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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
May 26
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Today's Pathway:
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Yesterday we saw Paul attempting to show the Corinthians that they should not be divided based upon following certain men. Since he was the man that one faction of the church was supporting, he wrote that he had not been crucified for any of the believers there, nor had any of them been baptized in his name. In today's passage he starts off by noting that he was thankful that he hadn't baptized many of the Corinthian church members. He mentions two specific men, plus another family, but to the best of his knowledge those are the only folks that he personally immersed. He knew that, had he baptized more of them, people might be able to say that he was personally attempting to gain a following. If there were cliques in the church, he wanted the believers there to understand that it wasn't because of anything that he had done. Yesterday we spoke about the problem of "man-worship". It is certainly wrong for Christians to follow men instead of God. However, it is equally wrong for pastors or other leaders to attempt to receive the praise of men. The congregation should be giving all glory to God, and the leadership should be pointing all glory to God. In Acts 10 Cornelius asks for Peter to come to see him. In verses 25-26 we read,
"And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man."
Peter understood that all honor belonged to the Lord, and he refused to accept the praise of men. Paul understood it as well.
Verse 17 is a very important doctrinal verse. Many churches today believe in some form of "baptismal regeneration", which means that it is baptism that saves the soul. Some "baptize" infants, who obviously are too young to have made the choice to receive Christ. Others teach that a person must believe on the Lord, but then add the necessity of baptism in order to be saved. Paul's statement here really shows the error of those ideas. Paul said in verse 14 that he was glad that he had baptized so few people in Corinth. If baptism was a necessary part of salvation, Paul should have been disappointed that he had failed in such a crucial area. Then verse 17 adds that Christ had not sent Paul to baptize. Paul's burden was for Israel to be saved (Romans 10:1). He called himself the apostle of the Gentiles (Romans 11:13). He said that God had called him to
"preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Ephesians 3:8).
If this be the case, and baptism was a necessity for salvation, why would he say that Christ had not called him to baptize? Did Jesus only call Paul to deliver a part of God's redemptive plan? Obviously, the answer is that baptism, while taught in Scriptures as something that believers should receive (Acts 2:41), has nothing to do with salvation.
John MacArthur preached the following concerning this passage:
"I Corinthians 1:14 - 'I thank God that I baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius.' Now, if baptism equals salvation, that's a very strange statement, isn't it? 'Boy, am I thankful I didn't lead any of you to Christ except Crispus and Gaius.' Now watch this. 'For Christ sent me not to baptize.' Yikes! Not to baptize. What'd He send you to do? 'To preach the Gospel.' Did you know that baptizing and preaching the Gospel are two different things? Therefore, baptism isn't part of the Gospel."
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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