having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
Parallel Translations
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having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
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in that ye are buryed with him thorow baptism in whom ye are also rysen agayne thorowe fayth that is wrought by the operacion of god which raysed him from deeth.
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In that yee are buried with him through baptisme, in whome ye are also raised vp together through the faith of the operation of God, which raised him from the dead.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (28)
Passages linked to Colossians 2:12 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Romans 6:3-5 Or don’t you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection;
- 1 Peter 3:21 This is a symbol of baptism, which now saves you—not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
- Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
- Ephesians 2:4-6 But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
- Colossians 3:1-2 If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.
- Acts 2:24 whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.
- Ephesians 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
- Romans 4:24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead,
- Romans 6:8-11 But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him; knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over him! For the death that he died, he died to sin one time; but the life that he lives, he lives to God. Thus consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Ephesians 1:19-20 and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places,
- Ephesians 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
- 1 Corinthians 15:20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep.
- Ephesians 2:8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
- Hebrews 13:20-21 Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
- Romans 7:4 Therefore, my brothers, you also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you would be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we might produce fruit to God.
- Ephesians 3:7 of which I was made a servant according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power.
- Ephesians 5:14 Therefore he says, “Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
- Philippians 1:29 Because it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer on his behalf,
- Titus 3:5-6 not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly, through Jesus Christ our Savior;
- Hebrews 6:2 of the teaching of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
- Hebrews 12:2 looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
- James 1:16-17 Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow.
- John 1:12-13 But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
- John 3:3-7 Jesus answered him, “Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can’t see God’s Kingdom.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into God’s Kingdom. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’
- Acts 14:27 When they had arrived, and had gathered the assembly together, they reported all the things that God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith to the nations.
- 1 Corinthians 12:13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all given to drink into one Spirit.
- 1 Peter 4:1-3 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind; for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that you no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past time doing the desire of the Gentiles, and having walked in lewdness, lusts, drunken binges, orgies, carousings, and abominable idolatries.
- Luke 17:5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
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Explain this verse (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 12. Buried with him, in baptism. He explains still…
12. Buried with him, in baptism. He explains still more clearly the manner of spiritual circumcision — because, being buried with Christ, we are partakers of his death. He expressly declares that we obtain this by means of baptism, that it may be the more clearly apparent that there is no advantage from circumcision under the reign of Christ. For some one might otherwise object: “Why do you abolish circumcision on this pretext — that its accomplishment is in Christ? Was not Abraham, also, circumcised spiritually, and yet this did not hinder the adding of the sign to the reality? Outward circumcision, therefore, is not superfluous, although that which is inward is conferred by Christ.” Paul anticipates an objection of this kind, by making mention of baptism. Christ, says he, accomplishes in us spiritual circumcision, not through means of that ancient sign, which was in force under Moses, but by baptism. Baptism, therefore, is a sign of the thing that is presented to us, which while absent was prefigured by circumcision. The argument is taken from the economy which God has appointed; for those who retain circumcision contrive a mode of dispensation different from that which God has appointed.
When he says that we are buried with Christ, this means more than that we are crucified with him; for burial expresses a continued process of mortification. When he says, that this is done through means of baptism, as he says also in Romans 6:4, he speaks in his usual manner, ascribing efficacy to the sacrament, that it may not fruitlessly signify what does not exist. By baptism, therefore, we are buried with Christ, because Christ does at the same time accomplish efficaciously that mortification, which he there represents, that the reality may be conjoined with the sign.
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In which also ye are risen. He magnifies the grace which we obtain in Christ, as being greatly superior to circumcision. “We are not only,” says he, “ingrafted into Christ’s death, but we also rise to newness of life:” hence the more injury is done to Christ by those who endeavor to bring us back to circumcision. He adds, by faith, for unquestionably it is by it that we receive what is presented to us in baptism. But what faith? That of his efficacy or operation, by which he means, that faith is founded upon the power of God. As, however, faith does not wander in a confused and undefined contemplation, as they speak, of divine power, he intimates what efficacy it ought to have in view — that by which God raised Christ from the dead. He takes this, however, for granted, that, inasmuch as it is impossible that believers should be severed from their head, the same power of God, which shewed itself in Christ, is diffused among them all in common.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Through faith which cometh from God.
Through faith which cometh from God.
