1 Corinthians 15:29

Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead? ELSE - if there be no resurrection. WHAT SHALL THEY DO? - what profit do they get? BAPTIZED FOR THE DEAD - third person: a class distinct from that in which the apostle places himself - "we" (1 Corinthians 15:30): first person. There is no reference to baptizing a living person in behalf of a friend who died unbaptized-a heretical practice unknown in the Church before the times of Marcion. Benget translates, 'over (immediately upon [ huper (G5228)]) the dead' - i:e., who will be gathered to the dead immediately after baptism (cf....

29._Else what shall they do _He resumes his enumeration of the absurdities, which follow from the error under which the Corinthians labored. He had set himself in the outset to do this, but he introduced instruction and consolation, by means of which he interrupted in some degree the thread of his discourse. To this he now returns. In the first place he brings forward this objection — that the baptism which those received who are already regarded as dead, will be of no avail if there is no resurrection. Before expounding this passage, it is of importance to set aside the common exposition, which rests upon the authority of the ancients, and is received with almost universal consent. Chrysostom, therefore, and Ambrose, who are followed by others, are of opinion (63) that the Corinthians were accustomed, when any one had been deprived of baptism by sudden death, to substitute some living p...

20-34 All that are by faith united to Christ, are by his resurrection assured of their own. As through the sin of the first Adam, all men became mortal, because all had from him the same sinful nature, so, through the resurrection of Christ, shall all who are made to partake of the Spirit, and the spiritual nature, revive, and live for ever. There will be an order in the resurrection. Christ himself has been the first-fruits; at his coming, his redeemed people will be raised before others; at the last the wicked will rise also. Then will be the end of this present state of things. Would we triumph in that solemn and important season, we must now submit to his rule, accept his salvation, and live to his glory. Then shall we rejoice in the completion of his undertaking, that God may receive the whole glory of our salvation, that we may for ever serve him, and enjoy his favour. What shall...

Verse 29. _ELSE WHAT SHALL THEY DO WHICH ARE BAPTIZED FOR THE_ _DEAD_] This is certainly the most difficult verse in the New Testament; for, notwithstanding the greatest and wisest men have laboured to explain it, there are to this day nearly as many different interpretations of it as there are interpreters. I shall not employ my time, nor that of my reader, with a vast number of discordant and conflicting opinions; I shall make a few remarks: 1. The doctrine of the resurrection of our Lord was a grand doctrine among the apostles; they considered and preached this as the _demonstration_ of the _truth_ of the _Gospel_. 2. The multitudes who embraced Christianity became converts on the _evidence_ of this resurrection. 3. This resurrection was considered the _pledge_ and _proof_ of the resurrection of all believers in Christ to the possession of the same glory into which he had entered....

ELSE WHAT SHALL THEY DO ... - The apostle here resumes the argument for the resurrection which was interrupted at 1 Corinthians 15:19. He goes on to state further consequences which must follow from the denial of this doctrine, and thence infers that the doctrine must be true. There is, perhaps, no passage of the New Testament in respect to which there has been a greater variety of interpretation than this; and the views of expositors now by no means harmonize in regard to its meaning. It is possible that Paul may here refer to some practice or custom which existed in his time respecting baptism, the knowledge of which is now lost. The various opinions which have been entertained in regard to this passage, together with an examination of them, may be seen in Pool’s Synopsis, Rosenmuller, and Bloomfield. It may be not useless just to refer to some o

EXPOSITION 1 CORINTHIANS 15:1 _The doctrine of the resurrection. _This chapter, and the thirteenth, on Christian love, stand out, even among the writings of St. Paul, as pre-eminently beautiful and important. No human words ever written have brought such comfort to millions of mourners as the words of this chapter, which form a part of the Burial Service of almost every Christian community. It is the more deeply imprinted on the memory of men because it comes to us in the most solemn hours of bereavement, when we have most need of a living faith. The chapter falls into six sections. 1. The evidence of Christ's resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1). 2. The resurrection of Christ is the foundati

ELSE WHAT SHALL THEY DO WHICH ARE BAPTIZED FOR THE DEAD,.... The apostle here returns to his subject, and makes use of new arguments to prove the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, and reasons for it from the baptism of some persons; but what is his sense, is not easy to be understood, or what rite and custom, or thing, or action he refers to; which must, be either Jewish baptism, or Christian baptism literally taken, or baptism in a figurative and metaphorical sense. Some think that he refers to some one or other of the divers baptisms of the Jews; see Hebrews 9:10 and particularly to the purification of such who had touched a dead body, which was done both by the ashes of the red heifer burnt, and by bathing himself in water; and which, the Jews say l, intimated המתים לתחיית, "the resurrection of the dead": wherefore such a right was needless, if there is no resurrection

1 Corinthians 15:1. _Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand. By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain._ By which the apostle means, unless they had a false faith, a merely notional faith; or he may also mean «Unless what I have preached unto you should have been a fable, and therefore you will have exercised your faith upon nothing real, and so it would have been in vain.» 1 Corinthians 15:3. _For I delivered unto you first of all that which, I also received,-_ The preacher of Christ must not make new doctrines. He is not to be his own teacher, he is to receive the truth first, and then to d

DEAD That is, who, through the introductory rite of baptism, are taking the places in the ranks left vacant by Christians who have died....

III. RESURRECTION AND THE HOPE OF THE CHURCH AND CONCLUSION: Chapter S 15-16 1. Resurrection and the Hope of the Church. CHAPTER 15 _ 1. The Gospel and the Resurrection of Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:1 .)_ 2. If Christ were not raised--then what? (1 Corinthians 15:12 .) 3. Christ the Firstfruits and what follows. (1 Corinthians 15:20 .) 4. Further practical arguments about Resurrection. (1 Corinthians 15:29 .) 5. Concerning the Resurrection of the Body. ...