These articles are written to encourage Christians, and to be used by churches for their weekly bulletin.
All I ask is that credit is given with my name and the web address, bible101.substack.com
Much has been said about some of the top anti-baptism arguments, such as the thief on the cross or the idea that baptism is a work. However, there are plenty of other arguments that are thrown out against the necessity of baptism, and it’s good to be prepared to answer those, too.
One such argument comes from 1 Corinthians 1:17a, which says, “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.” Baptism’s detractors use that phrase to argue that Paul downplayed baptism as unessential.
Is that really what that verse means, though? Of course not. Here are a few reasons why:
Paul still wanted the Corinthians to be baptized
He wasn’t saying that they didn’t need to be baptized. The key is 1:15. There, he gives the reason for why he is thankful he didn’t perform many baptisms, and it is explicitly because he didn’t want people boasting that he had baptized them.
He was merely reminding them that there is no added prestige to your faith based on who baptized you.
Paul DID baptize
To further drive that point home, even in that same context the apostle noted that he had baptized some of them (1:14,16). If Paul’s point here was “you don’t need to be baptized,” then it would be strange for him to point out that he had performed baptisms in Corinth.
Paul talked about baptism more than anybody
The argument tries to separate preaching the Gospel from baptism, as though the Gospel can be preached without baptism. But Paul was only separating the concept of preaching the Gospel from the act of administering a baptism.
Elsewhere he noted how baptism washed away his sins (Acts 22:16), showed how it served as our way of uniting with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection into new life (Romans 6:3-4; Colossians 2:12), and said it is how we are clothed with Christ (Galatians 3:27).
Don’t let a cherry picked, twisted out of context verse trip you up—Paul was absolutely a proponent of the essentialist of baptism.
I'm studying the new church again, with fresh eyes, realizing that baptism is the way that the Holy Spirit enters a new believer. Incredible!
And Jesus was baptized, at his request, by John to fulfill all righteousness. God’s plan for salvation. A work of God, not man.