1 Corinthians 15:29 - Baptized for the Dead?

INTRODUCTION

Let’s open our Bibles together this morning to the 15th chapter of the book of 1 Corinthians.

I will read verses 20-34 for us to consider this morning.

[READ 1 CORINTHIANS 15:20-34]

In looking specifically at the statement in verse 29 as part of our “Difficult Passages” series, I think we will all find today that this passage is not at all difficult.

It is one of those passages that some have MADE difficult by people who would rather twist truth than understand it.

The verse in question is:

1 Corinthians 15:29 “Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?”

So this morning, I would like to begin by exploring what baptism is, including what it has been understood to be from the beginning of the church.

And once that foundation has been set, we can quickly and clearly look at the meaning of this passage.

I will say at this point that I will try to be thorough on this, so you may want to take notes (or go online and download mine) for further study.

BAPTISM IS THE INITIATION

Baptism, as most of you probably know, is one of the two ordinances of the church, also known as sacraments.

The other ordinance is the Lord’s Supper.

We call them “ordinances” because they were “ordained” by Jesus Christ during His time of ministry as recorded in the gospels.

That means for each of these ordinances, we have both the example of Jesus and the specific command of Jesus to continue to practice them.

The Lord’s Supper is found in all four of the gospels, occurring on the night He was betrayed.

And we see it practiced in the churches in Acts and in the Corinthian letters.

Baptism, also, is found by example at the beginning of each of the gospels, where Jesus is baptized by John in the Jordan River.

Matthew 3:13 “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.”

We find His practice of baptism throughout the gospels, and then at the end of Matthew we have His command:

Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

These ordinances are also called “sacraments”, and I think that’s a valuable term as well.

To be a “sacrament” is to have an activity “set apart”, made sacred, and that describes both of these holy activities.

At its root, the activity in the Lord’s Supper is eating and drinking.

But when we practice it in the context of the church, as part of our worship of God, in obedience to His example and command, it becomes set apart; it is a holy time.

It is a holy activity.

It’s not about the meal; it’s about the fellowship and communion with the Spirit of Christ in the practice.

Baptism, likewise, is being immersed in water, head to foot.

The water isn’t special;

Nor is being immersed in water.

This happens when we swim or bathe, and those are not baptism.

Baptism happens when we gather as a church to witness and practice this “holy immersion”.

And it has, from the beginning of the church, been understood to be such.

Neither of these ordinances is given to be practiced outside the proper and regular administration by the church as part of worship.

I know some years ago, there were very errant people who taught that the Lord’s Supper was a family ordinance;

So they taught that at family meals the father should preside over the ordinance.

That is not holy; that is just dinner.

It is a mockery of the holiness of the ordinance, taking the sacrament given by God in vain.

Similarly, I know that some campus ministries practice baptism and the Lord’s Supper outside the local church.

And it is just as wrong.

It cheapens the sacrament into a hollow ritual as odious to God as the Roman Catholic mass.

Apart from the church, dunking someone and calling it baptism is nothing more than a mockery of the holy institution our Lord has given.

Because baptism is the initiation of a believer into the church of Jesus Christ.

It is the first step a believer takes in identifying with Jesus Christ and His church, His people.

We see it in the account of the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8:26ff

When Philip helped the eunuch to understand the gospel he was reading in the scroll of Isaiah, the prophet.

We see in Acts 8:36 “And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?””

You may be wondering, “Where is the church in this?”

Philip baptized the eunuch, and there wasn’t a worship service going on.

Yes, that is true;

But sometimes God shows us these things simply because they happened, not because that is the normal way they should happen.

But Philip, you will recall, was one of the seven set apart by the church to care for the needs of the church.

So he is commissioned by this infant church, and is conducting these baptisms under their authority.

He had already been to Samaria, doing pretty much the same thing, as we are told earlier in the chapter.

And an angel of God had sent him to the Gaza road to meet the eunuch.

It is very likely that missionaries in the field may baptize believers into the church before a local congregation is established.

But the missionary is acting on behalf of the church that sent them out.

I remind you that Paul and Barnabas and Silas were sent out from the local church in Antioch.

Baptism, is properly done once:

When a person repents and believes in Jesus Christ, the next step is baptism.

There is no need for someone who was a believer when they were baptized to ever seek baptism again;

Unless there was something improper about their baptism.

If they were baptized by a false church, like the Roman, or Eastern Orthodox, or the Mormon church - or something like that.

Or if their baptism was conducted outside the confines of a church at all, like being baptized privately.

I might as well go ahead and say it here:

There is no point ANYWHERE in Scripture where baptism was practiced on ANYONE except believers.

We practice the biblical example of baptism - that of believers only.

I would remind you of Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

Notice the order there:

Make disciples - then baptize.

We baptize disciples.

We see in Acts 10:44–48, Peter has been led by the Holy Spirit Caesarea, where a centurion named Cornelius had been told to send for him.

He preached the gospel to all who had gathered in his home, and then we are told:

“While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.”

There is no doubt left here for us, or for Simon Peter, that the people who were baptized were believers.

They were speaking in tongues and showing other gifts of the Spirit - that’s pretty good evidence they are believers.

We don’t see that today, but then we don’t really see that much after this in Scripture either.

The Holy Spirit came upon these new believers SO THAT Simon Peter could testify in the Jerusalem council to what he saw.

Because it wasn’t until then that the question of whether Christians must also be Jewish was settled:

And it was settled because the Holy Spirit, in the ministries of Simon Peter and Paul, had given His evidence that Gentiles were saved as well.

