Romans 6:3-4

Romans 6:3-4

[3] Know ye not,  that so  many of us  as were baptized  into  Jesus  Christ  were baptized  into  his  death?  [4] 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  also  should walk  in  newness  of life. 

What does Romans 6:3-4 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Our baptism into (with respect to) Jesus Christ resulted in our death to sin.
"It appears that Paul had both the literal and figurative in mind in this paragraph, for he used the readers" experience of water baptism to remind them of their identification with Christ through the baptism of the Holy Spirit." [1]
"Baptism . . . functions as shorthand for the conversion experience as a whole." [2]
Water baptism for the early Christians was an initiation into Christian existence. Baptism joins the believer with Jesus Christ in public profession, which includes joining him or her with Christ in His death. Union with Christ in baptism then necessitates our burial and resurrection with Him.
". . . there is no evidence in Romans 6 , or in the NT elsewhere, that the actual physical movements-immersion and emersion-involved in baptism were accorded symbolical significance. The focus in Romans 6 , certainly, is not on the ritual of baptism, but the simple event of baptism....
""Burial with Christ" is a description of the participation of the believer in Christ"s own burial, a participation that is mediated by baptism." [3]
"It is not that the believer in baptism is laid in his own grave, but that through that action he is set alongside Christ Jesus in his." [4]
". . . baptism is introduced not to explain how we were buried with Christ but to demonstrate that we were buried with Christ." [5]
"From this and other references to baptism in Paul"s writings, it is plain that he did not regard baptism as an "optional extra" in the Christian life." [6]
Neither did Paul regard it as essential for salvation (e.g, 1 Corinthians 1:17). Jesus" burial was not part of His saving work. It simply proved that He had died ( 1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Similarly His resurrection was not part of His saving work. It proved that death could not hold Him because He was sinless (cf. Acts 2:24).
God not only raised Jesus Christ but also imparts new life to believers. Walking in newness of life shows that the believer has received new life (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17). "Glory" in Romans 6:4 has power in view (cf. John 11:40).