1 Corinthians 1:10-17 (ANM - 03/07/1993)

Introduction: The Apex of Worship and the Problem of Divisions in Corinth

0:06 ...on Sunday evening, March 7th, 1993, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:16 Now it is a delight to look out and see a number of visitors among us, and not knowing what your religious background may be, nor your church experience, I should simply state that at the heart of all of our public services of worship is not only the singing of the praises of God with hymns and psalms of biblical content, seeking to plead with God in living expressions of prayer, not the mumblings of the pre-written words of a prayer book, but then the culmination of our worship is always found in the proclamation of the Word of God as it is found in the Holy Scriptures, of the Old and of the New Testaments. And I say this is the apex of our worship, for when man the creature bows his mind and heart before God the Creator, who speaks in the Scriptures, that is indeed the highest expression of our worship. And therefore in the spirit of worship we turn to the passage that was read in our hearing by Pastor Lamar,

1:36 1 Corinthians chapter 1, and beginning with verse 10. And if you were listening to the reading of that passage with any degree of attention, you know that it begins with the Apostle addressing a very critical problem that had arisen at the church in Corinth, namely the problem of divisions among the people of God. And therefore he begins in verse 10, by entreating them to deal with those divisions. I beseech you, brethren, through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment. Then he apprises them of how he became aware of those divisions. He had not personally visited them, and seen the fruit and manifestations of those divisions, but someone from the household of Chloe had come to Paul and given a report of this tragic problem. And then he begins to expand on what he understands those divisions to be.

The Prominence of Baptism in 1 Corinthians 1:13-17

2:57 Now this I mean, verse 12, that each one of you saith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, or Peter, and I of Christ. Now then, having identified the problem, he begins to address it. And very interestingly, no sooner does he begin to address the problem, but that the issue of baptism is brought center stage. Verse 13.

3:31 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul? And then within the next few verses, between verses 13 and 17, there are no fewer than six specific references to baptism.

3:57 I was telling my wife driving here tonight, it's amazing how much the word of God continues to open up before us as we study it, and that someone, someone asked me prior to my preparation of tonight's meditation, where in the word of God do you find the most dense concentrated use of the term baptized and baptism? I probably would have said the early verses of Romans 6. But it is here, in this passage, you have six uses of the verb baptized within this very short compass. Verse 14.

4:37 Were you baptized into the name of Paul? Verse 14. I thank God I baptized none of you save Crispus and Gaius, lest any man should say you were baptized into my name, and I baptized also the household of Stephanas. Besides, I know not whether I baptized any other, for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel.

Truth 1: Man's Greatest Need is Salvation from Sin, Not Baptism

5:07 So you have these six references to baptism within this very short compass of the mind of God embodied in the word of God, and therefore from this passage we can glean a very helpful and accurate view of the true meaning and significance of baptism. And therefore in the next 30 to 35 minutes, I want you to consider with me these four great truths relative to the subject of baptism found in this very fertile baptismal field, or perhaps I should say fertile baptismal pond. First Corinthians chapter 1 verses 13 through 17. And the first thing we learn about baptism, is this. Man's greatest need is not to be baptized, or to undergo any other religious ritual, but to be saved from sin.

6:25 Man's greatest need is not to be baptized, or to undergo any other religious ritual, but, to be saved from sin. Now where do we learn that in this passage? Well look at verse 17. Christ sent me not to baptize.

6:52 If man's greatest need was to be baptized, or to undergo any other religious ritual, then when Christ commissioned Paul to go out on a mission of rescuing men from their plight, he would have said, I send you primarily to baptize, or to bring men under some other religious ritual. But he says this was not the focal point of his commission. Furthermore in verse 18 and verse 21 we read, For the word of the cross is to them that are perishing foolishness, but unto us who are saved, it is the power of God. Man's great need is to be saved by the power of God. Verse 21 underscores this truth again. For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the thing preached, to save them that believe.

8:05 And so, the emphasis upon this passage is very clear. That man's greatest need is not to be baptized, or to undergo any other religious ritual, but it is to be saved from sin by the power of God. Now that being established by our passage, it presupposes two very fundamental realities. First, that man is a sinner and desperately needs to be saved.

