Baptism
for the Dead??? 1 Cor. 15:29
1 Corinthians
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
When Paul comes to verse 29
what he is dealing with is apparently another reality in
Verse 29 begins with the
causal use of the conjunction epei
[e)
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
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
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
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.