Burial - November 23rd, 2008

Rom.6:3-4 - “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Paul uses the word “baptizo” for baptize here which was different and distinct from the word “bapto.” “Bapto” referred to an event, while “baptizo” described a permanent condition of being united with Christ and literally submerged in Him (the “act” of water baptism being symbolic of this spiritual reality); remember 1 Cor.12:13 - at salvation we are permanently “baptized” or submerged into the family of God by His Holy Spirit. Col.3:1-17 described this same issue saying, in verse 3, “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” At salvation Nate Herbst died and was baptized, permanently submerged, in Christ’s death and at that very instant a new creation emerged - 2 Cor.5:17 - and that new creation has been designed with the spiritual DNA of Christ Himself, so that, as Paul writes in Rom.6:4, “just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” All this is summarized in that powerful verse, Gal.2:20, which states, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”