The Signs of the Times, vol. 22

April 2, 1896

“Studies in Romans. Crucified, Buried, and Raised” The Signs of the Times, 22, 14.

E. J. Waggoner

In beginning the study of the sixth chapter of Romans, it must be remembered that we have but a continuation of the fifth. The subject of that chapter is superabounding grace, and the gift of life and righteousness by grace. As sinners we are enemies of God, but are reconciled, that is, freed from sin, by receiving the righteousness of Christ’s life, which has no limit. No matter how greatly the sin may abound, grace does much more abound” “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” This brings us to a consideration of the particulars of our SITI April 2, 1896, page 210.1

Union with Christ

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 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. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection; knowing this, that our old man in crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him; knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:1-11. SITI April 2, 1896, page 210.2

Questioning the Text

For what purpose did the law enter? SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.1

“The law entered, that the offence might abound.” Romans 5:20. SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.2

But what do we find when the offense abounds? SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.3

“Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Verse 20. SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.4

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.5

“God forbid.” (Not by any means.) SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.6

And why not? SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.7

“How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.8

If we have been baptized into Jesus Christ, into what were we baptized? SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.9

“So many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death.” SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.10

What does baptism mean? SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.11

“We are buried with him by baptism into death.” SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.12

What further? SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.13

“That like as Christ was raised up fro the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.14

If we have been “planted” together in the likeness of his death, what will surely follow? SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.15

“We shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.16

What has taken place? SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.17

“Our old man is crucified with him.” SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.18

Why is the “old man” crucified with Christ? SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.19

“That the body of sin might be destroyed.” SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.20

And what will be the result of that? SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.21

“That henceforth we should not serve sin.” SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.22

From what is he that is dead free? SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.23

“He that is dead is freed from sin.” SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.24

Of what may we be confident if we are dead with Christ? SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.25

“That we shall also live with him.” SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.26

Why have we this confidence? SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.27

“Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.” SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.28

Why not? SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.29

“For in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.” SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.30

Therefore since we are dead and raised with him, what must be the case with us? SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.31

“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.32

An Important Question.—“Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” The student will doubtless recall a similar question in the third chapter, verses 5, 7, and the answer in verses 6, 8. It is another form of the question, “Shall we do evil, that good may come?” The answer must be apparent to all, “Not by any means,” for this is really the force of the words improperly rendered, “God forbid.” Altho grace superabounds where sin abounds, that is no reason why we should wilfully pile up the sin. That would be most emphatically to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 Corinthians 6:1. SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.33

The Reason Why.—“How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” It is simply an impossibility, and there is really no question as to whether or not we may do it; for it is certain that if we are dead to sin, we can not live in it at the same time. A man can not at the same time be both dead and alive. Now the previous chapter has emphasized the fact that we are reconciled to God by the death of Christ, and are saved by his life. Reconciliation to God means being freed from sin; so that being “saved by his life” means that we have “passed from death unto life.” The life of sin that was enmity has been ended in the life of Christ. SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.34

“Baptized into Jesus Christ.” —Baptism is the symbol of putting on Christ. “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Galatians 3:27. “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles.” 1 Corinthians 12:12, 13. SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.35

Where Christ Touches Us.-It is in death that we come into contact with Christ. He touches us at the lowest possible point. That is what makes our salvation so sure, and so sure for every one without any exception. Sin and sickness are tributary to death. Death is the sum of all the evils possible to man. It is the lowest depth, and it is there that Christ comes in contact with us. We become united to him in death. As the greater includes the lesser, the fact that Christ humbled himself even to death proves that there is no ill possible to us that he does not take upon himself. SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.36

Baptized into His Death.—“So many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death.” And what is it to be baptized into his death? Verse 10 tells us: “For in that he died, he died unto sin once.” He died unto sin, not his own, because he had none; but he “bare our sins in his own body on the tree.” 1 Peter 2:24. “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.” Isaiah 53:5. Since in that he died, he died unto sin, it follows that if we are baptized into his death, we also die to sin. SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.37