8:41 He is described in verse 18 as perishing. The word of the cross is to them that are perishing foolishness. And from Genesis chapter 3 right on to the end of the word of God, the universal testimony of the Bible is that man, as man, is fallen in Adam, is a sinner by conception, by nature, he is a sinner from his birth, he is a sinner in his standing before God, in his practice, in passages such as Romans 3, 10 to 19, Paul brings phrases together from various parts of the Old Testament, demonstrating that there is a, a terrible and tragic reality of universal human sinfulness. Man is a sinner and needs to be saved. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But then a second truth is presupposed, and it is this, that man as a sinner cannot save himself.

10:00 He needs, according to our passage, to be saved, verse 18, by the power of God, by the manipulations of the preacher or the priest, not by the rituals which can be undertaken and administered by pastor, by minister, by priest, or some other official religious guru. Man needs to be saved, according to verse 18, by nothing less, than the gracious intrusion of the very almightiness of God himself. He needs to be saved by the power of God. Scripture describes him not only as a sinner under the wrath of God, a sinner defiled and polluted before the eye and holiness of God, but a sinner utterly impotent, to deliver himself. The Scripture says the carnal mind is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be.

11:16 The Scripture says when we were without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. And so we learn from this passage, rich in its references to baptism, that man's greatest need, is not to be baptized, or to undergo any other religious ritual, but to be saved from sin, by the power of God. It's been the joy, the privilege of your elders, to hear each of these who are to be baptized, freely, with a sense of spiritual shame, and a sense of humble heart before God, acknowledge, their own utter sinfulness, and their awareness that there was nothing they could do, to cleanse themselves from their sin, to bring themselves to Christ, that they were guilty, helpless, defiled, powerless to rescue themselves. And therefore their being baptized tonight, is in no way tinged, with any superstitious, notion, that their greatest need, is to undergo these waters of baptism,

Truth 2: God's Appointed Way of Saving Sinners is Through Faith, Not Ritual

12:41 that they might somehow thereby, come into the possession of something, they do not already possess, from God, in Jesus Christ. So the first great truth, that this passage teaches us is, man's greatest need, is not to be baptized, or to undergo any other religious ritual, but to be saved from sin, by the power of God. But now notice secondly, that God's appointed way, of saving sinners, is not by baptism, or any other religious ritual, but through faith. God's appointed way, of saving sinners, is not by baptism, or any other religious ritual, but through faith. Look at verse 21. For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God's good pleasure, through the foolishness of the thing preached, to save them, that are baptized, no, to save them that raise a hand, and walk an aisle,

14:07 and pray the sinner's prayer, no, to save them, that fall on the ground, and speak in tongues, no, none of those things, are God's appointed way, of saving sinners. They are tragic human inventions, to damn sinners, not divinely appointed means, to save sinners. God's appointed way, of saving sinners, is not by baptism, or any other religious ritual, but through faith. It is God's good pleasure, to save them, that believe. And as surely as it is, the universal testimony of Holy Scripture, from Genesis 3, through to the end of the book of the Revelation, that man is indeed a sinner, and needs to be saved, and as a sinner cannot save himself, it is likewise, the universal testimony of Scripture, from Genesis 3.15 onward, that the way of salvation, is by faith, that appropriates the salvation, that God graciously provides, for guilty, helpless man.

15:34 Faith is always, the appropriating means, with respect to God's salvation. For example, in the well-known words, in Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, for by grace, you have been saved, through faith. That not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast, or Romans 4, 4 and 5. Now to him who works, the reward is not reckoned of grace, but of death.

16:12 But to him who works not, but believes on him, who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned unto him, for righteousness. You see, God's appointed way of saving sinners, is not by baptism, or any other religious ritual, but through faith, and faith alone. It is not to be found, in our pulling ourselves up, by our own bootstraps, and making ourselves civil, and decent, and morally presentable. It is not by joining a church, and tithing, and being a faithful church attender. No, according to this passage, God's appointed way of saving sinners, is not through baptism, or any other religious ritual, but through faith. And again, as we have interviewed these candidates for baptism, while we cannot read their hearts, we have heard the confession of their lips, that by the word of God, brought to them in differing ways, by differing means, each was brought to the place, where recognizing, his or her utter helplessness, to rescue himself,

Truth 3: The Object of Saving Faith is Christ Crucified, Not Baptism

17:39 there was the realization, that God held forth, a savior and a salvation, perfect in itself, and that the hand that lays hold of it, is the hand of faith. That means appointed by God, to receive the salvation, provided by God, is faith alone. But then there is a third truth, here in this passage, and it is this, that the object of the faith, that is unto salvation, is not baptism, or any other ritual, but Jesus Christ crucified. The object of the faith, that is unto salvation, is not baptism, or any other ritual, but Jesus Christ crucified. Look at verse 17. Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel.

