Daily Spiritual Food Devotional for MONDAY, JULY 18, 2022

MONDAY, JULY 18, 2022

TEXT: 1 Corinthians 15:29-34

29. If no one will ever be raised from death, then what will the people do who are baptized for those who have died? If the dead are never raised, then why are people baptized for them?

30. And what about us? Why do we put ourselves in danger every hour?

31. I face death every day. That is true, brothers and sisters, just as it is true that I am proud of what you are because of Christ Jesus our Lord.

32. I fought wild animals in Ephesus. If I did that only for human reasons, then I have gained nothing. If we are not raised from death, “Let us eat and drink, because tomorrow we die.”

33. Don’t be fooled: “Bad friends will ruin good habits.”

34. Come back to your right way of thinking and stop sinning. Some of you don’t know God. I say this to shame you.

(Easy-to-Read Version Holy Bible)

TOPIC: WITHOUT RESURRECTION, ALL SAINTS ARE DOOMED

Pushing the fact of resurrection further, Apostle Paul asked the Corinthian church why some members practiced the ‘baptism on behalf of the dead’. Was that not a belief in the resurrection of the saints? It was believed that baptism gave access to the kingdom of God.

And to gain entrance for their dead relations who were not baptized before they died, they had to get baptized on their behalf (v. 29). If the early believers hadn’t understood the fact of resurrection, they, likewise Paul, wouldn’t have jeopardized their lives preaching the Gospel and facing persecution from the rulers and authorities of their time.

Paul asked, “And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour, I have fought with beasts in Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise“ (vs. 30-32). Beloved, Jesus’ resurrection is the core of the Gospel and the sure hope of all believers. Let no one be in doubt as some in the early church of Corinth did (vs. 12, 17-20).

Hold fast to the truth that we shall rise again even after we sleep. Keep up the works of righteousness and keep off the works of sin (vs. 33, 34).

QUESTION: Do you believe in the resurrection of the saints of Christ’s second coming?

PRAYER: Dear Lord, keep me constantly awake to the work of righteousness, to show the world the light of the Gospel in me, in Jesus name, Amen.