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Verse

Romans 6:4

ESV 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.
NIV 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.
NASB Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.
CSB Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.
NLT For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
KJV Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
NKJV 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.

What does Romans 6:4 mean?

Paul is introducing a collection of teachings about what happens when a person trusts in Christ for his or her salvation. In the previous verse, he wrote that Christians have been baptized into Christ Jesus and into His death. This seems to mean that, through the Holy Spirit, a person who comes to faith in Christ experiences a spiritual baptism that takes us into Christ Himself (1 Corinthians 12:13). We become so closely identified with Him that God gives us credit for Christ's righteousness and accepts His death as payment for our sin.

Paul has also said that on that spiritual level we were baptized into Christ's death on the cross. Now he writes that we were also buried with Him into death. Paul means to communicate that a real spiritual transaction took place when we were saved. On a spiritual level, we experienced death and burial with Christ. Then God gloriously raised us from that spiritual death just as He raised Christ from physical death. The Father did all of this so we would be able to walk in, to experience for the first time, spiritual life.

This is a huge and mysterious idea, but it is at the heart of what it means to truly be a Christian. Those who come to God through faith in Christ do not merely sign some documents and get their Jesus card. A real, spiritual transformation takes place inside of us. We do not remain the same as we were before. We come to life for the first time (Ephesians 2:5), and God means for us to participate in this new life in a meaningful way. This is not only profound, it helps to explain why a life of persistent and willful sin is incompatible with a profession of faith in Christ (Galatians 5:19–24; 1 John 3:6–9).
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