The taking away of an objection: we need not so much as the eternal sign which our fathers had, seeing that our baptism is a most effectual pledge and witness, of that inward restoring and renewing.
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See Rom. 6:4.
So then all the force of the matter cometh not from the very deed done, that is to say, it is not the dipping of us into the water by a Minister that maketh us to be buried with Christ, as the Papists say, that even for the very act’s sake, we become verily Christians, but it cometh from the virtue of Christ, for the Apostle addeth the resurrection of Christ and faith.
One end of Baptism is the death and burial of the old man, and that by the mighty power of God only, whose virtue we lay hold on by faith, in the death and resurrection of Christ.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye…
12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Ver. 12. Buried with him in baptism] Which succeedeth in the place of circumcision, and is also to us a seal of the righteousness of faith, Rom 4:11. There were (saith one) many ceremonies in baptism used in the primitive Church, viz. putting off old clothes, drenching in water, so as to seem to be buried in it, putting on new clothes at their coming out; to which Paul alludeth in these two verses.
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Of the operation of God] In the work of faith God putteth forth the same almighty power that he did in raising Christ from the dead, Eph 1:19-20. {See Trapp on "Eph 1:19"} {See Trapp on "Eph 1:20"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Buried with him in baptism: he shows that in…
Buried with him in baptism: he shows that in Christ they who are found have not only the thing signified, but right to the outward sign and seal, viz. baptism, in the room of circumcision abolished; the death and burial of Christ is not only the exemplar, but the cause of the death of the old man, signed and sealed in baptism: or, by baptism into death, Rom 6:3,4, analogically, or symbolically, or sacramentally, when the Lord, together with the external sign, conferreth his grace signified by that sign; for even then the sins of such a one are buried with Christ so as they shall appear no more, either to his eternal condemnation, or in their former dominion, Rom 6:6,9,14.
Wherein also ye are risen with him; in or by which baptism becoming effectual, having mortified the body of sin, like as Christ was raised from the dead, ye are quickened and raised to newness of life, Rom 6:4; Gal 3:27-29; Eph 4:23,24; 5:14,26,27; Col 3:10,11. By virtue of Christ’s resurrection, a spiritual and mystical one is produced in you, which hath a resemblance and analogy to his.
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Through the faith of the operation of God; not of yourselves, but through faith, Eph 2:8, and that wrought in you by the energy or efficacy of God, Joh 6:29; Phi 1:29; 2:13; Heb 12:2.
Who hath raised him from the dead; who did exert his power in raising up Christ from the dead: compare Rom 4:24, with Eph 1:19,20. This faith is not only wrought by God, as the circumcision without hands, but it doth respect that wonderful power of God put forth in the raising of Christ, as the subject, which he mentions by way of congruity, speaking of our resurrection, and of Christ’s. And he specifieth faith rather than love or other graces which are wrought also by God, because in this grace, which is the constitutive part of the new creature, God comes in with a greater irradiation upon the soul, being it hath not one fragment or point of nature to stand upon; carnal reason and mere moral righteousness being opposite to it, whereas other graces are but as the rectifying of the passions, and setting them upon right objects.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Our apostle here compares Christian baptism with the Jewish…
Our apostle here compares Christian baptism with the Jewish circumcision, and shews, that the signification and spiritual intention of both was one and the same, obliging all persons who took the outward sign upon them to put off the old man and put on the new; to die unto sin, and live unto God. Accordingly, the ancients made use of divers ceremonies in baptizing adult and grown persons, thereby to represent the death, burial, and resurrection fo Jesus Christ; immersion, or putting the person three times under water, either as our Saviour was under the earth three days, or in allusion to the three persons in the Trinity, in whose name we are baptized; and likewise emersion, their coming up out of the water, resembling our Lord’s arising out of his grave.
Note here, 1. That baptism under the New Testament, succeeds circumcision under the Old, and as a right of imitation to Christians as circumcision was to the Jews: For the apostle here proves, that by virtue of our spiritual circumcision in baptism, we have no need of the outward circumcision in the flesh.
