Johann
Member
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2022
- Messages
- 380
OR DO YOU NOT KNOW: e agnoeite 2PPAI):
Ro 6:16; 7:1; 1Cor 3:16; 5:6; 6:2,3,9,15,16,19; 9:13,24; 2Cor 13:5; Jas 4:4
KNOW!
CONSIDER!
PRESENT!
Romans 6 summarizes the "steps" in sanctification. We must know that our old self was crucified with Christ (Ro 6:6-note). We must consider ourselves to be dead to sin (Ro 6:11-note). And we must present the members of our body as instruments of righteousness to God (Ro 6:13-note). While these are the "steps" we must choose to do (know, consider, present), the truth is that without the enabling desire and power of the indwelling Holy Spirit we cannot walk this road in our own strength. Have you tried on your own as I have? It might "work" for a short time, but eventually we fall. To walk supernaturally, we need to surrender daily and depend wholly on the Holy Spirit (e.g., read Ro 8:13).
Do you not know - This is a favorite Pauline phrase (14x by Paul in Romans = Ro 6:3, 16; 7:1; 11:2; 1Co 3:16; 5:6; 6:2, 3, 9, 15, 16, 19; 9:13, 24). Paul now begins to present a series of logical truths that explain the believer's new state of being dead to Sin. Remember Paul is speaking of the believer's position not his practice. Paul is not saying that we become perfect, but that we simply can no longer reside comfortably or habitually (as we did before conversion) in the realm which is ruled by "king sin".
Not know (50) (agnoeo [note] from a = negates + noeo = to perceive with thought in one's consciousness, not via one's senses) is literally not knowing and thus means to be ignorant (destitute of knowledge or education), not to recognize or not know (which is how agnoeo is used in this verse) or to commit a fault because of lack of insight (He 5:2-note, 2Pe 2:12-note).
Present tense speaks of continuous ignorance. This is a strong statement: "Are you continually ignorant", "Do you continually fail to recognize this truth"?
Agnoeo - 22x in 21v - Mk 9:32; Lk. 9:45; Acts 13:27; 17:23; Note: 6x's in Romans = Ro 1:13; 2:4; 6:3; 7:1; 10:3; 11:25; 1 Co. 10:1; 12:1; 14:38; 2Co. 1:8; 2:11; 6:9; Gal. 1:22; 1 Thess. 4:13; 1 Tim. 1:13; Heb. 5:2; 2Pe 2:12
The NAS renders agnoeo as have no knowledge(1), ignorance(1), ignorant(2), ignorantly(1), not know(2), not knowing(2), not recognize(1), not recognized(1), not understand(2), recognizing not(1), unaware(4), uninformed(2),unknown(2).
Moule asks "Do you forget that your covenant-Head, of Whose covenant of peace your baptism was the divine physical token, is nothing to you if not your Saviour “Who died,” and Who died because of this very sin with which your thought now parleys (confers with an enemy); died because only so could He break its legal bond upon you (justification), in order to break its moral bond (sanctification)? (The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans)
The New Jerusalem Bible says "You cannot have forgotten". I used to have a professor in medical school whose famous response to the ignorance of the residents was "You can't not know!"
Vincent commenting on agnoeo in the indicative mood (the mood of reality) writes that "the indicative mood presupposes an acquaintance with the moral nature of baptism and a consequent absurdity in the idea of persisting in sin. (Vincent Word Studies)
This mode of questioning is similar to that used by Jesus Himself. For example in addressing Nicodemus Jesus said ""Are you the teacher of Israel and do not (know or) understand these things?" (Jn 3:10)
Know is used three times in the first eleven verses of Romans 6 (Ro 6:3, Ro 6:6, Ro 6:9). We often hear the statement that knowledge is power, while ignorance results in defeat, and while knowing the Scriptural truth per se won't guarantee victory (we need to "know" and to "do" or to "obey" in His power), not knowing what God says will certainly assure defeat. What we do should be consistent with what we know to be true. What we are expected to know here are the facts about our death to Sin, the old tyrant that once ruled our moral/ethical life like a harsh dictator or tyrant. It is clear from Paul's question that it is the believer's responsibility to know the truth about our union and identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.
See Related Resources on the believer's new, eternal position - in Christ and in Christ Jesus and in Christ
A firm knowledge of this truth is foundational for the outworking of our new life in Christ (sanctification or present tense salvation) so that we are not misled by faulty or inadequate views in regard to how we grow spiritually. It is not difficult for the Christian to take a biblical truth to a most unbiblical extreme in practice. Michael Andrus summarizes some of the more common faulty views which include growth in spirituality (1) by eradication of the sin nature or perfectionism, (2) by asceticism, (3) by legalism, (4) by emotionalism, (5) by quietism or mysticism and (6) by "new ageism".
Ron Teed asks "Do you know what a true Christian is? A Christian is not just merely a person who has been declared righteous and then chooses to do as they please. When one truly believes in Jesus, they are brought into a living, intimate union with Jesus Christ. Salvation does not occur when God deletes your record of sin from His computer and replaces it with a file entitled “SAVED.” Salvation occurs when your life is fused with the life of Jesus. You are immersed, or as Ro 6:3 says, baptized into Jesus Christ. That is true salvation. To be immersed or baptized into Jesus Christ means we are involved in all that God is doing in the life of Jesus. Paul is not talking about a baptism involving water here, but a spiritual baptism, an immersion, a fusing, a joining, a bonding with the very life of Jesus Christ. We further see in 1Cor 12:13 that when we ourselves are immersed into the life of Christ, we are therefore immersed into the lives of all the other Christians and therefore become united together as one body, a body controlled by the Holy Spirit, who is Christ living within us. That one body of believers, guided by the Holy Spirit to be righteous and do good works, is what the Church was meant to be. It was never meant to be a religious social club, or a collection of people who use the church and the name of Christ to satisfy their own greedy and selfish desires. (Ron Teed Commentary – The Book of Romans)
THAT ALL OF US WHO HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST JESUS: hoti hosoi ebaptisthemen (1PAPI) eis Christon Iesoun:
Mt 28:19; 1Cor 12:13; Gal 3:27; 1Pe 3:21
Paul now explains how our death to sin was effected, came about or was worked out.
All is not the usual Greek word for all (pas) but is the pronoun hósos which is more literally rendered as many as and which Vincent comments is used for "designating all collectively."
Ryrie summarizes the profound theology of Romans 6:3 noting that "Baptism with the Holy Spirit joins the believer to Christ, separating him from the old life and associating him with the new. He is no longer "in Adam" but is "in Christ." Water baptism portrays this truth. (The Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Translation: 1995. Moody Publishers)
Baptized (907) (baptizo from bapto = cover wholly with a fluid; stain or dip as with dye; used of the smith tempering the red-hot steel, used of dyeing the hair; of a ship that "dipped" = sank) has a literal and a figurative meaning in the NT. The literal meaning is to submerge, to dip or immerse as in water. A study of the 77 NT uses (See below) reveals that most of the uses of baptizo in the Gospels and Acts are associated with literal water baptism.
The Greeks used baptizo to describe the dyeing of a garment, in which the whole material was plunged in and taken out from the element used. Baptizo was used of the act of sinking ships. Baptizo also meant to bathe of a boat which had been wrecked by being submerged and then stranded on the shore.
Figuratively, baptizo pictures the introduction or placing of a person or thing into a new environment or into union with something else so as to alter its condition or its relationship to its previous environment or condition. In this sense baptizo means to be identified with.
The baptism of John the Baptist was for repentance and was associated with a genuine belief in Jesus (Acts 19:4+) and thus these Jews who were being baptized by John (eg, Mt 3:6+, Mk 1:4, 5+, Contrast Lk 7:29+ = saved with Lk 7:30+ = unsaved) were genuinely "saved". Note that it was not the fact that John baptized them in water that they were saved but their salvation was based on repentance and belief in Jesus. See What was the meaning and importance of the baptism of John the Baptist?
James Montgomery Boice helps understand this figurative meaning of baptizo writing that "The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C. It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both words. Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be 'dipped' (bapto) into boiling water and then 'baptised' (baptizo ) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptizing the vegetable, produces a permanent change. When used in the New Testament, this word more often refers to our union and identification with Christ than to our water baptism... mere intellectual assent is not enough. There must be a union with Him, a real change, like the vegetable to the pickle!" (Bolding added)
In some contexts baptizo meant to wash ceremonially for purpose of purification (washing of cups - Mk 7:4+, Lk 11:38+ = This custom before meals, prescribed by the Pharisees, was not required by the original Mosaic law.).
In Greek literature baptizo meant to put or go under water in in a variety of senses. Here is a use from the Pseudepigrapha of the OT "waiting to be bathed in the waters of ocean."
In Mark 10:38 the meaning of baptizo is unique, for here Jesus describes being baptized into death on the Cross, something only He could supremely accomplish, although He does say that His followers will be "baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized" referring to the truth that those who identify with Jesus will suffer as He suffered, with the exception that only His suffering on Calvary was for the purpose of bearing sin.
Warren Wiersbe - When you read about “baptism” in the New Testament, you must exercise discernment to determine whether the word is to be interpreted literally or symbolically. For example, in Romans 6:3, 4+ and Galatians 3:27, 28+, the reference is symbolic (Ed: and figurative) since water baptism cannot put a sinner into Jesus Christ. Only the Holy Spirit can do that (Ro 8:9; 1Co 12:13; see Ac 10:44, 45, 46, 47, 48+). Water baptism is a public witness of the person’s identification with Jesus Christ, while Spirit baptism is the personal and private experience that identifies the person with Christ.
