What ON EARTH Does that Mean?

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If the dead are not going to be raised to life, what will people do who are being baptized for them? Why are they being baptized for those dead people?

1 Corinthians 15:29

When you read the Bible, there will be times when what you have just read makes no sense at all. This verse about baptism for the dead is probably one of them. I have skipped over that verse for years and when I do mention it to someone I usually just say that I'm not sure what it means. (By the way there are some good discussions of 1 Corinthians 15:29 on the internet. Just Google it.)

Not just with this verse, but when we read any verse in the Bible we must ask the question "What on earth does that mean?" The Word of God originated in Heaven, but we are the ones who must obey it here on earth. The best and perhaps only way to truly understand the Bible is to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Then when you want to know what the Bible is talking about you can simple ask the Author of the Words what they mean!

We have wrongly thought that if you know the Words of Scripture you will know the Lord. Actually that is exactly backwards. When you know the Lord you will understand the Bible, not the other way around. Knowing Jesus is not a matter of knowledge, but rather a yielded heart.

Certainly, it is good to know the Bible and as a follower of Jesus Christ you will seek to know every Word that has come from His mouth. But yielding your heart to Him can happen before you even know how to read the Bible. It can also happen the very first time you hear about Jesus.

By the way, I did learn a little about "Baptism for the dead." It may be that Paul was pointing out that a pagan religion near Corinth even baptized people on behalf of the dead in order to insure a better after life. That would certainly make more sense to the Corinthians who were familiar with that practice than it would to me some 2000 years later. But, this is still one of those verses that we will fully understand from the perspective of Heaven!

First, give your heart to Jesus and then immerse yourself in His Word! That will make all the difference in how you understand the Bible.

"Lord Jesus, help me today to be more yielded to You and Your Will than I have ever been before. Enlighten my heart and mind with every Word of Scripture. And may You be praised forever. Amen."