BAPTISM FOR THE DEAD by W. A. Alway

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · May 13, 1903

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 29, No. 19.

BAPTISM FOR THE DEAD.

By W. A. Alway

[Republished by Request, from the SIGNS of July 17, 1901.]

Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?" says the apostle in 1 Cor. 15:29.

Some persons regard this scripture as teaching the necessity of a distinct baptism by believers on behalf of those who have gone down to the grave without repentance and baptism. In some parts of the land expensive temples have been erected, in which the ordinance of baptism is administered for this purpose.

The sincerity of many of the adherents of this doctrine I do not doubt; but that the above scripture enjoins this practise, I do not believe, for the following reasons:—

1. It is always unsafe to build a fundamental principle of belief upon an inference from a text of Scripture, especially if such inference is unsupported by any passage of Scripture. But is this interpretation thus left without support?—Yes. There is not a text, inference, or example in all the Sacred Record of the primitive church that in the slightest degree gives strength to this view. We have no hint of any apostle or elder performing this ceremony in behalf of the dead; there is no record of the formula used.

This complete silence is all the more significant when it is remembered that this ordinance would necessarily have been a matter of special instruction, since it would have been the introduction of a new ceremony, rather than the continuation of some established custom. The reader is asked to note carefully how explicitly other ordinances were defined and enforced. For example, baptism (Matt. 28:19, 20; Mark 16:16; Rom. 6:3-6), the ordinance of humility (John 13:1-17), the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:17-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-34).

2. The above construction put upon the scripture in question pre-supposes the preaching of the Gospel by and to dead men. But this again we find to be in direct conflict with the most positive statements of Holy Writ.

We read: “The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.” “For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything. . . . Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.” Ps. 115:17; Eccl. 9:5, 6. “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Ps. 146:3, 4. How inconsistent to suppose that such a praiseless, loveless, thoughtless, lifeless class of beings would make either effective preachers or responsive hearers.

3. This interpretation also provides for a change of destiny beyond the grave, which is also anti-scriptural. There is no promise in

the Word of God that can justify the sinner in looking forward to a future state for salvation. There will be no time when the settled and continuous choice of this present life may be reversed. “Now is the day of salvation.” 2 Cor. 6:2. This truth is also confirmed by the words of Christ in the parable where it is represented that the rich man desires Lazarus to cross the border-line of their respective destinies, and dip his finger in cold water and cool his tongue. This was denied, for the unalterable reason that between them there was an impassable gulf “fixed,” which forbade any possible change of destiny. Luke 16:26.

4. But the primary reason for the rejection of this interpretation is that it robs the text itself of the gem of truth which it holds. We believe this text to mean just what it says, as is the case with all the words of God to men.

“Why are they then baptized for the dead?”—Evidently, from the context, because the dead are the only ones to whom baptism can have any application, and this for the simple reason that they are the only ones qualified for burial, or that can require a resurrection.

But how many are dead?—All. “Because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead.” 2 Cor. 5:14. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Cor. 15:22. To God, who sees the end from the beginning, he who is in sin is dead. “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death;” actual, physical death; and this “death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” James 1:14, 15; Rom. 5:12. If it were not for the dead, baptism would be meaningless.

In order that the relation of baptism to the dead may appear more clearly, let us consider it in the light of the life of Christ. When the Saviour came to John at the River Jordan, and requested baptism, John refused on the plea of unworthiness. But Jesus urged His request in these words: “Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” Christ was not only an example to man while on the earth, but also a Substitute. It certainly was not for Himself that Christ was baptized, but for a dying world; for He knew no sin. 1 Peter 2:22. It was not necessary for Him to die to the world, for He never lived to it. But it was for sick, dying, and dead men that Christ was slain from the foundation of the world. For man He chose an earth-life of sorrow and suffering for sins not His own, but man’s. “For He [God] hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” And so He fulfilled all righteousness, not for Himself, but for mankind; for His righteousness is unto all that believe, and is declared for the remission of sins that are past. Rom. 3:22-25.

No work of my own righteousness, not even the work of baptism, counts in the process of justification; for it is emphatically stated that it is “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.” Titus 3:5. It is “not of works, lest any man should boast.” Eph. 2:9. “But to him that worketh not, but believeth”—“his faith is counted for righteousness.” Rom. 4:5.

Since it is the righteousness of God in Christ that is set forth, and applied to the sinner (Rom. 3:24), it is clearly evident that when Christ was baptized it was on behalf of mankind, and not Himself, that this act was performed. In our stead He fulfilled all righteousness; in our stead He bore our sins (1 Peter 2:24); yes, in our stead He was made to be our sins, and not ours only, but the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2).

For whose sins, then, was He baptized? There can be but one answer to this question,—For the sins of the world. But in what condition were all in the world?—Dead. 2 Cor. 5:15. Then for whom was Christ baptized?—For the dead, most certainly, and for no one else. And what significance has the baptism of Christ to the dead?—To those who have not rejected “the Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world,”—whether it has shone on them through the written Word or through the book of nature (Rom. 1:19, 20),—His baptism, with all the perfect righteousness of His spotless character, stands imputed to them, whether they still live or are numbered with those that sleep in the dust. To those who reject the Light of life, the baptism of Christ in His own flesh, and in the person of His followers from that day to the present, stands as a positive testimony to His divinity, and that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. Do I then believe in proxy baptism?—Most certainly, the kind that makes Christ instead of man my Substitute and Saviour. But this great truth must be kept constantly before men.

And so we also are “buried with Him by baptism,” not to proclaim the merit of our own work, but to exalt the merits of His perfect life. Baptism is not a step taken toward Him, but “with Him.” Rom. 6:4. I am not baptized to obtain justification, but because I am already justified by His death, and saved by His life through faith. Rom. 5:10. My baptism is a reaffirmation of His perfect baptism. It is Christ again manifesting the great truth proclaimed by His own baptism in the person of His humble follower, who can say, as did Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ;” and now I live, not for myself, but for Him who died for me, (Gal. 2:20); so that in my baptism He shall be all in all; for He hath out of twain made one new man, and that man is Christ, not I. “Why are they then [who?—Christ and His disciples—Christ and His body; for we are the body of Christ] baptized for the dead?”—Because “Christ is risen indeed,” and is able, not only to quicken those who are dead in trespasses and sins, but also to wrench from the tomb every captive. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. . . . For He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

And until that glorious day shall burst upon this groaning earth, the blessed ordinance of baptism will remain as the perfect pledge of a perfect righteousness, sealed to the millions of the dead who have died in the Lord, and bright with the prophecy of that morn when sin and death shall be no more, and that saying shall come to pass which is written, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” 1 Cor. 15:55.

W. A. ALWAY.