“Crucifying The Old Man Pt. 3”

Thursday, January 17, 2013

[This question is a follow-up to “Crucifying The Old Man Pt. 2”]

I guess I didn't ask my question very well about the "died to sin" post.  So I will try to reiterate.

My preacher does believe that baptism is necessary for salvation.  He is a long-time preacher in the church of Christ.  He just doesn't believe that the "died to sin" in Romans 6 or the crucifixion we undergo is at baptism; he says our death is at repentance.  He draws a chart on the board and shows how repentance is our death; baptism is our burial.  He says you can't bury a living man, so you must kill him, and that is at repentance.  My understanding is that repentance is a change of direction, but not the crucifixion we participate in with Christ and when we die to sin by Him paying the price for our sins.  Where in the Bible is repentance represented as killing off the old man of sin?  Paul was penitent for three days prior to baptism.  Was he a "dead man" walking in need of a burial?  Or did he still need to "die with Christ"?  I'm concerned that if we say repentance is the death with Christ then we have minimized baptism to merely an act.

My preacher thinks I'm "quibbling" over this point, and he focuses on the fact that people didn't wait to be baptized; they "killed the old man", then buried him. But I have read much disagreement and feel there is something missing with what is being taught, so I could use some more help. Thanks for addressing my questions!

Sincerely,
To The Water!

Dear To The Water,

The problem we see with teaching that repentance is the point of death is that Rom 6:3 specifically says that we are baptized into Jesus’ death.  We have a hard time getting around the plain wording of the text.  The idea that repentance is when you die doesn’t have any sort of straightforward text to back it up.
Though it is good that this preacher still makes it clear that baptism is necessary for salvation (after all, using his logic, we would still need to be resurrected with Christ, which is what happens when we come out of the water – Rom 6:4), we believe he is complicating a subject that is actually quite simple.  There is no doubt that we need to repent as a precursor to baptism, but baptism is the point of death, burial, and resurrection with Christ, exactly as Rom 6:3-5 says.

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