This should by all means end the discussion that water baptism saves a person.
1 Corinthians 1:17
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
And we know 1,000 were saved by Paul's preaching of the gospel.
Now please continue on with debating water baptism.
hope this helps !!!
Paul, Peter and others preached the gospel to many people. Though many people heard the gospel preached they were not saved (Acts 26:28) for they would not "obey the gospel of Christ" (2 Thess 1:8). To not be in flaming fire (lost) one must obey the gospel meaning
obedience is the separating line between the saved and those lost. The gospel Paul preached was the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, (1 Cor 15:3-5). If one must obey the gospel to not be in flaming fire and the gospel is death burial and resurrection of Christ then how does one obey these historical events of Christ's death burial and resurrection? Rom 6:3-7 to become a Christian one must die to sin, the old man of sin is buried in a watery grave then raised up from (resurrected) to then walk in newness of life.
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In Acts 2 Peter preached the same gospel Paul preached (the death, burial & resurrection of Christ) to the Jews at Pentecost, but only those Jews who obeyed Peter's gospel message by being baptized..."
Then they that gladly received his word were baptized:"
This means those that rejected Peter's command to be baptized rejected his gospel word he preached. The logical implication is being baptized is HOW one receives the gospel, not being baptized is rejecting the gospel word. It cannot be said of those that rejected Peter's command to be baptized that they 'received' his word in any sense having rejected it by disobedience to it.
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Even in 1 Cor 1:12-13 Paul shows the necessity of being baptized to be "of Christ":
"Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?"
Paul's point is to be "of" someone then two things must be true of that someone, that someone:
1) must have been crucified for you
2) you must be baptized in the name of thst someone
Since these two things are only true of Christ, then those Corinthians could not be "of" Paul, "of" Apollos nor "of" Cephas".
Was Christ (1) crucified for you? Yes, He tasted death for every man (Heb 2:9). Then why isn't every man saved? Because every man will not be baptized in the name of Christ....Agrippa and the most Jews at Pentecost did not become Christians for they would not obey the gospel of Christ by being baptized. even though Christ died for them they will still not be saved for failing to "obey the gospel of Christ" (2 Thess 1:8).
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This can only mean many have taken 1 Cor 1:17 out of context and read things into that are not there. put words into Paul's mouth he never said...Paul never said in 1 Cor 1:17 or elsewhere baptism is not necessary. If Paul says baptism is not necessary in 1 Cor 1:17 then he CONTRADICTS himself in many many places.
If Paul was sent "not to baptize" then why did he baptize others (1 Cor 1:14,16)? Did he disobey God and sin by baptizing others if he was told not to baptize? Paul was baptized himself to wash away his sins (Acts 22:18) and he taught the necessity of baptism as seen above. Paul was under the great commission as all disciples are to go, teach, make disciples baptizing them (Matt 28:19-20). Even in the great commission we find the necessity of baptism for one to become a disciple/Christian. In the GC the verb "make" is the main verb. The verbs teaching and baptizing are modal participles describing HOW disciples are made. Meaning there is no such thing in the NT gospel as an untaught, unbaptized Christian. The modes of making Christians by teaching and baptizing would continue till the end of the world.
For more info on the Great Commission:
https://apologeticspress.org/what-is-the-purpose-of-baptism-part-1-5600/
Jesus Himself made and baptized more then John (Jn 4:1-2) and John was sent to baptized by Jesus (Jn 1:33) yet Christ sent Paul NOT to baptize? If baptism was not essential based on Paul not being sent to baptize then we can deduce then that baptism was not essential when John
was sent to baptize.
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Looking at verse 17
in context, those Corinthians had divided themselves. Instead of all being of Christ" as they should have been some were of Paul or of Apollos or of Cephas...they were of the person who had baptized them rather than being of Christ. In order to heal that division, Paul shows in verse 12-13 that one can only be "of Christ" since only Christ was crucified for them and they were baptized in the name of Christ. Hence Paul refrained from baptizing but a few for Paul did not want to make followers of himself.....Paul did not want to create Paulites following him but make them all followers of Christ. Hence Paul did not baptize many "
lest any man should say that ye were baptized into my name"
NOT because baptism is nonessential to salvation. Again, v17 meaning is Paul did not want to add more to the division at Corinth NOT that baptism is non-essential to salvation. One person put it "Paul is minimizing the performative, “celebrity” aspect of baptism, not the act of baptism" Paul used the verb baptized (the act of baptizing) he never used the noun 'baptism' and say baptism is non-essential to salvation. Paul taking emphasis way from the administrator doing the baptizing not baptism itself.
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Some will also say Paul was using a figure of speech, an ellipsis, specifically a not-but ellipsis. Even an online AI says"
"The statement "Christ did not send me to baptize" is an example of ellipsis. It implies that while Paul was not primarily sent to baptize, his mission also included preaching the gospel. This means that Paul was sent to do more than just baptize, and that preaching the gospel was the more important aspect of his ministry.
Here's why it's an ellipsis:
Implied words: The statement is shortened, with some words left unsaid. It's understood that the full statement would be something like, "Christ did not send me only to baptize, but also to preach the gospel".
Emphasis on preaching: The ellipsis emphasizes the preaching aspect of Paul's ministry, highlighting its greater importance compared to baptism.
Common in the Bible:
The use of ellipsis is a common feature of biblical language.
In essence, Paul is clarifying that his role wasn't just about the ritual of baptism, but about spreading the message of the gospel, which was seen as the more crucial aspect of his calling."
AI shows there is a common usage of ellipticals in the Bible. Another example of a not-but elliptical:
"
And Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me." Jn 12:44
Jesus is not literally saying one does not have to believe on Him to be saved. Jesus is saying that when one believes on Him, one is NOT just believing on Him BUT also believing on God Who sent Him.
More discussion on ellipticals:
www.fishers-churchofchrist.com
Text: Galatians 4:21-31 I. In our everyday speech, we employ figures of speech constantly and rarely think about what we are doing.  …
www.lavistachurchofchrist.org
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 …
www.lavistachurchofchrist.org
