Romans

The teachings in Romans have powerfully impacted people across the ages. They have prompted the conversion of humble women and men, as well as giants in the history of Christianity, such as Augustine, Martin Luther, and John Wesley. Romans stands as one of the clearest statements of the gospel of Jesus Christ and provides clear, practical guidelines on how believers should conduct their new lives in Christ. As the longest and most formal of Paul’s New Testament letters, Romans represents his systematic presentation of the theology of God’s grace, answering the question, “How can a person have a right relationship with God?”

Baptism illustrates the believer’s union with Christ: dead to sin, alive to God (6:3-4). It is not required for salvation, but it is the public testimony of a believer to what has occurred in her life. Those who have united themselves to Christ picture this union by being plunged into the waters of baptism, showing that they have been baptized [Gk ebaptisthēmen, “immersed”] into His death. “Baptism” is the transliteration or anglicization of the Greek word. The idea of the Greek word is a total enveloping of one substance in another. The argument for immersion as the proper mode for baptism is clearly made with the meaning of the word, coupled with the example of Jesus and John. Paul’s use of the imagery of baptism also effectively testifies to its public testimony of what transpires in conversion:

• The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ are pictured in the believer’s immersion in baptismal waters and being raised out of them.

• A believer also pictures her own regeneration, dying to the old life of sin and arising to a new life with Christ.

• The believer is also declaring her confidence in her reunion with Christ at His return.