{"id":68549,"date":"2024-06-27T15:06:18","date_gmt":"2024-06-27T20:06:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=68549"},"modified":"2024-06-27T15:06:18","modified_gmt":"2024-06-27T20:06:18","slug":"since-baptism-is-a-burial-shouldnt-everything-be-under-simultaneously","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/since-baptism-is-a-burial-shouldnt-everything-be-under-simultaneously\/","title":{"rendered":"Since baptism is a burial, shouldn’t everything be under simultaneously?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

Dear Minister,<\/p>\n

I was recently baptized. The water was not very deep, but the baptizer said it was deep enough. It was deep enough to be immersed in, but still shallow enough to be risky to have part of the body not fully immersed at the same time. The photo of my baptism shows me being immersed (except it does not show my feet). I’ve analyzed the photo as best I can and think my feet would have been immersed.<\/p>\n

I was thinking about Romans 6:4-5 and Colossians 2:12-13, about baptism being a burial. What does “buried with Him through baptism into death” (Rom 6:4 NKJV) mean? Aren’t we dead in sin before baptism (Ephesians 2:1-3,12)? Then why does Romans 6:4 say buried with Him “into death?”\u00a0 Does baptism symbolize a grave to go into because we are already dead from our sin (like we bury an animal or person that is already dead or like Jesus was already dead when He went into the grave), or does “into death” somehow mean that we are not dead until the immersion of baptism?\u00a0 And then, if the immersion is incomplete (for example, the toes came out of the water when the head went under), did the person being baptized not make it “unto death”?<\/p>\n

Would not God understand it that I have made an appeal for a good conscience toward Him by faith in Jesus as my Saviour (I Peter 3:21)? Or, just say my toes were exposed, would He say, “your toes were not under, you never obeyed the gospel”? Obeying the gospel is to die, be buried, and then be resurrected, right (I Corinthians 15:3)? Again, I’m confused by what Romans 6:4 says, “into death”?<\/p>\n

Physically, if someone dies and then is buried, but their toes are still exposed, they are still dead. Most people are dead before burial.<\/p>\n

I have read your post (thank you for it) entitled:\u00a0What if a person does not go completely under the water at the same time? Is it still a baptism?<\/a>\u00a0Your response was very brief.\u00a0 Would you mind carefully explaining (with Bible verses or other reasoning) why you stated that “… if everything did not go underwater at precisely the same time. It would still be an immersion”?<\/p>\n

Thanks for your assistance.<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

“Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin<\/em>” (Romans 6:3-7).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The answer to your question is in this passage. We are buried into Christ’s death; in other words, we join in a representation of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. What dies is our old self — the one that lived after the ways of the world. Yes, we were dead in our transgressions (Ephesians 2:1-2), but that is not Paul’s focus at the moment. What dies is our old way of life, and what rises is a new way of living. Our old life was enslaved to sin. Our new life is freed from sin.<\/p>\n

Baptism represents a burial, but it is possible to take an illustration too far. For example, we bury people six feet underground, but we don’t have to put someone six feet underwater to baptize them. Jesus spent three days in the grave, but we don’t have to remain underwater that long for it to be considered a baptism. As I stated before, we all strive to have someone fully immersed at the same time when baptizing but to obsess about whether a toe stuck up is carrying things too far, in my personal opinion. “Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?<\/em>” (Ecclesiastes 7:16). Insisting on absolute perfection can be a dangerous thing.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Dear Minister, I was recently baptized. The water was not very deep, but the baptizer said it was deep enough. It was deep enough to be immersed in, but still shallow enough to be risky to have part of the body not fully immersed at the same time. The photo of my baptism shows…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-68549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23714,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-many-times-does-a-person-need-to-be-immersed-during-a-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":68549,"position":0},"title":"How many times does a person need to be immersed during a baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I want to know if it is necessary to say \"I baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit\" during a baptism? And is immersion valid if it is done once in the name of the Father, once in the name of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94436,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-administers-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":68549,"position":1},"title":"Who Administers Baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 9, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0by Louis Rushmore The late David Lipscomb is attributed with saying, \"There is no more propriety in calling baptism the work of the man baptized than there is in calling the burial the work of the person buried.\" Stop and think about that analogy for a moment. The dead neither\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29048,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-spiritual-significance-of-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":68549,"position":2},"title":"The Spiritual Significance of Baptism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 26, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mark Larson via Gospel Power, Vol. 16, No. 6, Feb. 8, 2009. \"Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2350,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-a-person-does-not-go-completely-under-the-water-at-the-same-time-is-it-still-a-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":68549,"position":3},"title":"What if a person does not go completely under the water at the same time? Is it still a baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 25, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What are your thoughts concerning baptism when a finger or knuckle or possibly someone with long hair doesn't all get under at the same time or under at all? It seems like that could happen accidentally with no knowledge of it or could also be noticed by the baptizer.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2034,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-baptism-make-jesus-sacrifice-insufficient-for-our-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":68549,"position":4},"title":"Does baptism make Jesus’ sacrifice insufficient for our salvation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 2, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Baptism is a representation of us being born into Christ.\u00a0 It is something every Christian should do.\u00a0 It is not something one should do to be saved.\u00a0 Putting baptism as a requirement for salvation makes Jesus\u2019 sacrifice not enough for our salvation and with this, I disagree. Answer: It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":641,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/arent-the-references-to-baptism-just-symbolic\/","url_meta":{"origin":68549,"position":5},"title":"Aren’t the references to baptism just symbolic?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 25, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When looking at Galatians 3:27 or the Romans passages, doesn't it make better sense to understand the word immerse or immersion literally? I am immersed into Christ, immersed into death in spiritual realms. I am clothed with Christ in a spiritual realm, not putting on holy vestments. I am\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68549\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}