Baptizo - 77 times in 64v in the NT in the NASB- Mt 3:6+ (water baptism prior to coming of the Spirit), Mt 3:11+ (Note 2 or 3 types of baptism in this verse = [1] With water for repentance - not Christian baptism but similar to OT washings that symbolized a cleansing of personal repentance, cp Lk 7:29, 30+ and associated with genuine belief in Jesus -Acts 19:4 - but still under the OT economy and so prior to the coming of the Spirit in Acts 2 [2] With the Holy Spirit, something that happens to all believers - 1Cor 12:13, Ro 8:9 [3] With fire - could speak of judgment or could refer to baptism at Pentecost where fire symbolized the coming of the Spirit in which case there would be only 2 types of baptism described in this passage - note: this is a difficult verse), Mt 3:13, 14, 16; 28:19; Mk. 1:4 (John the Baptist or Baptizer), Mk 1:5, Mk 1:8 (distinguishes baptism with water for repentance -Mt 3:11, and that with the Holy Spirit), Mk 1:9; 6:14, 24; 7:4; 10:38, 39; 16:16; Lk. 3:7, 12, 16, 21; 7:29, 30; 11:38; 12:50; Jn. 1:25, 26, 28, 31, 33; 3:22, 23, 26; 4:1, 2; 10:40; Acts 1:5; 2:38, 41; 8:12, 13, 16, 36, 38; 9:18; 10:47, 48; 11:16; 16:15, 33; 18:8; 19:3, 4, 5; 22:16; Ro 6:3; 1Co. 1:13, 14, 15; 10:2; 12:13; 15:29; Gal. 3:27 and is rendered in the NAS as Baptist (3), baptize(9), baptized(51), baptizes(1), ceremonially washed(1),undergo(1).
There are only 2 uses of baptizo in the Septuagint (LXX), one in Isaiah 21:4 and the other in
2 Kings 5:14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
Note that baptízo is not "translated" but is transliterated in our English Bibles. To transliterate is simply to transcribe (a word in one alphabet) into corresponding letters of another alphabet. For example, the Greek word λογοσ can be transliterated as “logos”.
Guzik summarizes baptizo noting that "The idea behind the ancient Greek word for baptized is “to immerse or overwhelm something.” The Bible uses this idea of being baptized into something in several different ways. When a person is baptized in water, they are immersed or covered over with water. When they are baptized with the Holy Spirit (Mt 3:11, Acts 1:5) they are “immersed” or “covered over” with the Holy Spirit. When they are baptized with suffering (Mk 10:39), they are “immersed” or “covered over” with suffering. Here, Paul refers to being baptized - “immersed” or “covered over” in Christ Jesus. (Guzik) (Bolding added)
Vine writes that "baptizo was necessarily transliterated into English, as there was no equivalent in our language. “To immerse” would be simply “to plunge into.” To baptize is to put into water and take out again. It involves immersion, submersion, and emergence—death, burial and resurrection. The word was used among the heathen Greeks of articles which underwent submersion and emergence, as in the case of the dyeing of a garment. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson) (Click Vines full definition)
Kenneth Wuest explains that baptizo "can be illustrated by the action of the smith dipping the hot iron in water, tempering it, or the dyer dipping the cloth in the dye for the purpose of dying it...The word refers to the introduction or placing of a person or thing into a new environment or into union with something else so as to alter its condition or its relationship to its previous environment or condition. While the word...had other uses, yet the one that predominated above the others was the above one. Observe how perfectly this meaning is in accord with the usage of the word in Romans 6:3, 4, where the believing sinner is baptized into vital union with Jesus Christ. The believing sinner is introduced or placed in Christ, thus coming into union with Him. By that action he is taken out of his old environment and condition in which he had lived, the First Adam (cp 1Co 15:22), and is placed into a new environment and condition, the Last Adam (cp 1Co 15:45). By this action his condition is changed from that of a lost sinner with a totally depraved nature to that of a saint with a divine nature (2Pe 1:4). His relationship to the law of God is changed from that of a guilty sinner to that of a justified saint (Ro 3:28). All this is accomplished by the act of the Holy Spirit introducing or placing him into vital union with Jesus Christ (cp 1Co 12:13, Gal 3:27). No ceremony of water baptism ever did that. The entire context is supernatural in its character. The Greek word here should not be transliterated but translated, and the translation should read; “As many as were introduced (placed) into Christ Jesus, into His death were introduced. Therefore we were buried with Him through the aforementioned introduction into His death." (Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament)
In short baptizo as used in the present context describes the introduction or placing of an individual into a new environment, union with Christ, an unbreakable union which forever alters the individual's relationship to their previous environment.
Cereghin - This baptism must be a reference to Spirit baptism since water baptism does not put us “into” Jesus Christ. All water baptism does is make you wet. The new birth and the accompanying baptism with the Holy Spirit is what places the new saint into Christ, which is what takes place at salvation. Since water baptism has nothing to do with our salvation, it cannot be what Paul is referring to here. (Reference)
In fairness, it should be stated that a number of commentaries interpret Paul's reference to baptism here in Romans 6:3 as an allusion to water baptism although most of these writers do go on to explain that water baptism is just a picture or symbol of the divine transaction that transpired when the individual initially placed their faith in Christ. Wiersbe, a respected conservative commentator, for example writes
“It appears that Paul had both the literal and figurative in mind in this paragraph, for he used the readers’ experience of water baptism to remind them of their identification with Christ through the baptism of the Holy Spirit.” (Wiersbe)
Others, including this website, feel that Paul's use of baptism here is a reference only to the divine transaction and not to the physical act.
Spurgeon for example in a sermon on Romans 6:3-4 says that "I am content to take the view that baptism signifies the burial of believers in water in the name of the Lord, and I shall so interpret the text."
Spurgeon however goes on to qualify by stating that
I do not understand Paul to say that if improper persons, such as unbelievers, and hypocrites, and deceivers, are baptized they are baptized into our Lord's death....
O beloved, whether you have been baptized in water or not, I put this question to you, "Do you accept the Lord Jesus as your surety and substitute?" For if you do not, you shall bear your own guilt and carry your own sorrow, and stand in your own place beneath the glance of the angry justice of God... (Christ's) death is the hinge of our confidence: we are not baptized into His example, or His life, but into His death. We hereby confess that all our salvation lies in the death of Jesus, which death we accept as having been incurred on our account...These are Grand truths, but they are sure and comforting. You are getting among Atlantic billows now, but be not afraid. Realize the sanctifying effect of this truth. (Spurgeon, C H: Baptism--A Burial: sermon on Romans 6:3-4 )
Paul's metaphorical use (metaphor = use of a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea in place of another by way of suggesting a likeness or analogy between them) of baptizo in 1Co 10:1,2 helps understand how he uses baptizo in Romans 6. Paul reminded the Corinthians
I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. (1Co 10:1, 2)
Paul was not saying that the Israelites underwent literal water baptism in the name of Moses. What he meant was that the children of Israel identified with Moses, that they were entering into close union with him, coming to belong to him, so as to be in a sense identified with him acknowledging that he was the Lord’s appointed leader over them. There was solidarity between the people and Moses. As Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt toward the Promised Land, all the nation of Israel pledged allegiance to Moses at first and recognized him as the divinely appointed "savior". Moses was the channel through which God spoke to the children of Israel. He was their anchor to God. In a deeper and more profound sense, believers are baptized into Jesus Christ.
John MacArthur writes that "Many people interpret Paul’s argument in Romans 6:3-10 as referring to water baptism. However, Paul is simply using the physical analogy of water baptism to teach the spiritual reality of the believer’s union with Christ. Water baptism is the outward identification of an inward reality-faith in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Paul was not advocating salvation by water baptism; that would have contradicted everything he had just said about salvation by grace and not works in Romans 3–5, which has no mention of water baptism." (MacArthur, J: Romans 1-8. Chicago: Moody Press)
Ray Stedman agrees writing that "The baptism that is mentioned here is not water baptism. It is the baptism of the Spirit, by which we were made part of the body of Christ. Water baptism is a sign of that, but the essential thing here is the baptism of the Spirit. The way some people read their Bibles, I am reminded of the fellows that go around with witching wands, looking for water. Have you heard of these? They take willow sticks and go around looking for water -- and wherever water is, the stick turns down. {Some} people read their Bibles that way. They go through it, and, wherever it mentions baptism, down goes the stick -- indicating water. Wherever it reads "baptism," they find water. But, this isn't water baptism. This is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, of which water baptism is a symbol. This baptism united me to Christ, and, the day that I believed in Jesus Christ, God cut off this old life, and crucified it with Christ, and buried it with him, and declared that it no longer had any right to live in his sight. Now get that! This is tremendously important. That was the day I died: The day that I believed in Jesus Christ, God made this real to me, and the reason that he put it to death was because it had absolutely no power in it to do good." (Bolding and color added) (Click sermon The Day I Died)
To reiterate, most of the evangelical commentaries that favor Paul's reference here in Romans 6 as alluding to water baptism, do not equate the physical act with salvation. For example the popular NIV Study Bible has this note
In NT times baptism so closely followed conversion that the two were considered part of one event. So although baptism is not a means by which we enter into a vital faith relationship with Jesus Christ, it is closely associated with faith. Baptism depicts graphically what happens as a result of the Christian's union with Christ, which comes with faith--through faith we are united with Christ, just as through our natural birth we are united with Adam. As we fell into sin and became subject to death in father Adam, so we now have died and been raised again with Christ--which baptism symbolizes. (Bolding added) (NIV Study Bible, note on Ro6:3-4)
In another passage which parallels Romans 6:3, Paul informs the Galatian saints that
you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For (explaining how they are now "in Christ Jesus") all of you (hósos this is the identical Greek pronoun used here in Ro 6:3 translated "all of us") who were baptized (aorist tense = past tense event, once for all occurring at the time of conversion) into (vital union with) Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (Gal 3:26, 27)
MacArthur adds that "Though water baptism is the outward act of public confession of one’s faith in Jesus Christ, Paul is not here speaking of that baptism. The Bible nowhere teaches salvation by physical baptism, especially not in Galatians, where the central message is salvation by faith alone, plus absolutely nothing else. Since it is here equated with being clothed … with Christ, the phrase baptized into Christ cannot refer to any water ceremony at all but rather to spiritual identification with and immersion into the life of Christ...That is a great mystery that the human mind cannot fathom. But in some spiritually supernatural way that transcends time and space, the person who places his trust in Jesus Christ is crucified, buried, and resurrected with his Savior, baptized into Christ, “The one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1Cor 6:17), so that when the Father looks at the sinful believer He sees His sinless Son. Faith appropriates the union that baptism symbolizes." (Bolding added) (MacArthur, J. Galatians. Chicago: Moody Press)
MacArthur also has an interesting discussion related to the the debate over the "type" of water baptism called for in Scripture...
