1:14 ¶ I thank
God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; 15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in
mine own name. 16 And I baptized also
the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
1:17 ¶ For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to
preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be
made of none effect.
Paul only baptized a few people
although here he seems to not be sure of how many. Paul’s mission was to
preach. Crispus had been an important Jew at Corinth.
Acts 18:8 And
Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his
house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.
Paul intended to leave it up to
other ministers to baptize. Jesus Himself did not baptize followers but left it
up to his disciples.
John 4:1 ¶ When
therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and
baptized more disciples than John, 2
(Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) 3 He left Judaea, and departed again into
Galilee.
However, He did leave the command
to baptize.
Mark 16:16 He
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall
be damned.
Matthew 28:19
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
It becomes clear that tasks and
authority are best delegated in the Christian church. The Apostles themselves
recognized the need for assistance in matters other than preaching the word of
God. And clearly, with thousands of people added to the church as per Acts 2,
common sense tells us that the men they chose, too, would have had assistants.
Acts 6:1 ¶ And
in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a
murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were
neglected in the daily ministration. 2
Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason
that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. 3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you
seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may
appoint over this business. 4 But we
will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
Paul did not preach with wisdom of
words. People are not won to Christ by an argument but only by the preparation
by the Holy Ghost on their hearts coupled with a Christian witness. The Greeks,
the dominant culture of Paul’s time, admired philosophy as we are reminded in
the next passage which then corrupted one part of Christianity early on. Late
second century Christianity which eventually became the state-church of Rome
under the emperor Constantine and beyond was heavily corrupted by Greek
philosophy. Augustine of Hippo praised Plato in his City of God and is even called a Neoplatonist by some. When a
preacher says that evil is simply the absence of good as darkness is the
absence of light he is parroting Greek philosophy, not the Bible, which teaches
that evil, in the sense of darkness and iniquity with Satan as its prime
example, consciously seeks to destroy. Its not the absence of anything. It’s
the presence of something bad. Of course, it is important to seek out the
context where the word evil is used
so you don’t confuse evil as sinful iniquity with evil as just bad stuff and
trouble and disaster.
In Greek pagan culture there were
traveling for-hire preachers called Sophists who prided themselves on being
able to emotionally charge a crowd, making them laugh or cry, and there were
contests to see who the most effective preacher in that regard was regardless
of their personal testimony. They would preach on subjects like morality when
they themselves were immoral. Logic and debate were tools of the trade. In
fact, in English the word sophistry is used to describe a deceitful speech
designed to influence someone sort of like a preacher who says Matthew 5:5 or
Romans 12:1-2 are about church attendance.
The truth of the gospel is not
properly furthered by an argument designed to manipulate someone’s emotions to
get a, “decision for Christ.” It is furthered by a presentation of the truth
presented in the Bible by a willing Christian in words, in deeds, and with his
or her life as an example on one side, with the Holy Ghost working on a
person’s heart on the other.
A preacher should be like a
pitcher who lobs the ball over the plate giving the unsaved person, the batter
in this metaphor, every opportunity to hit the ball out of the park. He should
not be trying to show off his fast ball, slider, or curve ball trying to draw
attention to how gifted he is in the pulpit. Paul was plain of speech and
lacking in that sophistication one would expect from the professional preacher/sophist
of his day.
Later in this letter Paul will lay
out the gospel so clearly one can only either believe it or reject it with no
middle ground. There is no room for the agnostic in Paul’s teaching. You either
believe or not.
False conversions are cruel and
commonplace in both fundamentalist Protestant Christianity and in liberal
Protestant Christianity. One depends on a formula prayer which many people are
manipulated into with no true conversion as in, “if you ever want to see your mama
again who prayed for you every day you’ll come forward now and get saved,” or,
“aren’t you tired of the mess you’ve made of your life and of hurting people.
Come to Christ and he’ll make it all lollipops and roses.” The other depends on convincing you that good
people should try to imitate Christ and that makes you a Christian. Most people
who make those professions with nothing behind them rarely darken the doors of
a church building again.
Now let’s read this section;
verses 10 to 17.
1:10 ¶ Now I
beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak
the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that
ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it hath been
declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of
Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now this I say, that every one
of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified
for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
1:14 ¶ I thank God that I baptized none of you, but
Crispus and Gaius; 15 Lest any should
say that I had baptized in mine own name. 16
And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not
whether I baptized any other.
1:17 ¶ For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to
preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be
made of none effect.
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