“Come Back To Your Senses!”

“Come Back To Your Senses…!”(I Cor.15:29-34).
“Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?”
This is a rarely used verse of Scripture. I doubt if there is any Christian denomination or Christian sect that has taken this up as doctrine and also practice it. Besides, apart from this mention here, Paul does not mention it anywhere in any of his other letters. Paul uses it here as an argument to substantiate the resurrection, but after that he lets it slide.
This is to say it did not work. It wasn’t encouraged, but it doesn’t look like anybody challenged or opposed the practice of the living receiving baptism on behalf of their dead unbaptized relatives.
Life would be vanity if life ends at death. The best would be to enjoy one’s self as best as it is possible because tomorrow you die and everything ends!
The teaching against the resurrection was propagated by some false teachers. False teachers exist in every generation. Paul’s admonition of the Corinthian believers is to us also: “Do not be misled. ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’ Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God…”
False teachers are ignorant of God. They do not know what God can do; that is why they think resurrection is not possible. To believe them is sinning.
We risk our lives for the sake of the gospel, we are insulted, mocked and humiliated for the sake of the gospel. If we can take all these only for the temporal life, that would be vanity. We better “eat and drink for tomorrow we die.”
We have a life in Christ, and with Christ after this life.
We should indeed not allow ourselves to be misled but to come back to our senses!
Weekend prayer: Holy Spirit help me to plant my feet on Christ the Solid Rock so that I won’t be swept off my feet by any false wind of change. Amen!
Have a blessed weekend! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.