Know you not that all we, who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in his death?

“Concurring with these statements, Paul, speaking to the Romans, declares: "Much more they who receive abundance of grace and righteousness for [eternal] life, shall reign by one, Christ Jesus." It follows from this, that he knew nothing of that Christ who flew away from Jesus; nor did he of the Saviour above, whom they hold to be impassible. For if, in truth, the one suffered, and the other remained incapable of suffering, and the one was born, but the other descended upon him who was born, and left him again, it is not one, but two, that are shown forth. But that the apostle did know Him as one, both who was born and who suffered, namely Christ Jesus, he again says in the same Epistle: "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized in Christ Jesus were baptized in His death? that like as Christ rose from the dead, so should we also walk in newness of life."”

“Now it would not at all have been consistent that any rule of holiness and righteousness should be especially enjoined for the flesh, if the reward of such a discipline were not also within its reach; nor could even baptism be properly ordered for the flesh, if by its regeneration a course were not inaugurated tending to its restitution; the apostle himself suggesting this idea: "Know ye not, that so many of us as are baptized into Jesus Christ, are baptized into His death? We are therefore buried with Him by baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised up from the dead, even so we also should walk in newness of life." And that you may not suppose that this is said merely of that life which we have to walk in the newness of, through baptism, by faith, the apostle with superlative forethought adds: "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of Christ's death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection.”

“For you are translated from your former vain and tedious mode of life and have contemned the lifeless idols, and despised the demons, which are in darkness, and have run to the "true light," [John 1:9] and by it have "known the one and only true God and Father," [John 17:3] and so are owned to be heirs of His kingdom. For since you have "been baptized into the Lord's death," [Romans 6:3] and into His resurrection, as "new-born babes," [1 Peter 2:2] you ought to be wholly free from all sinful actions; "for you are not your own, but His that bought you" [1 Corinthians 6:19-20] with His own blood.”

“What does being "baptized into His Death" mean? That it is with a view to our dying as He did. For Baptism is the Cross. What the Cross then, and Burial, is to Christ, that Baptism hath been to us, even if not in the same respects. For He died Himself and was buried in the Flesh, but we have done both to sin. Wherefore he does not say, planted together in His Death, but in the likeness of His Death. For both the one and the other is a death, but not of the same subject; since the one is of the Flesh, that of Christ; the other of sin, which is our own. As then that is real, so is this. But if it be real, then what is of our part again must be contributed. Here he hints, along with the duty of a careful walk, at the subject of the resurrection. In what way? Do you believe, he means, that Christ died, and that He was raised again? Believe then the same of thyself. For this is like to the other, since both Cross and Burial is thine. For if thou hast shared in Death and Burial, much more wilt thou in Resurrection and Life. For now the greater is done away with, the sin I mean, it is not right to doubt any longer about the lesser, the doing away of death. But this he leaves for the present to the conscience of his hearers to reason out, but himself, after the resurrection to come had been set before us, demands of us another, even the new conversation, which is brought about in the present life by a change of habits. When then the fornicator becomes chaste, the covetous man merciful, the harsh subdued, even here a resurrection has taken place, the prelude to the other. And how is it a resurrection? Why, because sin is mortified, and righteousness hath risen again, and the old life hath been made to vanish, and this new and angelic one is being lived in.”

