| Baptised for the Dead? |
by David A. DePra |
| And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the |
| Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under |
| Him, that God may be all in all. Else what shall they do which |
| are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why then |
| are they baptized for the dead? And why stand we in jeopardy |
| every hour? I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ |
| Jesus our Lord: I die daily. (I Cor. 15:27-31) |
| This passage of scripture can seem difficult to understand, |
| mostly due to the phrase "baptized for the dead." What can God |
| possibly mean by that phrase? What does it mean to be |
| "baptized for the dead?" |
| Down through the centuries, there have been many answers |
| offered. One church uses this passage to verify their belief in |
| the existance of purguatory. They say that this passage proves |
| that there are souls who continue to need our help after they |
| have died. Our "baptism for the dead" supposedly helps them |
| get out of purguatory. Another church teaches members to |
| actually undergo a water baptism for dead people. They |
| believe that God honors "baptism by proxy" in such cases. |
| They claim He actually endows the dead with the benefits of our |
| baptism for them. And then there are those who say that Paul |
| was referring to an early Christian ritual which was a carry-over |
| from paganism. They ignore the fact that Paul, rather than |
| protest this "baptism for the dead," speaks of it as an expected |
| thing -- something which is part of the Christian experience. |
| So what does Paul mean when he says that Christians are |
| "baptized for the dead?" He did write of it as a regular part of |
| the Christian experience. What was he talking about? |
| The meaning becomes clear when we recognize the context |
| of the passage, and then add to it several other passages |
| where Paul writes about the same thing. Notice the main topic |
| of I Corinthians 15: Death and resurrection in Christ. Indeed, in |
| the verses immediately preceeding the passage quoted above, |
| Paul describes a progressive resurrection; an "order" of |
| resurrection which is going to occur: |
| For as in Adam all die, even so, in Christ all shall be made alive. |
| But every man in his own order: Christ, the first fruits; afterward |
| they that are Christ's at His coming; then comes the end (or as |
| in some translations, "the remainder"), when He shall have |
| delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when He |
| shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He |
| must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last |
| enemy that shall be destroyed is death. (I Cor. 15:22-26) |
| One group which Paul includes in his decription are "they |
| that are Christ's at His coming." These are, of course, those |
| who are in the Body of Christ. Sometimes Paul calls these |
| individuals by another name: "The dead in Christ." Those who |
| die in Christ are always spoken of as being raised in Him, first |
| spiritually, but then physically at this great resurrection. |
| But then Pauls asks a question. He asks, "Else what shall |
| they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at |
| all? Why then are they baptized for the dead? And why stand |
| we in jeopardy every hour? I protest by your rejoicing which I |
| have in Christ Jesus our Lord: I die daily!" Clearly, Paul is |
| making a direct connection between those who are "baptised |
| for the dead" and those who are "dead in Christ," and awaiting |
| resurrection. In fact, He is clearing identifying the "dead in |
| Christ" as those for whom the living are being "baptized." Yes. |
| Those who undergo this "baptism for the dead" are doing so on |
| behalf of those who are "dead in Jesus Christ." |
| Paul takes pains to emphasize this Truth. He continues, "If |
| the dead in Christ aren't raised, why would there be a baptism |
| for the dead?" In other words, this "baptism for the dead" would |
| not be necessary if the dead in Christ weren't raised. It would |
| accomplish nothing. But the dead ARE raised. It is for that |
| reason that we must undergo this "baptism for the dead." |
| So what is this baptism Paul is talking about? He tells us. He |
| says, "And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? I protest by |
| your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord: I die daily." |
| Paul's "baptism for the dead" is not a physical water baptism. |
| No. It is a spiritual baptism. Paul is talking here about a death |
| he experiences on a daily basis, through trials, suffering, and |
| spiritual warfare. It is a personal death to everything he is, so |
| that there may come forth a resurrection to the glory of God -- |
| a resurrection which benefits the greater Body of Christ. |
| Paul is talking here about what it really means to be a |
| bondslave of Christ, and to God's people. So often when we |
| talk about serving others, we limit it to the temporal realm. But |
| while those things are necessary and good, and should not be |
| left undone, there is a servitude which is much greater than |
| that. It is accomplished only by dying; by laying one's life down |
| for the Master, and for the brethren. It is accomplished only by |
| bearing the personal Cross which God lays upon us. |
| This, according to the apostle Paul, is what it means to be |
| "baptised for the dead." Through my submission to the hand of |
| God I die a continual death, which, in turn, results in the life of |
| Jesus Christ being made manifest, not only in me, but also in |
| the Body of Christ. Through the death and resurrection of one |
| member of the Body, all of the other members benefit. This is |
| not only true right now, to the living members of the Body, but it |
| is infinitely more true for those who are "dead in Christ," |
| awaiting resurrection. |
| Paul is here describing a facet of the Christian experience |
| which has not often been taught in Christian churches. He is |
| alluding to the fact that God has been calling and preparing the |
