| 1 Corinthians 15:29-34 Now 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? And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I die every day - I mean that, brothers - just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If 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..." In this passage, Paul talked about baptizing the dead. Many people will ask, can we baptize for the dead today? There was unique historical background at the time - Church was under great persecution, many accepted the Lord when they were imprisoned, and some of them were even persecuted to death there. These people had the opportunity to accept the Lord, but they didn't have the opportunity to be baptized, because as soon as they accepted the Lord they were prosecuted to death. Paul was speaking under a special circumstance, and he even said that "I die every day." It was difficult to be a Christian back then, so baptism for the dead existed as a ceremony because many did not have the opportunity to be baptized when they were alive, and the ceremony made up for what they couldn't do. Actually, when they accepted Jesus as their personal savior, their lives were already connected to Jesus, and such ceremony existed in the church at the time only because of the unique circumstance. Today, we don't need to have such a ceremony, because in countries with freedom we can freely choose to accept Christ as our personal savior and be baptized, thus we no longer need baptism for the dead. May God help us to understand through this case that baptism is something we must value. In the church, many believers were eager to be baptized but didn't have the opportunity. Because they were persecuted for their faith. Today, many Christians have the opportunity to be baptized, but they hesitate and are reluctant to do it. This shows that we have completely surrendered the authority over our lives to Jesus Christ, and thus we cannot truly experience the abundance of the Lord. May God help us not to hesitate anymore, but to know that we must treasure our opportunities today to follow the Lord's commands and to live for Him daily!
Pray with Pastor Tong Liu 
Lord, I thank you and praise you because you are God and you are full of mercy. Believers in the past were persecuted for their faith and could not even be baptized, but today you have given us plenty of opportunities to do so. Bless us with the grace of receiving baptism and help us to follow your truth in our daily lives. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen! |
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