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Old vs. New Covenant Part 1 & Old vs. New Covenant Part 2

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BAPTISM: CONSIDER YOURSELF DEAD TO SIN

If the blood justifies us and transforms our once-dead spirits into the very righteousness of God, then the actual burial of Jesus is what allows us to be “dead” to the sinful nature we once identified with.  

Paul goes to great lengths to explain how the work of Christ in its many facets meets the need of humanity. The blood on the Mercy Seat (Heb. 9:5) brings us close and reconciles us to God, while His death and burial is what allows us to bury and consider ourselves completely dead to our old sinful nature. In this text we see that water baptism is so much more than a public proclamation of our faith, but it is a prophetic act in which we allow God, by the Holy Spirit, to destroy our old man through our identification with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. As Paul writes, “For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His” (Rom. 6:5).

When we put our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we have the privilege of identifying with His death through water baptism. This water baptism is so much more than a public proclamation of belief in Jesus; it is the burial of our old sinful nature through the finished work of Christ on the cross. Thus, as we enter the waters of baptism, Paul is urging us to have faith in the burial of Jesus, that our old sinful nature is buried with Christ, so that as we come up out of the waters, we, too, may identify with His resurrection (becoming a new creation), giving us access and grace to a new way of life apart from sin:

“We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him.” (Rom 6:6-7)

So if our justification brings life and righteousness to our once-dead spirits and imparts to us the divine nature, let’s look at our new nature and the exhortations and instructions in God’s Word that will renew our minds and allow us to live as new creations in Christ.