Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

What is the meaning of this passage?

Why did Paul say that Christ had not sent him to baptize? In verse 17, Is Paul separating baptism from "the Gospel?" What is your interpretation?

10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ."
13Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? 14 I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 So no one can say that you were baptized into my name. 16(Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

I don't know. LOL! But I don't think it means that baptism isn't important or necessary. I think Paul was making some other point. I'm just not sure what it was.

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

"For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel"

Is Paul separating baptism from the gospel?

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

Were Apollos, Paul, and Cephas baptizing people in their own name?


Why did Paul neglect baptism?

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

Baptism is a proper response to the Gospel. It is not the Gospel.

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

I think it's pretty easy -he's telling them it's not WHO baptizes you, but who's NAME you are baptized with. So, him saying I didn't come to baptize you in Paul's name, but to preach the gospel is simple.......it's not about him, but - - repent, be baptized in Jesus' name.

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I don't think he neglected baptism. He baptized the jailer the same night he believed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ ...

but he did not teach baptismal regeneration nor did the other apostles.

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

No, but the people were saying they were baptized by Paul, Apollos & Cephas.

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

But other than the house of Stephanas and two other men, he never baptized anyone else...why?

Why didn't Paul baptize?

There were many situations where it was just Paul and a crowd of unbelievers. There weren't any other believers around to help him baptize. Why, after preaching the gospel, were there no baptismal candidates?

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

That's because in Jewish ritual baptisms one was baptized by the authority of the given teacher they were following ...

Some sectarians were now claiming to be disciples of Paul ... Apollos and Cephas ... Paul was simply reminding them under whose authority and power they had been baptized under.

In baptism we publicly declare to be His disciples.

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

Pretty much self explanatory:

And he did Baptize
It sounds like some of the Saints were getting caught up in the Men of God and their Celebrity rather than Jesus.

Paul did not want anyone to Brag about who baptized them and develop clichés

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

We can't assume that they were not baptized ... There were other elders/pastors in the city that he may have deferred to ... as a "traveling evangelist and apostle".

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

Apparently he did.

The house of Stephanas and two others.

That's slim pickin's considering the thousands he preached to.

Would Paul be accepted in Apostolic ranks today?

What's up with this?

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

We can't assume anything. We can't assume they were baptized either, right?

You are hypothesizing.

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Exactly! I believe that's why so much emphasis was given about "the name".

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

He chose to do those ... we don't know why ...

However, it's clear he taught and practiced water baptism ...

but as stated before and by Cooper ... He most likely did not want believers to "idolize" him ... or claim they were disciples of Paul ... he believed in th ministry of the entire body ... the priesthood of all saints.

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

There is more to infer from his practice and teachings that he believed, preached and practiced it ...

And the passage you provided shows us that he was concerned about celebrity worship.

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The name always conveyed the whole person and their authority and power.

Some have placed the incantation of the name to be salvific.

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But if Dan is correct, and Paul only preached the gospel of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection.......that would mean Paul was saying God had not called him to tell the lost about repentance, baptism and the Holy Ghost.

How can we separate the Gospel and the response?

Why would Paul only retell the story without mentioning how to respond?

Was Paul a "saved at faith" teacher?

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

I agree. I think this is a logical explanation of the passage. He sounds like he's being facetious, trying to make a point, and I certainly can't draw the conclusion that the point he was making is that baptism is unimportant, considering the context of other scriptures.

Paul did teach on baptism:

Colossians 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Romans 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Acts 19:3-6 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

Look at what he said again.


"I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel"

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

This is an inaccurate conclusion. He said that he had only baptized "Crispus and Gaius; ...And...the household of Stephanas:", but in verse 14 he said "none of YOU", meaning of the Corinthian church. Obviously he baptized more than that, or else Acts 19 is an inaccurate account. He was in Ephesus when he baptized these disciples, and Apollos was in Corinth. (Acts 19:1)

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

We find various times Paul and Peter in Acts preaching and not once mention water baptism during the initial presentation of the Gospel.

Ex: at the temple ... to the governors, etc.

The taught we are saved by through faith ... the emphasis was alway placing our faith on the work of the Lamb and turning to Him (repentance_ for the remission of our sins.

