But Paul baptized! Yes, he did... But read on! Paul had baptized a few people at Corinth, so he says: 1 Corinthians 1:14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; 1 Corinthians 1:15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. 1 Corinthians 1:16 And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. Water baptism is always associated with the Jews and the people Paul referred to are Jews. Crispus was the chief ruler of the synagogue in Acts 18. Now verse 17 is the important statement: 1 Corinthians 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. He says that Christ sent him NOT to baptize so the question is, why then did Paul baptize some, at the first. The only conclusion you can make from that is that Paul was SENT from the road to Damascus in Acts chapter nine, but later on he was SENT from the temple in Jerusalem, most likely at the time of Acts 18:22. And the second sending of the Apostle Paul did not include water baptism and he was sent NOT TO baptize. He was sent to preach the gospel, he says, not with wisdom of words. In other words, Paul was never sent necessarily to baptize, but here the emphaisis is on the fact that he was sent NOT to baptize. That also puts a distinction between the ministry and the message of Paul from that of the 12 because, obviously, they WERE sent to baptize, as in Matthew 28 and Mark 16. Water baptism is NOT a part of the salvation message today. When religious men start playing around with words and try to insert the word primarily into the verse so that they can hold on to the Jewish water ritual of baptism and adding water baptism as a requirement of salvation then it makes the cross of Christ of none effect. 1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. Notice that it is the preaching of the cross which is the power of God unto salvation. When the cross is preached then people get saved and they ARE saved, not working on it. -TrustingtheLord
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 15:39:57 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015