“Baptized into Righteousness”

Article for January 11, 2026

Matthew 3:15b–17 15b “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” 16And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

We are celebrating the baptism of Jesus Christ who did not commit the original sin nor any sin.  Baptism we know is the cleansing of original sin.  And original sin is not eating the forbidden fruit but disobeying our God’s commands.  Adam and Eve disobeyed God as God told Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of all good and evil.  The fruit in itself was not the sin, though after eating the fruit one would know all sin.

Why is Jesus wanting to be baptized knowing Himself to be without sin.  Jesus actually tells us why John should baptize Him.  Jesus says to John the Baptist, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”  Jesus was stepping into being like us not that He would sin but that He will obey the Father and whatever the Father commands us He too will be subject too.

What better leader than one who will also follow their own commands and demands.  Jesus was this a God/man and leader/follower.  Jesus came not to just live with us but to live as we live.  You might say Jesus came to experience our pain and our joy.  Something a lot of politicians should learn.  Something all pastors should learn.  Something we all should learn.  To help someone is not to step into their sin but to understand why their sin exists in them.  There is always a tell, though not all tells are rightly visible.

Romans 6:3–4 3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We 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.

Let us talk about being baptized into righteousness as this was fulfilled through Christ’s baptism.  Paul states that when we are baptized, we are baptized in the death of Jesus Christ.  This death that Jesus endured could not hold Him because He is the glory of the Father.  Rather Jesus Christ is righteousness, and death can only feed on sin.  Jesus had no sin and death had no grip on Jesus.

We are prisoners of sin without Jesus because we are not righteous on our own.  Jesus is righteous on His own and we share in His righteousness as we are clothed by His righteousness.  We are baptized into the righteousness of Christ Jesus and therefore as He suffered death and was resurrected, we to will suffer death and be resurrected.  But our resurrection is covered in and through the righteousness of our savior Jesus Christ.

Romans 6:5–6 5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

Our slavery to sin continues in this wretched life we live today.  We still have a sinful nature and that sinful nature brings us to death.  Without Jesus in us we do not stand a chance, but with Jesus in us we too can share in a resurrection like Jesus Christ’s.  We labor each day against our sin, and some days seem harder than other days. 

But as Paul says, “fight the good fight” and I say always.  Jesus Crucified is our body of sinfulness crucified as well.  Though our life here is not free of sin our new life will indeed be free of sin.  We will not even know sin!

Romans 6:7–9 7For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.

Jesus did not have to free Himself of sin, so He freed us from sins demands by defeating death and sin’s power over us.  When we die, that is, those who believe in Christ Jesus, we will no longer sin.  This is not because we are dead, but because we are alive in Christ.  This is not a metaphor but a reality yet to experience.

As Christ will never die again then we when we die will never die again.  Again, this is not a metaphor but a living truth.  It might seem weird to say but because of Jesus Christ death will die, that is death will cease to exist.  And death being gone can never have dominion over anything or anyone anymore.

Romans 6:10–11 10For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Knowing Jesus suffered and died for our sins so that we might be saved should give everyone true hope that His forgiveness saves us to eternal life with Him.  Jesus is the glory of God and we being clothed in the righteousness of God can share in the Glory of God Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, Amen.

Written by Pastor Curtis A. May