The Greek word itself (baptizo) means literally to dip an object into water or other liquid, not to have the liquid put on the object. If all the forms of this word in Scripture had been translated (as “immersed”) instead of being simply transliterated (as “baptized”)-first into Latin and then into modern languages-the confusion we now see regarding the mode of baptism would never have arisen. In relation to other things the same word is translated-as we see in Luke 16:24, where the rich man in Hades asks that Lazarus might “dip [from baptizo] the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue,” and John 13:26, where Jesus “dipped [also from baptízo] the morsel.” As can be determined from any Greek lexicon, the original word never had a meaning other than dipping or submerging, and no other term is used for baptizing.
The Christian church knew no form of baptism but immersion until the Middle Ages, when the practice of sprinkling or pouring was introduced by the Roman Catholic church-which itself had previously always baptized by immersion. The great Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) said, “In immersion the setting forth of the burial of Christ is more plainly expressed, in which this manner of baptizing is more commendable.” The Catholic church did not recognize other modes until the Council of Ravenna, held in France in 1311. It was from the Catholic church that Lutheran and Reformed churches inherited the form of sprinkling or pouring. The Church of England did not begin the practice of sprinkling until 1645. The Eastern Orthodox church has never permitted any mode but immersion. (MacArthur, J: Matthew 1-7 Chicago: Moody Press)
OR DO YOU NOT KNOW: e agnoeite 2PPAI):
Ro 6:16; 7:1; 1Cor 3:16; 5:6; 6:2,3,9,15,16,19; 9:13,24; 2Cor 13:5; Jas 4:4
KNOW!
CONSIDER!
PRESENT!
Romans 6 summarizes the "steps" in sanctification. We must know that our old self was crucified with Christ (Ro 6:6-note). We must consider ourselves to be dead to sin (Ro 6:11-note). And we must present the members of our body as instruments of righteousness to God (Ro 6:13-note). While these are the "steps" we must choose to do (know, consider, present), the truth is that without the enabling desire and power of the indwelling Holy Spirit we cannot walk this road in our own strength. Have you tried on your own as I have? It might "work" for a short time, but eventually we fall. To walk supernaturally, we need to surrender daily and depend wholly on the Holy Spirit (e.g., read Ro 8:13).
Do you not know - This is a favorite Pauline phrase (14x by Paul in Romans = Ro 6:3, 16; 7:1; 11:2; 1Co 3:16; 5:6; 6:2, 3, 9, 15, 16, 19; 9:13, 24). Paul now begins to present a series of logical truths that explain the believer's new state of being dead to Sin. Remember Paul is speaking of the believer's position not his practice. Paul is not saying that we become perfect, but that we simply can no longer reside comfortably or habitually (as we did before conversion) in the realm which is ruled by "king sin".
Not know (50) (agnoeo [note] from a = negates + noeo = to perceive with thought in one's consciousness, not via one's senses) is literally not knowing and thus means to be ignorant (destitute of knowledge or education), not to recognize or not know (which is how agnoeo is used in this verse) or to commit a fault because of lack of insight (He 5:2-note, 2Pe 2:12-note).
Present tense speaks of continuous ignorance. This is a strong statement: "Are you continually ignorant", "Do you continually fail to recognize this truth"?
Agnoeo - 22x in 21v - Mk 9:32; Lk. 9:45; Acts 13:27; 17:23; Note: 6x's in Romans = Ro 1:13; 2:4; 6:3; 7:1; 10:3; 11:25; 1 Co. 10:1; 12:1; 14:38; 2Co. 1:8; 2:11; 6:9; Gal. 1:22; 1 Thess. 4:13; 1 Tim. 1:13; Heb. 5:2; 2Pe 2:12
The NAS renders agnoeo as have no knowledge(1), ignorance(1), ignorant(2), ignorantly(1), not know(2), not knowing(2), not recognize(1), not recognized(1), not understand(2), recognizing not(1), unaware(4), uninformed(2),unknown(2).
Moule asks "Do you forget that your covenant-Head, of Whose covenant of peace your baptism was the divine physical token, is nothing to you if not your Saviour “Who died,” and Who died because of this very sin with which your thought now parleys (confers with an enemy); died because only so could He break its legal bond upon you (justification), in order to break its moral bond (sanctification)? (The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans)
The New Jerusalem Bible says "You cannot have forgotten". I used to have a professor in medical school whose famous response to the ignorance of the residents was "You can't not know!"
Vincent commenting on agnoeo in the indicative mood (the mood of reality) writes that "the indicative mood presupposes an acquaintance with the moral nature of baptism and a consequent absurdity in the idea of persisting in sin. (Vincent Word Studies)
This mode of questioning is similar to that used by Jesus Himself. For example in addressing Nicodemus Jesus said ""Are you the teacher of Israel and do not (know or) understand these things?" (Jn 3:10)
Know is used three times in the first eleven verses of Romans 6 (Ro 6:3, Ro 6:6, Ro 6:9). We often hear the statement that knowledge is power, while ignorance results in defeat, and while knowing the Scriptural truth per se won't guarantee victory (we need to "know" and to "do" or to "obey" in His power), not knowing what God says will certainly assure defeat. What we do should be consistent with what we know to be true. What we are expected to know here are the facts about our death to Sin, the old tyrant that once ruled our moral/ethical life like a harsh dictator or tyrant. It is clear from Paul's question that it is the believer's responsibility to know the truth about our union and identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.
See Related Resources on the believer's new, eternal position - in Christ and in Christ Jesus and in Christ
A firm knowledge of this truth is foundational for the outworking of our new life in Christ (sanctification or present tense salvation) so that we are not misled by faulty or inadequate views in regard to how we grow spiritually. It is not difficult for the Christian to take a biblical truth to a most unbiblical extreme in practice. Michael Andrus summarizes some of the more common faulty views which include growth in spirituality (1) by eradication of the sin nature or perfectionism, (2) by asceticism, (3) by legalism, (4) by emotionalism, (5) by quietism or mysticism and (6) by "new ageism".
Ron Teed asks "Do you know what a true Christian is? A Christian is not just merely a person who has been declared righteous and then chooses to do as they please. When one truly believes in Jesus, they are brought into a living, intimate union with Jesus Christ. Salvation does not occur when God deletes your record of sin from His computer and replaces it with a file entitled “SAVED.” Salvation occurs when your life is fused with the life of Jesus. You are immersed, or as Ro 6:3 says, baptized into Jesus Christ. That is true salvation. To be immersed or baptized into Jesus Christ means we are involved in all that God is doing in the life of Jesus. Paul is not talking about a baptism involving water here, but a spiritual baptism, an immersion, a fusing, a joining, a bonding with the very life of Jesus Christ. We further see in 1Cor 12:13 that when we ourselves are immersed into the life of Christ, we are therefore immersed into the lives of all the other Christians and therefore become united together as one body, a body controlled by the Holy Spirit, who is Christ living within us. That one body of believers, guided by the Holy Spirit to be righteous and do good works, is what the Church was meant to be. It was never meant to be a religious social club, or a collection of people who use the church and the name of Christ to satisfy their own greedy and selfish desires. (Ron Teed Commentary – The Book of Romans)
THAT ALL OF US WHO HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST JESUS: hoti hosoi ebaptisthemen (1PAPI) eis Christon Iesoun:
Mt 28:19; 1Cor 12:13; Gal 3:27; 1Pe 3:21
Paul now explains how our death to sin was effected, came about or was worked out.
All is not the usual Greek word for all (pas) but is the pronoun hósos which is more literally rendered as many as and which Vincent comments is used for "designating all collectively."
Ryrie summarizes the profound theology of Romans 6:3 noting that "Baptism with the Holy Spirit joins the believer to Christ, separating him from the old life and associating him with the new. He is no longer "in Adam" but is "in Christ." Water baptism portrays this truth. (The Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Translation: 1995. Moody Publishers)
Baptized (907) (baptizo from bapto = cover wholly with a fluid; stain or dip as with dye; used of the smith tempering the red-hot steel, used of dyeing the hair; of a ship that "dipped" = sank) has a literal and a figurative meaning in the NT. The literal meaning is to submerge, to dip or immerse as in water. A study of the 77 NT uses (See below) reveals that most of the uses of baptizo in the Gospels and Acts are associated with literal water baptism.
The Greeks used baptizo to describe the dyeing of a garment, in which the whole material was plunged in and taken out from the element used. Baptizo was used of the act of sinking ships. Baptizo also meant to bathe of a boat which had been wrecked by being submerged and then stranded on the shore.
Figuratively, baptizo pictures the introduction or placing of a person or thing into a new environment or into union with something else so as to alter its condition or its relationship to its previous environment or condition. In this sense baptizo means to be identified with.
The baptism of John the Baptist was for repentance and was associated with a genuine belief in Jesus (Acts 19:4+) and thus these Jews who were being baptized by John (eg, Mt 3:6+, Mk 1:4, 5+, Contrast Lk 7:29+ = saved with Lk 7:30+ = unsaved) were genuinely "saved". Note that it was not the fact that John baptized them in water that they were saved but their salvation was based on repentance and belief in Jesus. See What was the meaning and importance of the baptism of John the Baptist?
James Montgomery Boice helps understand this figurative meaning of baptizo writing that "The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C. It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both words. Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be 'dipped' (bapto) into boiling water and then 'baptised' (baptizo ) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptizing the vegetable, produces a permanent change. When used in the New Testament, this word more often refers to our union and identification with Christ than to our water baptism... mere intellectual assent is not enough. There must be a union with Him, a real change, like the vegetable to the pickle!" (Bolding added)
In some contexts baptizo meant to wash ceremonially for purpose of purification (washing of cups - Mk 7:4+, Lk 11:38+ = This custom before meals, prescribed by the Pharisees, was not required by the original Mosaic law.).
In Greek literature baptizo meant to put or go under water in in a variety of senses. Here is a use from the Pseudepigrapha of the OT "waiting to be bathed in the waters of ocean."
In Mark 10:38 the meaning of baptizo is unique, for here Jesus describes being baptized into death on the Cross, something only He could supremely accomplish, although He does say that His followers will be "baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized" referring to the truth that those who identify with Jesus will suffer as He suffered, with the exception that only His suffering on Calvary was for the purpose of bearing sin.
