1 Corinthians 15:29-58
29 Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? 30 And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? 31 I die every day—I mean that, brothers—just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,
"Let us eat and drink,for tomorrow we die.”
33 Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." 34 Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.
35 But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.
50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true:
"Death has been swallowed up in victory."
55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
~ 29 Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?
What does that mean for us today?
In the 4th century, the Catholic church outlawed baptism for the dead by proxy. It can be
used to be offensive to non-christians believers. There are numerous interpretations on baptism for the dead mentioned in this passage. The explanation I understand the best about this passage is one explained to me years ago; it’s also the explanation the articles I researched, on early Christian baptism for the dead, uphold as the most feasible. When Christ was raised into His Kingdom, the faithful were resurrected by the power of His Holy Spirit. Paul and the early Christians were witnesses to many amazing miracles and phenomenal conversions, these people were the first generation to realize salvation comes from Jesus Christ. Some of these people would have had children, parents and loved ones who died before Jesus was known to them.
It would have brought comfort to the faithful to bring Jesus to their loved ones, feeling they had
given them the most important gift of all. How is that important for us today? Last year on
September 23, 2008 our daughter Isabelle was born at 33 weeks and she was stillborn. It was
so comforting to be part of bringing Isabelle to Jesus. Of course, Jesus would reach out to tiny baby Isabelle without us or if baptism had not been possible. But this is the comfort of baptism
Paul speaks of; not baptism of strangers, not strange dark ritual, not condemnation baptism, but
the joy and comfort of knowing the promises of The Almighty, Most Magnificent come to the tiniest and most frail of us all. This is a beautiful passage full of love!
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
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