Plainly, the apostle Paul acknowledged that he personally baptized some individuals.
Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. (1 Corinthians 1:12-17 NKJV)
The reason that Paul stated that he was reluctant to personally baptize people was to avoid criticism that he was baptizing persons into his name or making disciples for himself instead of for Jesus Christ. It was the apostle’s purpose in the passage cited above to dispel rather than to propel a sectarian spirit among members of the Lord’s church.
Paul was not minimizing the essentiality of New Testament baptism but merely diffusing the party spirit that had arisen in the first-century church at Corinth. After all, our Lord Himself taught that belief + baptism = salvation. “He who believes and is baptized will be saved…” (Mark 16:16). Likewise, the apostle Peter emphasized the necessity of being baptized to be saved. “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21 KJV). In addition, the apostle Paul taught about the relationship between baptism and salvation. Baptism places one into Christ and imitates the death, burial, resurrection and newness of life that Jesus Christ experienced (Romans 6:3-5; Colossians 2:12). Paul wrote that those “baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27).
Paul made a valid point when he wrote that “Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel” (1 Corinthians 1:17). The natural result of preaching the Gospel (Mark 16:16) when it is obeyed by non-Christians is baptism for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). This was precisely the response to the Gospel that Saul of Tarsus (better known later as the apostle Paul) made. “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16NKJV).
Since baptism is the point at which a non-Christian’s sins are forgiven, preachers too often preach baptism instead of preaching the cross of Christ—appealing to the “wisdom of words” whereby they ‘make the cross of Christ of no effect’ (1 Corinthians 1:17). They say things like “The water is warm, and we have clothes into which you can change.” Of course, warm water and a change of clothes are agreeable circumstances, but they are not reasons to be baptized. Especially missionaries sometimes entice audiences with gifts of clothing, eyeglasses, medical attention, Bibles or other giveaways, and yet none of these things are sufficient reasons to be baptized. Instead of begging candidates for conversion to be baptized or bribing them to go down into the waters of baptism, prospective converts ought to be pleading with us to baptize them into Jesus Christ for the remission of their sins—as the Ethiopian treasurer beseeched Philip to baptize him (Acts 8:36).
The problem with many baptisms is that they have been reduced to a benchmark to gauge success and to raise money for more defective evangelism. Preaching baptism results in supposed conversions without conviction, which becomes evident by the extremely poor retention of such converts. People motivated to go down into the water to receive gifts will happily be baptized again next year when the Americans return with more giveaways. It’s no wonder, then, that the apostle Paul emphasized that Christ did not send him to baptize but to preach the Gospel. We ought to do the same, preaching the Gospel and baptizing those who are motivated by the Word of God.
There is a second way in which the apostle Paul doubtlessly baptized people—indirectly through the hands of others. For instance, Jesus Christ baptized a great number of persons, howbeit indirectly and not with His own hands. “…Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples)” (John 4:1-2). Some missionaries forbid nationals to baptize anyone who responds in the presence of the missionary, but other missionaries expect foreign brethren to do the baptizing—in part, for the same reason Paul mentioned in 1 Corinthians 1. Baptism is the desired result, but we are supposed to realize that goal not by preaching baptism but by preaching the cross of Christ—for which those who wish to obey that Gospel request to be baptized.
Yes, Paul certainly baptized people—some with his own hands and others indirectly, no doubt. Baptism is essential to salvation (Mark 16:16; Acts 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21), but it follows acquaintance with and a proper response to the preaching the Gospel of Christ.
