Saul himself, now known as the apostle Paul, helps us understand grace and faith in his letter to the Romans. In Romans chapter 4, he rejects efforts to earn salvation by human works. In Romans chapter 5, he emphasizes Jesus’ death as the ultimate demonstration of God’s love.
God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life (Romans 5:8-10).
He also emphasizes Christ’s blood and resurrection. This sets the stage for our transformation.
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life (Romans 6:3-4).
Death. Burial. Resurrection. But wait… Jesus died near Jerusalem some two thousand years ago. How do we share in that Person and that Event? Whatever Paul is describing, he treats it as universal. “All of us”—all believers willing to follow Christ—share this experience. It is this essential choice that puts a new starting point on the map of our lives. We bring faith, however small, to this point of decision, and God enters the picture to make it possible for us to change, to be different, to live “in newness of life.” We are “baptized into Christ,” not as a statement of our own goodness, but as an admission that the person we have been should die and should be remade, even reborn.
Here, in Romans, Paul throws light on the cleansing of Acts 22:16, where he was told to be baptized and wash away his sins. Baptism takes place in water (John3:5,23; Acts 8:36-39; 10:47; 1 Peter 3:20-21). That is also where the believer is united with Christ, and enters the benefits of His death. Specifically, the blood of Jesus does the cleansing (Hebrews 9:14; Revelation 1:5). Through baptism, we share in the Person and Event of the Good News that saves us.