Does Baptism Have the Power to Save? (Romans 6:1-14)

Reformed & Expository Preaching

The Challenge of Romans 6

Sinclair Ferguson’s Devoted to God highlights the difficulty of Romans 6, reminding us that even Peter admitted some of Paul’s writings are hard to understand (2 Peter 3:15). Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones once said he would preach Romans when he fully understood chapter 6. The challenge comes from extremes: some argue baptism saves, others claim perfection in righteousness, and our temptation might be to take all this as mere rhetoric that Paul does not really mean it. We might want to say that Romans 6 teaches that once someone is baptized, then they have the Spirit.

Adam and Christ: Our Historic Identity

Romans 5 sets the stage by contrasting Adam, who plunged humanity into sin and death, with Christ, the Last Adam, who brings life and justification. Condemnation is a legal verdict of guilt and death, while justification is God’s declaration of righteousness in Christ. Our identity rests in one of these two historic figures: either under Adam’s curse or under Christ’s life-giving righteousness. These figures set a real historic precedent that orients us. We are either in the status of a rebellious sinner or the status of a victor in Christ. Paul emphasizes that being united to Christ reorients us entirely. It is by the Spirit that we want to conform to Christ, live for Christ, and be slaves of Christ’s righteousness.

Baptism as a Sign of Christ’s Triumph

Baptism is not a magical act but a sign of God’s promise and grace already at work. Like Abraham receiving circumcision in weakness, baptism testifies to God’s faithfulness, not our strength. Paul uses vivid imagery: baptism pictures Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, showing that we, too, have passed through the belly of hell in Him. A striking illustration is the shark tunnel at SeaWorld. When you go through this exhibit, you notice danger all around, yet we pass through untouched. In baptism, God pictures that Christ has gone through death and hell for us, and we emerge unscathed in Him. It is a means of grace that communicates a community, and individuals in that community have passed through certain death unschathed.

Living as New Creatures in Christ in the Covenant of Grace

Romans 6 exhorts us to live out this new reality. We are no longer slaves to sin but slaves of righteousness, set apart as God’s people. As we are grounded in the precedent of Christ’s victory, we have a new life in our saviour. Yes, we feel the domain of death still holding us, but we are at the same time empowered by God’s grace. We know that we struggle in this age because exhortations against sin remind us that the battle is ongoing. Baptism is a sign to the community that our identity is secure because we are grounded in Christ, united to our redeemer by His Spirit, as we take hold of him by faith. Our identity is secure, and we need to believe that we are new creatures in Christ. Baptism is a communal sign of this new identity, both for us and for our children, that we belong to God’s covenant people. Our comfort is this: in Christ, we have triumphed over death and judgment, and we live as those oriented toward life, victory, and resurrection in Him. Consciously, we are called to give ourselves over to the new man and push through the struggles of this age. We need to rehearse the truth that we are new creatures in Christ, grounded in a victorious precedent and walking in Christ.