Sunday, we finished our brief study of 1 Corinthians 15:24-28, and God’s final authority over everything in eternity future. We know that after the resurrection of Christ, God the Father bestowed upon him all power / authority in heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18). But, that authority is temporary, that is until after the Great White Throne Judgment. When eternity future begins, known as The Day of God (2 Peter 3:10-13), God will be all in all.
1 Corinthians 15:23-28: But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
2 Peter 3:10-13: But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
We must remember that the Day of Christ is the rapture / resurrection of the Church Age saints (1 Thess 4:13-18; 1 Cor 15:50-54); the Day of the Lord is the 2nd Advent / physical return of Messiah King Jesus to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth (Rev 19:11-21); and the Day of God ushers in eternity future (1 Cor 15:24-28; 2 Peter 3:10-13).
We tackled one of the most cryptic and misunderstood verses in the Bible – V.29, and the two questions Paul poses concerning the baptism of the dead being practiced by the local pagan religion. It gives us opportunity to expose and dispel the basic doctrine of the Mormon Church, offering salvation to all the ancestors of anyone who converts to the Mormon religion. There are two Bible study principles given to help us steer clear of false doctrine.
1. Never base a doctrine on a single verse of scripture. God will always give 2 or 3 witnesses of scripture to establish a truth.
2. Never base a doctrine on a question. Paul asked, What shall they (those outside of Christianity) do which baptize for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? What religious rite or purpose are they exercising if there is no eternal benefit? Why are they (those outside of Christianity) then baptized for the dead?
Paul exposes the Babylon Mystery Religion for what it is. The religion that has its roots in Genesis 10-11, and is destroyed in Revelation 17-18, founded by Nimrod, and spread throughout all the world with the division of peoples and the confusion of the languages in Genesis 11. After Nimrod’s death he was declared a deity, the Sun God (Sunday), who gives life to everything on the planet. It doesn’t matter what the names of deities, or what culture, whether Greek, Roman, Norse, Egyptian, Hindu, Incan, Mayan, Aztec, or any eastern religion, the Babylon Mystery Religion is the mother of them all. She doesn’t care what you believe, as long as you do not believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and God’s grace alone for your salvation and forgiveness of your sins.
The Bible calls this religion a harlot / a prostitute, who will do anything to gain wealth and the adoration of mankind. Nimrod, the grandson of Ham, hated God, and wanted to rule humanity by government, by culture, and by religion. God destroyed all of that in Genesis 11, but it did spread throughout all the world, giving man an opportunity to worship as many gods as he wanted. That is why God called Abram out of the polytheistic religion of the world, to a monotheistic belief in the one true God. Genesis 12-15 give us a clear story line of the call of Abraham to be the father of Israel and the father of faith. Romans 4
1 Corinthians 15:29 reveals the danger of allowing pagan worship into the New Testament Church. Ritualistic worship allows outward worship without an inward change. That is what baptism for the dead was all about.
Revelation 17:1-6: And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.