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Transformed the Believer. This New Life Brings with It a Radical Freedom. in This Life, It Is a Freedom from the Mosaic Law in Order to Live in Love

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Transformed the Believer. This New Life Brings with It a Radical Freedom. in This Life, It Is a Freedom from the Mosaic Law in Order to Live in Love REREADING 1 CORINTHIANS 15:29 243 transformed the believer. This new life brings with it a radical freedom. In this life, it is a freedom from the Mosaic law in order to live in love. Dying to the self and dying to sin are analogous to Christ’s own death; death with Christ is life anew. Baptism into Christ is baptism into his death; just as he was raised, the believer will be raised (6:3–4). Everything that Paul speaks of in vv. 5–11 in one way or another centers on an aspect of the transformation wrought in the believer by baptism, a transformation in Christ that is constitutive of identifica- tion not only with Christ’s ministry but with his very person. In baptism, the believer’s old life is buried, buried with the crucified Christ, “and the meaning and purpose of this costly act is that a new life of obedience should follow, made possible by the indwelling Spirit of that same Christ.”43 Verses 12–14 exhort the believer to live according to what he has become. Sin may not reign, nor pas- sion, nor the law, because the believer has been brought from death to life.44 Although Rom 6:1–14 traces themes far too subtle for expansive clarifica- tion here, “the argument rests upon the believer’s baptismal union with Christ.”45 This is not a static union with Christ; it is a participation in Christ. In v. 3, Paul says that the believer is baptized into Christ’s death. “The rite of Christian initiation introduces human beings into a union with Christ suffering and dying. Paul’s phrase is bold; he wants to bring out that the Christian is not merely identified with the ‘dying Christ,’ who has won victory over sin, but is introduced into the very act by which that victory is won.”46 It is the participa- tion in baptism that effects participation in the dying and rising of Christ. The believer’s life in the here-and-now is comparable to the death and resurrection of Christ. The believer has not yet (physically) died, and therefore the believer has not yet been resurrected from death, as Christ is; but the believer has died to sin and therefore the believer is “able to walk in newness of life” (v. 4) in this world. Col 2:12 and 3:1 (“raised with him into newness of life”) equate the effect of baptism with resurrection directly.47 In Romans, however, there is a fine distinction, perhaps without a difference, viz., the indwelling of the Spirit begins with baptism and carries through until resurrection, but the believer is not resurrected at baptism. Adela Yarbro Collins notes: One of the distinctive features of Romans 6 is that Paul avoids saying ‘we have risen’ with Christ; rather he speaks of ‘newness of life.’ The implication of Paul’s restraint is that the transformation is not complete. There is still an 43 A. Campbell, “Dying with Christ: The Origin of a Metaphor?” in Baptism, the New Testa- ment, and the Church: Historical and Contemporary Studies in Honour of R. E. O. White (ed. S. E. Porter and A. R. Cross; JSNTSup 171; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999) 285. 44 See Byrne, Romans, 193–95. Cf. D. Hellholm, “Enthymemic Argumentation in Paul: The Case of Romans 6,” in Paul in His Hellenistic Context, ed. Engberg-Pedersen, 119–79. 45 Byrne, Romans, 188. 46 Fitzmyer, Romans, 433. 47 See Dunn (Romans 1–8, 330) for a more extensive explanation. 244 BAPTISM ON ACCOUNT OF THE DEAD apocalyptic expectation of a future, fuller transformation into a heavenly form of life. This expectation fits with Paul’s use throughout the passage of the im- perative alongside the indicative. ‘Newness of life’ is a real present possibility, both spiritually and ethically, but the actualizing of that possibility requires de- cision and commitment as well as grace.48 Simply stated: the present and future reality of the believer are radically changed at baptism.49 The believer’s resurrection is in the future, but his life in Christ has begun in baptism. Baptism induces a new life that is as real in this world as it will be in the next. Clearly, Paul’s accent here is not on death but on life. Death has been conquered by Christ, a given in Paul’s letters and specifically in Ro- mans. “Participation in Christ’s death is the basis upon which this new life is made possible, but Christ’s death is not in the forefront in this part of