Romans 6:4

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  Romans 6:4 ESV

We previously looked at the beginning of verse 4, where God revealed through Paul that all who have been saved, who have been baptized into Christ, have also been buried with Him by baptism into His death - we have been united with Him in every aspect.

Now, we will dig in to the end of verse 4 and see what Paul is saying as a whole in this verse.

in order that

By using this phrase, Paul reveals that there is a very specific purpose for us being buried with Christ by baptism into death. God, in His wisdom, always accomplishes what He plans by the most perfect means. So that we can see what Paul is saying, we will take the verse apart and look at it out of order and then reconstruct it. Paul says this

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that (...) we too might walk in newness of life.

The very specific reason we were buried with Christ by baptism into death is so that we can walk in newness of life. This is the miracle of regeneration, which we can see detailed in Titus 3:4-7:

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,  he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 

Through Christ, we are regenerated, also meaning restored - so that we can enter into a relationship with God that is eternal life.  

The picture being painted here and throughout Scripture is that of two realms - they are referred to as the realm of darkness and light, death and life, condemned and justified, lost and saved. Paul spent a lot of time in the first 3 chapters of Romans detailing who we are, how we act, what we pursue when we are a part of the realm of darkness. We indulge in the lust of the flesh, we enjoy selfish pursuits, we are prideful, we want nothing to do with God, we are alive in the flesh but spiritually dead.

In order to enter into spiritual life, death must occur. Look at what Jesus said in John 12:24,25

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Our old self, with its earthly, material, temporal lusts and pursuits, must be put to death. Colossians 3:1-17 speaks in great detail of this putting off of the old and putting on of the new. I pulled a few of the verses out of this passage that speak specifically to putting the old self to death. I recommend reading the entire passage.

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col 3:2

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Col 3:5

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Col 3:8

In Ephesians 2:1-3, we see even more about who we are in our lost state, in the realm of darkness:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 

If we read a little further in Ephesians, we can make this conclusion:

Regeneration does not occur as a result of us putting to death the old man, but instead regeneration is God putting to death the old man!

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  Eph 2:4-9

So, what we see in regeneration is a transformation - from a spiritually dead corpse to a new creation. These verses in Colossians detail the transformation that takes place:

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Col 1:13,14

having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. Col 2:12-14

There are also many verses that speak to this newness of life that we have entered into! They are such encouraging promises from Almighty God that, no matter how much we struggle, He has provided victory over the flesh by giving us new life as new creations - caterpillars to butterflies!!!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Cor 5:17

For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Gal 6:15

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.  Eze 36:26,27

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, if you have given your life to Him, if you have experienced the change in your life that is regeneration, you have been transferred from darkness to life, from death to life, embrace this newness of life - purge the sin and embrace Christ!

Keep in mind that Paul is writing this to destroy any idea that sin is OK in the Christian life. We are all sinful creatures in the light of our Holy and Perfect God - but sin is never OK, and should never be embraced by those who have been given, by God, the gift of Spiritual life - ever! Instead we should be begging for God to reveal our sins to us, and for powerful conviction that would move us to purge this sin from our lives in daily repentance - as we turn from sin as it is revealed to us, our relationship with God grows stronger - and we become more effective as servants for His glory!

Now, back to Romans 6:4 - we skipped a line that Paul had inserted between us being buried by baptism into death and the reason - newness of life.

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

just as Christ was raised from the dead

Just as means exactly like - we were raised from the dead exactly like Christ was. This should grab our attention...we are called to be like Christ, we are co-heirs with Christ, we are baptized into Christ, and buried into the baptism of His death - and now we are raised from the dead, exactly like Christ!

We know that Christ took on and became sin, died, and was resurrected as a conqueror over sin and death. We know that we were sin, we died, and were resurrected as conquerors over sin through Christ. But there is another reason that our being raised into life is exactly like Christ.

"by the glory of the Father"

'by', as we've looked at before, means the channel of an act. The glory of the Father was the path through which Christ's resurrection, and our transformation from death to life took place. The glory of the Father - in the Greek this word glory is doxa - also translated glorious, honor, praise, dignity, worship - also described as  a most glorious condition, most exalted state. 

We weren't raised up because we were good people, because we belong to a certain church or denomination, or because we wanted to be. We definitely weren't raised up so that we could be guaranteed a life of prosperity and ease. NO!

We were raised up by the glory of the Father - the act of sacrificing His Son and resurrecting Him, and of transferring us from spiritual death to eternal life is our God in His most glorious condition, in His most exalted state!!!

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Thank You Father, for revealing Yourself so perfectly, so lovingly, so beautifully through the power of regeneration! Help us to pursue a life of holiness, that You may in some way reveal Yourself through us to the hurting world around us! In Your Son's Name, Amen!