Resurrection is a fact which has much to do with our daily life as Christians. The daily life of a Christian actually depends on resurrection. Furthermore, our Christian hope depends on resurrection. If there were no resurrection, there would be no hope, and we would be the most miserable people on earth.
Christ’s resurrection is also related to God’s administration. The carrying out of the divine administration depends on our experience of Christ’s resurrection. If we do not have Christ as the resurrection life within us, we cannot be living members of His Body for the carrying out of God’s administration so that Christ may reign until He subdues all His enemies. In this message we shall consider the moral influence of resurrection (vv. 29-34) and the definition of resurrection (vv. 35-49).
We have seen that verses 20 through 28 may be regarded as a parenthesis. This would then connect verse 29 to verse 18, and verses 30 through 32 to verse 19.
In verse 29 Paul says, “Otherwise, what shall they do who are being baptized for the dead? If the dead are actually not raised, why indeed are they baptized for them?” The phrase “baptized for the dead” means to be baptized for others who are dead. This was not an official matter generally practiced by the early churches, but a personal activity of some individual believers for dead persons for whom they were concerned who may have believed in the Lord but were not baptized before they died. They did this in hope of their resurrection from among the dead at the Lord’s coming back (1 Thes. 4:16), since in baptism resurrection is strongly signified (Col. 2:12). The apostle uses what they did to strengthen the truth of resurrection. This does not mean, however, that he sanctions baptism by some believers for the dead.
In verse 29 the word “for” actually means on behalf of. Some believers had relatives, neighbors, or friends who also believed in the Lord, but who died without being baptized. Out of love for them, certain believers were baptized on behalf of the ones who had died. This was not taught by the apostles, but we know from church history it was practiced by the believers, although the practice was not common. The fact that one believer would be baptized on behalf of another believer who had died signifies a strong belief in resurrection. Baptism signifies death, burial, and resurrection. But if there is no resurrection and if Christians simply die and are buried, why would someone be baptized on behalf of the dead? The fact that someone would be baptized for the dead indicates a belief, an expectation, that the dead one would be resurrected. Paul refers to this practice as part of his rebuttal against the heresy which claimed that there was no resurrection. Here Paul seems to be saying, “If the dead are not raised, then why are others baptized for them to signify that they will be resurrected?” This is Paul’s meaning here.
In verse 30 Paul goes on to say, “Why also are we in danger every hour?” If there is no resurrection, then why would Paul allow himself to be in danger every hour? Why would he daily risk his life? Instead, if there is no resurrection, he should enjoy this present life.
In verse 31 Paul continues, “Daily I die, I protest by the boasting in you, brothers, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Here the word die means to risk one’s life, to be in danger of death, to face death, and to die to self (2 Cor. 11:23; 4:11; 1:8-9; Rom. 8:36).
The Corinthian believers were the fruit of the apostle’s labor, a labor in which he risked his life and was in danger of death. In them the apostle can boast of this. By this boasting he protests that daily he dies. The apostle’s boasting in the Corinthians as the fruit of the risk of his life is in Christ, not in himself, because his labor is not by himself but by Christ.
Paul was like a soldier risking his life on the battlefield. He fought for God’s kingdom, and daily he died for the sake of the Corinthians. When he came to preach the gospel to them, he risked his life. While he was in Corinth, he died daily. It was not an easy thing for Paul to come to Corinth in the Gentile world. This world was opposed to anything Jewish and also opposed to anything Christian. Nevertheless, Paul daily risked his life in order to preach the gospel to them. But because of his willingness to die daily, a number of those at Corinth were saved.
In verse 32 Paul uses a figure of speech: “If after the manner of men I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” The phrase “wild beasts” used here is a figure of speech denoting evil persons or matters. The manner of men in fighting against any evil person or matter is to receive a temporal reward. But the apostle will be rewarded for his fighting with evil persons and matters for the gospel’s sake at the resurrection in the future (Luke 14:14; 2 Tim. 4:8).
We know from Acts 19 that Paul was fighting against “wild beasts.” Both the Jews and the Gentiles at Ephesus strongly opposed him. Thus, he had to fight against evil persons and evil things. But if there were no resurrection, what profit would it have been to Paul to fight in this way? As Paul says, “If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” This appears to be a quotation of a saying of that day, a maxim of the Epicureans. If there is no resurrection, we believers shall have no hope in the future and thus become the most miserable of all men (v. 19). If so, we should enjoy our life today, forgetting the future, like the Epicureans.