by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
Paul describes our pre-conversion state as “dead in trespasses and sin<\/em>” (Ephesians 2:1). We walked like others in the world, but we were spiritually dead toward God. But from our dead state, He “made us alive together with Christ<\/em>” (Ephesians 2:5). We were “raised up together with Christ<\/em>” (Ephesians 2:6). This passage tells us that <\/b>this happened without telling us when <\/b>this happened. A death and a resurrection occurred at some point when we were united “together with Christ<\/em>.” We are told that <\/b>it was by grace and that it was through faith (Ephesians 2:8), and later in the book, we are told that it was with <\/b>the “washing of water by the word<\/em>” (Ephesians 5:26). So, when <\/b>was this coming “together with Christ<\/em>” and this “washing with water by the word<\/em>” and this “raised up together with Him<\/em>?” We know that\u00a0<\/strong>this happened from what is said in Ephesians 2, but other verses make it very clear as to when <\/b>this happened.<\/p>\n Consider Romans 6.\u00a0In Romans 6, we see that we were dead in sin\u00a0and then died\u00a0to\u00a0<\/strong>sin, were “buried with Him in baptism,<\/em>” and then were “raised together with Him<\/em>.” This also tells us when the washing of water by the word took place. It tells us when <\/b>we were joined together with Jesus. So, this identifies both the facts mentioned in Ephesians 2 and combines them\u00a0with a more detailed when<\/strong>,\u00a0which is when we unite with Jesus in baptism.<\/p>\n One is baptized into union with Jesus, which is done “through faith<\/em>.” We are buried with Christ in baptism (Colossians 2:12) “through faith in the operation of God<\/em>.” In other words, baptism is the moment we believe God will cut away our sins because He said so<\/strong>\u00a0(Acts 2:38; 22:16). So, that is the moment we are united together with Christ<\/strong>\u00a0and the moment by grace that we are “raised up together with Him<\/strong>.” So, Ephesians 2 gives the facts that <\/b>we are dead and then raised together with Christ, and Romans 6 gives the details of when<\/strong>\u00a0we are buried and raised up, and that “when” is in the moment of baptism.<\/p>\n This is precisely why Acts 2:38 puts remission of sins after baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. This is precisely why Paul, though praying for three days, was told, “Why are you waiting? Arise, and be baptized, washing away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord<\/em>” (Acts 22:16). In both of these cases it was by grace through faith with <\/b>“the washing of water by the word<\/em>.” This is when the 3000 and Saul were united with Christ (Romans 6:3-6). This is the moment they were “raised up together with Christ<\/em>” because their sins were remitted by grace through faith. The 3000 were dead in sin and were raised with Christ when<\/strong>\u00a0they “gladly received his word and were baptized<\/em>” (Acts 2:38-41). Saul was dead in sin and was raised with Christ when <\/b>he was baptized (Acts 22:16). That is precisely why he included himself in saying we were all <\/b>baptized into one body (I Corinthians 12:13). Paul did not give all the details of when <\/b>we were raised up together with Christ in Ephesians 2, perhaps because it was already understood in the “one baptism<\/em>” he mentions in Ephesians 4:4 and the “washing of water by the word<\/em>” (Ephesians 5:26) that they recalled from Acts 19:6. Still, he certainly included the details in Romans 6. Here, we have the death, burial, and resurrection along with the moment of uniting together with Jesus, inclusive of baptism and certainly not exclusive of it, not before baptism and not without baptism, but burial with Him in <\/b>baptism.<\/p>\n We must not wrest the Scriptures on this matter to our own destruction (II Peter 3:16).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton Paul describes our pre-conversion state as “dead in trespasses and sin” (Ephesians 2:1). We walked like others in the world, but we were spiritually dead toward God. But from our dead state, He “made us alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:5). We were “raised up together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:6). This…<\/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":[27],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-69774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-baptism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":93651,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/saved-by-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":69774,"position":0},"title":"Saved by Faith","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 3, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh DeLong \"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-\u00a0 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in\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":19527,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/arent-there-passages-that-say-we-are-saved-by-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":69774,"position":1},"title":"Aren’t there passages that say we are saved by faith?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: You say\u00a0that \"You will never find where the Bible says that baptism is a symbol, or that one is saved at the point of faith.\" What about Luke 7:50? Jesus said to the woman, \"Your faith has saved you; go in peace.\" Ephesians 2:8\u00a0\"For it is by\u00a0grace you have\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":62036,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/clothed-with-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":69774,"position":2},"title":"Clothed with Christ","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 27, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Galatians 3:26-29 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Certain phrases are used so often that we forget the meaning of them. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Not until someone asks does it take us back and then we have a hard time expressing what we know \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That is why young children\u2019s questions of \u201cwhy is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40177,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-efficacy-of-baptism-in-our-faith-in-god-does-that-mean-faith-is-more-important-than-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":69774,"position":3},"title":"Is the efficacy of baptism in our faith in God? Does that mean faith is more important than baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is meant by Colossians 2:12, \"in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead\"? Is it teaching the efficacy of our baptism lies in our faith in God? If so then one of the faith\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":10461,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-true-that-the-purpose-of-baptism-is-not-for-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":69774,"position":4},"title":"Is it true that the purpose of baptism is not for salvation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Could I be baptized in a pool if I wanted to? One more question and I promise I will leave you alone: Would you agree with me if I said: \"the purpose of baptizing is not for salvation, but for a public testimony of repentance and faith in Jesus\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":54501,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-show-my-coworker-that-it-is-not-faith-alone-that-saves\/","url_meta":{"origin":69774,"position":5},"title":"How do I show my coworker that it is not faith alone that saves?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I am in a discussion of the Bible with a man that I work with. He is Lutheran and I go to a church of Christ. His beliefs are that faith saves and continues to recite the verse from Ephesians 2:8-9. I'm sure you're very familiar with that\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\/69774","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=69774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69774\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}