“Paul and Baptism” by Daniel Jolliff

In the opening section of 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul makes a rather strange statement. He says, “I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius.” Now why would Paul be “thankful” that he did not baptize “many” of the Corinthians. Paul even goes on to say, “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.” Taken out of context, this statement can be quite disturbing to those raised in the Churches of Christ. Baptism has held a very strong and prominent position within our doctrinal makeup and Paul seems to be tossing it aside as if it is unimportant and not central to his work. Well, that is why it is so important to look at the context. Paul has a very strong position on baptism. In fact, when you look at all of Paul’s writings, baptism is assumed for all of those who call themselves followers of Christ. What is going on in Corinth is that various groups within the Church there are claiming loyalties to those who “ baptized” them and taught them. They were taking those positions as if the person who baptized them made them better Christians of higher status than others in the church who were baptized by someone less important. These groups were arrogantly taunting the others that they should be listened to because they were more godly, spiritual and important based on which apostle baptized them or on which teacher they followed. Paul cannot believe what is happening and how “wrong” it is for Christians to treat each other that way. Christ is supposed to be a unifying factor; one that calls all people from all walks of life to come together in humility and unity as forgiven sinners in order to praise God together for the grace that He has poured out upon us. The very idea that the Corinthian Christians are dividing and demeaning each other based on human loyalties goes against everything Paul had taught them. Thus, when he heard that some were even using him as a rallying call, all those who were baptized by Paul, he states that he is thankful that he did not baptize many of them. The very thought of replacing loyalty to Jesus Christ with loyalty to Paul as a means of dividing against other Christians must have absolutely nauseated the apostle! We were baptized into Christ and we must always stay focused on following Christ above any human teacher. Human teachers are helpful and encouraging, but only as long as they point us toward Christ. Let us all encourage each other to be united in our zeal to follow Christ to the exclusion of all others.

Advertisement