“Our being baptized into the death of Christ means our being dead to sin and having our corruptions mortified. He was put to death for sin. He was raised up to glory, so that we might be raised up to grace and newness of life. The death of Christ crucified our old man, that the body of sin might be destroyed. Our being crucified with Him does not refer to time, but causality. His death was meritoriously the cause of our victory. By His death He secured the Holy Spirit for us to mortify sin. From His death comes virtue for our crucifying of the flesh. He was our Representative and Example. We shall surely be crucified to sin, as He was for our sin. This is what Paul means. In death, Christ destroyed the works of the devil, and secured the Holy Spirit for us, ensuring the destruction of sin, as to its reign in believers, that it should not obtain its end or its dominion.”
- John Owen
