Lessons #553 and 554

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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +

+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +

+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +

+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +

+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +

+ NAB=New American Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +

+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +

+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +

+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +

+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +

+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +

+ 4. Text is based on 1984 edition of the NIV +

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Further implications of denial of resurrection (1 Cor 15:29-34)

²⁹Now 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? ³⁰And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? ³¹I die every day—I mean that, brothers—just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. ³²If 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.” ³³Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” ³⁴Come 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.

Apostle Paul in this section of 1 Corinthians 15:29-34 is still concerned with the implications of rejection of the concept of resurrection. The section involves four questions that could be understood as conveying four negative assertions. This being the case, the message the apostle wanted to communicate to the Corinthians is simply that Some activities associated with Christian faith are unnecessary and no need to be concerned about deception and sinful life if there is no resurrection. We apply this message to the Corinthians to us by casting the message as involving responsibility we have that is derived from this passage in a more positive manner since no one could be a Christian that does not believe in resurrection of the dead. Therefore, the message we believe the Holy Spirit wants us to convey to you from this section is that Your belief in resurrection should cause you to face difficulties associated with the Christian faith and to be mindful of doctrinal deception that would lead to sinful conduct. This message will become clearer as we examine the implications of rejection of the concept of resurrection as the apostle discoursed in the section that we are about to study.

It is our assertion that this section of 1 Corinthians 15:29-34 is still concerned with further implications of rejection of the concept of resurrection. We mean that it is proper to consider this section as resuming with the implications of rejection of the concept of resurrection because of the arguments the apostle presented in the section we are about to consider. You see, there is a sense that we can say that the section of 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 that was concerned with resurrection related matters was indeed a digression from the implications of denial of resurrection the apostle considered in 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. For immediately following verse 19, the apostle confirmed Christ’s resurrection in verse 20. However, he then went to deal with causal agents of death and resurrection in verses 21 and 22 and spent considering space dealing with resurrection order and events that would end human history in verses 23 through 28. The apostle specifically ended with the sentence of verse 28 that reads When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. It is difficult to see how the thought expressed in this sentence could be linked to verse 29. However, it is easier to see that what is stated in verse 29 can be linked to verse 19 that reads If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. This being the case, it is more logical to see that the apostle digressed from his discourse on the implications of denial of resurrection, to resurrection related matters but as he concluded the digression, he returned to the subject of implications of denial of resurrection he discoursed in verses 12 to 19, beginning with verse 29. The connection between our present section and 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 may be noted by the conditional clauses the apostle used in the two sections. In verse 13, the apostle used the conditional clause If there is no resurrection of the dead. In verse 16 the apostle states if the dead are not raised. Compare this to the conditional clauses the apostle used in 1 Corinthians 15:29-34. In verse 29, the apostle writes If the dead are not raised at all. In verse 32, he writes If the dead are not raised. Thus, it is not difficult to see that the apostle’s arguments given in the section of 1 Corinthians 15:29-34 are concerned with similar subject matter as that of 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. Therefore, we are confident the apostle was continuing the implications of denial of resurrection that he started beginning with verse 12 after his digression to deal with resurrection related matters and events that would conclude human history as it relates especially to the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

That the apostle resumed his discourse on the implications of denial of resurrection is conveyed in the very first word Now in verse 29 of the NIV. The meaning of the word “now” of the NIV is not clear since the word “now” as an adverb may mean “at the present time” or it is used to draw attention to something or to introduce a question. Nonetheless, the word “now” in the NIV is translated from a Greek conjunction (epei) that may be used as a marker of time at which something occurs and so may mean “when, after” as it is used to introduce what happened after the Lord Jesus finished His sermon to the people before He entered Capernaum as recorded in Luke 7:1:

When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum.

The conjunction may have the meaning “now” to indicate a transition in thought as it is used in the NIV in describing what the Jews wanted done regarding the body of Jesus because the day after His death was to be a special Sabbath as we read in John 19:31:

Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down.