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

??? Are we assuming Apollos never went to Ephesus ... and surely Paul had been to both cities.

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Very good response.

Question though.

We always say that the Pauline Epistles were written to believers. Holy Ghost-filled believers. So can we use any of the references you just mentioned seeing as how they were obviously written to the Church?

Where are the examples of Paul teaching repentance, baptism and HG infilling to the lost?

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Huh? I just said Apollos was in Corinth, and obviously Paul had been there previously. Acts 18:1

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There a preaching by Peter also recorded in Acts where it seems Peter forgot the Acts 2:38 message.

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Vice-versa ... indeed ... Do we know Apollos never went to Ephesus?

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But Miss B, Paul deemphasized the importance of his role in baptism. He stated that Christ did not call him to baptize, but to preach the Gospel.

The best we can assume is that he had handlers who performed that Christian rite. And that is an assumption, right?

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I don't know about Paul...I know Peter preached quite a powerful message in Acts 2, but I suppose that is overused, and therefore inconsequential to this conversation. ;)

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

I don't find the emphasis on performing a baptism correctly in any of Paul writings ... nor a clothesline message ... nor a salvific tithing message ...

One would think that if he was writing to new Christians ... saved from paganism .... he'd at least be more emphatic on the ESSENTIALS that some have placed on the Apostolic message.

The argument that some OPs use that he was already addressing the saved sounds tinny when one thinks about the wealth of counsel and advice Paul painstakenly took to instruct the churches under his care.

Contrast that today w/ the messages found at Apostolic conferences, rallies and campmeetings directed at the saved and one has to wonder if Paul was indeed APOSTOLIC ENOUGH. He didn't beat their drum ... that's fo sho!!!

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

Why are you asking? To try to conclude that perhaps Apollos had been there previously and avoided preaching about baptism?

I think if he had, Paul would have said "Apollos" in reference to previous teachings instead of just "John" ('s baptism).

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Yep, it's OK to preach the Gospel and let some one else do the Baptizing. :friend

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Not at all.

I totally believe Acts 2:38 is the proper response to the Gospel but I am baffled by Paul's words here. And by the sparse record of his involvement in baptisms in general. Especially considering the thousands upon thousands of souls he preached to.

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Maybe there's a 6th fold of the ministry--baptizers. :D

I don't know why he made the statement, but I don't think he was deemphasizing the importance of baptism. I think he was emphasizing the importance of remembering that our allegiance is to Christ, and not to the person that led us to Christ.

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But Coop, there were times when there was no one around but Paul and his unsaved listeners.

That doesn't wash.

(pardon the pun)

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

You've got me there....I do not know. Maybe he had helpers?

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Paul before Agrippa. Notice what he does not mention.


Acts 26
1Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You have permission to speak for yourself." So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense: 2"King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, 3and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.

4"The Jews all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. 5They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee. 6And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today. 7This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. O king, it is because of this hope that the Jews are accusing me. 8Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?

9"I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.

12"On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,[a] 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'

15"Then I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?'

" 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied. 16'Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. 17I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'

19"So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 20First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. 21That is why the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. 22But I have had God's help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— 23that the Christ[b] would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles."

24At this point Festus interrupted Paul's defense. "You are out of your mind, Paul!" he shouted. "Your great learning is driving you insane."

25"I am not insane, most excellent Festus," Paul replied. "What I am saying is true and reasonable. 26The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. 27King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do."

28Then Agrippa said to Paul, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?"

29Paul replied, "Short time or long—I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains."

30The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them. 31They left the room, and while talking with one another, they said, "This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment."

32Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar."

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

Paul implies repentance and turning to God.

Does he mention baptism?

Re: Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize?
 

I think what you just said is the answer, actually--Paul was separating the response to the Gospel from the Gospel itself. Maybe he thought it was his job to preach, and everyone else's job to respond? I really don't know, but I can't conclude that the found baptism unimportant, based on other scriptures.

Especially Romans:

Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Does this scripture mean that if we aren't baptized, that we can't "walk in newness of life?" It seems to imply that, at least, the way I'm reading it. How can I be a "new woman" until I have buried the old one? I know baptism is symbolic, and the work is Christ's, but does He do the work before we are obedient? Or does He change us through obedience?

Hebrews 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

I Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?