On Baptism (1): An Exegesis of Romans 6:1–14

Romans is the longest of Paul’s letters and one of the richest theologically. It has also generated extensive debate over its purpose, audience, integrity, and theology. I take Romans to be a letter written for the concrete situation of the churches in Rome, as Paul’s other letters likewise address particular communities and circumstances. This article therefore begins with the historical and literary setting of Romans before examining Romans 6:1–14 verse by verse, with attention to translation, Greek vocabulary, theology, and contemporary application. This article is adapted from a paper I wrote during my theological studies.

The Historical Setting of Romans

Romans identifies Paul as its author, and this is not seriously disputed. He most likely wrote near the end of his third missionary journey, probably from Corinth, before travelling to Jerusalem. Paul had not founded the church in Rome and had not yet visited it. Acts 18:2 tells us that Aquila and Priscilla had left Rome because Claudius ordered the Jews to leave the city. Jewish Christians were therefore already present in Rome; some may have been among the Jews from Rome present at Pentecost (Acts 2:10). After the expulsion, Gentile Christians would naturally have assumed a larger role. By the time Paul wrote Romans, Jewish believers—including Aquila and Priscilla—had returned. Romans therefore addresses communities containing both Jewish and Gentile Christians, a setting reflected throughout the letter.

Romans 16 also suggests a network of house churches. Paul probably learned about their circumstances through believers he already knew. Romans 15:23–24 shows that he longed to visit Rome and hoped for their support for his mission to Spain. Alongside that missionary purpose, the letter repeatedly addresses the salvation of Jews and Gentiles and tensions between them. Paul wants a church united in love around the gospel.

A Brief Outline of Romans

Romans 1:1–17 introduces the letter and Paul’s desire to visit Rome. Romans 1:16–17 is widely regarded as programmatic: the gospel is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, Jew and Greek alike. In 1:18–3:20 Paul argues that Gentiles, Jews, and ultimately all humanity are under sin. In 3:21–4:25 he explains justification by faith, using Abraham himself as an example. Chapter 5 develops the results of justification: reconciliation with God through Christ, deliverance from wrath, and the contrast between Adam and Christ.

Romans 6–8 then asks how those who live under grace are to live, what the law can and cannot do, and how new life is lived by the Spirit. Chapters 9–11 wrestle with Israel’s unbelief and God’s faithfulness. Chapters 12–15 draw out the ethical and communal implications of the gospel, including the unity of Jewish and Gentile believers. The letter closes with Paul’s missionary plans, greetings, and doxology.

The Context of Romans 6:1–14

Romans 5 argues that those once alienated from God by sin are justified by faith, reconciled through Christ’s blood, and brought under grace. Paul also says that where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. Romans 6 therefore confronts the obvious distortion: if grace abounds where sin increases, should Christians remain in sin so that grace may abound?

Romans 6:1–14: Exegesis

6:1 — “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” (ESV 2025)

Paul introduces an objection in the diatribe style he uses elsewhere in Romans. The issue is not merely committing one particular sin again, but continuing or remaining in the realm of sin. The wording deliberately echoes 5:20: if grace “abounded” where sin increased, should one remain in sin so that grace might abound still more? Paul will reject the inference completely.

6:2 — “By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (ESV 2025)

Paul’s answer is emphatic. Christians have already “died to sin.” The phrase should be read alongside verse 10, where Christ is said to have died “to sin.” Paul is speaking of a decisive past event that changes one’s relationship to sin. The question is when and how believers participated in that death; the following verses answer it.

6:3 — “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (ESV 2025)

Paul appeals to a common Christian experience: “all of us” who were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death. Baptism was not an optional extra within the conversion pattern Paul could assume among his readers. More importantly, Paul explicitly connects being baptized into Christ with being baptized into his death. The death to sin mentioned in verse 2 is therefore explained through participation in Christ’s death in baptism.

Galatians 3:27 similarly speaks of those baptized into Christ as having “put on Christ.” Paul is not giving a complete theology of baptism here; his immediate purpose is ethical—why sin no longer has the same claim over those who belong to Christ. Yet his argument depends on baptism having a real connection with Christ and his death.

6:4 — “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (ESV 2025)

Paul now adds burial to the picture. Colossians 2:12 uses the same imagery and explicitly speaks of being raised with Christ “through faith in the powerful working of God.” That is important: baptism cannot be isolated from faith. In Paul’s theology of justification by faith, baptism is not a rival to faith but an act that follows from and is governed by faith.

