Resurrection and Motivation - 1 Corinthians 15:29-34

Devotional Thoughts on 1 Corinthians 15

Week 6
 
Resurrection and Motivation - 1 Corinthians 15:29-34

29 Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead?  If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?  30 Why are we also in danger every hour?  31 I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord,
 I die daily.  32 If from human motives 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.  33 Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."  34 Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. 


In this portion of our passage, Paul writes of positive and negative motivations related to the reality of the resurrection.  They can be restated as follows:
     1.  What is the motivation for saints to follow the Lord in baptism to take the place of those who have been martyred?
     2.  What is the profit for Paul and others if they battle persecution only for human motives, motives having nothing to do with the resurrected Christ?
     3.  If there is no resurrection, why not just decide to live it up until death?
     4. The reality of the resurrection should encourage the believers to stay away from false teachers.
     5.  The truth of the resurrection should wake believers up from the sinful shame of neglecting the necessity of sharing the good news of the gospel to the lost.

Let’s explore these one at a time.
1.  The Mormons believe that this passage is teaching that their followers should be physically baptized for dead people to “Mormonize” them.  Paul’s meaning is very different.  Baptism has always been a public acknowledgement of one’s faith.  Believers worldwide have been baptized with the realization that some of those who witness the baptism will tell unbelievers of their baptism, and those enemies of the faith will persecute and perhaps even martyr them.  Being baptized to replace those who have already died for their faith is a sobering thing, and it would make little sense for a person to publicly testify of their faith only to die, if they have no confidence that their Savior has conquered death.  The resurrection of Christ is a powerful motive for believing, obeying, following, and dying for the Lord.

2.  Paul did not face danger every hour, prepare his heart for the possibility of death every day, and face the dangers of the wild beasts in the colosseum in Ephesus, for fame, glory, and other human motivations.  He faced all of those things – even being stoned to death (Acts 14:19) – because of his confidence in the Lord Who had commissioned him, and in everlasting life provided because of the resurrection of the Messiah.

3. The ancient Epicureans believed that the greatest purposes of life were enjoyment and pleasure.  The expression given here, “Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die,” captures well the attitude of Epicurus.   Paul is referring to their attitude as one of hopelessness of resurrection.  Not motivated to strive for the approval of God, nor filled with zeal in the light of the hope of resurrection, one could certainly choose to concentrate on living the good life until the moment of permanent death and decay in the earth.

4. Paul’s constant concern as an apostle was that false teachers would lead believers astray.  The influencer could be a former disciple of Sadducees, a Gentile with a Greek or Roman mythological or philosophical mindset, or a carnal individual who simply desires to encourage believers to follow him/her in boundless worldliness that pays no attention to the imminent return of the Lord to take the church to be with Him through resurrection.  Those who spent much time with any of them would become like them and their behavior, the outworking of their corrupted moral fiber, would suffer.

5. Whether through forgetting their first love for the Lord (like the Ephesian church in Revelation chapter 2), becoming lukewarm believers (like the Laodiceans), or losing their burden for the lost, the believers were sinning to the degree that their testimony before the lost was gradually being destroyed.  Paul wanted these believers to understand that it is a shameful thing to lose sight of the urgency of the salvation of those with no knowledge of God.

In this day when so many people are leaving the church, we need to be motivated more than ever to live our faith, display our hope, and proclaim the gospel to the lost.  We should rejoice in every disciple who follows the Lord in baptism, teach those disciples the truth, and encourage each other to watch and wait for the coming of the Lord, and to be unashamed at His coming.