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Note, 2. That baptism is undoubtedly Christ’s ordinance for infants of believing Christians, as circumcision was of old for the infants of believing Jews: For if under the gospel, infants be not received, by some federal rite, into covenant with God, they are in a worse condition than children under the law; and the apostle could not truly have said, we are complete in Christ, that is, as complete without circumcision, as ever the Jewish church was with it, if we had not an ordinance, to wit, baptism, as good as their abrogated ordinance of circumcision. And the Jews would certainly have objected it to the reproach of Christianity had not the Christians had a rite of which sealed the covenant to themsleves, and their little ones, and was the door, by which all persons entered into the Jewish church.
Note, 3. The spiritual fruits and effects of baptism, namely, mortification of sin, and vivification in grace, by virtue of the death and resurrection of Christ, apprehended by such a faith as is of the operation of God, that is, produced by the energy of the gospel, and the efficacy of the Holy Spirit.
Learn hence, That neither sacraments, nor the death or the resurrection of Christ, in themselves, will avail to the mortification of sin, and the quickening of grace, if Christ himself be not applied to by such a faith, as is of the special operation of God, the faith of his working, and of his approving: This alone will effectually enable us to die unto sin and live unto God.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Buried with him in baptism,.... The apostle goes on…
Buried with him in baptism,.... The apostle goes on to observe how complete and perfect the saints are in Christ; that they are not only circumcised in him in a spiritual sense, and the body of the sins of their flesh is put off, and removed from them, in allusion to the cutting off and casting away of the foreskin in circumcision; but that they and all their sins were buried with Christ, of which their baptism in water was a lively representation: Christ having died for their sins, was laid in the grave, where he continued for a while, and then rose again; and as they were crucified with him, they were also buried with him, as their head and representative; and all their sins too, which he left behind him in the grave, signified by his grave clothes there; and baptism being performed by immersion, when the person baptized is covered with water, and as it were buried in it, is a very significant emblem of all this; it is a representation of the burial of Christ, and very fitly holds him forth to the view of faith in the state of the dead, in the grave, and points out the place where the Lord lay; and it is also a representation of our burial with him, as being dead to sin, to the law, and to the world, by him. This shows now, that baptism was performed by dipping, or covering the whole body in water, for no other form of administration of baptism, as sprinkling, or pouring water on the face, can represent a burial, or be called one; and this is what many learned interpreters own, and observe on this place:
wherein also ye are risen with him; Christ is risen from the dead as the head and representative of his people, and they are risen with him; and their baptism is also an emblem of his and their resurrection, being administered by immersion, in which way only this can be signified; for as the going down into the water, and being under it, represents Christ's descending into the state of the dead, and his continuance in it, so the emersion, or coming up out of the water, represents his rising from the dead, and that of his people in him, in order to walk in newness of life; for the apostle's meaning is, that in baptism saints are risen with Christ, as well as in it buried with him: and this
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through the faith of the operation of God; that is, it is through faith that saints see themselves buried and risen with Christ, to which the ordinance of baptism is greatly assisting, where there is true faith; for otherwise, without faith, this ordinance will be of no use to any such end and purpose; and it is not any faith that will avail, but that which is of God's operation; faith is not naturally in men, all men have it not; and those that have it, have it not of themselves, it is the gift of God; it is what be works in them, and by his power performs:
who hath raised him from the dead; this is a periphrasis of God the Father, to whom the resurrection of Christ from the dead is generally ascribed; though not to the exclusion of Christ, and of the Spirit, who were also concerned; and is here added, partly to show in what respect faith, which is God's work, has him for its object, as having raised Christ from the dead, who was delivered for offences, but is risen again through the power of God for justification, and whoever with his heart believes this shall be saved; and partly to show, that the same power is exerted in working true faith in the heart, as was put forth in raising Christ from the dead.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Which he wrought in you, when ye were as…
Which he wrought in you, when ye were as it were buried with him in baptism - The ancient manner of baptizing by immersion is as manifestly alluded to here, as the other manner of baptizing by sprinkling or pouring of water is, Heb. x, 22. But no stress is laid on the age of the baptized, or the manner of performing it, in one or the other; but only on our being risen with Christ, through the powerful operation of God in the soul; which we cannot but know assuredly, if it really is so: and if we do not experience this, our baptism has not answered the end of its institution. By which ye are also risen with him - From the death of sin to the life of holiness. It does not appear, that in all this St. Paul speaks of justification at all, but of sanctification altogether.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 12. Buried with him in baptism] Alluding to…
Verse 12. Buried with him in baptism] Alluding to the immersions practised in the case of adults, wherein the person appeared to be buried under the Water, as Christ was buried in the heart of the earth. His rising again the third any, and their emerging from the water, was an emblem of the resurrection of the body; and, in them, of a total change of life.