Most of our English versions translated the word “then” in this verse although the Revised Edition of the NAB translated it with the word “now” as in the NIV while a handful did not translate it. The Greek conjunction may be used as a marker of cause or reason in which case it has the meaning “because, since, for” as Apostle Paul used the word to provide reason for his boast as we may gather from 2 Corinthians 11:18:

Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast.

The word could also mean “otherwise” as it is used in Apostle Paul’s reason for instructing those in mixed marriages in the sense that both spouses were unbelievers when they got married but one of them afterwards got saved, to strive not to divorce for the sake of the position their children would be placed if they divorced as we read in 1 Corinthians 7:14:

For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

In our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:29, the standard Greek English lexicon (BDAG) suggests that it is used as a marker of cause and because it is used with a question has the sense of “for otherwise” or “otherwise” as reflected in many of our English versions that may be understood as “if not.” This meaning assumes that the apostle was being elliptical so that the word “resurrection” should be added as in the NIV, based on the question that involves resurrection. This notwithstanding, it seems to me that the meaning of the Greek word in verse 29 should be “now” to reflect transition from the discourse of 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 that concerned resurrection related matters, especially the last events that conclude human history to the issue of the implications of rejecting the doctrine of resurrection. In effect, the meaning “now” shows not only a transition from the discourse of verses 20 to 28 to the subject matter of the implication of rejection of the doctrine of resurrection but a return to the argument given in verses 12 to 19 as we have already indicated.

Be that as it may, there are three further major implications of denial of resurrection the apostle gave in the section of 1 Corinthians 15:29-34. Let me give these three further implications here to enable you to know where we are going and, later, we will work out the details involved as we proceed in our exposition of the section under consideration. The first further implication of denying the doctrine of resurrection is that some activities or practices related to Christian faith become unnecessary. These activities are detailed in verses 29 to 32. The second is that there is no need to be concerned about deception if there is no resurrection as stated in verse 33. The third is that it is needless to avoid sinful conduct if there is no resurrection as given in verse 34. Now, you know where we are going, we begin with the first further implication.

The first further implication of denial of resurrection, as we have stated, is that some activities or practices related to Christian faith become unnecessary. There are four or five activities the apostle gave in the passage we are considering. A first activity is the practice of water baptism for the dead. This practice is derived from two related questions in verse 29. The first is what will those do who are baptized for the dead? The second is why are people baptized for them? Before we get to the problem of understanding what the apostle stated in the two related questions, we need to consider four Greek words the apostle used.

The first word we need to consider is the word “do” that appears trivial. But it is not, when we consider the various ways the Greek phrase that is translated in the NIV what will those do is translated in the English versions. The TEV rendered the Greek phrase as “what about,” the NLT reads “what point is there,” the Revised Edition of the NAB translates “what will people accomplish” and the NJB reads “what are people up to.” So, you get the point that it is not trivial to consider the word “do” as used in the NIV. The word “do” is translated from a Greek word (poieō) that may mean “to gain” as it is used to indicate that Jesus Christ was winning more disciples than John the Baptist as we read in John 4:1

The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John.

The word may mean “to carry out” as it pertains to an obligation as it is used by Apostle Paul to describe what the Lord will do based on his free quotation from an OT passage (Isaiah 10:22-23) as stated in Romans 9:28:

For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”

The word may mean “to do” in the sense of undertaking or doing something as it is used in the description of the battle that takes place inside of the believer between the Holy Spirit and the sinful nature, as stated in Galatians 5:17:

For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

The word may mean “to treat” as in the instruction given to slave masters, or employers in modern terms, how they should deal with their slaves or employees in Ephesians 6:9:

And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

The word may mean “to act” as Apostle Paul used it to describe his behavior towards believers prior to his conversion as stated in 1 Timothy 1:13:

Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.

In our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:29, the word probably means “to gain.” So that the question of the apostle that we will consider shortly is concerned with benefit that will come to those described in our verse as involved in baptism for the dead as in the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 15:29 baptized for the dead.

