I was studying the Bible with my friend (she is a Mormon), and she showed me a verse that talks about baptizing dead people (1 Cor 15:29).  What is that all about?

 

Sincerely,
Coffin Dunker

Dear Coffin Dunker,

God does command baptism for the dead… but not how the Mormons teach it.  Baptism for the dead is a Mormon practice where they baptize a living family member on behalf of a dead relative.  The Mormons then profess that “proxy-baptism” saves the soul of the dead relative, turning them into a Mormon.  There is nothing in the Bible that teaches this doctrine, and they misuse 1 Cor 15:29 when they refer to it.

1 Cor 15:29 is in the middle of a discussion Paul is having with the Corinthian church about life after death.  Paul just got done explaining that Jesus died and lived again (1 Cor 15:15-18).  Paul will then later explain that he is willing to be persecuted even to death in order to preach the gospel (1 Cor 15:30-32).  The statement about baptism for the dead is smack-dab right in the middle of that context.  Therefore, whatever “baptism for the dead” is referring to must have something to do with life after death and the willingness to die for the gospel because you have such a hope.

Baptism removes our sin (Acts 2:38).  Baptism saves us (1 Pet 3:21, Mk 16:16).  When we are baptized, we move from a state of spiritual death to spiritual life (Eph 2:1-5).  That spiritual death (i.e. eternity in hell) is what Paul is referring to in 1 Cor 15:29.  People are baptized for death, to remove spiritual death, and live in the hope of eternal life (Tit 3:7).  Jesus came and preached to those living in the “shadow of death” (Lk 1:79).  When we obey the gospel, we have passed out of death and into life (Jhn 5:24).  Jesus even went so far as to say that we will never see death if we keep His word (Jhn 8:51).  In the context of first Corinthians chapter 15, Paul is talking about this eternal death.  When people are baptized, they are baptized to avoid the eternal death that awaits all who are outside of Christ.

I am so confused; I heard you have to speak in tongues to be saved.  I have not spoken in tongues that I know of, and I know I have the Holy Spirit in me because I feel Him in my heart.  Why is it that some preachers say you must speak in tongues and some say you don't?  Here is a scripture I am confused about also – Mark16:17: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues.”  Is this telling me I am not saved since I have not spoken in tongues?

 

Sincerely,
Speechless

Dear Speechless,

You do not have to speak in tongues to be saved.  The Ethiopian eunuch didn’t speak in tongues, and he was saved (Acts 8:36-39).  The Philippian jailer didn’t speak in tongues, and he was saved (Acts 16:31-34).  Paul taught that only some had the gift of tongues (1 Cor 12:28-31).  Any preacher that teaches that you have to speak in tongues to be saved has missed some very basic Bible verses.  They have an agenda and are deserving of condemnation as false teachers who proclaim something other than the Gospel (Gal 1:8-9).

Furthermore, miraculous gifts are no longer present in the church.  They are no longer needed because we have the complete and perfect Word of God (1 Cor 13:8-10).  For further details on this, read “Speaking in Tongues”, “The Lost Art of Prophecy”, and “Spoken Like A True Friend”.

Mark 16:17 is not referring to all christians, but instead it is referring to the “signs that would accompany” Christianity.  As the gospel first spread, God used miracles to attest to the authenticity of the apostles’ claims that Jesus was the Son of God (Mk 16:20).  These signs and wonders were God’s way of supernaturally bearing witness to the preaching (Heb 2:2-4).  Miracles do not make you a christian; obedience to the will of God does (Rom 12:2).  Read “What Must I Do To Be Saved?” to understand, verse-by-verse, what it takes to become a christian.  Do not accept anything but the Scriptures.  Only God’s Word holds the answers to our salvation (Rom 1:16).

A congregation was told that Satan is in heaven.  I have always been taught that he is on earth, seeking whom he can devour.  Have I been taught wrongly for the last thirty years?

 

Sincerely,
Watching The Skies

Dear Watching The Skies,

Satan is definitely not in heaven any longer.  He once was, but Jesus cast Satan down.  Jesus once told His disciples (after they came back from a successful preaching journey) that He saw Satan being cast down like lightning from heaven (Lk 10:17-18).  Satan was permanently cast down to the earth because Jesus’ blood overcame Satan’s arguments against God’s people (Rev 12:9-11).  Satan was defeated by the blood of the Lamb… never to dwell in heaven again.

My son is in the military, and one of his platoon mates is a Mormon.  My son was told by this young man that he was fasting.  When my son asked him why he was fasting, the other soldier said the Bible says to fast every first Sunday of the month.  He said it is a sin not to fast.  What verse is he using?  Is this a verse out of the Mormon Bible?  Is it a sin not to fast?  When is an appropriate time to fast?

Sincerely,
MREs For Me

Dear MREs For Me,

Your son’s platoon mate is referring to a verse in a Mormon book called ‘Doctrine and Covenants’ (D&C), specifically D&C 59:12-13.  D&C is one of the Mormon religion’s major holy books and is most definitely NOT part of God’s Word.  God condemns any book other than the Bible.  Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, said that he was a prophet that was guided by the angel Moroni.  It is ironic that the apostle Paul says that even if an angel says something different than what is in the Bible, they are to be condemned (Gal 1:8).

Fasting is a Biblical practice, but there are no specific guidelines for when to do it.  Fasting is the practice of not eating for a designated period of time.  Jesus once fasted for forty days (Matt 4:2).  Fasting is often associated with times of grief and difficult decisions (Joel 2:12).  Jesus’ disciples were noted for not fasting as often as the rest of the Jewish community (Matt 9:14).  There is a time for fasting, but it is purely up to personal discretion.

I recently did a very strange thing; I lied to my family in order to go to a preacher's house with the rest of the congregation for an evening of fellowship and Bible study.  I felt that lying to my family (in this particular instance) was reasonable and acceptable because I was doing it to keep from hurting their feelings.  The situation, as I'm sure you can imagine, is much more complicated than I'm admitting now, but although my family is supportive of me learning about the Bible, they would (strongly) prefer I do so in my own denomination.  Was it a sin to lie to my parents in this capacity?

 

Sincerely,
Parental Pressure

Dear Parental Pressure,

The short answer is: yes.  It is a sin to lie to your parents.  Lying is always wrong (Col 3:9), and the heart of living by the Bible functions around the idea that our ethics are not dictated by the situation but by God’s unchanging word.  Lying is a creation of the devil (Jhn 8:44), and if we seek to worship God, we must do so in spirit and in truth (Jhn 4:24).

Having said that, we certainly can commiserate with you in the pressure that you have on you from outside sources.  Familial pressure is something that everyone faces from time to time.  Jesus made it clear that He would set families against each other (Lk 12:51-53).  If you follow the Bible, it will always set you at odds with certain people, even your own family.

God hates lying (Pr 6:16-17), but you don’t have to tell everyone everything about your life.  Even Jesus ignored his brothers’ request to know His comings and goings on occasion (Jhn 7:8-10).  Jesus never lied (Tit 1:2, Heb 4:15), but He did make it clear to His brothers that what He did or didn’t do was none of their business.

If you are lying to your parents to avoid telling them the truth about your devotion to Christ, then you need to make your stance clear (Matt 10:32), but if you are simply trying to study God’s Word to find the truth for yourself (and you believe the truth may very well exist outside of your family’s current religion) but simply don’t want artificial pressure on you while you do so… don’t feel obligated to tell your every move to others as you study to find the truth.