[Steve Myers] Baptism for the dead, 1 Corinthians 15:29. We talked about the explanation of the word for that we are baptized as we look forward to the resurrection, the resurrection from the dead. That is the hope of the dead because it lies beyond the grave. The Apostle Paul was certainly saying that in 1 Corinthians and yet did you know there's another explanation for that section that talks about baptism for the dead?

Now around Corinth at that time—and of course this letter is being written to God's people in Corinth. Around Corinth there was a city that was known as Eleusis. It was north of the city of Corinth. And in that city there were pagan practices where baptism for the dead was a guarantee that they would have a good afterlife. And so they would actually practice this. It's also mentioned, this practice of baptism for the dead, by Homer, and so you can actually look up in some of his writings that he believed in this.

Now one of the things we know when we read through Paul's letter to God's church at Corinth was that Corinth was affected by lots of things that were surrounding them. They were a city of commerce. They were a huge metropolis. And so they were affected by all kinds of things in society around them. And so it seems they could have been affected by this practice from those people in the city that lie just north of them.

Now what's interesting about that is the way that Paul words that in 1 Corinthians 15:29 that maybe seems to point in that direction because he says, "If the dead are not raised, then why are they baptized for the dead?" He didn't say you being baptized for the dead, as God's people in Corinth, but he said they, why are they, those people that are living to the north, why are they. And so he points out the fact that we don't baptize for the dead, that is an ungodly practice. The pagans, those that didn't believe in God were practicing those things.

And so what is he verifying? The reality of the resurrection. This is true. You can count on it. You need to be baptized for the hope of the dead. In fact, you won't find baptism for the dead practiced in the New Testament church until centuries, well at least 150 years, after Christ. And so this was something that infected the church much, much later.

In fact, there's a great translation of this particular verse in God's Word translation. Here's how it puts 1 Corinthians 15:29, it says, "However, people are baptized because the dead will come back to life. What will they do? If the dead can't come back to life, why do people get baptized as if they can come back to life?"  The fact is Paul says we can come back to life when we are baptized, when we repent, we believe, and we have Christ living in us, we can look forward to the resurrection. And so God's word is awesome, and it is inspiring. So there is hope even beyond the grave.

That's BT Daily. We'll see you next time.