So it's not just the water baptism - it's the lifestyle. It's the difference between: living a life where you live in sin and self-centredness, doing your own thing; and a life where the spirit of God is in you, and you're starting to live by the power of the Holy Ghost, and the life of God; the resurrection life shining through you, changing you, giving you victory, giving you power in your life.
In verse 5 it says: “knowing this, if we've been united with Him in the likeness of His death, so shall we be in His resurrection. Knowing this, our old man was crucified with Him...” - now that's not your father there. Your old man is your old nature – “...was crucified with Him - that the body of sin might be done away with; no longer slaves to sin, for he who has died is now free from sin. So if we died with Christ, we believe we shall live with Him”. Verse 11 - now reckon yourselves (now here's the key of baptism) – “reckon yourself: I'm dead to sin, it has no power”.
Now let me just give it to you in just a few simple things. The first thing is: our old nature that caused us continually to sin, had no help of reforming and changing. When Jesus Christ died, when you put your trust in Him, His death was your death. When you trust in Him, the spiritual reality is this: that the power of sin in your life has been broken. Not only when He died, you also legally died with Him. Now if you're legally dead, the devil's got nothing to accuse you with. You can't accuse a dead man of anything.
If a person's got a problem with alcohol and cigarettes and all that kind of stuff, and they continually can't get over it; but if they're dead, you can put a bottle in front of them, they're not going to touch it. Why won't they touch it? They're dead. There's nothing in there alive anymore that goes for those things, so what he's saying is this: that when Christ died on the cross, if you put your trust in Christ, then God considers a legal reality that you died then. You literally died. Your old nature, it's power's completely broken, and was taken to the cross and died with you.
The only thing you could do with a person who's dead is bury them, so you bury them underground. So not only were you crucified with Christ; when He was buried, we were buried with Him; and what happened then, the power of God raised Him up to live with resurrection life.
So these are the realities now, that you are free from the power of sin; so how do you get free from the power of sin? Well here's the thing most people try and do: they just try harder; and when you try hard, you're always condemned.
When I got water baptised, I was declaring to spirit powers: the old Mike Connell died. It's right and fitting today we bury him, and he's out of your sight legally. A new person has risen up, who is joined to Jesus Christ; the spirit of God is in him, he's part of a body of people, and the resurrection life of Christ is in him. He will live to advance the kingdom of God, and destroy the works of the devil! Sin - I'm dead to sin.
If you will take the position you're dead to sin, then the reality is: sin doesn't have its power any more over you. So the teaching of baptism is: sin’s power is broken, you are free - you're a free man. After the Second World War, the war was over, and it was declared that the Japanese had been defeated, but there were still many people in a prison camp. They were in a prison camp, because they didn't know the truth; and when they did find the truth, they were still too scared to actually do what they needed to do: just to stand up and take over the camp and walk out. Many people today live like a prisoner in a prisoner of war camp. Already the battle has been won at Calvary. Already God has established a spirit reality: that you are free from the powers of darkness, you are free from the power of sin; but if you don't wrap yourself in your heart, and embrace that foundational truth, you'll live like you're in a prisoner of war camp - still bound by old sins and old ways.