“Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised.” (1 Corinthians 15:12-16)
To grasp the meaning of 1 Corinthians 15:29, let’s fist examine the context of this chapter. As you read above, there were apostates among the brethren that didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead. Throughout this chapter, Paul is warning the people about the false beliefs of these heretics. The #1 issue is what we just read. It is not believing in the resurrection of the dead. #2, is there belief in baptisms for the dead. Speaking of those same people, he said, “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?” (1 Corinthians 15:29) When examining verse 29, everything comes together. Paul mentions, “they”, in mention of the apostates. He questioned why they were baptizing for the dead if they didn’t believe in the resurrection. So he mentions them again and said why are they baptizing for the dead? This verse doesn’t have to be complicated. Reading the chapter and then the verse puts it all together. We get into trouble when we cherry-pick verses and make doctrines out of them. Therefore, it is good to read the current chapter, before and after also, to know the backstory the verse at hand.
So what does this all mean when it comes to the Mormon temples? It means that everything they do for dead people inside these beautiful buildings is not of God. Therefore, nothing done for the dead is accepted by the Lord either. All these works are done for nothing. Proxy baptism was not practiced in the early church. Instead, heretics performed this baptism without God’s approval. The same thing is happening today with the Mormon people and carrying on this same wicked tradition. If only they could see that apostates started this, and they are now continuing in their footsteps. So who instituted the lies of doing baptisms for the dead? It was Satan. He instituted it around two thousand years ago. Notice how nobody in the church was a part of the group of individuals doing this. And praise God that this evil practice didn’t last very long. Only on April 6, 1830, did we see this abominable work come back to light. Satan was again leading a new group of people through the Mormon church and now baptisms for the dead are in full force under his leadership. And now you know the truth of God. Jesus be the glory for this truth he gave to me when it comes to this verse in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15. Amen.