The second word “baptized” is translated from a Greek word (baptizō) that has several meanings. The word may mean “to wash, purify” in a ceremonial manner so that something is purified. It is in this sense that the word is used to express the surprise of a Pharisee when Jesus did not wash His hands before meal as reported in Luke 11:38:

But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised.

The word may refer to the use of water in a religious ceremony for purpose of renewing or establishing a relationship with God so means “to plunge, dip, wash, baptize.” Thus, it was used in this sense of the dedicatory cleansing associated with the ministry of John the Baptist, as recorded in John 3:23:

Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized.

It is in this sense that the word is used in the Christian ritual of initiation into the community of believers after Jesus’ death and resurrection, as for example, in Acts 8:12:

But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

The Greek word may mean “to baptize, to plunge” in the sense of causing someone to have an extraordinary experience. It is in this sense that the word is used by Jesus Christ to describe His death on the cross that He would experience, as stated in Luke 12:50:

But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!

The sentence I have a baptism to undergo of the NIV is more literally I have a baptism to be baptized which is an idiom that means to be overwhelmed by some difficult experience or ordeal. Thus, “baptize” may mean “to experience something extraordinary” which in this passage in Luke refers to the death of Christ on the cross. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:29, some contend that the meaning of the word should be taken in a figurative sense that means “to suffer” or “to die” but it is better to take the meaning of the Greek word in the sense of “to be baptized,” that is to be or become momentarily immersed in water as a Christian initiatory rite after the death of Christ. This later interpretation is one that fits better the interpretation of what we believe the apostle had in mind in the question that we are considering.

The third word in the question what will those do who are baptized for the dead? is the word “for” that is an important word in the interpretation of what the apostle meant in the question in view. The word “for” is translated from a Greek preposition (hyper) with several meanings. The word may mean “for the sake of someone or something” or “for, in behalf of” to mark that an activity is or event is for someone’s interest as the word is used by Apostle Paul to describe a wish that conveyed his agony for his people of Israel’s salvation in Romans 9:3:

For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race.

The word may mean “because of” as Apostle Paul used it in his argument regarding food sacrificed to idols in 1 Corinthians 10:30:

If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?

The Greek preposition may be used as “marker of general content, whether of a discourse or mental activity,” hence means “about, concerning” as the word is used by Apostle Paul to convey to the Corinthians that he had boasted to the Macedonians concerning their eagerness to contribute for the benefit of believers in Judea as recorded in 2 Corinthians 9:2:

For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give; and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action.

The word may mean “in place of, instead of, in the name of” as that is the sense in which our Greek preposition is used in Apostle Paul’s letter to Philemon to indicate that Onesimus substituted for Philemon in rendering help to the apostle as we read in Philemon 13:

I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel.

The clause so that he could take your place in helping me may alternatively be translated as reflected in the NET so that he could serve me in your place. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:29, the word is used with the meaning “because of” although this meaning is debated by scholars as will become evident in the various interpretations of what the apostle meant in the question we are considering, specifically with the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 15:29 baptized for the dead.

The fourth word in the question what will those do who are baptized for the dead? is the word “dead” that is translated from a Greek word (nekros) that literally pertains to being in a state of loss of life and so means “lifeless, dead.” It is in the literal sense that the word is used to describe a person whose life has left the individual’s body so that we say that the person is dead. However, the adjective is used figuratively to describe a person who is morally or spiritually deficient so that the person is said to be dead. It is in the sense of being morally deficient that the word is used to describe the wayward or prodigal son in Luke 15:24:

For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

In a figurative sense, the word may mean “unfaithfulness” or “inactive” in spiritual matters, as it is used to describe the local church in Sardis in Revelation 3:1:

“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

Believers in Sardis are dead in the sense of being unfaithful to the Lord. Of course, there is the implication that the local church was dead in the sense of being hypocritical in that its members gave an impression of spiritual vitality that was not true. The word can also mean one that is without spiritual life, as evident in the person being annoyingly insensitive to spiritual things. It is this kind of person that Jesus described in Luke 9:60:

Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

In this passage of Luke 9:60, the word “dead” appears twice. In the first usage, it refers to those who are spiritually dead and in the second it refers to those who died physically. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:29, some contend that the meaning is “spiritual death” but it is better to understand the word to mean “dead” in the sense of people not physically alive. This meaning, again, fits better the context and the interpretation of what the apostle wrote in the questions that we are considering.

