| |
SUBJECT: Baptism for the Dead -- 1 Corinthians 15:29
QUESTION: What is “baptism for the dead”? Please explain 1
Corinthians 15:29
ANSWER:
Thank you for your question concerning "baptism for the
dead."
The practice of being baptized for those who have died is
based upon a wrong understanding of I Corinthians 15:29.
That verse reads:
1 Corinthians 15:29
Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if
the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the
dead?
The inspired New Testament Church did not follow this
practice, and the apostle Paul did not teach it. This custom
was introduced into the professing Christian world about
A.D. 150 by Marcion, a man who created his own religion and
established his own church in Rome in A.D. 144.
The Bible clearly shows that before a person may be
baptized, he must first repent (Acts 2:38) and believe (Mark
16:16; Acts 16:31, 33). The dead are not able to repent or
believe, because "the dead know not any thing" (Eccl. 9:5).
Baptism is for the living. Baptism is a symbol whereby the
living acknowledge their sins, figuratively die with Christ
in a watery grave, and rise out of that watery grave to live
a new (righteous) life through Jesus Christ and the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 6:4; 8:9; Gal. 2:20).
Baptism is also a symbol of the resurrection. To rise up out
of the watery grave is to acknowledge belief in the
resurrection of the dead (Rom. 6). To surrender one's life
to Christ now, to crucify the self now, to be baptized --
all this is foolish unless there is a resurrection of the
dead. If there were no hope of the resurrection, life could
be summed up this way: "Let us eat and drink; for to morrow
we die." Please compare I Corinthians 15:32.
I Corinthians 15:29 now becomes clear. The subject of the
entire 15th chapter is the RESURRECTION. Paul cites the
example of those who were baptized as one proof of the
resurrection. Their actions symbolized their hope that they
would live again. The resurrection is THE HOPE OF THE DEAD.
"Why were they baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not?"
seems to be Paul's question in the King James Version. But,
this verse is not correctly translated from the original
inspired Greek.
Paul is not talking about being baptized "in the place of"
the dead, or "on behalf of" the dead, or "for" the dead. The
Greek word translated "for" is HUPER. This word has several
meanings and can be translated "above," "over," "instead
of," "for the realization of," or "for the hope of,"
depending upon the context in which it is used. Notice the
following example.
Paul declared, "For it is God which worketh in you both to
will and to do of his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13). The Greek
word translated "of" in this verse is HUPER, the same word
used in I Corinthians 15:29. In Philippians 2:13, HUPER
cannot mean "instead of." It would be senseless to say, "For
it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do
INSTEAD OF His good pleasure"! Correctly translated, this
verse says, "God worketh in you both to will and to do FOR
THE REALIZATION OF His good pleasure." This is the
translation given in "The Analytical Greek Lexicon". What is
God's "good pleasure"? "It is your Father's good pleasure to
give you the kingdom," declared Jesus (Luke 12:32). God
works in us "in the hope of" giving us His Kingdom!
Thus, the Greek word HUPER in I Corinthians 15:29, according
to the context, should be translated "for the hope of."
Notice the verse again: "Else what shall they do which are
baptized for the hope of the dead, if the dead rise not at
all? why are they then baptized for the hope of the dead?.
What is the hope of the dead? It is the resurrection! Paul
is writing about baptism; baptism illustrates the hope of
the resurrection. Baptism -- arising out of a watery grave
-- is a symbol of the hope of the dead, which is the hope of
the resurrection. This verse, then, has nothing to do with
the false doctrine of baptism on behalf of the unbaptized
dead.
back to the top |
|
|