The faith of the operation of God] They were quickened, changed, and saved, by means of faith in Christ Jesus; which faith was produced by the operation or energy of God. Believing is the act of the soul; but the grace or power to believe comes from God himself.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Buried with him in baptism - See the notes…
Buried with him in baptism - See the notes at Rom 6:4.
Wherein also - In which ordinance, or by virtue of that which is signified by the ordinance.
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Ye are risen with him - From the death of sin to the life of religion; Notes, Rom 6:4-5; compare the notes at Eph 2:5-6.
Through the faith of the operation of God - By a firm belief on the agency of God in raising him up; that is, a belief of the fact that God has raised him from the dead. The resurrection of Christ is often represented as the foundation of all our hopes; and, as he was raised from the grave to die no more, so, in virtue of that we are raised from the death of sin to eternal spiritual life. The belief of this is shown by our baptism, whatever be the mode in which that ordinance is performed, and as well shown in one mode as another.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Buried with him in baptism, signified by the ceremony…
Buried with him in baptism, signified by the ceremony of immersion in baptism. See Romans vi. 3. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Translate, "Having been buried with Him in your baptism."…
Translate, "Having been buried with Him in your baptism." The past participle is here coincident in time with the preceding verb, "ye were (Greek) circumcised." Baptism is regarded as the burial of the old carnal life, to which the act of immersion symbolically corresponds; and in warm climates where immersion is safe, it is the mode most accordant with the significance of the ordinance; but the spirit of the ordinance is kept by affusion, where immersion would be inconvenient or dangerous; to insist on literal immersion in all cases would be mere legal ceremonialism (Rom 6:3-4).
are risen--rather as Greek, "were raised with Him."
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through the faith, &c.--by means of your faith in the operation of God; so "faith of," for "faith in" (Eph 3:12; Phi 3:9). Faith in God's mighty operation in raising again Jesus, is saving faith (Rom 4:24; Rom 10:9); and it is wrought in the soul by His same "mighty working" whereby He "raised Jesus from the dead" (Eph 1:19-20). BENGEL seems to me (not as ALFORD understands him) to express the latter sense, namely, "Through the faith which is a work of the operation of God who," &c. Eph 1:19-20 accords with this; the same mighty power of God is exercised in raising one spiritually dead to the life of faith, as was "wrought in Christ when God raised Him literally from the dead." However, "faith of" usually is "faith in" (Rom 3:22); but there is no grammatical impropriety in understanding it "the faith which is the effect of the operation of God" (Eph 2:8; Th1 2:13). As His literal resurrection is the ground of the power put forth in our spiritual resurrection now, so it is a pledge of our literal resurrection hereafter (Rom 8:11).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 12. Buried—Rather, having been buried, coincident in time with…
12. Buried—Rather, having been buried, coincident in time with the above, were circumcised and the were raised (as are risen should read) below. This death to sin as a controlling power, the burial which consummated it, and the resurrection which followed, were ideally in connexion with their baptism, when they openly professed a renunciation of sin, and promised to lead a new life. Really, the mighty transformation had its efficiency in their union with Christ, their baptism attesting their identification with his death, burial, and resurrection.
Risen—By faith in the same mighty power which raised Christ from the dead. Where the resurrection is holiness and faith is its instrument, what must the burial be? Only he who is prepared to affirm the power of faith to lift one from submersion in water can say that the burial is immersion. To infer it from this passage is to make the apostle’s argument against ritualism supply a new yoke for Christian necks. See also notes on Rom_6:1-4.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 12. buried with him] Cp. Rom_6:4; the only parallel.—Union…
12. buried with him] Cp. Rom_6:4; the only parallel.—Union with Christ is primarily union with Him as the Dead and Buried, because His Death (consummated as it were and sealed in His Burial) is the procuring cause of all our blessings in Him, as it is our Propitiation and Peace. The Christian, joined to Him, shares as it were the atoning Death and the covering, swallowing, Grave of his blessed Representative; he goes to the depths of that awful process with and in his Lord.
in baptism] The form of the Greek word (baptismos not baptisma in the best reading) perhaps emphasizes the action rather than the abstract institution; it recalls the decisive “Rubicon” which his sacramental Washing was to the convert. See Lightfoot here.
