Baptism - 1 Corinthians 1:17

Baptism

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Trinity
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"Saved"
Baptism
  Matthew 18:4
  Mark 7:4
  Mark 10:14
  Luke 11:38
  John 4:2
  Romans 10:9,13
  1 Cor. 1:17
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1 Corinthians 1:17: "Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel."
Problem:: This passage is quoted to prove that baptism is not necessary for salvation.
Solution:

Such an interpretation is sheer perversion of the context for Paul says he did baptize Crispus, Gaius and the household of Stephanas, (vs. 14-16), which would mean Paul writes his own condemnation if "Christ sent me not to baptize" be understood to be a prohibition of him baptizing converts.
The context shows that there was a partisan spirit in Corinth. Converts were saying "I am of Paul", "I am of Apollos", (1 Cor. 1:12, 13), but Paul would have none of it. Hence his sigh of thankfulness: "I thank God that I baptized none of you . . . lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name." (vs. 14, 15)
This passage indicates that no special virtue is associated with the baptizer.¹ Paul himself was commissioned by Christ to be, first and foremost, a preacher of the Gospel. Whether he personally undertook the baptism of converts was a matter of no importance.
That baptism is essential to salvation is evident from Mark 16:16; John 3:5; 1 Peter 3:21; Gal. 3:27; Acts 2:38; 22:16; 16:30-33.

Footnotes:

Jesus did not personally baptize, this was done by his disciples. (John 4:2). Return