[EGW editor's preface:  One of our readers in the Brookings, SD area sent in the following question: “I have read in the Bible about people being baptized for the dead.  Please comment on what this means.  1st Cor.15:29???”  This passage in the New King James Version reads, “Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all?  Why then are they baptized for the dead?”  As with any question concerning what we read in the Bible, we must always strive to apply good hermeneutics and to let the Bible interpret itself.
     Jim Mettenbrink, preacher for the Brookings church of Christ in Brookings, SD, addresses here the meaning of this verse in light of its context.  I am addressing the meaning in light of other passages.  (For more tips on good Bible-reading skills, click the subjects Hermeneutics and Bible study)]

     Many people think the Corinthians were baptizing people for those who had already died.  However that does not consider the broader context.  This passage is part of Paul's response to the question “Is there really a resurrection after death?” (1 Cor 15:12).

     Paul says if there is no resurrection, why preach the gospel (1 Cor 15:1-4; 14).  The entire basis of the gospel and the claim of a resurrection is that Jesus rose from the dead.  He further states that if Jesus has not risen we are a pitiful people (1 Cor 15:16-19).  Why endure the persecution if there is only death and no resurrection (1 Cor 15:30, 32)?

     In verse 29 Paul is asking why be baptized for the remission of sins looking to the promise of resurrection to eternal life, if when you die that is the end of you.  He uses the word dead in the same way Jesus used it.  “Let the dead bury the dead” (Mt 8:22; Lk 9:60).  In that context Jesus was saying let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead.  Paul is saying why be baptized for the spiritually dead (to become spiritually alive) if the physically dead do not rise at all (1 Cor 15:29).  What purpose is baptism if when you die that is the end of you?     

     Many people have claimed this passage to mean Paul was either acknowledging or else teaching here that Christians could or should practice proxy baptism on behalf of the dead.  Among the denominations, the Mormon church is probably the best-known example of this practice.  Each year thousands of Mormons are baptized on behalf of their dead relatives and friends with the idea of allowing those who died in their sins the choice of changing their places of judgment from the Mormon versions of hell and purgatory over to heaven.  
     Does this interpretation agree with — is it in harmony with — what the rest of the Bible teaches about baptism and salvation?  Supposing we were dead suffering in hell and someone performed his proxy baptisms on our behalf, why would we even consider turning down salvation being overwhelming convinced by then of its value?  If we can help save dead people through proxy baptisms, why couldn’t we go one step further and save other living people with proxy baptisms?  Living or dead, would they then be saved against their will?  And if God would save people against their will, why bother with personal baptism or proxy baptism?
     Of these questions, the first is the most important because truth does not contradict truth and we look to the Bible for the truth.  Therefore, a basic technique of good Bible study is to use plain passages to explain not-so-plain passages.  Likewise, we must avoid using these not-so-clear passages as an excuse to ignore or even disobey clear passages.  Can we say this particular interpretation is in harmony with what the rest of the Bible, especially the New Testament, teaches about baptism and salvation?   If it is, fine.  If it is not, then we must continue looking for another answer.  So what are some plain, simple, clear passages about baptism, salvation, freedom of choice, and heaven and hell?

     John’s opening remarks about Christ in his gospel account indicate that God allows people a freedom of choice either to receive or to refuse salvation through Christ.  In chapter one, verse twelve, we read, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”  Plain and simple. People have a choice to make. Those who accept Christ are given the privilege of being a child of God (i.e. salvation) and their acceptance is tied to their belief in the name of Christ.
     In those days, and even today, the “name of ” a person or office was a reference to that person’s or office’s authority. “Open up in the name of the law.”  “I greet you in the name of the President of the United States.”  We know those statements have to do with authority.  Likewise, from the verse above, we know that our belief in the authority of Christ is a condition of our personal acceptance of Christ.
     “This is the work of God,” Jesus tells us in John 6:29, “that you believe in Him whom He sent.”  Plainly if we refuse to accept the authority of Jesus, we are disobeying one of God’s commands … one of God’s laws.  Lawlessness, according to 1 John 3:4, is sin.
     “For if you do not believe that I am He,” Jesus discusses later in John 8:23 about accepting Him as the Christ, “you will die in your sins.”  Isaiah 59:1-2 tells us that sins and iniquities separate people from God.  Clearly, God through Jesus gives us a choice whether or not to die in our sins, but if we die in our sins, then we die without salvation – we die separated from God.

