Paul used language and pictures that most everyone in his day would have understood. Some of his imagery might seem strange to us but it wasn't at the time he was writing.
Baptism in Paul's day was a little different from what it commonly is today.
Baptism in the early church was by total immersion and that practice lends itself to symbolism to which sprinkling does not. When a person descended into the water and the water closed over his head, it was like being buried. When he emerged from the water, it was like rising from the grave. Baptism was symbolically dying and rising again. The person died to the old life of sin and rose to new life of God's grace.
Baptism was an intimate confession of faith that would dramatically change the persons life. This decision would affect their family relationships and that often meant literally beginning life all over again.
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