I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name.  (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas.  Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)  For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

1 Corinthians 1:14-17

Many believe that baptism is not required to be saved, even though both Jesus and Peter said differently (Mk. 16:16; 1 Pet. 3:21).  One reason many sincerely believe this is due to what Paul said to the Corinthians (quoted above), specifically his statement, “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel…” (1:17).  Many determine from this statement that baptism must not be essential to salvation.  However, taking into account both the immediate context (1:10-13) and Luke’s inspired record of Paul’s preaching in Corinth (Acts 18:1-8) makes it apparent that Paul had definitely preached to the Corinthians that baptism is necessary for salvation.  Therefore, his comments to Corinth should not be taken to suggest that baptism is not necessary to be saved.

Remember, Paul was addressing a problem within the Corinthian church, the problem of misplaced loyalty which had caused division among them (1:10-13).  They had the wrong attitude about those who had taught them, thinking too highly of their teachers in a way which was worldly rather than spiritual (3:3-4) since teachers like Paul or Apollos were simply fellow servants of Christ (3:5-9) and were not worthy of their devotion (3:21-23).

Luke records how “many” of the Corinthians were baptized because of Paul’s preaching (Acts 18:1-8), yet Paul himself had baptized only a few of them (1:14-15).  With this in mind, note the question, “Were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1:13).  This indicates that the Corinthians’ misplaced loyalty was centered on the person who had baptized them instead of Christ, which was why Paul was thankful that he had personally baptized only a few of them.  He didn’t want anyone to think he was baptizing in his own name rather than in the name of Christ (1:14-15; cf. Acts 2:38).

Therefore, Paul’s mentioning that he was thankful he had not baptized many of them and that “Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel…” (1:14-17) does not imply that he did not believe baptism was necessary for salvation.  Indeed, his writings make clear that baptism has to happen if one is to die spiritually to sin, be buried and clothed with Christ, be spiritually resurrected to a new life, and enter into a covenant relationship with God similar to the Old Testament covenant relationship shown by circumcision (Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 3:26-27; Col. 2:11-12; cf. Gen. 17:9-14).  Paul himself verbally testified of his own baptism and how he was told that baptism would wash away his sins (Acts 22:16).  Thus, it is clear that Paul is not repudiating the necessity of baptism for salvation in the above passage.  Rather, the context shows us how he is trying to get the Corinthian church to repent of their misguided allegiance to the ones who had personally baptized them.

Additionally, we should note that Paul was an apostle (apostolos, literally “one sent”).  Christ “sent” him for a specific purpose: “to preach the gospel” (1:17).  As an apostle, Paul’s purpose was to preach the good news about “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph. 3:8), a purpose he carried out wherever he went by preaching divinely inspired sermons (Gal. 1:11-12).  His preaching resulted in the baptism of his converted listeners, as was the case at Corinth (Acts 18:8).  However, it was not imperative that Paul himself baptize those who believed his message.  Others, like his traveling companion Apollos, could easily accomplish that task.  This apparently happened at Corinth, for while “many” Corinthians were baptized (Acts 18:8), Paul himself personally baptized only a few (1:14-16).

By rebuking Corinth for her misguided allegiances, Pual reminded them that he had not been crucified for them, nor had they been baptized in his name (1:13).  However, Jesus HAD been crucified for them, and for us also.  Have you been baptized in the name of the One who died for you?

— Jon