Warren Wiersbe - When you read about “baptism” in the New Testament, you must exercise discernment to determine whether the word is to be interpreted literally or symbolically. For example, in Romans 6:3, 4+ and Galatians 3:27, 28+, the reference is symbolic (Ed: and figurative) since water baptism cannot put a sinner into Jesus Christ. Only the Holy Spirit can do that (Ro 8:9; 1Co 12:13; see Ac 10:44, 45, 46, 47, 48+). Water baptism is a public witness of the person’s identification with Jesus Christ, while Spirit baptism is the personal and private experience that identifies the person with Christ.
Baptizo - 77 times in 64v in the NT in the NASB- Mt 3:6+ (water baptism prior to coming of the Spirit), Mt 3:11+ (Note 2 or 3 types of baptism in this verse = [1] With water for repentance - not Christian baptism but similar to OT washings that symbolized a cleansing of personal repentance, cp Lk 7:29, 30+ and associated with genuine belief in Jesus -Acts 19:4 - but still under the OT economy and so prior to the coming of the Spirit in Acts 2 [2] With the Holy Spirit, something that happens to all believers - 1Cor 12:13, Ro 8:9 [3] With fire - could speak of judgment or could refer to baptism at Pentecost where fire symbolized the coming of the Spirit in which case there would be only 2 types of baptism described in this passage - note: this is a difficult verse), Mt 3:13, 14, 16; 28:19; Mk. 1:4 (John the Baptist or Baptizer), Mk 1:5, Mk 1:8 (distinguishes baptism with water for repentance -Mt 3:11, and that with the Holy Spirit), Mk 1:9; 6:14, 24; 7:4; 10:38, 39; 16:16; Lk. 3:7, 12, 16, 21; 7:29, 30; 11:38; 12:50; Jn. 1:25, 26, 28, 31, 33; 3:22, 23, 26; 4:1, 2; 10:40; Acts 1:5; 2:38, 41; 8:12, 13, 16, 36, 38; 9:18; 10:47, 48; 11:16; 16:15, 33; 18:8; 19:3, 4, 5; 22:16; Ro 6:3; 1Co. 1:13, 14, 15; 10:2; 12:13; 15:29; Gal. 3:27 and is rendered in the NAS as Baptist (3), baptize(9), baptized(51), baptizes(1), ceremonially washed(1),undergo(1).
There are only 2 uses of baptizo in the Septuagint (LXX), one in Isaiah 21:4 and the other in
2 Kings 5:14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
Note that baptízo is not "translated" but is transliterated in our English Bibles. To transliterate is simply to transcribe (a word in one alphabet) into corresponding letters of another alphabet. For example, the Greek word λογοσ can be transliterated as “logos”.
Guzik summarizes baptizo noting that "The idea behind the ancient Greek word for baptized is “to immerse or overwhelm something.” The Bible uses this idea of being baptized into something in several different ways. When a person is baptized in water, they are immersed or covered over with water. When they are baptized with the Holy Spirit (Mt 3:11, Acts 1:5) they are “immersed” or “covered over” with the Holy Spirit. When they are baptized with suffering (Mk 10:39), they are “immersed” or “covered over” with suffering. Here, Paul refers to being baptized - “immersed” or “covered over” in Christ Jesus. (Guzik) (Bolding added)
Vine writes that "baptizo was necessarily transliterated into English, as there was no equivalent in our language. “To immerse” would be simply “to plunge into.” To baptize is to put into water and take out again. It involves immersion, submersion, and emergence—death, burial and resurrection. The word was used among the heathen Greeks of articles which underwent submersion and emergence, as in the case of the dyeing of a garment. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson) (Click Vines full definition)
Kenneth Wuest explains that baptizo "can be illustrated by the action of the smith dipping the hot iron in water, tempering it, or the dyer dipping the cloth in the dye for the purpose of dying it...The word refers to the introduction or placing of a person or thing into a new environment or into union with something else so as to alter its condition or its relationship to its previous environment or condition. While the word...had other uses, yet the one that predominated above the others was the above one. Observe how perfectly this meaning is in accord with the usage of the word in Romans 6:3, 4, where the believing sinner is baptized into vital union with Jesus Christ. The believing sinner is introduced or placed in Christ, thus coming into union with Him. By that action he is taken out of his old environment and condition in which he had lived, the First Adam (cp 1Co 15:22), and is placed into a new environment and condition, the Last Adam (cp 1Co 15:45). By this action his condition is changed from that of a lost sinner with a totally depraved nature to that of a saint with a divine nature (2Pe 1:4). His relationship to the law of God is changed from that of a guilty sinner to that of a justified saint (Ro 3:28). All this is accomplished by the act of the Holy Spirit introducing or placing him into vital union with Jesus Christ (cp 1Co 12:13, Gal 3:27). No ceremony of water baptism ever did that. The entire context is supernatural in its character. The Greek word here should not be transliterated but translated, and the translation should read; “As many as were introduced (placed) into Christ Jesus, into His death were introduced. Therefore we were buried with Him through the aforementioned introduction into His death." (Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament)
In short baptizo as used in the present context describes the introduction or placing of an individual into a new environment, union with Christ, an unbreakable union which forever alters the individual's relationship to their previous environment.
Cereghin - This baptism must be a reference to Spirit baptism since water baptism does not put us “into” Jesus Christ. All water baptism does is make you wet. The new birth and the accompanying baptism with the Holy Spirit is what places the new saint into Christ, which is what takes place at salvation. Since water baptism has nothing to do with our salvation, it cannot be what Paul is referring to here. (Reference)
In fairness, it should be stated that a number of commentaries interpret Paul's reference to baptism here in Romans 6:3 as an allusion to water baptism although most of these writers do go on to explain that water baptism is just a picture or symbol of the divine transaction that transpired when the individual initially placed their faith in Christ. Wiersbe, a respected conservative commentator, for example writes
“It appears that Paul had both the literal and figurative in mind in this paragraph, for he used the readers’ experience of water baptism to remind them of their identification with Christ through the baptism of the Holy Spirit.” (Wiersbe)
Others, including this website, feel that Paul's use of baptism here is a reference only to the divine transaction and not to the physical act.
Spurgeon for example in a sermon on Romans 6:3-4 says that "I am content to take the view that baptism signifies the burial of believers in water in the name of the Lord, and I shall so interpret the text."
Spurgeon however goes on to qualify by stating that
I do not understand Paul to say that if improper persons, such as unbelievers, and hypocrites, and deceivers, are baptized they are baptized into our Lord's death....
O beloved, whether you have been baptized in water or not, I put this question to you, "Do you accept the Lord Jesus as your surety and substitute?" For if you do not, you shall bear your own guilt and carry your own sorrow, and stand in your own place beneath the glance of the angry justice of God... (Christ's) death is the hinge of our confidence: we are not baptized into His example, or His life, but into His death. We hereby confess that all our salvation lies in the death of Jesus, which death we accept as having been incurred on our account...These are Grand truths, but they are sure and comforting. You are getting among Atlantic billows now, but be not afraid. Realize the sanctifying effect of this truth. (Spurgeon, C H: Baptism--A Burial: sermon on Romans 6:3-4 )
Paul's metaphorical use (metaphor = use of a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea in place of another by way of suggesting a likeness or analogy between them) of baptizo in 1Co 10:1,2 helps understand how he uses baptizo in Romans 6. Paul reminded the Corinthians
I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. (1Co 10:1, 2)
Paul was not saying that the Israelites underwent literal water baptism in the name of Moses. What he meant was that the children of Israel identified with Moses, that they were entering into close union with him, coming to belong to him, so as to be in a sense identified with him acknowledging that he was the Lord’s appointed leader over them. There was solidarity between the people and Moses. As Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt toward the Promised Land, all the nation of Israel pledged allegiance to Moses at first and recognized him as the divinely appointed "savior". Moses was the channel through which God spoke to the children of Israel. He was their anchor to God. In a deeper and more profound sense, believers are baptized into Jesus Christ.
John MacArthur writes that "Many people interpret Paul’s argument in Romans 6:3-10 as referring to water baptism. However, Paul is simply using the physical analogy of water baptism to teach the spiritual reality of the believer’s union with Christ. Water baptism is the outward identification of an inward reality-faith in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Paul was not advocating salvation by water baptism; that would have contradicted everything he had just said about salvation by grace and not works in Romans 3–5, which has no mention of water baptism." (MacArthur, J: Romans 1-8. Chicago: Moody Press)
Ray Stedman agrees writing that "The baptism that is mentioned here is not water baptism. It is the baptism of the Spirit, by which we were made part of the body of Christ. Water baptism is a sign of that, but the essential thing here is the baptism of the Spirit. The way some people read their Bibles, I am reminded of the fellows that go around with witching wands, looking for water. Have you heard of these? They take willow sticks and go around looking for water -- and wherever water is, the stick turns down. {Some} people read their Bibles that way. They go through it, and, wherever it mentions baptism, down goes the stick -- indicating water. Wherever it reads "baptism," they find water. But, this isn't water baptism. This is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, of which water baptism is a symbol. This baptism united me to Christ, and, the day that I believed in Jesus Christ, God cut off this old life, and crucified it with Christ, and buried it with him, and declared that it no longer had any right to live in his sight. Now get that! This is tremendously important. That was the day I died: The day that I believed in Jesus Christ, God made this real to me, and the reason that he put it to death was because it had absolutely no power in it to do good." (Bolding and color added) (Click sermon The Day I Died)
To reiterate, most of the evangelical commentaries that favor Paul's reference here in Romans 6 as alluding to water baptism, do not equate the physical act with salvation. For example the popular NIV Study Bible has this note
In NT times baptism so closely followed conversion that the two were considered part of one event. So although baptism is not a means by which we enter into a vital faith relationship with Jesus Christ, it is closely associated with faith. Baptism depicts graphically what happens as a result of the Christian's union with Christ, which comes with faith--through faith we are united with Christ, just as through our natural birth we are united with Adam. As we fell into sin and became subject to death in father Adam, so we now have died and been raised again with Christ--which baptism symbolizes. (Bolding added) (NIV Study Bible, note on Ro6:3-4)
In another passage which parallels Romans 6:3, Paul informs the Galatian saints that
you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For (explaining how they are now "in Christ Jesus") all of you (hósos this is the identical Greek pronoun used here in Ro 6:3 translated "all of us") who were baptized (aorist tense = past tense event, once for all occurring at the time of conversion) into (vital union with) Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (Gal 3:26, 27)
3#:~:text=OR%20DO%20YOU%20NOT%20KNOW%3A%20e,1%2D7%20Chicago%3A%20Moody%20Press)
Ro 6:16; 7:1; 1Cor 3:16; 5:6; 6:2,3,9,15,16,19; 9:13,24; 2Cor 13:5; Jas 4:4
KNOW!