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The immersion of the baptized (the primeval and ideal form of rite, but not invariable as a literal action; see Teaching of the Apostles (cent. 1), ch. 7) is undoubtedly here in view. The plunge beneath the water signified identification with the buried Lord, and sealed it to faith. Lightfoot quotes from the Apostolic Constitutions (a book heretical in doctrine but valuable as a witness to usages; cent. 3) the words (Col_3:17), “the plunge is our dying with Him, the coming up, our rising with Him.”
It must be said again (see above on Col_2:11) that, in the ultimate reality, not the Sacrament but faith in God’s promises joins us to the Lord in His death. But the Sacrament so seals the faith that the terms appropriate to faith attach to the Sacrament, naturally though secondarily. Cp. Gal_3:26-27, in the significant connexion of the verses. And see Beveridge on Artt. xxv., xxvii.; and Lombard, quoted in Appendix K.
ye are risen with him] Better, ye rose with Him.—The state to which baptism was your sacramental admittance is a state of union with Christ as the Risen One; fellowship in His supreme Acceptance and in His possession of the full wealth of the Spirit as our Mediator and Surety. Baptism seals to faith all our possessions in the now glorified Redeemer.
through the faith of &c.] Better, through your faith in the working (energeia) of God. Observe the reference to faith in connexion with the Sacrament; and see next note.
who hath raised him] Better, who raised Him. Cp. 1Pe_1:18-21 (especially 21) for a close and instructive parallel.—Faith rests upon God as He is viewed specially as the Raiser of the Lord from the dead, because in that character we see Him as reconciled and as actively gracious to us. See further Heb_13:20-21.
K. PETER LOMBARD ON BAPTISM. (Col_2:12.)
Peter Lombard (ob. a.d. 1160), known among medieval theologians as “the Master of the Sentences” (Magister Sententiarum), or simply, “the Master,” writes as follows in his Treatise on Theology called Sententiœ (Lib. iv., Distinctio iv., §§ 3–7):
It is asked, how is that text to be received, As many of you as have been baptized in Christ have put on Christ.… In two manners are we said to put on Christ; by the taking of the Sacrament, or by the reception of the Thing (Res). So Augustine: ‘Men put on Christ sometimes so far as the reception of the Sacrament, sometimes so far as the sanctification of the life; and the first may be common to the good and the evil; the latter is peculiar to the good and pious.’ So all who are baptized in Christ’s name put on Christ either in the sense of (secundum) the reception of the Sacrament, or in that of sanctification of the life.
“Others there are … who receive the Thing and not the Sacrament … Not only does martyrdom (passio) do the work of baptism but also faith and contrition, where necessity excludes the Sacrament …
“Whether is greater, faith or water? Without doubt I answer, faith. Now if the lesser can sanctify, cannot the greater, even faith? of which Christ said, ‘He that believeth in me, even if he were dead, he shall live’ … [Augustine says,] ‘If any man having faith and love desires to be baptized, and cannot so be, because necessity intervenes, the kindness of the Almighty supplies what was lacking to the Sacrament … The duty which could not be done is not reckoned against him by God, who hath not tied (alligavit) His power to the Sacraments …’
“The question is often asked, regarding those who, already sanctified by the Spirit, come with faith and love to baptism, what benefit baptism confers upon them? For it seems to give them nothing, since through faith and contrition their sins are already forgiven and they are justified. To which it may be truly replied that they are indeed … justified, i.e. purged from the stain (macula) of sin, and absolved from the debt of the eternal punishment, but that they are still held by the bond of the temporal satisfaction by which penitents are bound in the Church. Now when they receive Baptism they are both cleansed of any sins they have contracted since conversion, and are absolved from the external satisfaction; and assisting grace and all virtues are increased in them; so that the man may then truly be called new … Baptism confers much benefit even on the man already justified by faith; for, coming to it, he is now carried, like the branch by the dove, into the ark. He was within the ark already in the judgment of God; he is now within it in that of the Church also …
“Marvel not that the Thing sometimes goes before the Sacrament, since sometimes it follows even long after; as in those who come insincerely (ficté). Baptism will begin to profit them (only) when they afterwards repent.”
