1 Corinthians 1:17 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Corinthians 1:17

Comments

Did Christ send preachers to preach and not to baptise? No, every preacher must be concerned about baptism and will have a duty to baptise, but in the case of Paul, who was an apostle and the greatest of all trailblazers, a founding father of the churches among the Gentiles, his primary commission was the gospel. He is saying, ‘I did not do much of the baptising because my call from God was to focus entirely on the planting of churches and the spreading of the gospel.’ He is showing that he never aimed to form a party himself. He was serving the Lord entirely. What a good thing, he says on reflection, that I have not baptised lots of people and given them in foolishness some basis of making themselves my followers. Then, halfway through verse 17, comes the answer to party spirit, and we see in his answer the reason for it. ‘Not with wisdom of words’; not with clever language, not with ornamentation, not with the impressive contrived arguments. All those of you who go after Apollos and want him, because he can handle the intricate reasoning, and he can dispute with the Greek orators, are elevating wisdom of words. Only the preaching of the cross of Christ is powerful. It must be done persuasively, of course, and it includes other things: why you need Christ, why you will be eternally lost without him, how kind he is, the wonders of being a Christian. All these things come into it, but the key is the cross of Christ, communicated by clear preaching. The power is there. Of course, we know the power is of the Holy Spirit, but the apostle Paul is putting the spotlight on the subject of the preaching – the cross of Christ. But the people in Corinth appreciated Greek philosophy. They appreciated the way in which the philosophers’ reasoned and they were very proud of that tradition. So they wanted to dress their preaching up in the style and the manner which was acceptable to them. ‘No,’ says the apostle Paul,’ you cannot improve on the gospel. If you try to, you will only empty it of its power’, implying that the Holy Spirit will withdraw that the Holy Spirit will not use you or bless you. It is something offensive to him; you cannot by earthly means make the gospel palatable to unbelievers; only the Holy Spirit can open a mind prejudiced against God’s truth. Now the preacher is bound to be a bit larger than life, and he must be because he is trying to speak to people at a distance, but don't let him think for a moment that histrionic excitement or drama or emotional manipulation or sob stories will change anything. Plainness and earnestness is everything. It is the Holy Spirit’s work to make it palatable.

Application

Years and years ago there were evangelistic campaigns going on in the country, and for the first time it was possible to hear not just in some great crusade centre, but to hear the message relayed around the country, and people could gather in halls in different towns and hear it on big loudspeakers. They called people to the front to walk forward, to make a decision for Christ, and make known that they had received Christ, and they reported that there were better results among the people who were listening over the loudspeakers than the people who were in the hall where the live preaching was going on. They concluded, therefore, that it was better to hear the gospel over loudspeakers than to hear the speaker in the hall. How ridiculous! How nonsensical! The Corinthians were doing a bit of that. They thought they could add to the gospel and people do this constantly today. The gospel isn't considered good enough by itself; it needs polish, and reasoning of this or that type; it needs pop music and bands and groups to draw people in; it needs dramatic presentation, it isn't good enough on its own. It all starts with attributing power to carnal things.

Questions

What is the gospel? Practically every time the word gospel is used in the New Testament in the Gospels, in the Acts, in the epistles, it has a very special meaning and this must be stressed. The gospel, which literally means good news, always refers to the soul saving doctrines. Some people think that the term gospel is very broad and you often hear them say, ‘Whenever I preach, I preach the gospel, whether I'm preaching to the saints or whether I'm preaching to the lost; any part of the Scripture is the gospel.’ No, that is not so. The gospel is not a synonym for the whole of the word of God or all Christian doctrine. It is a specialised technical term, which refers to the soul saving doctrines. When the apostle Paul says, ‘Woe is unto me if I preach, not the gospel’, he means literally woe is unto me if I do not preach evangelistic sermons, sermons that are calculated to be used by the Holy Spirit. There are many liberal theologians, particularly in the late 19th century and since, who use the term gospel in the most elastic sense of all good works. If you do good works in the community, if you are interested in social reformation that is the gospel they say. That is nonsense! The gospel is the soul saving doctrines that speak of God's holiness and man's depravity, our need of salvation, our alienation from God, the coming and incarnation of Christ, his atoning death for sinners. It is the message that tells us of our need to repent of our sins, and put our trust in him., the converting and transforming work of the Holy Spirit, and the new birth. This is the gospel, these doctrines specifically, and we must understand that and never let that go.

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1 Corinthians 1:17 Commentary and Bible Study