Buried in Baptism (13th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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This Sunday’s epistle reading is part of St. Paul’s response to an imaginary interlocutor, who represents those who argued that his doctrine of grace gives believers licence to sin: “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2)

He then argues in verses 3-4 that those who belong to Christ have crucified their old self in the sacrament of Baptism. In Baptism, believers identify themselves with the death and resurrection of Christ, and thus receive all the benefits thereof. This text thus becomes the basis of the Church’s teaching that salvation comes through baptism. As the Catechism teaches:

Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament. The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are “reborn of water and the Spirit.” (CCC 1257)

As a result of being identified with Christ, we are “sanctified,” that is, made holy. We no longer live according to the values of this world. Thus, our lives are to reflect the new identity that we have in Him. Or as Paul puts it, “you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (v. 11) Or as he puts it elsewhere: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:24-25)

In light of this, let us live out our baptismal call to be new creations in Christ, turning away from our old sinful selves and becoming the saints He has destined us to be.

J. Luis Dizon