What shall the baptized for the dead do if ... - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2025

The LORD is near - Tuesday, December 17, 2013
by Jacob Redekop, Brian Reynolds, John van Dijk, Eugene P. Vedder Jr

Details

What shall the baptized for the dead do if ...

What shall the baptized for the dead do if those that are baptized rise not at all? Why also are they baptized for them?
(1 Corinthians 15:29)

Who are "the dead," and who are those "baptized for the dead"? The next verse gives an important hint: "Why do we also endanger ourselves every hour?" The question is: "What motivates those who follow the Lord and serve Him, especially in the face of danger and opposition?" There has been a whole army of such followers who have faithfully served their Lord. Typically, this gave them neither comfort nor wealth; often it gave them troubles, testing, and sometimes, sorrow. And yet you would never have been able to dissuade them from doing their work for the Lord. What is perhaps even more surprising is that there are new workers entering the ranks of those who worked before, and replacing those who have retired from the army of God's workers to be "with the Lord."
In one sense, the new workers substitute for the previous ones. They follow the Lord in the place of those who followed Him before. They have been "baptized for the dead"; they have become followers in the place of those called home. They have seen the distress and difficulties, the soul exercises and sometimes the afflictions of those who took this path before them, and yet they decide to embark on the same journey.
This would be pure madness-if there was no resurrection. If there was no resurrection then Christ would not be risen, and all Christians would have believed a fable. Then why serve the Lord? Why suffer? Why lose out? Why not simply "eat and drink" (v.32)? But, praise God, we know that "now Christ is raised from among the dead." Our faith is not in vain. The gospel is a fact. Christ is alive! The more these things are a reality for us, the more we will be alive! The more these things are a reality for us, the more we will be willing to enter the ranks of God's servants, and to work for Christ.
M.Hardt

More From Our Daily Devotional Archives

Open Heavens
for Monday, December 2, 2013
by Pastor E.A Adeboye

ANY QUERY FROM SATAN?

A divine midwife must be in control of his or her choices and ensure that they are God-centred and not self-centred. They must be ready to take decisions even when it hurts them. They must also be prepared to respond to Satans...More

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and...

The LORD is near
for Friday, December 6, 2013
by Jacob Redekop, Brian Reynolds, John van Dijk, Eugene P. Vedder Jr

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and...

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; ...More

The LORD is near
for Tuesday, December 10, 2013
by Jacob Redekop, Brian Reynolds, John van Dijk, Eugene P. Vedder Jr

Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
(2 Peter 3:18)

God in His grace has centered every blessing for us in Christ. Without Christ, we have nothing, nothing but our sins; with Christ we have all things, and therefore want nothing in addition to Christ. As...More

Open Heavens
for Friday, January 10, 2014
by Pastor E.A Adeboye

SPIRITUAL WARFARE I

When we are told to put on the whole armour of God, one thing becomes clear instantly. This is the fact that there is a God. We cannot be talking of the armour of God if there is no God. Anyone who thinks that there is no God is a fool (Psalm 14:1). You have to pray that God would reveal Himself to you. The...More