The Apostle Paul teaches this explicitly in Romans 6:3-11:
“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore, we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin… So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
In Orthodox theology, baptism is not merely a symbol or a public declaration — it is a real, mystical participation in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. The “Old Man” (ὁ παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος — the old self, corrupted by sin and the fallen nature inherited from Adam) is put to death and buried in the baptismal waters. The triple immersion (standard in Orthodox practice) dramatically enacts this: going down into the water three times signifies dying and being buried with Christ, while rising up signifies being raised to new life in Him.
This is why the baptismal service itself includes prayers that speak of “the putting away of the old man” and “being planted in the likeness of Your death through Baptism” so that the newly baptized “may become a sharer of Your Resurrection” (as found in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese service texts and echoed across Orthodox jurisdictions).
The catechumenate — the period of preparation and instruction before baptism — can indeed be seen as a kind of “preparation for one’s funeral.” You’re being prepared to die to the old life of sin, the world, and the passions, so that the new birth in Christ can take place. In the ancient Church, this preparation was often lengthy (sometimes years), involving teaching, exorcisms, and renunciation of the old ways — all oriented toward that decisive moment of burial and resurrection in the font.
It’s a beautiful paradox of the faith: the day of your baptism is both your funeral and your birthday. The old Adam dies so that the new Adam (Christ) might live in you. This is the foundation for the entire Christian life afterward — striving, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, to live out what has already been accomplished mystically in baptism: “reckon yourselves dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Your phrasing captures this patristic insight very well — it’s a reminder that Orthodox baptism is nothing less than death to death and birth into eternal life. Glory to God for this great Mystery!
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