The burial image should not be made to carry more than Paul intends. First-century burial was not necessarily burial under soil, so the image by itself does not prove the mode of baptism. The verb baptizō and the New Testament narratives provide separate evidence for immersion. Paul’s point here is theological: through baptism believers are joined to Christ’s death and burial so that they may walk in newness of life.

6:5 — “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (ESV 2025)

The rare adjective translated “united” expresses a close association with Christ. The second half points forward: believers “shall certainly” share a resurrection like his. I therefore take the resurrection here primarily as the future bodily resurrection. If that future participation in Christ’s resurrection is real, the parallel participation in his death should not be reduced to a merely external symbol.

6:6 — “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” (ESV 2025)

Although baptism is not repeated in this verse, the argument continues directly from verses 3–5. The old self is crucified with Christ so that sin’s enslaving rule is broken. The language does not mean that Christians become incapable of sinning; it means that sin is no longer their rightful master.

6:7 — “For one who has died has been set free from sin.” (ESV 2025)

The verb translated “set free” is from the same word family normally translated “justify.” Here the context emphasizes release from sin’s claim and mastery: death has changed the believer’s relationship to the old ruler.

6:8 — “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” (ESV 2025)

Again the future dimension matters. Those who have died with Christ now live a new life, but they also await the full resurrection life promised in verse 5.

6:9 — “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.” (ESV 2025)

Christ’s resurrection means that death’s dominion over him is finished. Paul is preparing the ethical analogy: believers joined to Christ are no longer to live as though sin still possesses its former dominion.

6:10 — “For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.” (ESV 2025)

Christ’s death was once for all; his present life is lived to God. The decisive character of Christ’s death provides the basis for the believer’s changed allegiance.

6:11 — “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (ESV 2025)

Paul now turns the theology into an imperative. Because believers have participated in Christ’s death, they are to reckon themselves dead to sin and alive to God. This is not pretending that temptation no longer exists; it is living in accordance with the new reality created by belonging to Christ.

6:12 — “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.” (ESV 2025)

The body remains mortal, and temptation remains real. Yet sin need not reign. The believer is no longer portrayed as helplessly belonging to the old master.

6:13 — “Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.” (ESV 2025)

Believers are therefore called to offer themselves to God. The new identity is not merely a doctrinal status; it is meant to produce a new allegiance and a new way of using the body.

6:14 — “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” (ESV 2025)

Paul ends this unit with confidence: sin will not rule them, because they live under grace rather than under law. Grace is therefore not permission to remain under sin’s reign; it is precisely the new realm in which sin’s dominion is broken.

Theological Reflection and Application

Paul answers the objection, “Why not continue in sin so that grace may abound?” by pointing to the believer’s participation in Christ. Those baptized into Christ were baptized into his death. Sin is no longer their master, so they neither need nor ought to present themselves to it as slaves.

This gives Christians genuine grounds for resisting sin. When believers fall, they should not conclude that nothing has changed. They are called to live toward God, present themselves as instruments of righteousness, and refuse sin the throne it once occupied. At the same time, they await the future bodily resurrection in which participation in Christ’s victory will be complete.

Romans 6 was not written primarily as a baptismal manual. Nevertheless, Paul’s ethical argument assumes a baptismal reality: baptism is connected with entering Christ, his death and burial, newness of life, and the hope of resurrection.

Conclusion

Romans 6 explains why Christians cannot simply remain in sin and gives them a basis for resisting its rule. It also gives us good reason to recover the early Christian pattern in which baptism is treated as an integral part of conversion, not an optional add-on detached from faith.

References

Bruce, F. F. Romans: An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. InterVarsity Press, 1985.
Carson, D. A., and Douglas J. Moo. An Introduction to the New Testament. 2nd ed. Zondervan, 2005.
Dunn, James D. G. Romans 1–8. Word Biblical Commentary 38A. Word, 1988.
Mounce, Robert H. Romans. New American Commentary. Broadman & Holman, 1995.
Moo, Douglas J. The Epistle to the Romans. NICNT. Eerdmans, 1996.
Schreiner, Thomas R. Romans. BECNT. Baker Academic, 1998.
Swanson, James. Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament). Logos Research Systems, 1997.

Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version (ESV 2025).