As
Paul the apostle continued to handle the “divisions”
within the Corinthian church, he shared how he was not “crucified”
for any of the church members nor did he “baptize”
them except for “Crispus, Gaius and
the household of Stephanas”.
In chapter one and verse seventeen of
First Corinthians, Paul the apostle continued his letter by sharing
how God sent him
“not to baptize” ...
“but to preach the gospel”
where we read:
For
Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel:
not
with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none
effect.
The
verse begins, “For
Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel:”
Paul began
with the word, “For”
which means “even as, indeed, seeing then, no doubt, verily and
therefore” “Christ”
which refers to “the anointed one, the Messiah and the Son of God”
“sent me not”
which means “did not order to go to a place appointed” “to
baptize”
or “to immerse and submerge to wash and make clean”, “but”
which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be
written takes precedence over what was just stated” “to
preach the gospel”
which means “bring, announce and proclaim glad tidings and good
news”. Jesus did not “appoint” Paul to
“baptize”
people, but to proclaim the “gospel”
to everyone possible.
The
verse goes on to say, “not
with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none
effect.” Paul
continued with the words, “not with
wisdom” or
“not using broad, full of intelligence or knowledge of very diverse
matters” “of words”
which means “speeches, utterances, decrees and moral precepts”
“lest”
or “so and in order that” “the
cross” or
“the crucifixion which Christ underwent” “of
Christ”
which refers to “the anointed one, the Messiah and the Son of God”
“should be made of none effect”
which means “be made empty, void, deprived of force, rendered vain,
useless and of no effect”. Paul did not brandish “broad,
intelligent and knowledgeable” words to convey the “gospel”
because that would “make”
the “cross”
of Christ “void and vain”.
When
we meditate these words from Paul, we see why he was so concerned
about people reporting that he “baptized” in his “own
name”. Paul did not want the “gospel” of which he
was commissioned to “preach” to be compromised in any
manner. Rather than use “sophisticated” verbiage to share the
“gospel” or “good news” of Jesus, he used simplistic
terms which were easy to be understood. The “gospel of Jesus
Christ” becomes most “effective” when we allow the
“cross” to do what it does best – lead people to
salvation. Paul did not want to reduce the “effect” of the
“cross” by his “knowledgeable words”, and nor should
we. May we be busy about sharing the “good news”, and let us do
so in a manner which is simple for people to understand.
Next
time Paul shares how “the
preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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