The Most Important Work We Do

Mormonism teaches that the most important work to do is to redeem the dead. This is the reason the LDS church has the most extensive genealogy library in the world and places such a great emphasis on tracing each family's genealogy all the way back to Adam. Titus 3:9 and 1 Timothy 1:4 say that we are not to do genealogy work, because it is a vain and deceitful work. That doesn't mean we can't trace our family roots, but not as a tool of salvation, as  Mormon theology says.

Once some names of deceased persons have been discovered and processed, those names are taken into the temple and those deceased persons are baptized by proxy into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is what is known as baptism for the dead.

LDS church members will later go through other temple rituals by proxy for these dead ones, so that they too can receive the washings and anointings, the endowments and the supposed blessings that are a part of the temple rituals.  They will also take those names into the sealing room and marry the dead by proxy too, sometimes to the living. In other words, 99% of what goes on in the temple is works for the dead. Jesus said He was the God of the living and not the dead. He said to let the dead take care of the dead. If the Mormons claim that these works for the dead are one of the most important things they can do, this must mean the Mormon works are dead works and not of God.

This doctrine of baptizing the dead erroneously comes from 1 Corinthians 15:29. 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?

The first time I was shown this I thought, "Since it's in the Bible, it must be true." It wasn't until many years later, after leaving Mormonism, that I went back and looked at this again. The first thing I noticed was that Paul is not making a statement here, he's asking a question because both sentences end in a question mark. The second thing I realized was that when Paul was writing his letters, he was always addressing the Christian churches (Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, Thessalonians, etc.) Therefore he was always in first person; you, me, us, we; because it was one Christian to another. But in this verse he says they. Who are the they he's referring to? There are several verses that might explain this, but the one that comes to mind is Matthew 22:23 which says,

The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection-- If we look again at 1 Corinthians 15:29, we find  in the middle of the of the verse "--if the dead rise not at all" and then match it to Matthew 22:23, we find that Paul is referring to the Sadducees or a group like them. So we find that Paul is not lifting this practice up at all, but instead is putting it down.

However, let's assume for a moment that the Mormons are right. Then the question has to be asked, if this is right, how many times would Paul have taught this practice? In fact, how many times would the twelve apostles have taught it? And even more importantly, how many times would Jesus have taught it? Actually, 1 Corinthians 15:29 is the only verse in the Bible that says anything about works for the dead. Yet when we examine it we find that Paul is putting it down and not lifting it up.

If only the Mormons would stop for a moment and really examine their doctrines and where they come from, they would realize they're not from the God of the Bible. Then they would be able to turn to Him and be saved!

Back to No Comparison or Baptism