CONSIDER!
PRESENT!
Romans 6 summarizes the "steps" in sanctification. We must know that our old self was crucified with Christ (Ro 6:6-note). We must consider ourselves to be dead to sin (Ro 6:11-note). And we must present the members of our body as instruments of righteousness to God (Ro 6:13-note). While these are the "steps" we must choose to do (know, consider, present), the truth is that without the enabling desire and power of the indwelling Holy Spirit we cannot walk this road in our own strength. Have you tried on your own as I have? It might "work" for a short time, but eventually we fall. To walk supernaturally, we need to surrender daily and depend wholly on the Holy Spirit (e.g., read Ro 8:13).
Do you not know - This is a favorite Pauline phrase (14x by Paul in Romans = Ro 6:3, 16; 7:1; 11:2; 1Co 3:16; 5:6; 6:2, 3, 9, 15, 16, 19; 9:13, 24). Paul now begins to present a series of logical truths that explain the believer's new state of being dead to Sin. Remember Paul is speaking of the believer's position not his practice. Paul is not saying that we become perfect, but that we simply can no longer reside comfortably or habitually (as we did before conversion) in the realm which is ruled by "king sin".
Not know (50) (agnoeo [note] from a = negates + noeo = to perceive with thought in one's consciousness, not via one's senses) is literally not knowing and thus means to be ignorant (destitute of knowledge or education), not to recognize or not know (which is how agnoeo is used in this verse) or to commit a fault because of lack of insight (He 5:2-note, 2Pe 2:12-note).
Present tense speaks of continuous ignorance. This is a strong statement: "Are you continually ignorant", "Do you continually fail to recognize this truth"?
Agnoeo - 22x in 21v - Mk 9:32; Lk. 9:45; Acts 13:27; 17:23; Note: 6x's in Romans = Ro 1:13; 2:4; 6:3; 7:1; 10:3; 11:25; 1 Co. 10:1; 12:1; 14:38; 2Co. 1:8; 2:11; 6:9; Gal. 1:22; 1 Thess. 4:13; 1 Tim. 1:13; Heb. 5:2; 2Pe 2:12
The NAS renders agnoeo as have no knowledge(1), ignorance(1), ignorant(2), ignorantly(1), not know(2), not knowing(2), not recognize(1), not recognized(1), not understand(2), recognizing not(1), unaware(4), uninformed(2),unknown(2).
Moule asks "Do you forget that your covenant-Head, of Whose covenant of peace your baptism was the divine physical token, is nothing to you if not your Saviour “Who died,” and Who died because of this very sin with which your thought now parleys (confers with an enemy); died because only so could He break its legal bond upon you (justification), in order to break its moral bond (sanctification)? (The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans)
The New Jerusalem Bible says "You cannot have forgotten". I used to have a professor in medical school whose famous response to the ignorance of the residents was "You can't not know!"
Vincent commenting on agnoeo in the indicative mood (the mood of reality) writes that "the indicative mood presupposes an acquaintance with the moral nature of baptism and a consequent absurdity in the idea of persisting in sin. (Vincent Word Studies)
This mode of questioning is similar to that used by Jesus Himself. For example in addressing Nicodemus Jesus said ""Are you the teacher of Israel and do not (know or) understand these things?" (Jn 3:10)
Know is used three times in the first eleven verses of Romans 6 (Ro 6:3, Ro 6:6, Ro 6:9). We often hear the statement that knowledge is power, while ignorance results in defeat, and while knowing the Scriptural truth per se won't guarantee victory (we need to "know" and to "do" or to "obey" in His power), not knowing what God says will certainly assure defeat. What we do should be consistent with what we know to be true. What we are expected to know here are the facts about our death to Sin, the old tyrant that once ruled our moral/ethical life like a harsh dictator or tyrant. It is clear from Paul's question that it is the believer's responsibility to know the truth about our union and identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.
See Related Resources on the believer's new, eternal position - in Christ and in Christ Jesus and in Christ
A firm knowledge of this truth is foundational for the outworking of our new life in Christ (sanctification or present tense salvation) so that we are not misled by faulty or inadequate views in regard to how we grow spiritually. It is not difficult for the Christian to take a biblical truth to a most unbiblical extreme in practice. Michael Andrus summarizes some of the more common faulty views which include growth in spirituality (1) by eradication of the sin nature or perfectionism, (2) by asceticism, (3) by legalism, (4) by emotionalism, (5) by quietism or mysticism and (6) by "new ageism".
Ron Teed asks "Do you know what a true Christian is? A Christian is not just merely a person who has been declared righteous and then chooses to do as they please. When one truly believes in Jesus, they are brought into a living, intimate union with Jesus Christ. Salvation does not occur when God deletes your record of sin from His computer and replaces it with a file entitled “SAVED.” Salvation occurs when your life is fused with the life of Jesus. You are immersed, or as Ro 6:3 says, baptized into Jesus Christ. That is true salvation. To be immersed or baptized into Jesus Christ means we are involved in all that God is doing in the life of Jesus. Paul is not talking about a baptism involving water here, but a spiritual baptism, an immersion, a fusing, a joining, a bonding with the very life of Jesus Christ. We further see in 1Cor 12:13 that when we ourselves are immersed into the life of Christ, we are therefore immersed into the lives of all the other Christians and therefore become united together as one body, a body controlled by the Holy Spirit, who is Christ living within us. That one body of believers, guided by the Holy Spirit to be righteous and do good works, is what the Church was meant to be. It was never meant to be a religious social club, or a collection of people who use the church and the name of Christ to satisfy their own greedy and selfish desires. (Ron Teed Commentary – The Book of Romans)
THAT ALL OF US WHO HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST JESUS: hoti hosoi ebaptisthemen (1PAPI) eis Christon Iesoun:
Mt 28:19; 1Cor 12:13; Gal 3:27; 1Pe 3:21
Paul now explains how our death to sin was effected, came about or was worked out.
All is not the usual Greek word for all (pas) but is the pronoun hósos which is more literally rendered as many as and which Vincent comments is used for "designating all collectively."
Ryrie summarizes the profound theology of Romans 6:3 noting that "Baptism with the Holy Spirit joins the believer to Christ, separating him from the old life and associating him with the new. He is no longer "in Adam" but is "in Christ." Water baptism portrays this truth. (The Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Translation: 1995. Moody Publishers)
Baptized (907) (baptizo from bapto = cover wholly with a fluid; stain or dip as with dye; used of the smith tempering the red-hot steel, used of dyeing the hair; of a ship that "dipped" = sank) has a literal and a figurative meaning in the NT. The literal meaning is to submerge, to dip or immerse as in water. A study of the 77 NT uses (See below) reveals that most of the uses of baptizo in the Gospels and Acts are associated with literal water baptism.
The Greeks used baptizo to describe the dyeing of a garment, in which the whole material was plunged in and taken out from the element used. Baptizo was used of the act of sinking ships. Baptizo also meant to bathe of a boat which had been wrecked by being submerged and then stranded on the shore.
Figuratively, baptizo pictures the introduction or placing of a person or thing into a new environment or into union with something else so as to alter its condition or its relationship to its previous environment or condition. In this sense baptizo means to be identified with.
The baptism of John the Baptist was for repentance and was associated with a genuine belief in Jesus (Acts 19:4+) and thus these Jews who were being baptized by John (eg, Mt 3:6+, Mk 1:4, 5+, Contrast Lk 7:29+ = saved with Lk 7:30+ = unsaved) were genuinely "saved". Note that it was not the fact that John baptized them in water that they were saved but their salvation was based on repentance and belief in Jesus. See What was the meaning and importance of the baptism of John the Baptist?
James Montgomery Boice helps understand this figurative meaning of baptizo writing that "The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C. It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both words. Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be 'dipped' (bapto) into boiling water and then 'baptised' (baptizo ) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptizing the vegetable, produces a permanent change. When used in the New Testament, this word more often refers to our union and identification with Christ than to our water baptism... mere intellectual assent is not enough. There must be a union with Him, a real change, like the vegetable to the pickle!" (Bolding added)
In some contexts baptizo meant to wash ceremonially for purpose of purification (washing of cups - Mk 7:4+, Lk 11:38+ = This custom before meals, prescribed by the Pharisees, was not required by the original Mosaic law.).
In Greek literature baptizo meant to put or go under water in in a variety of senses. Here is a use from the Pseudepigrapha of the OT "waiting to be bathed in the waters of ocean."
In Mark 10:38 the meaning of baptizo is unique, for here Jesus describes being baptized into death on the Cross, something only He could supremely accomplish, although He does say that His followers will be "baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized" referring to the truth that those who identify with Jesus will suffer as He suffered, with the exception that only His suffering on Calvary was for the purpose of bearing sin.
Warren Wiersbe - When you read about “baptism” in the New Testament, you must exercise discernment to determine whether the word is to be interpreted literally or symbolically. For example, in Romans 6:3, 4+ and Galatians 3:27, 28+, the reference is symbolic (Ed: and figurative) since water baptism cannot put a sinner into Jesus Christ. Only the Holy Spirit can do that (Ro 8:9; 1Co 12:13; see Ac 10:44, 45, 46, 47, 48+). Water baptism is a public witness of the person’s identification with Jesus Christ, while Spirit baptism is the personal and private experience that identifies the person with Christ.