A New Life.—“Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more.” “If we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.” It was impossible for the grave to hold Christ. Acts 2:24. Therefore, just as surely as we are baptized into the death of Christ, so surely shall we be raised from a life of sin to a life of righteousness in him. “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.38

Crucifixion with Him.-As Christ was crucified, therefore, being baptized into his death means that we are crucified with him. So we read, “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Galatians 2:20. Crucified, yet living, because crucified with Christ, and yet he lives. Christ said, “Because I live, ye shall live also.” John 14:19. How can we live a new life? We have no power at all of ourselves; but Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father; and in his prayer to the Father he said, “The glory which thou gavest me I have given them.” John 17:22. Therefore, the power that raised Jesus from the dead is exercised to raise us from the death of sin. If we are willing to allow the old life to be crucified, we may be sure of the new. SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.39

“Our Old Man” Crucified.-We shall be in the likeness of his resurrection. If we are crucified with Christ, our sins must also be crucified with Christ, for they are a part of us. Our sins were on him as he was crucified, so of course our sins are crucified if we are crucified with him. But here is a difference between us and our sins when crucified. We are crucified in order that we may live again; our sins are crucified in order that they may be destroyed. Christ is not “the minister of sin” (Galatians 2:17). It was the life of God that raised him from the dead, and in that life there is no sin. SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.40

A Separation.-The reader will notice that the separation from sin is in death. That is because death is in sin. “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” James 1:15. Therefore nothing less than death will effect a separation. We could not separate ourselves from sin, because sin was our very life. If it had been possible for us to effect the destruction of sin, it could have been only by the giving up of our lives, and that would have been the end of us. That is why there will be no future for the wicked who die in their sins; their life having been given up or rather, taken from them, they are out of existence. But Christ had the power to lay down his life, and to take it again; and therefore when we lay down our lives in him, we are raised again by his endless life. Remember that he does not give us our own life back again, but that he gives us his own life. In that life there never was a sin; and so it is that our crucifixion and resurrection with him is the separation of sin from us. This thought must be borne in mind when we come to study the next chapter. SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.41

Living with Him.— “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.” When shall we live with him?—Why, as soon as buried and risen with him, of course. Our life with Christ in the world to come is assured to us only by our living with him now in this world. We are separated from sin, by death with him, in order that we may be joined with him. The reader is asked to bear this in mind also until we come to the study of the next chapter. SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.42

“Buried.” —“We are buried with him by baptism into death.” Baptism, therefore, is burial. If people were content to follow the plain reading of the Scriptures, there never would be a question concerning “the mode of baptism.” No one from reading the Bible could ever get any other idea than that baptism is immersion. “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.” Colossians 2:12. Baptism represents the death and resurrection of Christ, and by it we show our acceptance of his sacrifice; and the very act is an actual burial, in order to make the lesson the more impressive. SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.43

Why the Change? —How is it that there has been a change from Scripture baptism to sprinkling? The answer is very easy. Baptism is a memorial of the resurrection of Christ. But “the church,” by which is meant the bishops who loved the praise of men more than the praise of God and who wished to curry favor with the “better class” of the heathen, adopted the pagan sun festival. And in order to appear to justify themselves in so doing, they claimed that the rising sun which was worshipped by the heathen was a symbol of the resurrection of “the Sun of Righteousness,” namely, Christ, and that by observing Sunday they were celebrating his resurrection. But they did not need two memorials of the resurrection, and so they dropped the one that the Lord had given. In order, however, not to appear to throw baptism away, they claimed that the heathen sprinkling with “holy water” which they very naturally adopted with the heathen sun festival, was the baptism enjoined in the Scriptures. The people trusted in the “fathers” instead of reading the Bible for themselves, and so it was very easy to make them believe that the Bible was obeyed. It is true that there are some who follow the word in regard to immersion, who also observe Sunday; but the two practices are inconsistent. The word is neglected in one particular in order to provide a memorial for an event which they already celebrate in accordance with the word. We are sorry to learn, what however might naturally be expected, that scriptural baptism is falling into disuse among those who observe the first day of the week. It must be the case that sooner or later they will wholly give up one or the other. SITI April 2, 1896, page 211.44

E. J. W.