²⁹Otherwise, 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? ³⁰Why are we also in danger every hour? ³¹I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. ³²If 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.

Many interpretations have been offered for verse 29. A common one held by some is that living Christians go through ritual baptism on behalf of those who died without being baptized. This view presupposes a redemptive value in baptism (as necessary for salvation), performed vicariously (in another’s place), and that salvation can be gained after death. Of course, this goes clearly against passages that teach salvation is by grace through faith (e.g.  Eph. 2:8–9) and received before death (Heb. 9:27).

So what does this verse mean, then? Given the propensity the Corinthian Christians had toward distortion of the truth, Paul is most likely using their own false practice of baptism for the dead as an argument against the denial of the resurrection. Notice Paul refers to “those” who baptized for the dead; he did not include himself in such a practice. It is clear that some in Corinth did apparently practice baptism for the dead, just like some practiced the Lord’s Supper selfishly, some used spiritual gifts for self-edification rather than for building up others, and some used apostolic teachers as a means of sectarianism. The Corinthians were so mixed up in their theology, they couldn’t see their otherwise evident contradictions.

Often Christians today hold to conflicting interpretations, without thinking the issues through biblically and logically. Why does this happen? Possibly it could be due to their self-centered perspective (“boasting”), which blinds them to thinking clearly. It is easy to hold to an erroneous truth because of the desire to be accepted by their Christian peer group, fear of standing up for the truth, or the benefits gained from a certain practice: false hope, good feelings, or something else that builds oneself up. Paul, by contrast, says his ministry has put him “in danger every hour” and that he “die[s] daily.” When one is willing to sacrifice his life for the truth, one is not as likely to hold to evident contradictions in his theology. Quite possibly, Paul states in the end the real issue leading to belief in the non-resurrection of believers: there would be no reason to hold back on living for the pleasures of today.

Lord, help me “Set [my] mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth” (Col. 3:2).