13 Has Christ been divided? It was not Paul who was crucified for you, was it? You were not baptized into the name of Paul, were you?

14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized into my own name. 16 O yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanus; besides them I do not remember if I baptized anyone else. 17 Because Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel*If water baptism were essential to salvation, I fail to see how Paul could have expressed himself in this way—he is clearly implying that water baptism is not an essential part of the Gospel. In the early Church people were baptized immediately, not after weeks of ‘preparation’, because the convert was publicly breaking with Satan and his kingdom and formally placing himself under Christ’s protection. Such baptism is an important procedure, and its value should be explained to any new convert.—not with eloquent ‘wisdom’, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of power.*Dear me, is eloquence the enemy of power? Does not eloquence give glory to the speaker rather than to Christ? Perhaps not inescapably, but the tendency is definitely there.