Question: What does 1 Corinthians 15:29 mean? What is Paul talking about?
Answer: Good question as our Mormon friends tend to take this to mean that living believers ought to be baptized for their dead (who may not have been baptized). The Bible indicates that baptism is a personal, individual decision that involves accepting the gift of salvation. We cannot be baptized on behalf of another individual any more than one individual can accept Christ for another (Ezekiel 14:14, 16). What then does the text, being baptized for the dead, mean?
A key to understanding the meaning of this text is found in the Greek definition of the word “dead.”
The meaning is both literal and metaphorical. Literally it means one that has breathed his last, lifeless. Metaphorically it means spiritually dead or destitute of a life that recognizes and is devoted to God, because it is given up to trespasses and sins.
The context indicates a metaphorical interpretation as Paul has earlier stated in 1 Corinthians 15:12-17, NKJV:
“Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up–if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!”
The idea, as Paul taught it, is that if we are still in our sins then we are “dead” in our sins.
“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1, NKJV).
When we are baptized we were baptized into His death:
“Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin” (Romans 6:3-6, NKJV).
An additional explanation that fits well with Paul’s line of reasoning revolves around the meaning of the word “for.” The Greek word is “huper” and the general translation is “in behalf of.” But there are exceptions to this meaning. Sometimes the word is used in the sense of “considering” or “in view of.” For example: “So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for [in view of] your patience and faith in all your persecutions…” (2 Thessalonians 1:4). Here Paul is saying, “We ourselves glory in you (considering, or in view of)… your patience and faith.” Again in Romans 15:9, “And that the Gentiles might glorify God for [considering] His mercy.”
Please notice that this same word “huper” (for) is used in 1 Corinthians 15:29. “Else what shall they do which are baptized for [considering or in view of] the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized, for [in view] of the dead?”
So Paul’s basic point in 1 Corinthians 15:29 can be understood by this paraphrase:
“Otherwise, what will they [all the believers] do who are baptized for the dead [in view of their old sinful lives], if the dead [those who are united in the likeness of His death by baptism] do not rise at all? Why then are they [believers] baptized for [in consideration of] the dead [old sinful lives]?”
This meaning of the word “for” allows the text make sense and harmonize with the rest Scripture. Paul’s whole theme in the chapter is the resurrection-its importance and necessity. He is saying, “Why even be baptized if there is no resurrection from the dead? The very meaning of baptism would be nullified. With no resurrection the entire symbol of death, burial and resurrection in baptism would be reduced to an empty ritual.
