Baptism - Romans 6

Having explained the connection between the Fall of Adam and the Atonement of Jesus Christ, Paul now helps us understand the connection between these events and ourselves. Because Christ’s atonement is sufficient for all to overcome sin, Paul asks “shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” This question could mean “does that mean that we don’t have to do anything because Jesus has us covered?” Paul answers, “God forbid” which is interpreted as “may it not be!” We are absolutely not to continue in sin just because God has already suffered and paid for it. Being righteous is hard enough when you are trying your best, to add in to the mix sins knowingly committed, it becomes almost impossible.

And how terrible is that to understand the atonement and the price that Jesus paid for it and then say, “if I commit this sin, Jesus will have had to suffer even more so that I can do it, but oh well, that’s what he’s there for” and do it anyway. There have been many times in my life when I’ve been tempted to do things, to commit just the tiniest of sins, but I thought to myself, “if I do this, then I will have been the cause of even more suffering for Jesus,” and the thought of hurting him even more than I already have was enough for me to think twice about whether or not it was worth it.
Paul reminds the people that they had been baptized and had made a commitment to live the gospel. Like Jesus who died for our sins and was buried, “therefore we are buried with him in baptism into death… knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” When we are immersed in the water, we are symbolically dead and buried to our old life, “for he that is dead to sin is freed from sin.” We are not only forgiven for our previous sins, but we are also freed to live a new life.
In contrast, as we are buried in the waters of baptism to symbolize the death of our old life, when we are raised up from the water, “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.” The first time I heard this concept, it was really beautiful and it made sense to me in a way that was profound.
The IM comments, “baptism is a rebirth, symbolized by coming up out of the waters of baptism. Just as we were born into the world and became a living soul, so we must be born again and become a member of God’s kingdom- both births involve the common elements of water, blood, and spirit.” I had never considered baptism in that way before, with the water, blood, and spirit. The IM continues by quoting Elder L. Tom Perry as teaching, “According to the Apostle Paul, baptism… denotes our descent into a watery grave from which we are raised with ‘newness of life’ in Christ. The ordinance of baptism symbolizes Christ’s death and Resurrection- we die with Him so we can live with Him.”
Once we have been forgiven of our sins through baptism and given the chance for a new start, it’s important that we try our best to be righteous. It’s like I said earlier, it’s hard enough to do the right thing even when you are trying your best, but if you aren’t actively engaging in good thoughts and behaviors, then forget about it.
Paul specifically names physical sins as particularly tempting, saying, “let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” It’s difficult because this life is our first time having a body and many of us feel disconnected to our bodies or have been overwhelmed with life and haven’t really had a chance to connect with our bodies. Maybe it’s just me, I don’t know, this life has been so stressful and crazy that I haven’t really ever like my body was anything other than drudgery. I have never felt strong or energetic or “alive” physically, so I get the appeal of “physical sins” if that makes sense.
And I mean don’t get me wrong, I’ve been guilty of oh so many of them, but I can understand why a warped mentality could convince us of the appeal of physical sins. But people like me must be especially careful because I have an addictive personality which means that I become dependent on pretty much anything at any time to the point where it controls me and everything I do or think about. This is why the quote in the IM from President Russell M. Nelson speaks to me so strongly, “from an initial experiment thought to be trivial, a vicious cycle may follow. From trial comes a habit. From habit comes dependence. From dependence comes addiction. Its grasp is so gradual. Enslaving shackles of habit are too small to be sensed until they are too strong to be broken… Addiction surrenders later freedom to choose.”
When I was younger I never understood why the Word of Wisdom was necessary. I couldn’t understand anything about addiction or why the rules were actually a protection, why giving up one thing meant freedom, when all it looked like was restriction. But Paul clarifies “that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey.” We are servants of the master that we obey, whether it be God or the devil.
So at this point, and I know that I’ve had to get here before, we have to ask ourselves why do we choose God over the devil, righteousness over wickedness? Paul gives us a formula, “what fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.”
Why would I live the lifestyle that I do? Why would I give up companionship of men for companionship of the Holy Ghost? I’m not saying that living alone is what God wants, he wants us to be married and happy, but married in the right place to a person who is also temple worthy, and there just aren’t that many my age. So if one happens to show up, then cool, but if not I’m grateful that I have Jesus as my best friend and living this life with Him is way better than any life I could have without Him.