| Body of Christ for two thousand years. As God has built this |
| Body out of individual members, there have accrued to it the |
| various attributes of Christ Himself. Each member brings to the |
| Body a particular emphasis, along with similarities. Only when |
| God is satisfied that His Body is equipped with all He intends, |
| will the process be finished. Only then will Christ be able to say |
| with finality, "A Body Thou has prepared for Me." |
| Do we realize what this really means? It means that I will |
| have deaths I must die which have only a secondary bearing on |
| myself. The primarily bearing will be upon the greater Body of |
| Christ. God will, on occassion, require that I pass through a |
| fiery trial, and be "baptized into death," not just for my personal |
| growth and freedom, but rather for the sake of those who |
| comprise the rest of the Body. I will need to "die daily" so that |
| through the resurrection there will be life manifested all through |
| the Body of Christ. |
| So often when we face trials we put the emphasis upon US. |
| We think about what WE are getting out of it, or perhaps |
| moreso, we dwell upon what we are LOSING through it. From |
| God's perspective, however, the issue may be what we are |
| GIVING through it to His Body. It may be that through our faith |
| in a trial God is adding something eternal, not only to us, but to |
| every other member of the Body of Christ who ever lived. |
| This Truth is all through the Bible. Notice Paul's clear |
| reference to it in his second letter to the Corinthians: |
| We are troubled on every side. Yet not distressed. We are cast |
| down, but not destroyed. Alway bearing about in the body the |
| dying of our Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus might be made |
| manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered |
| unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be |
| made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death works in us, |
| but life in you. (II Cor. 4:8-12) |
| Notice the two-fold effect described above: Death in US |
| -- unto life in US. But also death in US -- unto life in YOU. |
| This is always God's pattern. First, He deals with the individual. |
| The progressive death I die in Christ will result in His life being |
| made manifest in my personal being. But then there is the |
| effect this has on the Body of Christ. The death I die will result |
| in the life of Christ working in all. My death will result in a |
| resurrection that benefits everyone who has died in Christ over |
| the last two-thousand years. |
| This Truth explains some of the otherwise unexplainable |
| things which happen to Christians. There are times when we |
| face suffering and trials which seem to have no apparent benefit |
| to us. Perhaps we cannot understand what purpose our trial is |
| serving. This is, of course, a call for faith. We need to trust that |
| God knows what is best for us eternally. But there may be a |
| reason for our suffering far beyond our personal growth and |
| freedom. We may be undergoing a "baptism for the dead." God |
| may be giving us the priviledge of laying down our life for our |
| brethren, so that we might contribute a portion of the |
| resurrected life of Christ to all who have died in Him. |
| To grasp this requires a bit of an eternal perspective. This |
| age is NOT where God's primary purpose for His Body is being |
| fulfilled. No. This is the age in which God is building the Body |
| of Christ. The realization of God's purpose in the Body of Christ |
| will be in the next age, after the resurrection. Until then, we |
| CANNOT understand all that God is doing. Instead, we must fill |
| the gap between our understanding, and God's purpose, with |
| FAITH. |
| This Truth also reveals what it means to be a servant, or |
| bondslave of Jesus Christ. God's idea of servitude is quite |
| different from that of natural thinking. Natural thinking, governed |
| by human pride, tells us that to be a "leader" means to |
| exercise authority over people. So, If I'm a servant in the Body |
| of Christ, I might define that to mean that I have a certain right |
| to direct their lives. But Jesus said no. (Read Matthew |
| 20:25-28) According to Jesus, and the apostle Paul, the only |
| "authority" a leader has is that of a bondslave. This means that |
| if I want to be a leader I must lay down MY life for others, so that |
| through MY death, life might be ministered to them. |
| There is absolutely nothing glamourous about this kind of |
| servitude. It will put to death all spiritual ambition, pride, and |
| desire to gain the favor of men. It is a servitude which is |
| performed in a hidden arena; in places where no one can see |
| but the servant and his Master. And the fruit will never make me |
| feel superior to others -- not even superior because I think I |
| am equipped with greater "humility." No. This servitude is a |
| very real "baptism for the dead." It strikes at the heart and core |
| of what makes us tick, but will result in Jesus Christ being made |
| manifest -- first, in the life of the individual believer -- but |
| also in the collective life of the eternal Body of Christ. |
| God is building a Body. It consists of those who have been |
| redeemed by the Blood of Jesus Christ out of this world over |
| the last two-thousand years. Each member of that Body has a |
| personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. This is the |
| foundation of Christianity. But because of all of those personal |
| relationships, there is also a greater Body -- a living organism |
| for which God has an eternal purpose. And for the sake of that |
| Body, we are called to suffer. We are called to "fill up that which |
| is behind of the afflictions of Christ in our flesh for His Body's |
| sake, which is the church." (Col. 1:24) And when it is all |
| accomplished, the end will come. God will raise from the dead |
| all who have died in Christ and unite them with those who |
| remain, and take us all on into the eternal ages as the Bride of |
| His Son. |