Baptizo - 77 times in 64v in the NT in the NASB- Mt 3:6+ (water baptism prior to coming of the Spirit), Mt 3:11+ (Note 2 or 3 types of baptism in this verse = [1] With water for repentance - not Christian baptism but similar to OT washings that symbolized a cleansing of personal repentance, cp Lk 7:29, 30+ and associated with genuine belief in Jesus -Acts 19:4 - but still under the OT economy and so prior to the coming of the Spirit in Acts 2 [2] With the Holy Spirit, something that happens to all believers - 1Cor 12:13, Ro 8:9 [3] With fire - could speak of judgment or could refer to baptism at Pentecost where fire symbolized the coming of the Spirit in which case there would be only 2 types of baptism described in this passage - note: this is a difficult verse), Mt 3:13, 14, 16; 28:19; Mk. 1:4 (John the Baptist or Baptizer), Mk 1:5, Mk 1:8 (distinguishes baptism with water for repentance -Mt 3:11, and that with the Holy Spirit), Mk 1:9; 6:14, 24; 7:4; 10:38, 39; 16:16; Lk. 3:7, 12, 16, 21; 7:29, 30; 11:38; 12:50; Jn. 1:25, 26, 28, 31, 33; 3:22, 23, 26; 4:1, 2; 10:40; Acts 1:5; 2:38, 41; 8:12, 13, 16, 36, 38; 9:18; 10:47, 48; 11:16; 16:15, 33; 18:8; 19:3, 4, 5; 22:16; Ro 6:3; 1Co. 1:13, 14, 15; 10:2; 12:13; 15:29; Gal. 3:27 and is rendered in the NAS as Baptist (3), baptize(9), baptized(51), baptizes(1), ceremonially washed(1),undergo(1).
There are only 2 uses of baptizo in the Septuagint (LXX), one in Isaiah 21:4 and the other in
2 Kings 5:14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
Note that baptízo is not "translated" but is transliterated in our English Bibles. To transliterate is simply to transcribe (a word in one alphabet) into corresponding letters of another alphabet. For example, the Greek word λογοσ can be transliterated as “logos”.
Guzik summarizes baptizo noting that "The idea behind the ancient Greek word for baptized is “to immerse or overwhelm something.” The Bible uses this idea of being baptized into something in several different ways. When a person is baptized in water, they are immersed or covered over with water. When they are baptized with the Holy Spirit (Mt 3:11, Acts 1:5) they are “immersed” or “covered over” with the Holy Spirit. When they are baptized with suffering (Mk 10:39), they are “immersed” or “covered over” with suffering. Here, Paul refers to being baptized - “immersed” or “covered over” in Christ Jesus. (Guzik) (Bolding added)
Vine writes that "baptizo was necessarily transliterated into English, as there was no equivalent in our language. “To immerse” would be simply “to plunge into.” To baptize is to put into water and take out again. It involves immersion, submersion, and emergence—death, burial and resurrection. The word was used among the heathen Greeks of articles which underwent submersion and emergence, as in the case of the dyeing of a garment. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson) (Click Vines full definition)
Kenneth Wuest explains that baptizo "can be illustrated by the action of the smith dipping the hot iron in water, tempering it, or the dyer dipping the cloth in the dye for the purpose of dying it...The word refers to the introduction or placing of a person or thing into a new environment or into union with something else so as to alter its condition or its relationship to its previous environment or condition. While the word...had other uses, yet the one that predominated above the others was the above one. Observe how perfectly this meaning is in accord with the usage of the word in Romans 6:3, 4, where the believing sinner is baptized into vital union with Jesus Christ. The believing sinner is introduced or placed in Christ, thus coming into union with Him. By that action he is taken out of his old environment and condition in which he had lived, the First Adam (cp 1Co 15:22), and is placed into a new environment and condition, the Last Adam (cp 1Co 15:45). By this action his condition is changed from that of a lost sinner with a totally depraved nature to that of a saint with a divine nature (2Pe 1:4). His relationship to the law of God is changed from that of a guilty sinner to that of a justified saint (Ro 3:28). All this is accomplished by the act of the Holy Spirit introducing or placing him into vital union with Jesus Christ (cp 1Co 12:13, Gal 3:27). No ceremony of water baptism ever did that. The entire context is supernatural in its character. The Greek word here should not be transliterated but translated, and the translation should read; “As many as were introduced (placed) into Christ Jesus, into His death were introduced. Therefore we were buried with Him through the aforementioned introduction into His death." (Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament)
In short baptizo as used in the present context describes the introduction or placing of an individual into a new environment, union with Christ, an unbreakable union which forever alters the individual's relationship to their previous environment.
Cereghin - This baptism must be a reference to Spirit baptism since water baptism does not put us “into” Jesus Christ. All water baptism does is make you wet. The new birth and the accompanying baptism with the Holy Spirit is what places the new saint into Christ, which is what takes place at salvation. Since water baptism has nothing to do with our salvation, it cannot be what Paul is referring to here. (Reference)
In fairness, it should be stated that a number of commentaries interpret Paul's reference to baptism here in Romans 6:3 as an allusion to water baptism although most of these writers do go on to explain that water baptism is just a picture or symbol of the divine transaction that transpired when the individual initially placed their faith in Christ. Wiersbe, a respected conservative commentator, for example writes
“It appears that Paul had both the literal and figurative in mind in this paragraph, for he used the readers’ experience of water baptism to remind them of their identification with Christ through the baptism of the Holy Spirit.” (Wiersbe)
Others, including this website, feel that Paul's use of baptism here is a reference only to the divine transaction and not to the physical act.
Spurgeon for example in a sermon on Romans 6:3-4 says that "I am content to take the view that baptism signifies the burial of believers in water in the name of the Lord, and I shall so interpret the text."
Spurgeon however goes on to qualify by stating that
I do not understand Paul to say that if improper persons, such as unbelievers, and hypocrites, and deceivers, are baptized they are baptized into our Lord's death....
O beloved, whether you have been baptized in water or not, I put this question to you, "Do you accept the Lord Jesus as your surety and substitute?" For if you do not, you shall bear your own guilt and carry your own sorrow, and stand in your own place beneath the glance of the angry justice of God... (Christ's) death is the hinge of our confidence: we are not baptized into His example, or His life, but into His death. We hereby confess that all our salvation lies in the death of Jesus, which death we accept as having been incurred on our account...These are Grand truths, but they are sure and comforting. You are getting among Atlantic billows now, but be not afraid. Realize the sanctifying effect of this truth. (Spurgeon, C H: Baptism--A Burial: sermon on Romans 6:3-4 )
Paul's metaphorical use (metaphor = use of a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea in place of another by way of suggesting a likeness or analogy between them) of baptizo in 1Co 10:1,2 helps understand how he uses baptizo in Romans 6. Paul reminded the Corinthians
I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. (1Co 10:1, 2)
Paul was not saying that the Israelites underwent literal water baptism in the name of Moses. What he meant was that the children of Israel identified with Moses, that they were entering into close union with him, coming to belong to him, so as to be in a sense identified with him acknowledging that he was the Lord’s appointed leader over them. There was solidarity between the people and Moses. As Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt toward the Promised Land, all the nation of Israel pledged allegiance to Moses at first and recognized him as the divinely appointed "savior". Moses was the channel through which God spoke to the children of Israel. He was their anchor to God. In a deeper and more profound sense, believers are baptized into Jesus Christ.
John MacArthur writes that "Many people interpret Paul’s argument in Romans 6:3-10 as referring to water baptism. However, Paul is simply using the physical analogy of water baptism to teach the spiritual reality of the believer’s union with Christ. Water baptism is the outward identification of an inward reality-faith in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Paul was not advocating salvation by water baptism; that would have contradicted everything he had just said about salvation by grace and not works in Romans 3–5, which has no mention of water baptism." (MacArthur, J: Romans 1-8. Chicago: Moody Press)
Ray Stedman agrees writing that "The baptism that is mentioned here is not water baptism. It is the baptism of the Spirit, by which we were made part of the body of Christ. Water baptism is a sign of that, but the essential thing here is the baptism of the Spirit. The way some people read their Bibles, I am reminded of the fellows that go around with witching wands, looking for water. Have you heard of these? They take willow sticks and go around looking for water -- and wherever water is, the stick turns down. {Some} people read their Bibles that way. They go through it, and, wherever it mentions baptism, down goes the stick -- indicating water. Wherever it reads "baptism," they find water. But, this isn't water baptism. This is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, of which water baptism is a symbol. This baptism united me to Christ, and, the day that I believed in Jesus Christ, God cut off this old life, and crucified it with Christ, and buried it with him, and declared that it no longer had any right to live in his sight. Now get that! This is tremendously important. That was the day I died: The day that I believed in Jesus Christ, God made this real to me, and the reason that he put it to death was because it had absolutely no power in it to do good." (Bolding and color added) (Click sermon The Day I Died)
To reiterate, most of the evangelical commentaries that favor Paul's reference here in Romans 6 as alluding to water baptism, do not equate the physical act with salvation. For example the popular NIV Study Bible has this note
In NT times baptism so closely followed conversion that the two were considered part of one event. So although baptism is not a means by which we enter into a vital faith relationship with Jesus Christ, it is closely associated with faith. Baptism depicts graphically what happens as a result of the Christian's union with Christ, which comes with faith--through faith we are united with Christ, just as through our natural birth we are united with Adam. As we fell into sin and became subject to death in father Adam, so we now have died and been raised again with Christ--which baptism symbolizes. (Bolding added) (NIV Study Bible, note on Ro6:3-4)
In another passage which parallels Romans 6:3, Paul informs the Galatian saints that
you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For (explaining how they are now "in Christ Jesus") all of you (hósos this is the identical Greek pronoun used here in Ro 6:3 translated "all of us") who were baptized (aorist tense = past tense event, once for all occurring at the time of conversion) into (vital union with) Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (Gal 3:26, 27)
MacArthur adds that "Though water baptism is the outward act of public confession of one’s faith in Jesus Christ, Paul is not here speaking of that baptism. The Bible nowhere teaches salvation by physical baptism, especially not in Galatians, where the central message is salvation by faith alone, plus absolutely nothing else. Since it is here equated with being clothed … with Christ, the phrase baptized into Christ cannot refer to any water ceremony at all but rather to spiritual identification with and immersion into the life of Christ...That is a great mystery that the human mind cannot fathom. But in some spiritually supernatural way that transcends time and space, the person who places his trust in Jesus Christ is crucified, buried, and resurrected with his Savior, baptized into Christ, “The one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1Cor 6:17), so that when the Father looks at the sinful believer He sees His sinless Son. Faith appropriates the union that baptism symbolizes." (Bolding added) (MacArthur, J. Galatians. Chicago: Moody Press)
MacArthur also has an interesting discussion related to the the debate over the "type" of water baptism called for in Scripture...
