1 Cor. 15:29
Our text this month is a verse that has been the source of controversy almost from the time Paul wrote it! He speaks of being “baptized for the .” What does he mean? Were the Corinthians actually baptizing people on behalf of those who had already died? If so, what was the purpose in such a baptism? How would it benefit the one who had died? The problem many have with the verse is that they approach it from the viewpoint
of the above questions, when that is not at all what Paul was getting at. There
is at least one religious body of our day, the Mormons who practice a “baptism
for the ,” evidently thinking such a baptism by proxy for one who has died will
benefit him in some way. One scholar, Robertson, reports that over 30 different
views have been taken on this verse! Let us see if we can arrive at a conclusion
that is in harmony with Biblical teaching on the matter of baptism.
First, there is no record of any person being baptized on behalf of another in
the scriptures. Each man must stand or fall alone before God concerning whether
or not he has been baptized. Baptism is a personal matter, since it is “for the
remission of sins” (Acts
), and sin is a personal thing. One is not a sinner because he is the offspring
of a father who sins. It is true that a man may allow others to lead him into
sin, but in the final analysis, he is responsible himself.
Second, there is certainly no record of a person having one who is yet living
being baptized for him. One may say, “well, it appears to be the case in our text.”
Is it? Let us carefully consider what the apostle is saying. To properly understand
the passage we must keep in mind the subject of the chapter, that subject being
the resurrection from the . Without this, erroneous conclusions are arrived at.
Note the language – “baptized for the ” (emphasis mine, bm). The word “for” is huper andmay be translated “concerning, of, as respects, with regard to” (Thayer).
In order to maintain consistency with the general teaching of the Bible on baptism,
that must be the sense in which Paul uses it here. It seems that the Corinthians
were not doubting the fact that Christ had been raised from the . Paul, in this
very chapter preached that fact, and said they had received it and were standing
in it (v. 1). What they seemed to be questioning was a general resurrection of all men – not that of Christ.
And so the sense of Paul’s question in our text seems to be, “why are you being
baptized with regard to (with a view to) , if you do not believe the shall rise?”
The last part of the verse asks “why are they then baptized for the ?” The pronoun “they” must refer to
those who denied a coming resurrection. And yet they had been baptized, being
a part of the Corinthian church. So, Paul’s logical question then is: “Why be
baptized against, or with a view to if there is not going to be a resurrection?”
Some view vv. 20-28 as sort of a parenthesis. Paul has been arguing the fact
of a resurrection. He “sidetracked” somewhat in these verses, but now with the
verse of our text comes back to his argument for a resurrection.
We might put it this way: “If I did not believe there was going to be a resurrection,
why would I want to be baptized?” “The ” seems to refer to the fact of ; not persons.
Perhaps this now makes 31 different positions on the matter, but it seems to us
to be the proper one! - Bill Moseley
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