God’s Word for You

1 Corinthians 1:14-17 I do not remember whether I baptized anyone else

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Friday, October 28, 2022

14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say that you were baptized into my own name. 16 (I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Apart from them, I do not remember whether I baptized anyone else.)

Paul isn’t putting baptism down as something unimportant. He also isn’t elevating the preaching means of grace over the sacramental means of grace. In context, Paul is saying it’s a good thing that in this particular congregation he didn’t do so much baptizing, on account of all the trouble among the people and their loyalties to this pastor or that pastor. We should also recognize that just as it is wrong for a Christian to prefer one pastor so much that they claim loyalty to him over others, so also it is wrong for a pastor to seek to gain a personal following. This is especially a danger in our present day, when the whole world is obsessed with “personal followers.” This is one reason why using electronic communications for the spread of the gospel (such as this devotional commentary series) can become a trap. If the writer serves his people by opening the Scriptures to his reader or readers and explains the gospel, that’s well and good. If the writer becomes concerned about followers and about things such as fame, success, or money, then he has caught his foot in the devil’s snare.

Paul thinks about this in terms of the people he had personally baptized. Those people, Crispus and Gaius, may have been baptized for private reasons by the Apostle. Crispus had been a synagogue ruler of one of the Corinthian synagogues where Paul preached for a year and a half (Acts 18:8-11). Gaius is very probably the same Gaius Paul was staying with in Corinth when he wrote Romans (see Romans 16:23). He was a guest in these houses, and so he baptized—presumably because they asked him if he would.

In 1 Corinthians 1:1, we learned that Paul was writing this letter along with Sosthenes, who had also been the leader of one of the Corinthian churches (Acts 18:17). It may be that Sosthenes corrected the memory of Paul here, since Paul adds in parentheses, “Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanus.” Here is a curious moment in the inspired text of the Bible. Divine inspiration means that the words recorded are absolutely true—but it does not mean that every detail of an event or speech will be remembered and recorded. This doesn’t bring out any flaw in the Holy Spirit as author of the Scriptures, the one inspiring the authors to write the perfect truth of God’s Word, for “All Scripture is God-breathed” (1 Timothy 3:16). But God used the knowledge, style, language, turn of phrase, and personalities of the writers to set down his holy Word. David is a musician, Isaiah a poet, James writes like a coach, and so on.

An example of this business of details being correct even when they are not all recorded in the same place is the superscription above the cross. It is recorded in all four Gospels, but it is not complete in any of them. Yet the record given by each is true.

Here, Paul’s personal fallibility shows, yet is corrected by Paul himself. The Scriptural record is true and accurate. Paul remembers Stephanus as his mind works backwards in time: Stephanus was the first convert to Christianity in Achaia (southern Greece; 1 Corinthians 16:15).

17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wise speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be emptied of its power.

Paul isn’t downplaying the role of baptism, but that baptizing people wasn’t his main role. Baptizing, along with weekly teaching and preaching, is part of the role of the local pastor, but Paul was a missionary, not the local pastor. The important thing in baptism is that it forgives sins and creates faith, not the identity of the one who baptized. Surely this was at least one reason why Jesus refrained from baptizing but had his disciples do it (John 4:2). Since the local pastor has the call to baptize today, he should be the one to baptize.

The “wise speech” (literally “wisdom of words” ) is translated many ways. Paul’s point is that the Word of God, including his own preaching, is a unique way of proclaiming a message. The speech and style of the Scriptures throughout the Bible has a simplicity and majesty “joined together by a divine miracle” (Gerhard). It is simple because it describes great things, lofty matters, in plain words that can be understood by its readers and hearers. The Scriptures resist affectations and rhetorical color. The words are simple and easy to understand. It is majestic because it teaches us about the highest and deepest mysteries of faith.

1, It is vivid. “He gave his one and only Son” (John 3:16).

2, It is complete. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

3, It is brief. “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30-31).

4, It is coherent. “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

5, It is modest and not obscene. “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). “Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable” (Leviticus 18:22). Even when the speaker speaks obscenities, as in 2 Kings 18:27, or when unthinkably obscene things are condemned, as in 1 Corinthians 6:9 or 2 Kings 17:31, the language is worthy of the pulpit.

6, It has power and forcefulness. “Is not my word like a fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29). And again: “As distant as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our rebellious acts from us” (Psalm 103:12).

Paul has a particular reason for wanting to preach in simple terms apart from “wise speaking.” He wants to warn the Corinthians against having too much regard for clever speeches and worldly wisdom. The message of the gospel, not elaborate decorations that describe it, should be the heart of their faith. In other words, he wants them to see the picture and not the frame.

Paul rejoices that all these people are saved through the Gospel. They heard the message of forgiveness. That message is for you, as well. Your sins are forgiven in Jesus Christ. Be thankful that you were baptized, but do not be too proud that this or that pastor did it. Cherish the gospel of Jesus, who gave himself for youg

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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