by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
In I Corinthians 1:17 Paul said, “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.<\/em>” The assumption that denominational people make is that Christ did not send Paul to baptize because baptism is not essential to salvation, but is that really the point here?<\/p>\n Paul had already made the point that to be of <\/b>Christ two things were essential:<\/p>\n That is implied because Paul said they were saying “I am of Paul” and he refutes that by asking “Was Paul crucified for you?” If the answer is no<\/strong>, then stop saying you are “of <\/b>Paul”. Were you baptized in the name of Paul? If the answer is no<\/strong>, then stop saying you are of <\/b>Paul. The implication is that those two things would have to be true of them if they would say that they are of <\/b>Paul. But the further implication is that these two things would have to be true if a person can legitimately say “I am of <\/b>Christ.” Was Christ crucified for you? Yes! Were you baptized in His name? Yes! Then you can claim to be “of Christ.” Otherwise, if one or both of those things were not true you could not claim to be “of Christ.”<\/p>\n Now in I Corinthians 1:17, is Paul saying, “Christ did not send me to baptize because baptism is not essential?” Or is the key here in what is his primary mission? Is it essential to preach the gospel? Yes! Is it essential that Paul himself do the baptizing? No! Is it essential that someone do the baptizing? Yes! The gospel calls for “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved<\/em>” (Mark 16:16). Was it essential that Peter do the baptizing of the 3000 on Pentecost? No! Was it essential that they all get baptized? Yes! Was it essential that someone assist in baptizing them? Yes! Was Peter sent to do the baptizing? No! Was he sent to preach the gospel? Yes! Someone else can help get the baptizing done.<\/p>\n So, is Paul saying he was not sent to baptize because baptism is not essential? No! He is saying that God did not instruct him to go baptize, obligating him to do the baptizing but to preach the gospel, and the gospel would urge the baptism, and others can assist in helping to get them baptized into Christ so that they can then be “of Christ”. All the Corinthians were baptized (Acts 18:8; I Corinthians 12:13), but Paul assisted in baptizing only a few. Why? Because that was not what he was sent <\/b>to do. Preach the gospel and the gospel brings souls to Christ to be baptized into Christ (Galatians 3:26-27; Romans 6:3-6).<\/p>\n In the case of many of the childish Corinthians, Paul was glad he didn’t do the baptizing of many “lest they say he baptized in his own name<\/em>.” Knowing how they began dividing toward their favorite preachers, he was glad he pointed them to Christ and did not become their argument for saying “I am of Paul.” So, Paul is not teaching that baptism is not essential. He is saying it is not essential that Paul does the baptizing.<\/p>\n Baptism is essential (I Peter 3:21; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16), only after the gospel has been taught and brings one to conviction and seeking conversion to Christ. At that time any number of people can help “baptize you into <\/b>Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27; Romans 6:3-6; Colossians 2:12; I Corinthians 12:13; I Peter 3:21). No one is ready to be baptized into Christ until the gospel has brought about that proper conviction. Paul was sent to preach that gospel, let the gospel bring people to baptism, and any number of people could help assist in the baptizing. That is what this text is teaching! Do not allow deceivers to twist this passage to conflict with the text and other clear verses.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton In I Corinthians 1:17 Paul said, “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.” The assumption that denominational people make is that Christ did not send Paul to baptize because…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[52,728,118],"class_list":["post-64501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-baptism","tag-i-corinthians","tag-paul"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":39196,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-paul-say-he-was-not-sent-to-baptize\/","url_meta":{"origin":64501,"position":0},"title":"Why did Paul say he was not sent to baptize?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good morning, First, I would like to say thank you for your work and effort in spreading the gospel. I really enjoy reading things from your site. I'm writing about baptism. I once wrote a pastor about baptism. I was having difficulty believing it was necessary for salvation. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88547,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-the-apostle-paul-baptize\/","url_meta":{"origin":64501,"position":1},"title":"Did the Apostle Paul Baptize?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Louis Rushmore Plainly, the apostle Paul acknowledged that he personally baptized some individuals. \"Now I say this, that each of you says, 'I am of Paul,'\u00a0or 'I am of Apollos,'\u00a0or 'I am of Cephas,' or 'I am of Christ.\"\u00a0Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38398,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-corinthians-error-on-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":64501,"position":2},"title":"The Corinthians’ Error on Baptism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall \"For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel\" (I Corinthians 1:17 CSB). When people today use this passage to discredit the place and importance of baptism, ironically they make the same mistake as the Corinthians but for a different reason. Paul's actual\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4216,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/christ-did-not-send-me-to-baptize\/","url_meta":{"origin":64501,"position":3},"title":"Christ Did Not Send Me to Baptize","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton What did Paul mean by this statement in I Corinthians 1:17? Preaching the gospel is what leads to people being baptized (Mark 16:15-16). You could read the whole Old Testament, including the Law of Moses, and it will not command you to be baptized. Only the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23716,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-proper-thing-to-say-as-you-are-baptizing-someone\/","url_meta":{"origin":64501,"position":4},"title":"What is the proper thing to say as you are baptizing someone?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Jeff, I read an article that asks what does someone says before they baptize someone else. It almost answered my question but not completely. I have always been taught that it is not a proper baptism unless the proper things were said. After taking their confession and then\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47738,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/baptism-started-out-in-water-but-it-has-changed\/","url_meta":{"origin":64501,"position":5},"title":"Baptism started out in water, but it has changed","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: This message is in regards to water baptisms. In the early stages, John the baptist and Jesus' disciples were performing water baptisms. Some preachers are teaching the brethren, \"except you be baptized in water you cannot be saved.\" The elders of Jerusalem settled the issue of salvation when they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64501\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n