18:47 And what is the gospel? We get a hint of it, later on in that very verse. Not in wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ, should be made void. The apostolic gospel, focuses in the cross, of Christ.

19:09 Verse 18. For the word, or the message, the logos, of the cross, is to them that are perishing foolishness, but unto us who are saved, it, the message of the cross, is the power of God. Furthermore, look at verse 22. Seeing the Jews ask for signs, and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach, Christ crucified.

19:40 Unto Jews a stumbling block, and unto Gentiles foolishness, but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Do you see how clearly God has stated it? The object of the faith, that is unto salvation, is not baptism. These who are to be baptized tonight, do not come in the faith, that when they go under the water, that they will thereby be cleansed, and pardoned, and forgiven, and accepted before God.

20:18 No, their faith is not in the water. It is not in the act of baptism. Nor is it in any other ritual, that they were sprinkled as children, or christened as infants. Their confidence in Jesus Christ crucified, is the very essence of their faith.

20:41 And this again, is the universal testimony of scripture. The object of faith in the first gospel promise, in Genesis 3.15 was this. It was the seed of the woman, that would bruise the head of the serpent, and the faith of Adam, and Eve, and Seth, and the line of the godly, fastened itself upon that promise, that God would provide a deliverer, through the seed of the woman.

21:15 And that in the process of crushing the head of the serpent, the heel of the seed of the woman, would be bruised. All the way from Genesis 3.15, to John 3.16, the message is the same.

21:31 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever undergoes the water of baptism, know, that whosoever will walk an aisle and pray a prayer, know, that whosoever will carry and speak in tongues, know, that whosoever believeth on him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. When that jailer, there in the city of Philippi, who had seen the mighty power of God, shaking the jail, and the same power of God restraining the prisoners, that they didn't all split and disappear, but they stayed there in the prison, and he sees this manifestation of the power of God in the lives of the servants of God, and hears their witness at midnight, in the midst of all of that, he comes in trembling, and falls down before Paul and Silas, and cries out, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They didn't confuse him by telling him, now wait a minute, you've got a psychotic hang-up. Saved? You're not in any danger.

22:46 What are you trembling for, man? You need to go see a local psychiatrist, or you need to go to a doctor, and you need to get some Valium, or you need to get something to calm you. No, no. They were very clear in their answer when he said, what must I do to be saved?

23:02 They did not say, believe on your belief. They certainly didn't say, believe on yourself. They didn't say, believe on the preacher, believe in the waters of baptism. They said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt bow thy house.

23:25 So they went into his house, and preached the gospel to his household, and his household believed, and they too with him were marvelously and wonderfully saved. You see in this passage where baptism is mentioned six times, there's not a shred of evidence that baptism was in any way the object of the faith of the Corinthian believers. The object of the faith that is unto salvation is not baptism or any other ritual. But it is Jesus Christ crucified, the truth that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again from the dead on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he was seen, and that he ascended to the right hand of the Father, and that he sent forth the Holy Spirit, and that he lives today to make good in his living person all of the promises of his mighty salvation to every sinner who will come to him by faith. For this is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save.

Truth 4: The True Significance of Baptism Confirms and Illustrates These Truths

24:51 So we learn from this passage that man's greatest need is not baptism or any other religious ritual, but to be saved from sin. Secondly, God's appointed way of saving sinners is not by baptism or any other religious ritual, but through faith. And we learn thirdly that the object of the faith that is unto salvation is not baptism or any other religious ritual, but Christ crucified. Then fourthly, the true significance of baptism confirms and illustrates each one of these previous truths.

25:33 The true significance of baptism confirms and illustrates each of these previous truths affirmed. Paul assumes that all the Corinthians were baptized. Look at verse 13. Is Christ divided?

25:55 Was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye baptized into the name of Paul? He doesn't say, were you baptized? He knows they were.

26:07 He's simply asking them into whose name were you baptized, assuming that they were all baptized. Not only does Paul assume that all the Corinthians were baptized, Paul actually performed the baptism of some of them. Verses 14 to 16. I thank God I baptized none of you, save or except Crispus and Gaius, lest...