We have considered important words that are necessary to understand what the apostle meant in the two related rhetorical questions what will those do who are baptized for the dead? and why are people baptized for them? However, because what is involved in the consideration of the related questions, it is necessary to examine the words used in the conditional clause the apostle used to set up his questions which is given in 1 Corinthians 15:29 If the dead are not raised at all. The conditional clause is certainly concerned with resurrection because of the word “raised.”

The word “raised” is translated from a Greek word (egeirō) with a range of meanings. The word may mean “to wake from sleep” as it is used to describe what the disciples of the Lord Jesus did when He was asleep and there was violent storm during a boat ride of the disciples with the Lord as we read in Matthew 8:25:

The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

The word may mean “to raise up from sickness,” that is, to restore to health as in the promise of healing through prayer of faith given in James 5:15:

And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

The word may mean “to cause to return to life” after death hence means “to raise up.” The raising up to life is of two kinds. A person who died but is caused to return to life, that is, resuscitation, might still die at a later time as was the case with Lazarus that Jesus Christ raised from the dead as referenced in the record of John 12:17:

Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word.

The other kind of being caused to return to life involves a state where death could no longer occur or be experienced by the one raised up from the dead. It is this kind of returning to life after death that is best described with the word “to resurrect” that is applicable to Jesus Christ. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:29, the word means “to resurrect,” that is, to enter into a state of life as a result of being raised without the possibility of any further physical death.

The apostle, of course, was emphatic as he stated the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:29 If the dead are not raised at all. This is because of the phrase at all is translated from a Greek word (holōs) that may mean “completely” as it is used by Apostle Paul to describe what has happened to believers that take fellow believers to court as we read in 1 Corinthians 6:7:

The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?

The word may mean “actually, in fact” as the word is used by Apostle Paul to describe report concerning sexual immorality in the local church of Corinth in 1 Corinthians 5:1:

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.

The word may mean “at all” as it is used in reporting the teaching of the Lord Jesus regarding swearing in Matthew 5:34:

But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne.

In our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:29, the Greek word has the meaning of “at all” as a marker of highest degree on a scale of extent. With our consideration of this last Greek word, we are now ready to examine what the apostle meant in the two related questions what will those do who are baptized for the dead? and why are people baptized for them? But before we continue with the interpretation of what the apostle meant, there are two questions we need to answer. The first is: who are those that are baptized? The second is: who are the dead?

The expression those … who are baptized is literally the ones being baptized. The Greek used a present participle that implies the action of baptizing is repeated at various intervals. This interpretation suggests that those who are baptized are individuals who get saved at different times and so they are baptized sometimes after their salvation. Thus, those who are baptized are new converts to the Christian faith. This brings us to the second question of those who are the dead the apostle had in mind.

The word “dead” in the Greek has a definite article and because of our interpretation that those baptized are new converts, the dead here refers to a class of all the dead. The class the apostle had in mind is that of believers in contrast to unbelievers. Therefore, we contend that the dead the apostle had in mind are believers as a class of those who have died that are expected to have better resurrection and the ones whose resurrection is expected next since Christ is the firstfruits of those who would experience resurrection as the apostle had already indicated in 1 Corinthians 15:20:

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

The apostle in the context of this fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians is concerned with resurrection of believers as implied in 1 Corinthians 15:23:

But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.

This being the case, we are on safer ground in stating that the dead in verse 29 refers to the class of dead believers. In the context, the apostle was probably thinking of believers in Corinth that have died since his epistle was directed to the Corinthians.