“After the Apostle has shown that through the grace of Christ we are freed from past sin — both the sin introduced through the first man, and that which abounded through the law — here he shows that through the grace of Christ the power to resist future sins is given to us. And concerning this he does two things. First, he raises a question arising from what has gone before; second, he resolves it, at the place, "God forbid. For if," and so on. Now he had said above that where sin abounded, grace abounded still more; which someone could indeed wrongly understand, as though the abundance of sin were the cause of the superabundance of graces. And therefore he introduces the question, saying: "What shall we say, then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" Which indeed it would be necessary to say, if the abundance of sin were the cause of abounding grace, and not merely the occasion, as was said above. Whence also above, in Romans 3:8, the Apostle says: "as we are slandered, and as some affirm that we say, Let us do evil, that good may come." Jeremiah 12:1: "It is well with all that transgress and do wickedly." Then, when he says, "God forbid," etc., he resolves the question raised. And first he assigns the reason why we ought not to remain under sin; second, he draws the intended exhortation, at the place, "Let not sin therefore reign," and so on. Concerning the first he does two things. First he assigns the reason why one should not remain in sin; second he shows that we possess the capacity for this, that we should not remain under sin, at the place, "Knowing this," and so on. Concerning the first he sets forth this reasoning: if we are dead to sin, we ought not to live in it; but we are dead to sin; therefore we ought not to live in sin. Concerning this, then, he does four things. First he sets forth the conditional; second he proves the antecedent, at the place, "Know you not," etc.; third he draws the consequent, at the place, "that as Christ," etc.; fourth he proves the necessity of the inference, at the place, "For if we have been planted together," and so on. He says therefore first, "God forbid" — namely, that with this intention one should remain in sin, that grace may abound — because, as is said in Ecclesiasticus 15:21, "God hath commanded no man to do wickedly." And the reason for this is: for if we are dead to sin — namely, by this, that sin has been put to death in us — how shall we still live in it? For the natural order of things does not allow that one should return from death to life. Isaiah 24:14: "they that die shall not live," and so on. Canticle 5:3: "I have washed my feet, how shall I defile them?" Then, when he says, "Know you not," etc., he proves the antecedent, namely, that the faithful are dead to sin. And first he proposes the middle term to show his proposition; second he makes clear the middle term he has introduced, at the place, "For we are buried together with him," and so on. He says therefore first, "Know you not," as if to say: what is to be proposed to you is so manifest that it is not permitted for you to be ignorant of it — 1 Corinthians 14:38: "if any man know not, he shall not be known" — "that all we who are baptized in Christ Jesus": which is understood in three ways. In one way, according to the institution of Jesus Christ, Matthew, last chapter: "teach ye all nations, baptizing them," and so on. Second, through the invocation of Jesus Christ, Acts 8:12: "men and women were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ." Third, in Christ Jesus, that is, in a certain conformity to Christ Jesus — Galatians 3:27: "as many of you as have been baptized in Christ Jesus have put on Christ." Thus, then, we are configured to his death, into the likeness of his death, as it were representing the very death of Christ in ourselves. 2 Corinthians 4:10: "always bearing about in our body the mortification of Jesus." Galatians, last chapter: "I bear the marks of Jesus in my body." Or, "in his death," that is, through the power of his death. Apocalypse 1:5: "he hath washed us from our sins." Whence from the side of Christ hanging on the cross, after death, there flowed blood and water, as is said in John 19:34. Just as, therefore, we are configured to his death, insofar as we die to sin, so he himself died to mortal life, in which there was a likeness of sin, although sin itself was not there. Therefore all of us who have been baptized are dead to sin. Then, when he says, "For we are buried together," etc., he proves the middle term he had proposed, namely, that we are all baptized in conformity to the death of Christ, saying: "For we are buried together with him by baptism into death." As if to say: burial is owed only to the dead. Matthew 8:22: "let the dead bury their dead." Now through baptism men are buried with Christ, that is, they are conformed to his burial. For just as one who is buried is placed beneath the earth, so one who is baptized is immersed beneath the water. Whence also in baptism a threefold immersion is made, not only on account of faith in the Trinity, but also to represent the three days of Christ's burial. And just as the three days of burial make only one burial, so the threefold immersion makes only one baptism. And from this it is also the case that on Holy Saturday solemn baptism is celebrated in the Church, when the burial of Christ is commemorated, just as also on the vigil of Pentecost, when solemnity is kept for the Holy Spirit, from whose power the water of baptism receives its cleansing force, as is said in John 3:5: "unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit," and so on. It must be considered, however, that bodily someone first dies and afterward is buried; but spiritually the burial of baptism causes the death of sin, because a sacrament of the new law effects what it signifies. Whence, since the burial that is effected through baptism is a sign of the death of sin, it effects death in the one baptized. And this is what he says, that we are "buried into death," so that by this very fact, that we receive in ourselves the sign of the burial of Christ, we obtain the death of sin. Then, when he says, "that as Christ," he infers the consequent, namely, that we ought not to live in sin. For this indeed he introduces a likeness drawn from the resurrection of Christ, saying, "that as Christ rose from the dead by the glory of the Father" — that is, by the power of the Father, from which the Father himself is glorified, according to that word of Psalm 56:8: "arise, my glory" — "so we also may walk in newness of life," that is, that we may proceed by the good works of life. For the life of sin has oldness, because it leads us into corruption. Hebrews 8:13: "that which decayeth and groweth old is near its end." Whence also it is said in Baruch 3:10: "How happeneth it, that thou art in thy enemies' land, thou art grown old in a strange country?" and so on. Whence also it is called newness of life, by which someone returns to integrity, namely, so as to be without sin. Psalm 102:5: "thy youth shall be renewed like the eagle's." Ephesians 4:23: "be renewed in the spirit of your mind." Then, when he says, "For if," he proves the necessity of the inference. For Christ, after he was dead, rose again; whence it is fitting that those who are conformed to Christ as to his death in baptism should also be conformed to his resurrection through innocence of life. And this is what he says: "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death" — that is, if we take up in ourselves the likeness of his death, so that we are incorporated into him as a branch that is grafted onto a plant, so that we are, as it were, grafted into the very passion of Christ — "we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection," namely, planted together with the likeness of it, so that, that is, in the present we may live innocently, and in the future we may arrive at a like glory. Philippians 3:21: "he will reform the body of our lowness, made like to the body of his glory." 2 Timothy 2:11: "if we be dead with him, we shall live also with him." Thus, therefore, just as the Apostle, through the likeness of the death of Christ, proved that we are dead to sin — which he had set forth beforehand as it were the antecedent — so, through the likeness of his resurrection, he proved that we ought not to live in sin; which he had introduced above as it were the consequent.”