26:36 He didn't despise the ordinance. He said, but I'm thankful that in the actual immersing of believers there at Corinth, I had very little to do with the actual baptizing, lest any of you with this disposition to division behind your various leaders should say you were baptized into my name, and I baptized also the household of Stephanus or Stephanus, besides I know not whether I baptized any other. Paul assumes they were all baptized. Paul is also acknowledging that he performed baptisms.

27:17 And baptism, properly understood, did not contradict one aspect of Paul's calling as a gospel preacher. And that's the pith of verse 17. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made void. And there's one historical cross reference that ties those threads together and shows us why he can assume that all the Corinthians were baptized, is unashamed to acknowledge that he performed some of those baptisms, but grateful that he performed relatively few of them, and that baptism, rightly understood, did not contradict or undermine the truth of the gospel he was commissioned to preach. If you'll turn to Acts chapter 18 for just a moment, you'll see the historical reference. Acts chapter 18 describes Paul's departure from Athens and his arrival in the city of Corinth. And while laboring at Corinth, we read in verse 8 of Acts 18, and Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, now notice, believed in the Lord

28:46 with all his house. All were of sufficient age to come to intelligent faith in Jesus Christ. Now notice the order. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized.

29:10 None were baptized but those who could hear. And of those who could hear, none were baptized but those who, upon hearing, believed. There is the simple, uncomplicated biblical doctrine of the proper order of baptism. A gospel preacher came saying, My commission is not to grab people and dunk them.

29:40 My commission is not to get little babies and sprinkle them. My commission is to preach Christ crucified. Men are sinners. They cannot save themselves.

29:52 God has ordained that men shall be saved by faith. That faith must be in the person and work of the Lord Jesus. Therefore, I preach Christ crucified. God blessed that preaching with his own almighty power.

30:09 And many, hearing, believed and were baptized. And what did their baptism do? Their baptism both confirmed and illustrated the central truths that were preached in the gospel and confessed when they believed the gospel. And that's the very heart of the biblical doctrine of baptism.

Baptism Signifies Identification with Christ

30:37 And in the closing moments, let me just set before you those three central truths of the gospel which baptism both confirms and illustrates in the heart of those who have heard the gospel and have believed it. Number one, baptism signifies identification with or attachment to the person of Christ. Baptism signifies attachment to the person of Christ. And we learned that from our passage back in Corinthians.

31:16 Here the Corinthians, some of them were lining up behind Cephas or Peter. Some lining up behind Apollos. Some lining up behind Paul saying, the supreme loyalty is to this preacher or that. And Paul says, no, no.

31:33 No, no. Were you baptized into the name of Paul? What is assumed in that question? That they understood that baptism signified attachment to the person into whose name you were baptized.

31:52 Even as it is said that the Israelites were baptized unto Moses, in the cloud and in the sea. In other words, they signified their attachment to the leadership of Moses when they passed through the Red Sea and were gathered under God as a nation into that relationship of submission to the law of God and to the leader God set over them. Paul says, how stupid to be lining up behind me as though your loyalty were to me or to Peter. Because in your baptism, you were signifying that through the gospel you had come to supreme religious attachment to the person of Jesus Christ himself. That's what baptism signifies. When Pastor Bovard baptizes these in a few minutes and says, I baptize you into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, he is baptizing them into the revealed character of the God who is Father, Son, and Spirit, but who has been revealed as such in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. For it is in the believing reception of Christ that we are adopted into the family of God.

33:14 John 1.12 It is because we believe upon the Lord Jesus that we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 3.13 and 14 chapter 4 and verse 6.

33:28 So what does baptism signify? It signifies attachment to the person of Christ. That's why when Jesus gave the Great Commission, he said, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you. The assumption is in their baptism, declaring supreme attachment to me, they are now ready wholly to follow me.

Baptism Signifies Cleansing from Sin by the Blood of Christ

34:02 That's what you who are baptized are declaring tonight. You are signifying in this act your attachment to the person of Christ. But secondly, baptism signifies cleansing from sin by the blood of Christ. It signifies cleansing from sin by the blood of Christ.

34:26 Isn't that what the Gospel declares? The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

34:39 What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. So precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know.

34:53 Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is why in conjunction with Paul's baptism, Ananias says to him in Acts 22, 16, Arise and be baptized, washing away thy sins, calling upon the name of the Lord. What is it that washes away sin? It is the blood of Christ.

