Death To Sin in Romans 6 Is Referring To Our Repentance Not Baptism Per Se

In Romans 6 we find the phrase “dead to sin” in verse 2 and 11. Based upon the fact that the context talks about baptism, I hear some teach baptism is when one dies to sin, that if one has not been baptized, they have not died to sin. But I don’t think that is actually Paul’s point. Let’s discuss what is really being said …

Death involves a separation. Physical death is the separation of body from our spirit (James 2:26) – when a person dies, his spirit leaves his body; all that’s left is a big ole hunk of flesh. Spiritual death is the separation of our spirit from God (Gen 2:17, Isa 59:2, Rom 6:23) – when we sin we die spiritually, because our sin separates us from God. Separation is involved in both cases.

So likewise our phrase under consideration “dead to sin” would involve a separation – separation from sin. And that does happen at baptism in the sense that our sins are forgiven at baptism (Acts 22:16), that is, we are separated from the spiritual consequences from our sins at baptism. That is what God does for us when we become a Christian, but there is another sense in which we (not God) must separate ourselves from sin. And that is when we decide to quite serving sin and start serving righteousness (Rom 6:17-18). That is called repentance (Ezek 18:21), and that is what “dead to sin” in Romans 6 is referring to. That is not baptism per se, but the repentance that should immediately precede baptism.

Acts 2:38 says one must “repent, and be baptized … for the remission of sins.” So it is true we are separated from sin at baptism in the sense of being forgiven of them, but we also decide to separate ourselves from committing sin when we repent of our sins in conjunction with our baptism. And the context shows the latter is what Paul has in mind by the phrase “dead to sin” in Romans 6. Let me elaborate.

Paul does teach one is forgiven of their sins at baptism in Rom 6:3, but the death to sin of the context is not talking about forgiveness at baptism, but the decision to quit serving sin by the one being baptized. Notice the phrases “walk in newness of life” (4), “old man is crucified with him” (6), “that henceforth we should not serve sin” (6), “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body” (12), “neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin” (13), “ye were the servants of sin” (17), and “ye became the servants of righteousness” (18) – all of these phrases point to what _we_ do (repent, change our life in regard to sin) not to what God does (forgive).

And we know from Eph 4:22-24 that putting off the “old man” and putting on the “new man” does not refer to baptism.   Instead it is something a Christian is to keep on doing even after he is converted. That would be repenting / continually changing one’s life for the better, and certainly not baptism (a Christian does not keep on getting baptized).  We are supposed to “die to sin” (separate ourselves from sin) every day; it is not just a one time act like baptism.

Conclusion: God does separate us (forgive us) from sin when we are baptized, but the phrase “dead to sin” found twice in Romans 6 is not referring to that (what God does), but what we do to separate ourselves from sin – repent of them and follow through on that commitment to live a different way, a holy lifestyle (I Pet 1:16).

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