Baptism for the Dead??? 1 Cor. 15:29
1 Corinthians 15:29 NASB "Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?"
This is the first verse in a paragraph that extends down to verse 34. This is one of those verses that is notoriously difficult for seminary students and what pastors like to call problem passages. That is because the interpretation is difficult and it is probably the most debated passage in all of Scripture. It is likely that no one fully knows or truly knows or can dogmatically state what this passage means. Some think they can, but in another sense we can't because there are certain things referenced in this passage that probably had to do with something that was going on in Corinth in 60 AD that we don't know about. We are 2000 years away and there are some things that are missing and we can't speak of this passage with an extreme amount of dogmatism. However, there are certain things that we can say about this passage are which are significant for us to understand in relation to what Paul is saying. Remember we have to interpret any passage in the light of its context, both historical and its context in the Scripture, and this chapter is the most extensive chapter in the New Testament in defence of the doctrine of physical bodily resurrection. Paul has been laying out a very logical, tight case for the importance and the reality of a physical bodily resurrection.
When Paul comes to verse 29 what he is dealing with is apparently another reality in Corinth, that there were those (and we are not sure who "those" are). What we have in the verse is two rhetorical questions. It begins with a contrast, "otherwise," or we might say, "for" or "because," he is offering another reason why there can't be a consistent application or lifestyle based on this assumption that there is no resurrection from the dead because there are too many logical inconsistencies. What Paul is doing here is raising questions. What this does is point out the flaws in their position.
Verse 29 begins with the causal use of the conjunction epei [e)pei], so Paul here is offering another reason for baptism based on the inconsistencies of their own practices. "…what will those do who are baptized for the dead?" The word "do" is the Greek verb poieo [poiew], future active indicative, third person plural. It simply means to do, to make or to manufacture, and here it has the sense of what significance is it? In other words, if there is no resurrection of the dead why would they continue this practice? The very practice of being baptized for the dead presupposes some value in terms of resurrection. If it doesn't, what is its significance? The phase "who are baptized" is an articular participle. That means it is going to be used as a substantive, it is referring to a group of people, the subject of the clause. The passive voice indicates they received the action of baptism, the present tense indicates that it is contemporaneous with the action of the main verb, to do. Baptism signifies identification.
When we look at this word baptizo [baptizw] we have to ask the question: is Paul using it in the technical sense of the Christian act of baptism, believer's baptism? Secondly, is he using it in its more demerit sense of some sort of ritual washing. The word is used that way in some passages in the New Testament referring to ritual washings that took place under Old Testament law. Or could it be that it was just some sort of ritual washing going on related to resurrection or future life in Greek culture? We don't know; there is no historical information. We don't know of any group in Corinth, believers or unbelievers, who were practicing a baptism for the dead. We don't have any information we can go to. For that reason it is not thought to be as important to understand what the historical situation was as much as to understand the thrust of Paul's particular argument.
The confusion is brought out even more by the fact that what we have here in terms of the preposition "for the dead" is the Greek preposition huper [u(per] plus the genitive. This is the same preposition that we have when we talk about the fact that Christ died for you. In that construction it has the idea of substitution, but huper has other ideas. It can indicate a causal idea in the sense of on account of or because of. It can also have the idea of something that is over something. As we look at this passage it is interesting that there are over 200 interpretations that have been catalogued on this particular phrase. There are only two or three interpretations that have any real sense of validity. There is a wrong interpretation, though, of this passage, and that is any inference that this passage is talking about baptismal regeneration. Baptismal regeneration simply teaches that you have to be baptized in order to be regenerated. Believer's baptism is a sign or a symbol of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and what takes place in positional truth. The early church never understood that baptism was necessary in order to be saved. What under girds the false view is that this is somehow teaching baptismal regeneration and that in this passage it is talking about vicarious baptism. That concept is completely erroneous, so we can exclude a certain number of interpretations just based on what Scripture teaches.
First of all, nowhere in the Bible do we have a reference on behalf of the dead—vicarious baptism for the dead. Second, baptism for the salvation of the dead has no historical attestation in the early church. Third, if we are saved through baptism this is counter to everything that is taught in the Scripture. So if that is what Paul is affirming here then it contradicts everything else that he says in his writings.
"What will those do who are baptized for the dead?" There are three views that hold some validity. The first is that this is a baptism which is a witness to those who died before being baptized. In other words, you have someone who becomes a believer but they are never baptized. In the early church is was assumed or presumed that if you were a believer you were baptized. It was a means of teaching positional truth. In the early church they just presumed that a person would get baptized. But what happened if they became a believer and died before they were baptized? So in this interpretation there were people who would get baptized for those who had died so that they would give a public testimony to that person even though they had died before they could have their own testimony.
Another view is to take the word huper to mean over and above. In other words, what would those do who were baptized over and above the dead? This view states that in the early church there were those who were martyred before they were baptized, so it is similar to the other view. They would go out and get baptized over their grave as a witness. The problem is that in 60 AD there were no persecutions in the church yet, so there were no martyrs.
The third view is called the replacement view. It looks at the church like an army, and what happens is that there are some believers who die, you know they are going to be resurrected in heaven, the church needs to go on and continue its mission of witnessing and expansion, and so when there are certain believers die they are no longer in the active army so they need to be replaced with new converts. In this sense the word "baptism" represents everything involved in conversion from faith alone in Christ alone to ultimate immersion.