The Greek word itself (baptizo) means literally to dip an object into water or other liquid, not to have the liquid put on the object. If all the forms of this word in Scripture had been translated (as “immersed”) instead of being simply transliterated (as “baptized”)-first into Latin and then into modern languages-the confusion we now see regarding the mode of baptism would never have arisen. In relation to other things the same word is translated-as we see in Luke 16:24, where the rich man in Hades asks that Lazarus might “dip [from baptizo] the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue,” and John 13:26, where Jesus “dipped [also from baptízo] the morsel.” As can be determined from any Greek lexicon, the original word never had a meaning other than dipping or submerging, and no other term is used for baptizing.
The Christian church knew no form of baptism but immersion until the Middle Ages, when the practice of sprinkling or pouring was introduced by the Roman Catholic church-which itself had previously always baptized by immersion. The great Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) said, “In immersion the setting forth of the burial of Christ is more plainly expressed, in which this manner of baptizing is more commendable.” The Catholic church did not recognize other modes until the Council of Ravenna, held in France in 1311. It was from the Catholic church that Lutheran and Reformed churches inherited the form of sprinkling or pouring. The Church of England did not begin the practice of sprinkling until 1645. The Eastern Orthodox church has never permitted any mode but immersion. (MacArthur, J: Matthew 1-7 Chicago: Moody Press)
OR DO YOU NOT KNOW: e agnoeite 2PPAI):
Ro 6:16; 7:1; 1Cor 3:16; 5:6; 6:2,3,9,15,16,19; 9:13,24; 2Cor 13:5; Jas 4:4
KNOW!
CONSIDER!
PRESENT!
Romans 6 summarizes the "steps" in sanctification. We must know that our old self was crucified with Christ (Ro 6:6-note). We must consider ourselves to be dead to sin (Ro 6:11-note). And we must present the members of our body as instruments of righteousness to God (Ro 6:13-note). While these are the "steps" we must choose to do (know, consider, present), the truth is that without the enabling desire and power of the indwelling Holy Spirit we cannot walk this road in our own strength. Have you tried on your own as I have? It might "work" for a short time, but eventually we fall. To walk supernaturally, we need to surrender daily and depend wholly on the Holy Spirit (e.g., read Ro 8:13).
Do you not know - This is a favorite Pauline phrase (14x by Paul in Romans = Ro 6:3, 16; 7:1; 11:2; 1Co 3:16; 5:6; 6:2, 3, 9, 15, 16, 19; 9:13, 24). Paul now begins to present a series of logical truths that explain the believer's new state of being dead to Sin. Remember Paul is speaking of the believer's position not his practice. Paul is not saying that we become perfect, but that we simply can no longer reside comfortably or habitually (as we did before conversion) in the realm which is ruled by "king sin".
Not know (50) (agnoeo [note] from a = negates + noeo = to perceive with thought in one's consciousness, not via one's senses) is literally not knowing and thus means to be ignorant (destitute of knowledge or education), not to recognize or not know (which is how agnoeo is used in this verse) or to commit a fault because of lack of insight (He 5:2-note, 2Pe 2:12-note).
Present tense speaks of continuous ignorance. This is a strong statement: "Are you continually ignorant", "Do you continually fail to recognize this truth"?
Agnoeo - 22x in 21v - Mk 9:32; Lk. 9:45; Acts 13:27; 17:23; Note: 6x's in Romans = Ro 1:13; 2:4; 6:3; 7:1; 10:3; 11:25; 1 Co. 10:1; 12:1; 14:38; 2Co. 1:8; 2:11; 6:9; Gal. 1:22; 1 Thess. 4:13; 1 Tim. 1:13; Heb. 5:2; 2Pe 2:12
The NAS renders agnoeo as have no knowledge(1), ignorance(1), ignorant(2), ignorantly(1), not know(2), not knowing(2), not recognize(1), not recognized(1), not understand(2), recognizing not(1), unaware(4), uninformed(2),unknown(2).
Moule asks "Do you forget that your covenant-Head, of Whose covenant of peace your baptism was the divine physical token, is nothing to you if not your Saviour “Who died,” and Who died because of this very sin with which your thought now parleys (confers with an enemy); died because only so could He break its legal bond upon you (justification), in order to break its moral bond (sanctification)? (The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans)
The New Jerusalem Bible says "You cannot have forgotten". I used to have a professor in medical school whose famous response to the ignorance of the residents was "You can't not know!"
Vincent commenting on agnoeo in the indicative mood (the mood of reality) writes that "the indicative mood presupposes an acquaintance with the moral nature of baptism and a consequent absurdity in the idea of persisting in sin. (Vincent Word Studies)
This mode of questioning is similar to that used by Jesus Himself. For example in addressing Nicodemus Jesus said ""Are you the teacher of Israel and do not (know or) understand these things?" (Jn 3:10)
Know is used three times in the first eleven verses of Romans 6 (Ro 6:3, Ro 6:6, Ro 6:9). We often hear the statement that knowledge is power, while ignorance results in defeat, and while knowing the Scriptural truth per se won't guarantee victory (we need to "know" and to "do" or to "obey" in His power), not knowing what God says will certainly assure defeat. What we do should be consistent with what we know to be true. What we are expected to know here are the facts about our death to Sin, the old tyrant that once ruled our moral/ethical life like a harsh dictator or tyrant. It is clear from Paul's question that it is the believer's responsibility to know the truth about our union and identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.
See Related Resources on the believer's new, eternal position - in Christ and in Christ Jesus and in Christ
A firm knowledge of this truth is foundational for the outworking of our new life in Christ (sanctification or present tense salvation) so that we are not misled by faulty or inadequate views in regard to how we grow spiritually. It is not difficult for the Christian to take a biblical truth to a most unbiblical extreme in practice. Michael Andrus summarizes some of the more common faulty views which include growth in spirituality (1) by eradication of the sin nature or perfectionism, (2) by asceticism, (3) by legalism, (4) by emotionalism, (5) by quietism or mysticism and (6) by "new ageism".
Ron Teed asks "Do you know what a true Christian is? A Christian is not just merely a person who has been declared righteous and then chooses to do as they please. When one truly believes in Jesus, they are brought into a living, intimate union with Jesus Christ. Salvation does not occur when God deletes your record of sin from His computer and replaces it with a file entitled “SAVED.” Salvation occurs when your life is fused with the life of Jesus. You are immersed, or as Ro 6:3 says, baptized into Jesus Christ. That is true salvation. To be immersed or baptized into Jesus Christ means we are involved in all that God is doing in the life of Jesus. Paul is not talking about a baptism involving water here, but a spiritual baptism, an immersion, a fusing, a joining, a bonding with the very life of Jesus Christ. We further see in 1Cor 12:13 that when we ourselves are immersed into the life of Christ, we are therefore immersed into the lives of all the other Christians and therefore become united together as one body, a body controlled by the Holy Spirit, who is Christ living within us. That one body of believers, guided by the Holy Spirit to be righteous and do good works, is what the Church was meant to be. It was never meant to be a religious social club, or a collection of people who use the church and the name of Christ to satisfy their own greedy and selfish desires. (Ron Teed Commentary – The Book of Romans)
THAT ALL OF US WHO HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST JESUS: hoti hosoi ebaptisthemen (1PAPI) eis Christon Iesoun:
Mt 28:19; 1Cor 12:13; Gal 3:27; 1Pe 3:21
Paul now explains how our death to sin was effected, came about or was worked out.
All is not the usual Greek word for all (pas) but is the pronoun hósos which is more literally rendered as many as and which Vincent comments is used for "designating all collectively."
Ryrie summarizes the profound theology of Romans 6:3 noting that "Baptism with the Holy Spirit joins the believer to Christ, separating him from the old life and associating him with the new. He is no longer "in Adam" but is "in Christ." Water baptism portrays this truth. (The Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Translation: 1995. Moody Publishers)
Baptized (907) (baptizo from bapto = cover wholly with a fluid; stain or dip as with dye; used of the smith tempering the red-hot steel, used of dyeing the hair; of a ship that "dipped" = sank) has a literal and a figurative meaning in the NT. The literal meaning is to submerge, to dip or immerse as in water. A study of the 77 NT uses (See below) reveals that most of the uses of baptizo in the Gospels and Acts are associated with literal water baptism.
The Greeks used baptizo to describe the dyeing of a garment, in which the whole material was plunged in and taken out from the element used. Baptizo was used of the act of sinking ships. Baptizo also meant to bathe of a boat which had been wrecked by being submerged and then stranded on the shore.
Figuratively, baptizo pictures the introduction or placing of a person or thing into a new environment or into union with something else so as to alter its condition or its relationship to its previous environment or condition. In this sense baptizo means to be identified with.
The baptism of John the Baptist was for repentance and was associated with a genuine belief in Jesus (Acts 19:4+) and thus these Jews who were being baptized by John (eg, Mt 3:6+, Mk 1:4, 5+, Contrast Lk 7:29+ = saved with Lk 7:30+ = unsaved) were genuinely "saved". Note that it was not the fact that John baptized them in water that they were saved but their salvation was based on repentance and belief in Jesus. See What was the meaning and importance of the baptism of John the Baptist?
James Montgomery Boice helps understand this figurative meaning of baptizo writing that "The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C. It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both words. Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be 'dipped' (bapto) into boiling water and then 'baptised' (baptizo ) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptizing the vegetable, produces a permanent change. When used in the New Testament, this word more often refers to our union and identification with Christ than to our water baptism... mere intellectual assent is not enough. There must be a union with Him, a real change, like the vegetable to the pickle!" (Bolding added)
In some contexts baptizo meant to wash ceremonially for purpose of purification (washing of cups - Mk 7:4+, Lk 11:38+ = This custom before meals, prescribed by the Pharisees, was not required by the original Mosaic law.).
In Greek literature baptizo meant to put or go under water in in a variety of senses. Here is a use from the Pseudepigrapha of the OT "waiting to be bathed in the waters of ocean."
In Mark 10:38 the meaning of baptizo is unique, for here Jesus describes being baptized into death on the Cross, something only He could supremely accomplish, although He does say that His followers will be "baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized" referring to the truth that those who identify with Jesus will suffer as He suffered, with the exception that only His suffering on Calvary was for the purpose of bearing sin.
Warren Wiersbe - When you read about “baptism” in the New Testament, you must exercise discernment to determine whether the word is to be interpreted literally or symbolically. For example, in Romans 6:3, 4+ and Galatians 3:27, 28+, the reference is symbolic (Ed: and figurative) since water baptism cannot put a sinner into Jesus Christ. Only the Holy Spirit can do that (Ro 8:9; 1Co 12:13; see Ac 10:44, 45, 46, 47, 48+). Water baptism is a public witness of the person’s identification with Jesus Christ, while Spirit baptism is the personal and private experience that identifies the person with Christ.