And so the Gentiles were baptized into the church.

We don’t look for those miraculous signs today because the matter is settled in the clear teaching of Scripture.

Baptism is the entrance into the global community of the church in heaven and on earth for all who believe.

We see that quite clearly in Paul’s epistle to the Colossians:

Colossians 2:11–14 “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”

Here we see that just like circumcision was the sign of the entrance of a person into the people of God under the old covenant,

Baptism is the sign of the entrance of a person into the people of God under the new covenant.

But we, and our brothers and sisters who sprinkle babies with water and call it baptism, need to be careful to understand what Paul is saying here.

Some read this and think “baptism equals circumcision”...

But does it really say that?

No, it says that circumcision was a shadow of the fulness of baptism.

In circumcision, part of the flesh of part of God’s people was removed.

Only the foreskin, and only of the males.

But the “circumcision of Christ”, which is “having been buried with Him in baptism”, is the putting off of the flesh entirely for ALL God’s people.

Old covenant circumcision was a shadow, a promise, of the fulness that came with baptism in the name of Jesus Christ.

Those who sprinkle babies, known generally as paedobaptists, use this picture of circumcision unironically.

But we should remember that the RULES of circumcision are not carried forward, but the MEANING of circumcision is -

It is the entrance to the people of God.

Not simply to a mixture of believers and unbelievers,

But an entrance to the fully-realized people of God.

Those who have been “made alive”, who have been “forgiven”, whose debt to God has been “completely cancelled”.

BAPTISM IS THE PICTURE

That brings us to the second thing we see in Colossians:

The picture of baptism.

What are we supposed to learn about the gospel through baptism?

Baptism is the picture of the death of the old person and the rising of the new in Christ.

having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

We see the same description in Romans 6:3–4 “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

This details for us the MODE of proper baptism:

A believer must be immersed.

Buried in the water, and then raised from it to new life.

Peter also says the same thing, points to the same picture:

1 Peter 3:18–22 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, ... Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.”

Baptism shows the death of the flesh and the living of the Spirit of Christ in us.

Don’t get caught up on the statement here “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you,”

Because Peter makes it very clear it isn’t the water or the ritual that saves, but it is the repentance and faith that appeals to God for a clean heart, a good conscience, through Jesus Christ.

BAPTISM IS NO CAUSE TO DIVIDE OVER

There may be some here who, when we come to the Lord’s Supper later in our worship, who might wonder if they are welcome at the Table?

After all, I do warn everyone that the Table of the Lord is here for those who are followers of Jesus, who have been baptized in His name, and who are not under discipline from another church.

So, if you are from a paedobaptist church and have only received the sprinkling as an infant, are you welcome at this table?

You are welcome to the Table, so long as you are a follower of Jesus Christ and are not under discipline from another congregation.

There are many good and godly men and women who have been taught a long time, and who are firmly convinced, that infants of believers ought to be sprinkled.

But in every other way that matters, they believe and follow our Lord.

If that describes you, you are welcome to the Table when we come.

Likewise, Arminian believers are welcome to the Table, even though our doctrine here is quite different.

We do not require perfect adherence in all doctrinal points to come to the Table.

These things, while very important, are secondary issues, things that should not divide us from other believers at the Table.

We practice a closer discipline for those who wish to join us as members of this church.

Everyone who joins is expected to have been baptized as believers.

While I will gladly fellowship with well-meaning and genuine brothers who might disagree with the Scripture on these topics through alternate interpretations,

I do feel compassion for the deficient baptism many of my friends have received.

What does sprinkling of an infant show of the death and resurrection to new life?

How does it proclaim anything more than the circumcision of Jewish infants did under the Law?

How does it demonstrate God’s grace and His gracious salvation of those who believe?

And how does it declare our hope for the final resurrection in the Last Day?

BAPTISM EXPRESSES OUR HOPE OF THE RESURRECTION

Because baptism is the declaration of the hope we now have for the final resurrection to come on the Last Day.

I read from Romans 6 earlier; I would like to go further into verses 5-11:

Romans 6:5–11 “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 in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

For Paul, indeed for Peter as well, proper baptism expresses a hope for the final resurrection of our bodies on the Last Day.

Even the command of Jesus in Matthew 28:20 anticipates that glorious Day:

“teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

Baptism looks forward to the end of the age.

And that is where we come to understand the difficult verse in our passage today.

If you don’t remember, it is 1 Corinthians 15:29 “Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?”

Knowing what we do about baptism, we know for certain it is not talking about some ritual, like the Mormon cult has, to get someone to heaven after they are dead.

That is patently ridiculous.

But what we do find is that the entire chapter this verse is in, as we read this morning in our New Testament reading, is not really about baptism, but about the resurrection of believers on the Last Day.

He began this argument in 1 Corinthians 15:12–14 “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.”

He says it again in 1 Corinthians 15:16 “For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.”

So when he comes to verse 29, he is continuing this hypothetical argument:

To the point that if you don’t believe in the resurrection, why are you even baptized?

The picture of baptism, remember, is death and resurrection.

So if the dead are not raised, what were you baptized for?

That is simply what that difficult verse means:

Why would people who had no hope of resurrection be baptized for a dead man (Jesus)?

Because if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

The fact that he puts it into a rhetorical plural to make it general shouldn’t confuse us.

Because he follows it immediately with a question that proves he is talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

1 Corinthians 15:30 “Why are we in danger every hour?”

Why indeed?

They are in danger every hour because he DOES believe and hope in the resurrection.

Because he HAS been baptized into Christ - into His death and into His resurrection.

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”