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.
Dig Deeper
People who go through college endure a lot: sleepless nights, endless hours of study, countless hours of research and paper writing; college can be difficult. Sometimes it can feel like a pressure cooker. Yet, people continually subject themselves to it. Why? Because of the promise that comes upon completion. People know that the promise of a degree and a better job are worth all of the pain and hard work of going through college. Neither the difficulties of the Christian life nor the rewards of the life of the 'age to come' and resurrection really compare with the struggles or rewards of college, yet it is a similar concept on a much larger scale. After a brief interlude concerning the nature of the order of the universe, and the role of resurrection in that universe, Paul will now return to a few more examples of the results of their denial of the resurrection. If they continue to deny the truth of resurrection then the things that they do and go through don't make much sense. It would be far more silly than someone who would go through college and then get no degree and get no job.
Verse 29 offers an argument of contradiction. Why would people be baptized for the dead if the dead are not raised at all? In other words, why would the Corinthians take part in the actions of which they have taken part if they're going to believe what they believe? It would make no sense. Either their practices should change or their beliefs need to. But what does Paul mean by baptism for the dead? This is a notoriously difficult verse to understand over the years. A verse on which an entire offshoot cult of Christianity, Mormonism, has built a doctrine and practice of being baptized for dead family members that were not converted into their beliefs. Taking aside the fact that a doctrine should never be built on one difficult-to-understand verse, this verse need not be nearly as mysterious as some have made it out to be. Despite the speculation and conjecture of many fanciful commentators over the years, there is no evidence that the Corinthian church ever engaged in a baptism for dead relatives or friends. The earliest record of any such practice comes from some 2nd century Gnostic groups; a practice that was soundly criticized by the orthodox Christian Church. Plus, Paul never mentions such a practice anywhere else, nor does any other New Testament writer. So, what does Paul mean here? This verse could just as easily be translated "those who are baptized because of the dead." With this understanding, it becomes quite clear. Paul was most likely referring to non-Christians who were baptized following the death of a Christian relative. Part of the original motivation for their conversion was, no doubt, the desire to be re-united with their loved ones in the resurrection. But if they have now been swayed to believe that there is no bodily resurrection, then what was the point?
Denial of the resurrection has far deeper implications than merely being contradictory in a few practices. It cuts to the very heart of Christian life. If the dead will not be raised, why go through the persecutions that the early Christians faced? Why live as prey, constantly on guard against the predator Satan and his agents? Paul says he dies every day. He probably means two things by this. One is the literal persecutions that he faces that truly feel like physical death. The other aspect is the demand of the Christian life to lay down one's life, to die to self, and to enter into and remain in the life of Christ. Why do all of this if it is for naught; and make no mistake, Paul feels that if there is no resurrection, then Jesus is not Christ and Lord, and everything is pointless, a point he has already made in verses 1-11. If there was one thing the Corinthians knew for sure, though, it was that Paul loved them and gloried in their status in Christ. He wants them to know that just as surely as he loves them, he dies every single day. The only possible explanation for both of those things is that Christ did raise from the dead, did appear to him, and has guaranteed resurrection for all of those who enter into Him.
Paul's reference to the wild beasts he fought in Ephesus is unlikely to be literal, rather he is giving a specific example, one that the Corinthians were apparently familiar with, of the persecution and trouble he has faced. The point is the same. This is all for naught if the dead are not raised. Paul does not mean to say that resurrection is the only thing worth hoping for in the Christian life and if it is not going to happen, then to the garbage heap with the whole thing. No, his point is that the resurrection is the lynchpin which holds all of the Christian belief and hope together. If you pull out the lynchpin of resurrection (and for Paul the resurrection of Christ and the promised resurrection of those in Him are so inextricably linked that it's hardly worth trying to separate the two) then the whole house of cards comes crashing down. Without resurrection there is no true Christian faith, there is just another empty religion. And if that's the case, then they might as well just behave like the gladiators who were well known for their feasts and parties the night before going off to their probable death in battle. If there is no resurrection, forget all of this hardship and denial, they should just make the rest of their lives one big party.
Paul, then quotes a Greek poet, Meander, when he says "bad company corrupts good character". His point is clear. The Corinthians are supposed to be the people of God, living increasingly as genuine human beings, being a light to the world and showing the world how to live a life reconciled to God. Yet, how can they do that if they keep allowing their belief system to be improperly influenced by pagan beliefs such as a denial of the resurrection. It is quite possible to allow the ideas of the pagan culture around to seep in and influence Christian thought to such a degree that it ceases to be Christian thought and belief. Paul wants them to stop being so influenced by foolish beliefs and thoughts of pagans, those who are ignorant of God. In the process of being influenced by these pagan thinkers, they have left their senses and become equally ignorant. Of this, they should be ashamed; they should know better. Paul was calling them, just as surely as he is calling us, to identify and weed out ignorant, pagan thinking from their worldview and view the world through God's eyes.
Devotional Thought
The Corinthians were struggling with mixing Christian beliefs with those of the surrounding culture and coming out with something that was no longer the true Christian faith. Most of us don't do this in the area of resurrection but we surely do it. What areas of the Christian belief have you mixed with beliefs from our culture? What can you do about it?
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