Anyway, the major issue in the interpretation of what the apostle meant in the two questions of 1 Corinthians 15:29 is how to understand the verbal phrase baptized for the dead. To begin with, we have to honestly admit that it is impossible for us to be absolutely certain of what the apostle meant. This is because we have a limited knowledge of the practice the apostle meant here but the practice was certainly well known by the original recipients of this epistle. In other words, those the apostle wrote knew what he was writing and so he did not see any need to elaborate on what he meant. Because of our limited knowledge of what the apostle meant, there have been several interpretations of what the apostle meant. We will consider the more popular interpretations that scholars advance as summarized by John D. Reaume.¹ I will for the most part summarize this article in this study.

A first interpretation is that verbal phrase baptized for the dead refers to substitutionary water baptism that a living person undertakes for the benefit of the unbaptized dead individual that was a believer but for whatever reason was not baptized before the person died. Nonetheless, some of those who hold this view of substitutionary water baptism take the position that the dead refers to unbelievers, so they view water baptism undertaken by living believers as being necessary for the salvation of the dead unbelievers on whose account such baptism was undertaken. Although the proponents of this view indicate that it is supported by a plane reading of the text but there are several problems with this view of taking baptism as substitutionary for a dead believer or for the salvation of an unbeliever as Reaume has identified. First, there is no passage in the NT where the practice of substituting one person’s baptism to another is mentioned. If anything, baptism has a personal dimension to it since an individual is required to identify self personally with Christ in obedience to His command in Matthew 28:18–20:

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Second, Apostle Paul nowhere teaches that baptism leads to salvation. If he had such a view, he would not have had a view that indicates he was not called to baptize but to preach the gospel message as he stated in 1 Corinthians 1:17:

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

When the apostle was directly asked about what it takes to be saved, he never mentioned water baptism but unequivocally declared it is through faith in Jesus Christ as we read in Acts 16:30–31:

³⁰ He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹ They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

It was after the Philippian Jailer responded to the gospel message and so was saved, then he was baptized as stated in Acts 16:32–33:

³² Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. ³³ At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized.

Of course, in his epistles, the apostle conveyed clearly that salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ as we have, for example, in Ephesians 2:8–9:

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.

Third, the practice of substitutionary water baptism was unknown in the first century. The practice first appeared in the second century and even then, it was only among heretics probably as a misapplication of this passage of 1 Corinthians 15:29.

A second interpretation is that the verbal phrase baptized for the dead refers to martyrdom. According to this interpretation, baptism refers to bloody deaths that the Lord and the disciples were to suffer. The Christian in being baptized for the dead would give his life in martyrdom to join the ranks of the dead. This view is supported by the fact that the Lord Jesus referred to His death on the cross as “baptism” in the passage we cited previously, that is, Luke 12:50:

But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!

There are three arguments that Reaume gave to counter this interpretation. First, there is no evidence of persecutions or martyrdoms in the church at Corinth at that time. Second, while Jesus used the Greek word (baptizō) in the metaphorical sense of "suffering" or "martyrdom," Paul did not do so. Third, the meaning "for entering" involved in this interpretation as an interpretation of the Greek preposition (hyper) translated “for” in the NIV of 1 Corinthians 15:29, adopted by the proponent of this view, is without parallel in Greek literature.

A third interpretation is that the verbal phrase baptized for the dead refers to Christian baptism that is interpreted in several ways primarily in relationship to a dead believer. Let me give three of these interpretations that Reaume listed. First, the verbal phrase baptized for the dead is taken to mean that baptism of unbelievers takes place “because of dead believers.” In effect, that unbelievers decide to become Christians and be baptized because of the influence of a believer who had recently died. This interpretation is justified on the ground that the Greek preposition (hyper) translated “for” in the NIV of 1 Corinthians 15:29 may mean “because of” when a genitive is involved as in the verse we are considering. Second, it is argued that this interpretation fits the context with Apostle Paul returning to his former argument on the absurdity of denying the believers' resurrection, which he concluded with a specific discussion of the Christian dead. Against this view, as some have argued, is that if the apostle had meant "Christian dead" he would have clarified his intention when referring to "the dead" with more specific phrasing such as "dead friends" or "dead relatives." Furthermore, that the apostle usually used Greek preposition (hyper) in question with the sense of "on behalf of” when the object of the preposition is a person.

