“…Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them…” –Ezekiel 37:12-12

Many Filipinos grew up with traditions and practices that have no basis in anything. They do things without question because their parents and ancestors did so. One of them is All Saints’ Day. Today, the observance is comprised of rowdy merry-making, insane revelry, and aimless festivities with copious drinking and eating, which has nothing to do with remembering the dead. This is grossly unfortunate. If Christians read the Bible, they would not fail to realize that thinking of dead relatives has a purpose—ensuring they are fed with the Word of God as often as possible.
This is clear from the Bible itself. We have to preach the word and read the Bible to the dead because that was an example which Jesus, our God and Savior who is God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, left for the faithful to follow. After His resurrection, He went to a place where the spirits of the dead are imprisoned. The Bible (His word) says the dead must be preached to and read the Bible in order to snatch them away from the fires of hell. Even if they died as sinners, they would be cleansed by the word of God.
For future All Saints’ Day observances, find the time to read verses of the Bible to the dearly departed in addition to the regular activities. For Christians who believe the Bible is the power of God for the salvation of all believers, they must understand it contains verses that require the reading of the word of God to the dead.
One particular verse that should be read and preached: John 3:16.
According to the Children of God Blood Kin of the Christ Church, or the Simbahang Anak ng Diyos Kadugo Ni Kristo church, this is how the verse reads in the Only Way Bible: “For God so loved the world He Himself came down to earth from heaven, in the form of man with flesh and blood, to accept, as He indeed accepted in His holy flesh, holy blood, and Holy Spirit the penalty for man’s sinfulness, so that any sinner who will accept Him, receive Him, believe and have faith in Him as God and Savior and as God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, will not perish but will have eternal life, and will be given the right to become children of God.”

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