How is it possible for God to place us in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection?
It is possible because God, in His omnipotence and omniscience, works in the invisible realm. When Christ died, God saw every one of us on the cross in Christ, crucified with Him, buried in His tomb, and resurrected with Him to new life. This placement is God's doing, not water baptism.
Les explains that the baptism in view is not into a denomination or church but into Jesus Christ. If a person has been placed in Christ, that placement required identification with His death. Les illustrates it by saying that when Christ died, God saw every one of us on the cross in the person of Christ; He died in our place, and God saw us crucified, which is what Galatians 2 means by “I have been crucified with Christ.” Just as God saw us on the cross, He saw us in the tomb, buried with Him—not by water, but by God’s determination. Since He paid the sin debt for all, and for those who believe and appropriate it, God says we are dead, crucified, and buried with Him. Then we have also been resurrected with Him to a new life, totally different people by the power of His resurrection. Les says this is a God thing: in His omnipotence, power, omniscience, and ability to work in the invisible realm, God has placed us in all these places.
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
More Questions
What does it mean that we were buried and raised with Christ?
Believers know that when Christ died He died for us, when He was buried we were buried with Him, and when He arose we also were resurrected to a newness of life.
What does it mean to be engulfed in Christ's three-day tomb experience?
The baptism of Romans 6:4 means that believers were engulfed in Christ's three-day tomb experience, and in that experience they themselves died.