35:17 And when we call upon his name in faith, our sins are washed away. Really, actually, eternally, irrevocably, never to be held against us again. God says buried in the depths, removed as far as east is from west. And what does baptism do?

35:41 It simply confirms and illustrates that reality. As those who are baptized are dipped into the water and their entire bodies are covered and undergo that washing of water, it symbolizes cleansing from sin by the virtue not of this ritual, but the agony of Christ's cross. The forsakenness of Golgotha, the bloody wounds and the terrors of the wrath of God poured into the soul of the Son of God. And each of these who is to be baptized, as we have heard their testimony, this has been their act, their affirmation. I know of no other fount to wash away my sin but the blood of Jesus Christ. That's why Paul can say to the Corinthians, some of whom had a former lifestyle that it makes a modest person blush to read it, but he can say in 1 Corinthians 6.11, such were some of you, but you are washed, sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Baptism Signifies Liberation from the Dominion of Sin by the Power of Christ

37:01 I must hasten now, keep in my time frame. Thirdly, not only signifies attachment to the person of Christ, cleansing from sin by the blood of Christ, but now hear me carefully, it signifies liberation from the dominion of sin by the power of Christ. Baptism signifies liberation from the dominion of sin, by the power of Christ. That's the great teaching of Romans chapter 6.

37:36 If we are fully pardoned by the blood of Christ apart from our works, let's continue in sin that grace may abound. Paul says no. Verse 2 of Romans 6, God forbid we who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein, or are you ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, even so should we walk in newness of life.

38:14 Verse 6, knowing this that our old man was crucified with him, if we believe that we died with Christ, we know we shall live with him. In a parallel passage in Colossians 2, 11 and 12, Paul speaks of being buried with Christ in baptism, experiencing spiritual circumcision in which the dominion of sin is broken. And as these who undergo this watery rite, God could have chosen, there are Greek words that mean to sprinkle or merely to pour, but he used a word which means to dip or to plunge. Why did he establish this watery ritual? Because it not only symbolizes a total bathing to point to the full cleansing of the blood of Christ, but a temporary burial and a resurrection to signify union with Christ in the virtue of his death and resurrection. And with him we die to sin, with him we rise, in newness of life. And though the remains of sin are with us, an indwelling sin will plague us.

39:34 In union with Christ we are no longer the slaves of sin, we are the joyful bond slaves of Jesus Christ. And sin shall not exercise lordship over us. As we've interviewed these candidates, we've sought to ascertain whether or not indeed the dominion of sin has been broken in their lives and that they are no longer living unto self and unto the world and unto the fulfilling of their own natural passions and lusts, but that it is the settled purpose of their heart to live unto him who died for them and rose again. The true significance of baptism confirms and illustrates each of the truths articulated in that passage in Corinthians. You see, my sinner friend, if you don't have what baptism signifies, you're lost and in a tragically, desperately dangerous position. You're under the wrath of God. Your sins are uncleansed and unpardoned.

Pastoral Application and Exhortation

40:45 You have no union with Christ and he says, he that is not with me is against me. And who wants to be against one who is the judge of the world? Scripture tells us that we live unto sin as our master. Our master will pay us off and the wages of sin is death.

41:08 My sinner friend, you need to get what is symbolized in baptism. Attachment to the person of Christ. Cleansing from your sin by the blood of Christ. Liberation from the power of your sin by the power of Christ.

41:26 And the only place to get it is in Christ, by faith. The same way these have laid hold of those marvelous blessings. If you sit here and say, well, by the grace of God, those things are true of me. Well then, my friend, why have you not declared it in the way of God's appointment?

41:47 For baptism is not optional. Jesus commands those who have come within the orbit of his saving mercy to declare that reality in the ordinance appointed by him and to become identified with that society of his people, the church, who profess these great realities. So I say this passage in Corinthians, starting out with a treatment of the problem of divisions, becomes a very fertile pool for an adequate and balanced biblical doctrine of baptism. May God help us to lay the truth to each of our hearts.

42:32 Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for your word, and we pray that the Holy Spirit would write it upon all of our hearts with clarity and with great power for those who are confused and have their faith in rituals instituted by men or even this ritual instituted by you and are abusing it to the damnation of their souls. Lord, may the word preached break open their hearts and illuminate their minds and by your grace may they be drawn to Christ himself. Bless these who now confess these great realities and may there never, never be a day when they deny them by their lies. Hear and answer and continue with us we plead in Jesus' name. Amen.