“Know ye not that so many of us as, You must know this, you cannot be ignorant of it, that whoever were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death: and therefore must be dead to sin, and consequently ought not to live, nor can they live in sin. This does not suppose, that some of this church were baptized persons, and others not; but that some might be baptized in water who were not baptized into Christ: there is a difference between being baptized in water in the name of Christ, and being baptized into Christ, which believers in their baptism are; by which is meant, not a being brought by it into union with Christ, which is either secretly from eternity, or openly at conversion, and both before the baptism of true believers; nor a being brought by it into the mystical body of Christ the church, for this also is before it; but rather it designs a being baptized, or a being brought by baptism into more communion with Christ, into a participation of his grace and benefits; or into the doctrine of Christ, and a more distinct knowledge of it: the power of which they feel upon their hearts, and so have really believed in Christ, heartily love him, and make a sincere profession of him; though rather the true meaning of the phrase "baptized into Christ", I take to be, is to be baptized purely for the sake of Christ, in imitation of him, who has set us an example, and because baptism is an ordinance of his; it is to submit to it with a view to his glory, to testify our affection for him, and subjection to him, without laying any stress or dependence on it for salvation; such who are thus baptized, are "baptized into his death"; they not only resemble Christ in his sufferings and death, by being immersed in water, but they declare their faith in the death of Christ, and also share in the benefits of his death; such as peace, pardon, righteousness, and atonement: now this proves, that such persons are dead to sin, who are so baptized; for by the death of Christ, into which they are baptized, they are justified from sin; by the death of Christ, their old man is crucified, and the body of sin destroyed; besides, believers in baptism profess themselves to be dead to sin and the world, and their baptism is an obligation upon them to live unto righteousness.”

“Know ye not, etc. - Every man who believes the Christian religion, and receives baptism as the proof that he believes it, and has taken up the profession of it, is bound thereby to a life of righteousness. To be baptized into Christ, is to receive the doctrine of Christ crucified, and to receive baptism as a proof of the genuineness of that faith, and the obligation to live according to its precepts. Baptized into his death? - That, as Jesus Christ in his crucifixion died completely, so that no spark of the natural or animal life remained in his body, so those who profess his religion should be so completely separated and saved from sin, that they have no more connection with it, nor any more influence from it, than a dead man has with or from his departed spirit.”

“&c. We…are baptized in his death. Greek, unto his death. The apostle here alludes to the manner of administering the sacrament of baptism, which was then done by immersion or by plunging the person baptized under the water, in which he finds a resemblance of Christ’s death and burial under ground, and of his resurrection to an immortal life. So must we after baptism rise to lead a quite different life: having been also, when we were baptized and made Christians, planted as branches ingrafted in Christ, let us endeavour to bring forth the fruits of a virtuous life. (Witham) — Old man…body of sin. Our corrupt state, subject to sin and concupiscence, coming to us from Adam, is called our old man , as our state, reformed in and by Christ, is called the new man. And the vices and sins which then ruled in us, are named the body of sin. (Challoner) — The old and sinful man we must look upon as crucified with him, and the body of sin, or our sinful body, destroyed. We must look upon ourselves as dead to sin, and that we must sin no more, as Christ being once risen, dies no more. (Witham)”

“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ--compare Co1 10:2. were baptized into his death?--sealed with the seal of heaven, and as it were formally entered and articled, to all the benefits and all the obligations of Christian discipleship in general, and of His death in particular. And since He was "made sin" and "a curse for us" (Co2 5:21; Gal 5:13), "bearing our sins in His own body on the tree," and "rising again for our justification" (Rom 4:25; Pe1 2:24), our whole sinful case and condition, thus taken up into His Person, has been brought to an end in His death. Whoso, then, has been baptized into Christ's death has formally surrendered the whole state and life of sin, as in Christ a dead thing. He has sealed himself to be not only "the righteousness of God in Him," but "a new creature"; and as he cannot be in Christ to the one effect and not to the other, for they are one thing, he has bidden farewell, by baptism into Christ's death, to his entire connection with sin. "How," then, "can he live any longer therein?" The two things are as contradictory in the fact as they are in the terms.”