The believers have been buried with Christ through baptism into death. Romans 6:4 says, “We have been buried therefore with Him through baptism into His death.” Here Paul introduces the thought of burial, indicating that we may experience Christ in His burial. In the natural realm death always comes before burial, but in the spiritual realm burial comes before death. When we were baptized, we were buried with Christ. When we were buried with Him, we entered into His death. We do not die directly; we enter into Christ’s death through baptism.
Suppose a certain person repents and believes in the Lord Jesus. He should then be baptized into Christ. To baptize this new believer into Christ is to put him into the death of Christ. When he is baptized, he is actually buried. This burial results in death. This is what it means to be buried with Christ through baptism into His death.
Furthermore, the believers, having been resurrected as Christ was, should walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4 continues, “Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we might walk in newness of life.” We were buried with Christ into His death, and now we have been resurrected as He was. Hence, we should walk in newness of life. This newness of life is very much related to the life-giving Spirit, who is Christ Himself in His resurrection. The way to walk in newness of life is the Spirit.
When we are immersed in the water, we enter into death, but when we come out of the water, we enter into resurrection. We all need to have such a wonderful realization and understanding of baptism. After baptism we become a new person in resurrection. Resurrection is not only a future state; it is also a present process. To walk in newness of life means to live today in the realm of resurrection and to reign in life. This kind of living deals with all that is of Adam in us until we are fully transformed and conformed to the image of Christ (8:29).
In fact, the newness of life mentioned in 6:4 is the likeness of His resurrection mentioned in verse 5. We all should walk in this newness of life. We must see that we have grown together with Christ in the likeness of His death, that is, in baptism, and that we will grow together with Him in the likeness of His resurrection, that is, in the newness of His resurrected life. This means that we must see that we have died with Him and that we are now growing with Him. We were buried with Him in baptism, and we are now growing with Him in His resurrection, in His divine life. We must walk according to this vision; that is, we must walk in newness of life. In our daily life and our meetings, we need to live, behave, act, work, and do everything in newness of life.
Romans 6:5 reveals a crucial point of truth: the believers, having grown together with Christ in the likeness of His death, will grow together with Him also in the likeness of His resurrection. This verse includes two steps of our growth in Christ. The first step has already taken place, whereas the second step is progressive. On the one hand, we have grown together with Christ in baptism; on the other hand, we will be growing together with Him in the likeness of His resurrection, that is, in the newness of life.