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– Baptised for
the Dead –
1Cor
15:29
Otherwise, what will they do who are baptised for the dead, if the dead
do not rise at all? Why then are they baptised for the dead?
What
is "baptism for the dead" and who were "they" that were being so
baptised? Verse 11 of 1Corinthians 15 helps identify who they were:
1Cor
15:11
Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you
believed.
Firstly, "they" were the other apostles and ambassadors of Christ
to Israel [2Cor 5:20].
"The dead" of 1Cor 15:12
are old covenant historic Israel, who though dead in trespasses and
sins, were promised to be brought out of their grave of bondage and
exile [Hos
13:14; Ezk 37:1-14] and raised to newness of life in
Christ – having had the "ungodliness of Jacob" turned away [Rom
11:26].
Secondly, "they" were also known as the "first-fruits" [Jas
1:18; Rev 14:4], and as such participated with
Christ THE
first-fruit "out from among the dead" [Acts 26:23; 1Cor 15:20,23; Col 1:18]
in that age transforming work of the Spirit in bringing about the works
of righteousness, by the giving of their lives through suffering. Dying
daily to the old Mosaic world of sin and death i.e., the Law, and rising to the
new world of life and righteousness in Christ Jesus [Rom
6:3-6; 2Pt 3:13]. Conformity to the death of Christ was
a 'baptism of suffering' – there was a cost [2Cor
4:11-12; Lk 9:23]:
Mk
10:38-39
But
Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink
the cup that I drink, and be baptised with the baptism that I am
baptised with?" They said to Him, "We are able." So Jesus said to them,
"You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am
baptised with you will be baptised;
The
main thrust of 1Cor 15 is that of "resurrection", and
resurrection has to do with baptism – being buried and raised in Christ
to newness of life. Jesus' ministry and that of the Spirit that followed
was a 'baptism of fire', the refiner's fire of trial, salvation and
judgment [Mal 3:2; Lk 3:16;
1Pt 1:7, 4:12]. Many first-fruit believers
experienced this baptism of tribulation and persecution on behalf of
Israel "that some might be saved" [Rom
11:14]. That the first-fruit believers suffered at the
hands of Pharisaic Israel is well attested in the Acts of the Apostles,
the Epistles and The Revelation, headed chiefly and initially by that
Pharisee of the Pharisees, Saul of Tarshish [Act
9:13-14]. Yet even Saul himself in the plan of God [1Tim
1:13] came to know as "Paul" that which
he perpetrated against Christ's Church [Act
9:16].
2Cor
12:7-10
And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the
revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger
of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning
this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from
me. And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength
is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast
in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in
persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak,
then I am strong. cf. 2Cor 11:23-27.
Rom
8:18
For I
consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory which shall be revealed in
us.
cf. 2Cor 4:17.
1Cor
15:30-31
And
why do we
stand in jeopardy every hour?
I
affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord,
I die daily.
Rom 8:35-36
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are
accounted as sheep for the slaughter." cf. Phil 2:16-17; 2Cor
1:5-6.
Mt
24:9
"Then
they will deliver you
up to tribulation and kill
you, and you
will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.
cf. Jn 16:33; Act
14:22.
Salvation was of the Jews and for the Jews [Jn
4:22; Mt 15:24; Act 3:26] – which in fulfilment carried a
wider Gentile focus [Gen
12:3; Act 3:25]. Theirs was a "corporate" work of
national salvation, and as such being the first-fruit saints were joined
to Christ in his sufferings
–
thus confirming and bringing to fullness the redemptive work
begun in Christ [Col
1:24; 1Thess 3:3; Heb 2:3] in preparing the way for the rest of
the harvest, of which they were the first offerings. This salvific
outworking on behalf of the "elect" was not restricted to the
first-fruits "this generation" saints only, but was inclusive of and on
behalf of all old covenant Israel, hence Paul's: "so all Israel
will be saved" Rom 11:26. This was the divinely intended
precursor to the inclusion and reconciliation of the
Gentiles into the commonwealth of Israel; thus the middle wall of
division being obliterated and the two becoming one in Christ [Eph
2:11-16].
'Baptism for the dead' was not about some ancient form or practice
of vicarious baptism in the literal sense, no it was the baptism of
suffering by the first-fruit believers that was working towards the
"fullness" of both Jew and Gentile in Christ [Rom
11:25-26]. It was a partnership in persecution, a
suffering on behalf of the saints [Gal
6:17; Phil 1:29-30], the "working out" of their
salvation. This was the focus and force of Paul's "baptism for the
dead."
[DISCUSS
HERE]
David
G. Embury
©
Copyright 2004ŕ
Email:
contact@pantelism.com
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