Another interpretation: "What will those do who are baptized on account of the dead?" There is a strong argument for taking huper as meaning "on account of" or "because of the dead." This view states that there is someone who has witnessed to us for years perhaps and now they die. When they die we realize that what they have said all along is true. That what they have said all along about the fact that Christ has died for our sins. So now, on account of or because of their witness and at the time of their death, we become a believer. We become baptized because of their witness, in effect, and because we want to be reunited with them in resurrection. And if there is no resurrection why in the world would we want to be baptized or even become a believer if there is no future resurrection? So this interprets the baptism for the dead as, Otherwise, what will they do if they got saved because of the witness of the dead person?
Another view is that these are people outside the church, that there is a group of non-Christians, that this is some pagan practice that was taking place in Corinth that had influenced practice in the church. We have seen that over and over again in Corinth where they have let pagan practices influence what they did in the church. So Paul is simply saying, Look there is a group out there which has influenced you to get baptized for the dead. Why do it if there is no resurrection?
Baptism
1) Definition: It is from the Greek word baptizo [baptizw] from the root bapto [baptw] meaning to dip, plunge, or to immerse. That is what it means. We have to separate the meaning from what it signifies. What happened in the early church was that somewhere along the line they quit immersing and they started sprinkling. That changed the meaning. Then there was the identification with the state and the church that went through the Middle Ages. By the time of the Reformation they had the state church going where entry into citizenship in the state was identical to become a member of the church. To become a member of the universal church there was infant baptism by sprinkling. That also made a person a citizen of the country. So if you challenged the validity of infant baptism you were challenging a political structure and it was viewed as treasonous. That is why there was such hostility during the Reformation to the people who were called Anabaptists [ana = again]. They said infant baptism was no testimony at all and you had to be baptized again, it was for believers only. It is a post-salvation ritual that is designed to teach the principle of positional truth. Its significance was identification.
2) There are three ritual baptisms which are all water baptisms. The first is the baptism of John the Baptist, Matthew 3:1-11,and this was a baptism involving repentance for the nation Israel because the kingdom of God was at hand. They were to change their mind about the Messiah. When Jesus came along and He was baptized by John, He wasn't baptized with John's baptism, because Jesus did not need to repent of anything, he was the Messiah, so the second ritual baptism is the baptism of Jesus, Matthew 3:13-17. The third ritual baptism is believer's baptism where the believer is immersed in water, and this is a sign of death, and when he is brought out of the water that is a sign of his resurrection to new life in Christ. It is a picture of the fact that at salvation the believer is identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.
3) But there are five real baptisms and they are all dry. The first is the baptism of Noah. 1 Peter 3:20 NASB "who once were disobedient [the angels], when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through {the} water." Water is involved but the people who got wet died. [21] "Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." We have to understand that word "corresponding." This is the Greek word antitupos [a)ntitupoj], and he is saying "Analogous to that." So what we have in the Old Testament is an identification with Noah's three sons and their wives, and they are all identified with Noah. They are saved, they are delivered through that judgment. So Peter says, analogous to that baptism now saves you. Two things in Scripture: a type, which is an example or shadow image, and what it represents, the antitype. The antitype, which is that word "corresponding to," the baptism that now saves you, is the baptism of the Holy Spirit where we are placed in union with Christ. So the type which is going to teach something, the shadow image, that teaches something about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, has to be Noah's ark. To have an antitype you have to have a type. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is an antitype of Noah. So the implication is that Noah's ark has to be a type of baptism. What we see there is that their identification with Noah brought about their salvation. Then to make sure we understand that it is not referring to water baptism Peter says: "not the removal of dirt from the flesh." Water baptism doesn't save us. "… but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." It is faith alone in Christ alone, not water baptism that saves. Then the second real baptism is the baptism of Moses, the third is the baptism of fire where all unbelievers who survive the Tribulation are judged, Matthew 3:11, 12. The fourth real baptism is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the fifth is the baptism of Christ's death.
There is one other passage that people go to to try to prove that you have to be baptized to be saved, and that is in Acts 2:38 NASB "Peter {said} to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." This is in Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost and in English it looks like you have to repent and be baptized. The key here is understanding the Greek. The first command, repent, is an aorist active imperative, second person plural—You all repent! The word "baptize" is an aorist passive imperative but it is a third person singular. The words "of you" is also plural. To put this together, what Peter is saying is to repent, and that was the message to change their mind about who Jesus was. Change your thinking about Jesus Christ, all of you. It is a command to everyone, a general offer of salvation. Then he says, "Each of you." Now he is individualising it: those who have repented, you need to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. It is a parenthesis. Then "the forgiveness of your sins" is plural, "and you will receive the Holy Spirit." So repent, your sins, and receive, is all plural; he is talking to the group. Then "each of you be baptized" is talking to those who have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. He is actually saying, "Repent for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and then let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ."
So in 1 Corinthians 15:29 Paul is not validating baptism for the dead, he is simply saying that you have a practice, whatever it was, and the fact that you do it is a presupposition that there is resurrection. Why even do that unless there is resurrection from the dead. So he is arguing from what they are practicing that they have an inherent belief in a future resurrection. Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the seal of God's approval of His death on the cross. His death on the cross provided the salvation for us when He died spiritually on the cross, that he paid the penalty for our sins so that we could have salvation by faith alone in Christ alone.