Christians live, fight and die in the light of a certain resurrection.
Truth is always related to life, and Christian belief must have its counterpart in the influence it exerts on a Christian’s behavior. Paul moves on, therefore, to point out some of the practical implications of what the denial of resurrection entails.
If there is no resurrection, the practice of baptism for the dead has no meaning (15:29). Precisely what that meaning was in the mind of both apostle and church is still a matter of some doubt; and many interpretations have been forthcoming. The most likely view is that members of the church at Corinth were receiving baptism on behalf of friends or relatives who had died before they could pass from the status of interested inquirers to that of full members of Christ’s body. The baptism was thus a proxy-baptism. An alternative view sees in baptism a reference to martyrdom (see Mark 10:38ff.) and it is undeniable that a Christian’s death for Christ’s sake in the arena was in later history taken to be the equivalent of his baptism, if he had not been able to enter the fellowship by the regular procedure of initiation. In either case, the inference is pointed: why practice a custom or risk the possibility of martyrdom if either the deceased friends have no hope in death or the martyrs die in vain? And in no case does Paul give positive approval to this Corinthian practice which may well have been an addition in their church life.
If there is no resurrection, Paul’s apostolic risks which exposed him to mortal dangers are foolhardy acts (15:30,32)—a charge which his enemies in 2 Corinthians chapters 11–12 brought against him. His entire life was one of facing risks for Christ’s sake; one notable instance at Ephesus (the reference may be metaphorical of the violence of human opposition) is again the subject of his correspondence in 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 and is a commentary on this allusion to “fighting with wild beasts” (Acts 19:23-40 seems to belong to another occasion).
If there is no resurrection—and so no final judgment—Christians may as well adopt the pagan philosophy of “live for today” (although taken from Isaiah 22:13). But Paul would counter this with the solemn reminder of Romans 14:10-12 and 2 Corinthians 5:10.
