“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?”
The full verse · Romans 6:3 · KJV
Know ye , that many of as were were ?
Asked by
Paul: the apostle to the Gentiles, writing to the believers in Rome whom he had not yet visited (Romans 1:7, 13)
The Scene
Paul has just asked, "How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Romans 6:2).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionPaul explains how believers died to sin by reminding them of something they already knew: their baptism. "Know ye not" assumes the readers have been taught this. Barnes calls it "a further appeal to the Christian profession, and the principles involved in it, in answer to the objection." Gill paraphrases the force of the question: "You must know this, you cannot be ignorant of it." Paul wants them to see that their baptism already settled the question of whether to keep living in sin.
The Response
What Scripture recordsPaul draws out what their baptism means: "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4). Those planted together with Him in the likeness of His death "shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection" (Romans 6:5). He concludes, "reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:11).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsBaptism marked a person's public profession of the Christian faith. Barnes explains that "The act of baptism denotes dedication to the service of him in whose name we are baptized." To be baptized "into Jesus Christ" meant belonging to Him.
The commentators describe what being baptized "into his death" means in slightly different ways. Gill says believers "declare their faith in the death of Christ, and also share in the benefits of his death." Matthew Henry says it means "a participation of the privileges purchased by his death," and also an obligation to live out the purpose of His death, "which was to redeem us from all iniquity" (compare Titus 2:14).
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyThis question shows how closely God joins believers to His Son. Paul says they were "buried with him" and raised to "walk in newness of life," and that those planted with Him in His death "shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection" (Romans 6:4-5). Baptism is the visible sign of that union.
Christ died to sin "once," and now "he liveth unto God" (Romans 6:10). Those who are united to Him share that same direction: away from sin and toward God. Paul uses the same picture with the Colossians, "Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him" (Colossians 2:12).
Look Closer
What does Paul assume his readers already know?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Father, You joined me to Christ in His death and His new life; what would it look like for me to live today as someone who truly belongs to Him?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- How does remembering your baptism, or the faith it signifies, change the way you think about temptation?
- Share a memory of a baptism, yours or someone else's, and what it showed you about belonging to Christ.
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
Your baptism, and the faith it signifies, is a statement about who you belong to. Paul wants you to remember it when sin calls. You were joined to Christ in His death so that you could share His new life.
This does not mean the act of baptism works by itself apart from faith. Paul is speaking to believers about what their baptism declared. Gill speaks of receiving it "without laying any stress or dependence on it for salvation." Let it remind you that your old life ended with Christ and a new one began.
Scripture's own application: Romans 6:11
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?”
“How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”
“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”
“Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?”