     In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus commands His disciples to go make disciples from people of all nations by baptizing them in the name (there’s that authority issue again) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all of Jesus’ commandments.  Clearly, Jesus’ commandments are what communicates the authority of Christ, and therefore of God.  So now we see that our belief in Christ is tied together to our obedience to Christ.  And that baptism is one of the commands we, as Christ’s disciples, must obey and then teach.
     Notice that the person being baptized is also the one responsible for knowing and obeying Christ’s commandments.  Clearly a baptism has no value without obedience.  The personal responsibility is intertwined.  If I am baptized without my commitment to obey Christ, I am disobedient to God and still in my sins.  If I commit to obey Christ without being baptized, I am still disobedient to God and still in my sins.  Baptism without obedience is worthless and obedience without baptism is not really obedience.
     Jesus Himself makes the same point in Mark 16:16 concerning belief and baptism.  “He who believes and is baptized will be saved;” He reminds us, “but he who does not believe will be condemned.”  Baptism without belief means nothing and belief without baptism is not really belief.  And we remember that belief and obedience are tied together as well.  Belief without obedience is worthless and obedience without belief is not really obedience.
     Note also from both of these passages that the candidates for baptism are physically alive. They learn for themselves, they are baptized for themselves, they obey for themselves, and they are to go themselves making disciples capable of these things.  The physically dead cannot do these things themselves.  This understanding is clear in Acts chapter two when Peter preaches the first recorded gospel sermon encouraging those present to become Christians.  “Then Peter said to them,” we read in verse 38, “‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”  Each person is expected to repent for themselves.  Obviously, baptism without repentance is worthless and repentance without baptism is not really repentance.  Notice who gets the gift of the Holy Spirit, the remission of sins, the salvation — clearly it is the one being baptized, not someone else.  And here’s a thought to consider:  if baptized believers could be baptized for their dead family and friends, wouldn’t this have been the time to say so plainly … at the very beginning of the church itself?
     On one hand, we have yet to discover God’s instruction about how people can be enabled to accept Christ after their physical deaths.  On the other hand, we've seen several plain and clear passages commanding, instructing, and exhorting people to accept Christ while they are still physically alive.
     This fact demands that we ask, “Is it even possible for a person to be transferred after death from hell (a place of torment) to heaven (a place of comfort)?”

     In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus addresses this very issue with His story of the rich man and Lazarus.  However we might feel about this story and whatever label we might use to describe it, one thing is quite plain.  Jesus presents it as though it were an historical event.  So, let’s set aside any preconceived thoughts and feelings we might have about it and read it now from that perspective – that of an historical event.
     “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.  But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.  Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.  So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom.  The rich man also died and was buried.  And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
     “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’  But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.  And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’
     “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house,  for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’  Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’  And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’  But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”
     Clearly people who die in their sins separated from God go to a place of torment that is separated from God’s comfort.  And no matter how much they desire to change their situation then, they may not cross over from hell to heaven or even back to the world of the living.

      Some teach and practice that according to 1 Corinthians 15:29 Christians may be baptized on behalf of dead people allowing them a chance to move from hell to heaven.  But, according to other Scripture passages we've been examining, these people are mistaken.  They are teaching and practicing a false doctrine — a man-made teaching that contradicts plain Bible teaching about our freedom of choice, baptism, salvation, and heaven and hell.