied at once to His death, and ours included in His. It is in relation to these two deaths which have taken place that the believer is baptized.

Modern commentators are not at one on the question whether the apostle means to allude to the external form of the baptismal rite in the primitive church. It seems to us very probable that it is so, whether primitive baptism be regarded as a complete immersion, during which the baptized disappeared for a moment under water (which best corresponds to the figure of burial), or whether the baptized went down into the water up to his loins, and the baptizer poured the water with which he had filled the hollow of his hands over his head, so as to represent an immersion. The passage, Mar 7:4, where the term βαπτισμός, a washing, bath, lustration, baptism (Heb 6:2), is applied not only to the cleansing of cups and utensils, objects which may be plunged into water, but also to that of couches or divans, proves plainly that we cannot insist on the sense of plunging, and consequently on the idea of total immersion, being attached to the term baptism. It is nevertheless true, that in one or other of these forms the going down into the water probably represents, in Paul’s view, the moral burying of the baptized, and his issuing from the water, his resurrection.

The relation between the two facts of burial and baptism indicated by the apostle is this: Burial is the act which consummates the breaking of the last tie between man and his earthly life. This was likewise the meaning of our Lord’s entombment. Similarly by baptism there is publicly consummated the believer’s breaking with the life of the present world, and with his own natural life.

It is a mistake to represent the idea of the first proposition of the verse as entirely isolated from all that follows. Paul means, not only that we have been buried with Christ, but that we have been so, like Him, in order to rise again.

The ἵνα, in order that, is the essential word of the verse. In the case of an ordinary death, the man is inclosed in the tomb, to remain there; but he who is buried with Christ is buried with one who died and rose, consequently with the intention of rising also. This idea is essential to the apostle’s argument. Indeed, the believer’s death, even with the baptism which seals it, would not suffice for a sure guarantee that he will not return to his old life of sin. Did not Lazarus come forth from the tomb to resume life? What, for one dead, renders his return to an earthly existence definitively impossible, is his passing to a new and higher life by the way of a resurrection. Now, such is precisely the believer’s case. By being buried with Christ by baptism, he does not intend to remain thereafter inactive and lifeless, any more than Christ Himself, when giving Himself up to the grave, thought of remaining in it. As Christ gave His life to take it again (Joh 10:17-18), the believer renounces his life of sin for Him only to receive from Him another and wholly different life (Luk 17:33). His baptism, which supposes his death, tends to life. To die to sin, is it not to die to death, and consequently to spring to life? As, then, by His burial Christ broke the last tie with His earthly life and entered on a higher life, so the believer, by his baptism, finds himself placed between a life which has taken end, and a wholly different one which opens before him. Paul knew by experience the situation indicated by his ἵνα, in order that. In Acts 9 we behold him placed between death on the one hand (Rom 6:8-9), and the burial of baptism, followed by resurrection through the Holy Spirit, on the other (Rom 6:17-18). Comp. also the position of the penitents of Pentecost, to whom Peter says: “Be baptized for the pardon of your sins, and ye shall receive the Holy Spirit.” It is therefore true, as the end of the verse says, that what the resurrection was to Christ, renewing by the Holy Spirit is to believers. And in this last fact there is found the answer to the question of Rom 6:2 : “How shall we, who are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” Perhaps, if we were no more than dead, it would not be possible to answer this question so positively. But if, being dead, we have penetrated to a higher life, the relation to the old life is most certainly terminated. The conjunction ὥσπερ, even as, indicates only an analogy, a resemblance. The sequel will bring out the internal necessity on which this resemblance rests.

The expression: from the dead, is an allusion to the state of death to sin in which the believer receives baptism, and which paves the way for his spiritual resurrection.

The glory of the Father by which Christ was raised, is not the display of His power apart from His other perfections; but, as usual, that of all the divine attributes combined. For they have all contributed to this masterpiece of the revelation of God on the earth, righteousness as well as mercy, wisdom as well as holiness. Speaking of the resurrection of Lazarus, Jesus said to Martha: “Thou shalt see the glory of God.” But here we have to do with the resurrection of the Son; and therefore Paul says: by the glory of the Father.

The word so expresses the analogy of the second fact with the first, irrespectively of the individuals in whom it is realized; the we also sets forth the living personalities in whom the prototype is reproduced.

In speaking of believers, the apostle does not rest, as in the case of Christ Himself, on the bare fact of their resurrection, but solely on its permanent consequence, the new life which flows from it: that we should walk in newness of life. He does so because, in regard to believers, he wishes solely to shut out their return to their former life; now this result springs from life in a state of complete realization, rather than from the act by which it is entered on.

The term περιπατεῖν, to walk, is a frequent figure with Paul for moral conduct.

Paul says: newness of life, instead of new life. By this turn of expression he gives less prominence to the idea of life (in contrast to that of death) than to the new nature of the second life in contrast to the nature of that which it excludes. The slightest detail of style is always strictly determined in his writing by the principal thought.

Infant baptism does not seem to me to be either assumed or excluded by this passage. The baptism assumed here is certainly that of adults, and adults only. The act of baptism is put between faith (with death to sin through faith) on the one hand, and renewing by the Holy Spirit on the other. Baptism, thus understood, therefore involves the actual fact of faith and of death to sin, as much as burial implies the death of the buried. But, at the same time, it is clear that Paul adduces the rite of baptism such as it exists at the time of his writing. The baptism of adults was that which, from the nature of things, suited the first generation of believers, as the parents required to belong to the church before there could be any question of introducing their children into it. The apostle does not therefore think of excluding a form which may arise when, circumstances having changed, family life shall have become an integral element in that of the church. The only question is, whether this modification is in keeping with the spirit of the gospel. And this is a question which it seems to me impossible to examine here without breaking the plan of our exegesis.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.