Romans 6 3

Romans 6:3 kjv

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Romans 6:3 nkjv

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

Romans 6:3 niv

Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

Romans 6:3 esv

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

Romans 6:3 nlt

Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death?

Romans 6 verses

Romans 6 3 Meaning

Romans 6:3 explains that Christian baptism signifies a profound spiritual identification and union with Christ Jesus, specifically into His death. This union means that all who are baptized have, in a spiritual sense, participated in His death, thus dying to the power and dominion of sin. It marks a decisive break with the old way of life dominated by sin, establishing a new reality of being dead to sin.

Romans 6 3 Context

Romans chapter 6 addresses the logical fallacy introduced in Rom 6:1: "Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?" Paul's resounding "May it never be!" in Rom 6:2 sets the stage for a deep theological explanation. Having established in Rom 1-5 that all humanity is under sin, that justification comes through faith by grace, and that believers have peace with God, Paul now transitions to the practical implications of this salvation: sanctification. This verse (Rom 6:3) is foundational to understanding how a believer dies to sin. It grounds the call to holiness not in legalistic obedience but in the spiritual reality of a believer's identification with Christ's death and resurrection, initiated and publicly confessed through baptism. The original audience, comprising both Jewish and Gentile believers in Rome, would have been familiar with ritual washings or initiations, but Paul elevates Christian baptism beyond a mere symbolic act to a profound spiritual reality that marks an irreversible transformation and a new allegiance.

Romans 6 3 Word analysis

• Or (Ē): A Greek disjunctive particle introducing a rhetorical question, implying "Surely you know this, don't you?" or "Perhaps you have forgotten?"
• do you not know (agnoeite): Present active indicative, plural. It assumes a basic knowledge but challenges the lack of practical application or full comprehension of this truth. It suggests a neglect of fundamental Christian doctrine.
• that (hoti): Introduces the content of what they ought to know.
• as many of us as (hosoi): An inclusive term, meaning "all who" or "whoever." It emphasizes the universal nature of this spiritual reality for all genuine believers who have undergone Christian baptism.
• were baptized (ebaptisthēmen): Aorist passive indicative. Denotes a past, completed action, indicating an event of initiation. The passive voice implies the action was done to them, often implying divine agency through human instrumentality. The root word baptizo (βαπτίζω) means to "immerse," "dip," or "plunge," pointing to the act of immersion and identification.
• into (eis): This crucial preposition indicates more than just location; it signifies union with, incorporation into, allegiance to, or for the purpose of. It implies a spiritual sphere of influence.
• Christ Jesus (Christon Iēsoun): Refers to Jesus as the Messiah (Christ), the Anointed One. Baptism is into the very person and work of the glorified Savior. This union is central to Christian identity.
• were baptized (ebaptisthēmen): Repetition for emphasis, reinforcing the act and its significance.
• into His death (eis ton thanaton autou): This is the focal point. The preposition eis (into) again emphasizes not just proximity, but participation in, identification with, and the purpose of Christ's death. This is the spiritual death of the believer to sin, modeled after Christ's substitutionary and victorious death on the cross.

Words-group by words-group analysis

• Or do you not know: A rhetorical question that serves as an apostolic reminder or a gentle rebuke, calling believers back to the fundamental implications of their faith and initiation.
• that as many of us as were baptized: This highlights the collective, universal experience for all genuine Christians, connecting the physical act of baptism with a deep spiritual reality that applies to all who claim faith in Christ.
• into Christ Jesus: This phrase establishes the foundational truth of Christian life: an intimate, transformative union and identification with the person of Christ, not just a set of beliefs or a religious organization.
• were baptized into His death: This identifies the specific aspect of Christ with which believers are united through baptism. It means that just as Christ died to sin's dominion (though never personally guilty of sin), believers are spiritually incorporated into that decisive event, thereby dying to the power, rule, and consequences of their own sin-dominated past.

Romans 6 3 Bonus section

• The passive voice of "were baptized" implies that God is the primary agent in this spiritual incorporation, signifying a divine work beyond mere human choice or ritual. While believers respond in faith, the spiritual union is a gift from God.
• The "into" (eis) is a telic (purposeful) preposition. We are baptized for the purpose of being identified with His death. It's not just a descriptive "about" His death, but a participatory "into" the reality and implications of it.
• While water baptism is the visible act, Paul's primary emphasis here is on the spiritual reality it signifies and actualizes for the believer—a genuine incorporation into Christ and His saving work, particularly His death and subsequent resurrection (implied by the contrast in Rom 6:4-5).
• This verse counters any misunderstanding that salvation by grace allows for continued willful sin (antinomianism). Paul demonstrates that genuine salvation leads to a break from sin's mastery, because the believer's fundamental identity has changed through union with Christ's death.

Romans 6 3 Commentary

Romans 6:3 succinctly encapsulates a fundamental theological truth regarding the believer's identification with Christ. Baptism, in Paul's theology, is not merely an external ritual or a public declaration, but the outward sign of an inner spiritual reality—a real, Spirit-effected union with Christ's death. This verse explains the mechanism by which believers "died to sin," as mentioned in Rom 6:2. Our spiritual "baptism into Christ Jesus" is simultaneously a "baptism into His death." This union with Christ in His death is the basis for our liberation from sin's tyranny. It means that the sentence of death pronounced against sin was executed upon our "old self" (Rom 6:6) when Christ died. Therefore, believers are called to consider themselves actually dead to sin (Rom 6:11), no longer enslaved by its power. This truth underpins the entire call to sanctification, establishing that holiness flows from a settled spiritual fact, rather than being a mere ethical striving. It is a profound declaration that Christ's death became our death to sin, opening the door for our resurrection to new life.