4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
4 Therefore
In this verse Paul developed in further detail the basis for the phrase “we who died to sin” (v. 2). The “therefore” introduces the logical consequence of verse three that we were positionally co-baptized with Christ.
we were buried with [co-buried] Him
Burial indicates the surety of death. It certifies the reality of death itself. We do not bury people alive! Christians have actually died in Christ to their sin capacity. They died positionally to their life in Adam. This is not saying we will die or are about to die, but that we died at some point in the past (at our salvation).
The words “buried with” is one word in the Greek, indicating co-burial. When Christ was buried, we were buried. We share His burial. We have co-community in Christ in the certainty of death to the sin capacity. The epoch of Adam passed away and the epoch of Christ began for the believer by our co-burial with Him.
through [the] baptism into death,
The “the” is not translated but refers to having been “baptized into his death” in verse three.
Baptism is a metaphor here for our entrance into the death of Christ at salvation. The epochal change from Adam to Christ took place when we became Christians.
PRINCIPLE:
The believer has delegated authority from God to live the Christian life based on the finished work of Christ on the cross.
APPLICATION:
The Christian has the authority to live on the certainty of positional death with Christ and with positional resurrection with Christ. It is not a given that Christians will apply these truths to experience, but God gave the possibility to do so. We have a choice to apply positional truth or not to our experience. Christians who consistently apply the principles of the Word to experience are spiritually mature.