These remarks of a great representative of Scholastic Theology are interesting in themselves, and are instructive also as a caution, from the history of doctrine, against overstrained inferences from the mere wording of, e.g. Col_2:12, as if it were unfaithful to history to interpret such language in the light of facts and experience. The great risk of such overstrained exposition is that it tends to exalt the Sacrament at the expense of adequate views of the Grace, and so to invert the scale and relation of Scripture.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (12) Buried with him in baptism . . .—It…
(12) Buried with him in baptism . . .—It is very interesting to compare this passage with Rom_6:4, “Therefore we are buried with Him in baptism unto death, that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” In the former clause both are identical. In the latter clause this Epistle is stronger. What in the earlier Epistle is the “likeness of His Resurrection” is here the participation of it, “Ye are risen with Him.” Similarly, instead of the simple allusion to “Christ’s being raised from the dead,” we have here “through faith in the operation of God, who raised Him from the dead.” Here, as in the more detailed passage of the Ephesian Epistle (Col_1:19-23; Col_2:5-7), the “operation,” the energy of “the mighty power of God,” is conceived as actually working both in the Head and in the Body, so that wo through it partake of the resurrection, the ascension, and the glorified majesty of Christ. The comparison shows an instructive development in this Epistle of the consequences of the unity with Christ.
This passage is also notable for the obvious contrast of baptism, as a spiritual reality, with circumcision as a symbolic form. Each is the entrance into a covenant with God; but the one into a covenant of “the letter,” and the other into a covenant of “the spirit.” (See the contrast between the covenants drawn out in 2Co_3:6-18; Heb_8:6; Heb_9:28.) In the earlier Epistles circumcision is contrasted with spiritual regeneration (Gal_6:15), as shown by various signs, such as “faith working by love” (Rom_4:9-12; Gal_5:6), or “keeping the commandments of God” (1Co_7:19). Here this contrast is still as strong as ever; but baptism being (as always) looked upon as the means of such spiritual regeneration, is brought out emphatically as “the circumcision of the Spirit.” As baptised into Christ, “we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit” (Php_3:3).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain When ye were (literally, having been) buried with him…
When ye were (literally, having been) buried with him in your baptism (ver. 20; Col_3:3; Rom_6:1-11; Gal_3:26, Gal_3:27; Eph_4:5 Eph_5:26; Tit_3:5; 1Pe_3:21) Baptismov, the rarer form of the word, is preferred by Tregelles, Alford, Lightfoot (see his note), being found in Codex B, with other good authorities; it indicates the process ("in your baptizing"). Baptisma, the usual form of the word, is retained by Revisers, after Tischendorf, Ellicott, Westcott and Herr. Baptism stands for the entire change of the man which it symbolizes and seals (Rom_6:3-5; Gal_3:27) The double aspect of this change was indicated by the twofold movement taking place in immersion, the usual form of primitive baptism first the katadusiv, the descent of the baptized person beneath the symbolic waters, figuring his death with Christ as a separation from sin and the evil past (ver. 20), there for a moment he is buried, and burial is death made complete and final; (Rom_6:2-4) then the ajnadusiv, the emerging from the baptismal wave, which gave baptism the positive side of its significance. In which (or, whom) also ye were raised with (him), through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. (Col_3:1 Col_1:18; Eph_2:6, Eph_2:8; Rom_6:4 Rom_4:24; 1Pe_1:21) We refer the relative pronoun to the immediately antecedent "baptism," although the previous ejn w= refers to "Christ" (ver. 11: comp. Eph_2:6) and some good interpreters follow the rendering "in whom." For the Christian"s being raised with Christ is not contrasted with his circumcision (ver. 11) that figure has been dismissed but with his burial in baptism (ver. 12 a); so Alford, Ellicott, Lightfoot, Revisers. "Having been buried" is replaced in the antithesis by the more assertive "ye were raised". (comp. vers. 13, 14; Col_1:22, Col_1:26) "With" points to the "him" (Christ) of the previous clause (Eph_2:6; Rom_6:6) Faith is the instrumental cause of that which baptism sets forth, (comp. Gal_3:26, Gal_3:27) and has for its object (not its cause: so Bengel) "the working" (ejnergeia: see Col_1:29; also Eph_1:20 Eph_3:20) "of God." And the special Divine work on which it rests is "the resurrection of Christ" (Rom_4:24, 25 10:9; 1Co_15:13-17) comp. note on "Firstborn out of the dead". (Col_1:19) Rising from the baptismal waters, the Christian convert declares the faith of his heart in that supreme act of God, which attests and makes sure all that he has bestowed upon us in his Son (Col_1:12-14: comp. Rom_1:4; also 1Pe_1:21; Act_2:36 Act_13:33, Act_13:38, etc.) Baptism symbolizes all that circumcision did, and more. It expresses more fully than the older sacrament our parting with the life of sin; and also that of which circumcision knew nothing the union of the man with the dying and risen Christ, which makes him "dead unto sin, and alive unto God." How needless, then, even if it were legitimate, for a Christian to return to this superseded rite! To heighten his readers" sense of the reality and completeness of the change which as baptized (i.e. believing) Christians they bad undergone, he describes it now more directly as matter of personal experience.
