-Paul now develops this metaphor of our body of flesh being circumcised, cut away and removed in Christ. He says coincident with this spiritual circumcision we were buried with Christ and raised up together with Him. Which obviously did not happen to any of us in real time in any physical sense. But Paul connects it to baptism, which of course is a physical rite, a symbol of burying the old fleshy man and my old life (which was dead to God to begin with) in the water and then coming up out of the water being raised up to a totally new life. And the question might be, is Paul talking about physical baptism subsequent to conversion or is he talking about a spiritual baptism which happens simultaneously at the time of conversion (1Corinthians 12.13)? The spiritual baptism is largely devoid of the symbolism, and yet if he is refering to physical baptism, what of those believers who have not yet been baptised? Has their body of flesh not yet been buried?
-It is possible that Paul is making the assumption that every believer in Christ has been water baptized (cf Acts 2.41, 8.13, 8.36, 9.18, 10.44-48). However in the end we do not tie any of the monumental spiritual changes which take place in the life of those who trust in Christ to any physical ritual. Whatever work God does in the heart and life of a believer, includng this removal of the old and making all things new (2Corinthians 5.17), is as a result of that person putting their faith and trust in Christ, in the work God did in raising Christ up out of the dead. That is the true miracle, the wonderful impossible which raises the ceiling as high as it needs to go - there is nothing now that needs to happen in my life that the God Who raised Jesus out of the dead cannot do. Sky's the limit. Cutting away my fleshy old nature, burying that in Christ, raising me up together with Him in newness of life with a new heart - this is not too difficult for Him.
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