Paul’s reasoning.”50 With baptism there is “life to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom 6:11).51 Galatians 3:26–29 Paul speaks of baptismal life in Rom 6:3–4 by invoking the image of the be- liever placing himself in Christ, by a baptism into Christ that is a baptism into Christ’s death, and by coupling baptism into death with rising to newness of life. But in Gal 3:27, he says, “For (gavr) as many of you as were baptized into Christ (eij~ Cristovn) have put on Christ (Cristo;n ejjneduvsasqe).”52 This image is more evocative of the believer taking on a mantle than of entering into death and resurrection; yet the heart of the matter is the same. Baptism into Christ is bap- tism into his death and resurrection as well as clothing oneself with Christ—two sides of the one coin of transformation in Christ via baptism. In Gal 3:2, Paul asks the Galatians, “Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hear- ing with faith?”53 Galatians 3 is Paul’s answer to this question. With a careful interpretation of the Abraham story, Paul shows that righteousness comes by faith, to both Abraham and Israel. Likewise, the promise of Abraham is ex- tended to the Gentiles by Christ. The law may have served as a temporary custodian until the coming of Christ, but now with faith in Christ there is no need of a custodian. The promise made to Abraham and fulfilled in Christ is 48 Yarbro Collins, “The Origin of Christian Baptism,” 42. 49 Cf. Carlson, “The Role of Baptism in Paul’s Thought,” 261–63. 50 Boers, “The Structure and Meaning of Romans 6:1–14,” 677–78. 51 The dogmatic theology pertinent to Romans 6 and baptism is expertly presented in L. Ber- gin, O Prophecticum Lavacrum: Baptism as Symbolic Act of Eschatological Salvation (AnGreg 277; Rome: Editrice Pontificia Università Gregoriana, 1999). 52 For more on the baptismal phrases in Paul, see A. J. M. Wedderburn, “Some Observations on Paul’s Use of the Phrases ‘in Christ’ and ‘with Christ,’” JSNT 25 (1985) 83–97; B. B. Colijn, “Paul’s Use of the ‘in Christ’ Formula,” ATJ 23 (1991) 9–26; and Hartman, “‘Into the Name of the Lord Jesus,’” (chap. 3), in “Into the Name of the Lord Jesus,” 37–50. 53 Given the overall polemical tenor of Galatians, the question unmistakably represents Paul’s impression of the Galatians’ confusion on this point. See J. M. G. Barclay, “Mirror-Reading a Polemical Letter: Galatians as a Test Case,” JSNT 31 (1987) 73–93. REREADING 1 CORINTHIANS 15:29 245 coextensive with faith, not works of the law; the law passes away with the ful- fillment of the promise. Obviously, the Galatians have been perturbed about the relationship of law and righteousness since Paul’s presence among them.54 Be- cause Paul wishes to emphasize the role of faith in Christ for the believer, it is fitting that he begins his conclusion to Galatians 3 with v. 26: “For (gavr) in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”55 This identifies election in Christ with the election of Israel (Exod 4:22; Deut 14:1–12; Jer 31:9; Jub. 1:24– 25; cf. Gal 4:6–7; Rom 8:14). And with this, any distinction between Jew and Greek is obliterated, the promise to Abraham is underscored as a promise to all the nations, and faith (in Christ) is seen as the fulcrum of righteousness. The second use of gavr in v. 27 confirms a tight integration with v. 26. The Galatians are not under the law because they are “sons of God through faith” and because they have been “baptized into Christ” and have “put on Christ.”56 While we might be contented with “baptized into Christ” as the source of the status of sons of God, Paul goes farther and adds “putting on Christ” as a corre- sponding referent to baptism, thereby adding a new dimension. The use of ejnduvw (“to dress,” “to clothe”)57 is a masterstroke on Paul’s part. On the one hand, it is a representation that appeals to both Jew and Greco-Roman. The LXX employs ejnduvw to speak of being clothed with salvation (2 Chr 6:41), righteous- ness (Job 29:14; Ps 131:9; Isa 59:17), and even shame (Ps 34:26).58 Many mystery religions utilized a symbolic bath or reclothing as a means of initia- tion,59 and Paul’s language is also strongly reminiscent of the Roman toga virilis ceremony.60 The Galatians, whether Jews or Greco-Romans, had within their diverse religious backgrounds some ready vocabulary and imagery applicable to Christian baptism. On the other hand, insofar as we know the history of the baptismal rite,61 Paul may be invoking a common baptismal practice among the Galatians (as well as other early Christians). “The new robe, put on as one comes out of the water, signifies Christ himself.
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