Not To Baptized
Owen D. Olbricht

 Paul's statement, “Christ sent me not to baptize” (1 Cor. 1:17), has been used by many to prove that baptism is not necessary for salvation. Without the setting of this verse and other considerations this could seem to be the right understanding.

The Setting

 The setting of Paul's letter to Corinth was to a congregation divided over men with different members saying, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Appolos,” or “I am of Cephas, or “I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 1:12).  Paul wrote, “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 1:17) for the following reasons:

Conversion to Jesus comes through preaching the gospel of Christ, thus must be preached to prepare people for baptism.  Someone else can administer baptism to those who decide to follow Jesus. Baptism in Jesus name, instead in the name of the one who baptized them, makes a person a follower of Jesus.  The divisions among the Corinthians could be resolved if those who were baptized identified with Jesus, instead of the person who baptized them. If Paul baptized people in his own name, they might feel an allegiance to Paul, or to anyone into whose name they were baptized, which would thus cause division.

Paul was thankful he had baptized only a few of them lest they think he baptized them in his own name.

For these reasons Jesus sent Paul to preach the gospel to make followers instead of to baptize people whether or not they believed the gospel—the gospel first, then baptism second for those who believe in Jesus and want to be His follower. Paul could do the preaching, others could do the baptizing after they had believed the gospel.

Paul's goal was not to decry the value of baptism. Gordon D. Fee correctly wrote,  “Paul does not intend to minimize Christian baptism.” A few lines later he stated, “It seems clear from this passage that Paul does not understand baptism to effect salvation.”1 No one should believe baptism produces salvation or has the power to remove sins, for only the blood of Jesus can save and wash away sins (Matt. 26:28; Rev. 1:5), but the blood of Jesus does not wash away sins until a person is baptized to be forgiven (Acts 22:16).  Baptism is not what saves but when. The blood of Jesus is what effects salvation when a person is baptized (Mark 16:15, 16; 1 Pet, 3:21).

Fee went on to write, “But it would be quite wrong to go on, as some do, and say that baptism is a purely secondary matter. Surely Paul would not have so understood it. For him baptism comes after the hearing of the gospel, but it does so as the God-ordained mode of faith's response to the gospel,”2f 1Gordon D. Fee, The New International Commentary the New Testament, The First Epistle Of Corinthians (Grand Rapids, Mich.:William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1987), 63.
2Ibid., 64.

Not...But
 
The conclusion that Paul is not minimizing baptism is in agreement with the Greek idiom ou...alla, “not...but.” “Christ did not [ou] send me to baptize, but [alla] to preach the gospel.” (1 Cor. 1:17). “Ou...alla also means 'not so much...as' in which the first element is not entirely negated, but only toned down: Mk 9:37...Mt. 10:20; Jn. 12:44, A 5:4 etc.”3  “It is a Semitic peculiarity to express one member negatively so as to lay more stress on the other, saying: not A but B, where the sense is, not so much A as B, or, B rather than A.”4   “Not” does not mean, “not at all,” for the idiom does not minimize the first element but emphasizes the second.

3F. Blass and A. Debrunner, translated by Robert Funk, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature (Chicago, Ill.: The University of Chicago Press, 1961), 233.
4Maximilian Zerwick, Biblical Greek, English Edition Adapted From the Fourth Latin Edition by Joseph Smith (Rome, Italy, 1963), 150.

 A good example of this idiom is found in the NASV translation of other NT verses where the words exclusively and merely, which are not in the Greek, but are added (here in bold) to help express the Greek idiom. “No [ou] longer drink water exclusively, but [alla] use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments” (1 Tim. 5:23). “Your adornment must not [ou] be merely external—braiding of hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses, but [alla] let it be the hidden person of the heart” (1 Pet. 3:3). If by “not,” Paul and Peter meant “not at all,” then Timothy should no longer drink water and women should not arrange their hair, wear a gold wedding ring, or wear dresses (clothing). How embarrassing!

 This idiom simply shows the emphasis should be on the latter, but not so as to eliminate the importance of the former.

  Applying this principle to 1 Corinthians 1:17, it would read, “For Christ did not send me merely to baptize, but more importantly to preach the gospel.” By translating this way, Paul's meaning is better expressed. Both baptize and preach are important with the emphasis being placed on preach the gospel.

Christ Preached

    As a result of Paul's preaching Christ in Corinth (Acts 18:8; 1 Cor. 2:1, 2), many were baptized (Acts 18:8), of which number he baptized only a few (1 Cor. 1:14-16). Paul preached Jesus, the one who saves through His blood, which led many to be baptized in order to share the benefit of His sacrifice, which provides salvation and forgiveness of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Col. 2:12, 13). Paul's primary task was to do what others might not be prepared to do—preach the gospel he had received from Jesus by revelation (Gal. 1:12). Others could do the rest—baptize those who had received Paul's message.

 Paul did not say he was not sent to preach baptism, but that he was not sent to baptize. His approach was the same as the approach Jesus gave the apostles, preach the gospel, make disciples, and baptize them (Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15, 16). If Paul was not to baptize at all, he violated his commission by baptizing (1 Cor. 1:14-16).

  Paul preached “Christ and Him crucified” in Corinth (1 Cor. 2:1, 2) resulting in many Corinthians being baptized (Acts 18:8), even as others responded who heard Philip preach Christ (Acts 8:5, 12, 35). Their being baptized when they heard Christ preached must mean that baptism was included in the message they heard. Paul's effort was to bring every thought of everyone in subjection to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). By his preaching the gospel as Jesus had commanded the apostles (Mark 16:15, 16), he was able to bring people to be servants of righteousness and live a new life (Rom. 6:4, 17, 18) when they were baptized. This is what the Corinthians heard, so should have been dedicated to Jesus instead of to leading men.

  If Paul's commission was only to baptize, he could have obeyed by choosing strong men who could help him immerse people, whether or not they wanted to be baptized, or he could have persuaded them to be baptized by the edge of a sword. Instead he preached the gospel to people in Jesus' name, not in his own name, to make them disciples of Jesus.

Baptism Important?

 So many Corinthians being led to believe and be baptized through Paul's preaching (Acts 18:8) must mean that Paul's preaching emphasized the importance of and the need for baptism. His question to the Corinthians if they were baptized in his name, implies he was not seeking them to be his followers. For if he had, he would have baptized them in his name, but all of the Corinthians had importantly been baptized in one name, the name of Jesus, into one body (1 Cor. 12:13).

Which Baptism?

 Paul was writing about water baptism that man can perform (1 Cor. 1:16), and not Holy Spirit baptism, which Jesus, not man, alone can administer (Matt. 3:11b). The Corinthians had been baptized in water in Jesus' name to become followers of Jesus, which adds weight to the fact that the one baptism (Eph. 4:5), which puts us into Christ (Rom. 6:3) and into one body (1 Cor. 12:13) is water baptism. Receiving the one baptism in the name of Jesus, should have united them.

Conclusion
 In order to correct the division that had developed in Corinth, Paul sought to bring the Corinthians to respect the result of his preaching Christ. If they were converted to Christ by the message he preached and baptized in Jesus' name, they should be followers of Jesus, not followers of men.

 Paul was not saying that baptism was unimportant, for the Corinthians were led to baptism through his preaching Christ to them. Paul's primary purpose was to get people to made a commitment to follow Jesus, others could administer baptism for forgiveness of sins so they could enter a new life for Jesus (Mark 16:15, 16; Acts 2:38, 22:16; Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12, 13). Jesus did not send Paul merely to baptize but primarily to preach the gospel so that those who were baptized would become His united followers, not followers of men who were divided among themselves.