Second, the verbal phrase baptized for the dead is taken to mean that baptism of individuals who were converted occurred “to take the place of dead believers.” The major drawback of this view is stated to be that the notion of new believers coming in to replace believers who had died is not immediately evident in this context of the fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians.

Third, the verbal phrase baptized for the dead is taken to refer to the general baptism of all believers in which they are baptized "with reference to the resurrection of the dead." This interpretation is supported by the fact that Christian baptism has the symbolic sense of being united with Christ in His death and resurrection as described in Romans 6:3–5:

³ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. ⁵ If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.

Another support for this view is that the Greek preposition (hyper) used in 1 Corinthians 15:29 is used with meaning “with reference to” in other passages of the epistles of the apostle such as we find in 2 Corinthians 1:7:

And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

The sentence our hope for you is firm may be translated our hope with reference to you is unshaken as suggested in the standard Greek English Lexicon (BDAG). The same meaning of the Greek preposition as “with reference to” is suggested in its use in 2 Thessalonians 2:1:

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers.

Most of our English versions like the NIV used the word “concerning” in translating the Greek preposition in question but as we have stated the standard Greek English lexicon (BDAG) lists this passage of 2 Thessalonians as fitting the meaning “with reference to.” The major argument against this view is stated to be that “the implied ellipsis of "resurrection" in the phrase "baptized with reference to the resurrection of the dead" is too violent.”

We have examined some of the interpretations that scholars have given regarding the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 15:29 baptized for the dead. As we stated at the beginning of our consideration of the interpretation of the verbal phrase, it is difficult to be certain of what Apostle Paul meant although those he wrote the epistle to understood what he meant. Our difficulty in being certain about the interpretation of what the apostle meant is primarily because there is no other reference anywhere else in the NT of the practice the apostle alluded to in the verse we are considering. Furthermore, there is no example of such practice among the pagans that could give a hint to what the apostle had in mind. All the same, what we are cautioning is that we cannot be certain of the interpretation the apostle meant. This does not mean that there is no plausible interpretation but that the interpretation we give is not to be taken as something certain. Our interpretation is simply the best option of all the possible interpretations that can be given to the phrase we are considering. This being the case, we agree with those who interpret the phrase as meaning either the death of believers results in the conversion of survivors who are then baptized or that because of the influence of dead believers in terms of the lives and witness of such believers, unbelievers are converted and so are baptized. This interpretation makes the question of 1 Corinthians 15:29 why are people baptized for them? meaningful in the apostle’s argument in support of resurrection. In effect, the apostle would be saying that if there is no resurrection then it is needless for people to be converted because of dead believers who while they were living through their lives and witness influenced those who later got saved. The whole process of believing and being saved because of the influence of believers who have died would not make sense if there is no resurrection. There is nothing to be gained by such practice and so there is no need to go through the process of baptism because of the influence of departed believers. The point is that we are saying that the apostle probably meant for us to understand the phrase in question in the way we have interpreted it. Of course, the apostle’s argument in support of resurrection of the dead does not solely depend on the phrase we have examined. Therefore, being that certain of the interpretation is not crucial in the apostle’s argument in support of resurrection. Nonetheless, we should be clear that the phrase we have considered is not intended to espouse the doctrine of baptism for the dead that some practice. In any event, the first implication of denial of resurrection, as we have stated, is that some activities or practices related to Christian faith become unnecessary. The message we are considering is is that Your belief in resurrection should cause you to face difficulties associated with the Christian faith and to be mindful of doctrinal deception that would lead to sinful conduct.

09/08/23