Baptizo - 77 times in 64v in the NT in the NASB- Mt 3:6+ (water baptism prior to coming of the Spirit), Mt 3:11+ (Note 2 or 3 types of baptism in this verse = [1] With water for repentance - not Christian baptism but similar to OT washings that symbolized a cleansing of personal repentance, cp Lk 7:29, 30+ and associated with genuine belief in Jesus -Acts 19:4 - but still under the OT economy and so prior to the coming of the Spirit in Acts 2 [2] With the Holy Spirit, something that happens to all believers - 1Cor 12:13, Ro 8:9 [3] With fire - could speak of judgment or could refer to baptism at Pentecost where fire symbolized the coming of the Spirit in which case there would be only 2 types of baptism described in this passage - note: this is a difficult verse), Mt 3:13, 14, 16; 28:19; Mk. 1:4 (John the Baptist or Baptizer), Mk 1:5, Mk 1:8 (distinguishes baptism with water for repentance -Mt 3:11, and that with the Holy Spirit), Mk 1:9; 6:14, 24; 7:4; 10:38, 39; 16:16; Lk. 3:7, 12, 16, 21; 7:29, 30; 11:38; 12:50; Jn. 1:25, 26, 28, 31, 33; 3:22, 23, 26; 4:1, 2; 10:40; Acts 1:5; 2:38, 41; 8:12, 13, 16, 36, 38; 9:18; 10:47, 48; 11:16; 16:15, 33; 18:8; 19:3, 4, 5; 22:16; Ro 6:3; 1Co. 1:13, 14, 15; 10:2; 12:13; 15:29; Gal. 3:27 and is rendered in the NAS as Baptist (3), baptize(9), baptized(51), baptizes(1), ceremonially washed(1),undergo(1).
There are only 2 uses of baptizo in the Septuagint (LXX), one in Isaiah 21:4 and the other in
2 Kings 5:14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
Note that baptízo is not "translated" but is transliterated in our English Bibles. To transliterate is simply to transcribe (a word in one alphabet) into corresponding letters of another alphabet. For example, the Greek word λογοσ can be transliterated as “logos”.
Guzik summarizes baptizo noting that "The idea behind the ancient Greek word for baptized is “to immerse or overwhelm something.” The Bible uses this idea of being baptized into something in several different ways. When a person is baptized in water, they are immersed or covered over with water. When they are baptized with the Holy Spirit (Mt 3:11, Acts 1:5) they are “immersed” or “covered over” with the Holy Spirit. When they are baptized with suffering (Mk 10:39), they are “immersed” or “covered over” with suffering. Here, Paul refers to being baptized - “immersed” or “covered over” in Christ Jesus. (Guzik) (Bolding added)
Vine writes that "baptizo was necessarily transliterated into English, as there was no equivalent in our language. “To immerse” would be simply “to plunge into.” To baptize is to put into water and take out again. It involves immersion, submersion, and emergence—death, burial and resurrection. The word was used among the heathen Greeks of articles which underwent submersion and emergence, as in the case of the dyeing of a garment. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson) (Click Vines full definition)
Kenneth Wuest explains that baptizo "can be illustrated by the action of the smith dipping the hot iron in water, tempering it, or the dyer dipping the cloth in the dye for the purpose of dying it...The word refers to the introduction or placing of a person or thing into a new environment or into union with something else so as to alter its condition or its relationship to its previous environment or condition. While the word...had other uses, yet the one that predominated above the others was the above one. Observe how perfectly this meaning is in accord with the usage of the word in Romans 6:3, 4, where the believing sinner is baptized into vital union with Jesus Christ. The believing sinner is introduced or placed in Christ, thus coming into union with Him. By that action he is taken out of his old environment and condition in which he had lived, the First Adam (cp 1Co 15:22), and is placed into a new environment and condition, the Last Adam (cp 1Co 15:45). By this action his condition is changed from that of a lost sinner with a totally depraved nature to that of a saint with a divine nature (2Pe 1:4). His relationship to the law of God is changed from that of a guilty sinner to that of a justified saint (Ro 3:28). All this is accomplished by the act of the Holy Spirit introducing or placing him into vital union with Jesus Christ (cp 1Co 12:13, Gal 3:27). No ceremony of water baptism ever did that. The entire context is supernatural in its character. The Greek word here should not be transliterated but translated, and the translation should read; “As many as were introduced (placed) into Christ Jesus, into His death were introduced. Therefore we were buried with Him through the aforementioned introduction into His death." (Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament)
In short baptizo as used in the present context describes the introduction or placing of an individual into a new environment, union with Christ, an unbreakable union which forever alters the individual's relationship to their previous environment.
Cereghin - This baptism must be a reference to Spirit baptism since water baptism does not put us “into” Jesus Christ. All water baptism does is make you wet. The new birth and the accompanying baptism with the Holy Spirit is what places the new saint into Christ, which is what takes place at salvation. Since water baptism has nothing to do with our salvation, it cannot be what Paul is referring to here. (Reference)
In fairness, it should be stated that a number of commentaries interpret Paul's reference to baptism here in Romans 6:3 as an allusion to water baptism although most of these writers do go on to explain that water baptism is just a picture or symbol of the divine transaction that transpired when the individual initially placed their faith in Christ. Wiersbe, a respected conservative commentator, for example writes
“It appears that Paul had both the literal and figurative in mind in this paragraph, for he used the readers’ experience of water baptism to remind them of their identification with Christ through the baptism of the Holy Spirit.” (Wiersbe)
Others, including this website, feel that Paul's use of baptism here is a reference only to the divine transaction and not to the physical act.
Spurgeon for example in a sermon on Romans 6:3-4 says that "I am content to take the view that baptism signifies the burial of believers in water in the name of the Lord, and I shall so interpret the text."
Spurgeon however goes on to qualify by stating that
I do not understand Paul to say that if improper persons, such as unbelievers, and hypocrites, and deceivers, are baptized they are baptized into our Lord's death....
O beloved, whether you have been baptized in water or not, I put this question to you, "Do you accept the Lord Jesus as your surety and substitute?" For if you do not, you shall bear your own guilt and carry your own sorrow, and stand in your own place beneath the glance of the angry justice of God... (Christ's) death is the hinge of our confidence: we are not baptized into His example, or His life, but into His death. We hereby confess that all our salvation lies in the death of Jesus, which death we accept as having been incurred on our account...These are Grand truths, but they are sure and comforting. You are getting among Atlantic billows now, but be not afraid. Realize the sanctifying effect of this truth. (Spurgeon, C H: Baptism--A Burial: sermon on Romans 6:3-4 )
Paul's metaphorical use (metaphor = use of a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea in place of another by way of suggesting a likeness or analogy between them) of baptizo in 1Co 10:1,2 helps understand how he uses baptizo in Romans 6. Paul reminded the Corinthians
I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. (1Co 10:1, 2)
Paul was not saying that the Israelites underwent literal water baptism in the name of Moses. What he meant was that the children of Israel identified with Moses, that they were entering into close union with him, coming to belong to him, so as to be in a sense identified with him acknowledging that he was the Lord’s appointed leader over them. There was solidarity between the people and Moses. As Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt toward the Promised Land, all the nation of Israel pledged allegiance to Moses at first and recognized him as the divinely appointed "savior". Moses was the channel through which God spoke to the children of Israel. He was their anchor to God. In a deeper and more profound sense, believers are baptized into Jesus Christ.
John MacArthur writes that "Many people interpret Paul’s argument in Romans 6:3-10 as referring to water baptism. However, Paul is simply using the physical analogy of water baptism to teach the spiritual reality of the believer’s union with Christ. Water baptism is the outward identification of an inward reality-faith in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Paul was not advocating salvation by water baptism; that would have contradicted everything he had just said about salvation by grace and not works in Romans 3–5, which has no mention of water baptism." (MacArthur, J: Romans 1-8. Chicago: Moody Press)
Ray Stedman agrees writing that "The baptism that is mentioned here is not water baptism. It is the baptism of the Spirit, by which we were made part of the body of Christ. Water baptism is a sign of that, but the essential thing here is the baptism of the Spirit. The way some people read their Bibles, I am reminded of the fellows that go around with witching wands, looking for water. Have you heard of these? They take willow sticks and go around looking for water -- and wherever water is, the stick turns down. {Some} people read their Bibles that way. They go through it, and, wherever it mentions baptism, down goes the stick -- indicating water. Wherever it reads "baptism," they find water. But, this isn't water baptism. This is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, of which water baptism is a symbol. This baptism united me to Christ, and, the day that I believed in Jesus Christ, God cut off this old life, and crucified it with Christ, and buried it with him, and declared that it no longer had any right to live in his sight. Now get that! This is tremendously important. That was the day I died: The day that I believed in Jesus Christ, God made this real to me, and the reason that he put it to death was because it had absolutely no power in it to do good." (Bolding and color added) (Click sermon The Day I Died)
To reiterate, most of the evangelical commentaries that favor Paul's reference here in Romans 6 as alluding to water baptism, do not equate the physical act with salvation. For example the popular NIV Study Bible has this note
In NT times baptism so closely followed conversion that the two were considered part of one event. So although baptism is not a means by which we enter into a vital faith relationship with Jesus Christ, it is closely associated with faith. Baptism depicts graphically what happens as a result of the Christian's union with Christ, which comes with faith--through faith we are united with Christ, just as through our natural birth we are united with Adam. As we fell into sin and became subject to death in father Adam, so we now have died and been raised again with Christ--which baptism symbolizes. (Bolding added) (NIV Study Bible, note on Ro6:3-4)
In another passage which parallels Romans 6:3, Paul informs the Galatian saints that
you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For (explaining how they are now "in Christ Jesus") all of you (hósos this is the identical Greek pronoun used here in Ro 6:3 translated "all of us") who were baptized (aorist tense = past tense event, once for all occurring at the time of conversion) into (vital union with) Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (Gal 3:26, 27)
3#:~:text=OR%20DO%20YOU%20NOT%20KNOW%3A%20e,1%2D7%20Chicago%3A%20Moody%20Press)