The import of Christian baptism.
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Circumcision has passed away, something has come in its place in Christian times. The two ordinances of circumcision and baptism have a correlative significance. "Having been buried with him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
I THE IMPORT AND DESIGN OF BAPTISM. It solemnly attests that fellowship with Christ in his death and resurrection on which all personal interest in the blessings of his salvation depends. "Baptism is the grave of the old man and the birth of the new." The whole process of spiritual renovation the death of the corruption of nature and the rise to newness of life is practically represented and sealed in baptism. We are identified with Christ:
1. In his death. "Buried with him in baptism" unto death. Our baptism unites us to him, so that we died with him. We are "planted in the likeness of death;" but here the apostle asserts a participation in his death.
2. In his burial. After "he died for our sins according to the Scriptures", (1Co_15:3) "he descended into the lower parts of the earth". (Eph_4:9) So "we are buried with him," shut off from the kingdom of Satan, as the dead in their graves are shut off from the living world; and thus we have with him severed our connection with the old world of sin.
3. In his resurrection. For "we rose with him," that we might henceforth "walk in newness of life." We must share in his death, that we may share in his life. Justification is in order to sanctification. Union with Christ in the one carries with it participation in the other.
II THE INSTRUMENT THROUGH WHICH WE ENJOY THE BLESSINGS SIGNIFIED IN BAPTISM. "Through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead." This shows how the outward is based on the inward, and how it derives from it whatever vitality it possesses. Faith appropriates the act of God"s mighty power in Christ when he raised him from the dead, as an act that imparts its virtue to all who in faith realize it. The physical power in raising Christ is the guarantee and assurance of the spiritual power which is exerted in us in regeneration, Faith is necessary to the effect of baptism as it is to salvation. "If thou believest in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved". (Rom_10:9) It is by faith we obtain the benefits of the spiritual resurrection and come to "know the power of his resurrection." The grace is received through faith. In New Testament times faith preceded baptism a proof that baptism is not regeneration. The earliest cases were naturally those of adult baptism, in which there was a profession of faith in Christ.
III THE PLEDGE OF THE SPIRITUAL RESURRECTION. "The working of God, who raised him from the dead." This power to us is made possible and actual by his resurrection; for "in that he liveth, he liveth unto God." His resurrection involves both our bodily and our spiritual resurrection. T. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 12. Buried with him in baptism. See notes on…
12. Buried with him in baptism. See notes on Rom. 6:4. Paul teaches that we must re-enact the tragedy of the cross: The agony of the garden, the complete submission to the divine will, confession of Christ, crucifixion (Gal. 2:20; Rom. 6:5), death (Rom. 6:3), burial (Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12), rising with Christ (Rom. 6:5; Col. 2:12; 3:1); nay, we must ascend and reign with him (Eph. 2:4–6). Let it be noted that “the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh” (verse 11) is associated with baptism (verse 13). Wherein ye were also raised with him (Revision). We are raised from the burial as he was raised from the grave, and we rise to a new life through faith, etc.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:12 you were buried with Christ when you were…
2:12 you were buried with Christ when you were baptized: As in a roughly parallel passage (Rom 6:3-6), Paul assumes a strong identity between believers and Christ. In God’s sight, we really were with Christ when he was buried and raised, so we experience the benefits of what Christ did for us. Paul can link that identification with Christ to baptism because water baptism was so closely related to conversion in the early church.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.