📖WEB · 1 Corinthians 1:15
What does 1 Corinthians 1:15 mean?
"so that no one should say that I had baptized you into my own name."
— 1 Corinthians 1:15 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Now I mean this, that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” and, “I follow Christ.”
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?
I thank God that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius,
so that no one should say that I had baptized you into my own name.
(I also baptized the household of Stephanas; besides them, I don’t know whether I baptized any other.)
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Good News—not in wisdom of words, so that the cross of Christ wouldn’t be made void.
For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.
Explanation
This verse comes from the middle of Paul's opening argument in 1 Corinthians, where he is addressing a serious problem in the Corinthian church: the believers had split into rival factions, each claiming loyalty to a particular teacher — "I am of Paul," "I am of Apollos," "I am of Cephas," "I am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:12). Paul writes to correct this divisive spirit by reminding them that the gospel and the church belong to Christ alone, not to any human personality, however gifted or influential.
In verses 14-17, Paul recalls that he personally baptized only a few people in Corinth — Crispus, Gaius, and the household of Stephanas — and he expresses relief about this. Verse 15 explains why: he did not want anyone to be able to claim that they had been baptized "into Paul's name," as though their spiritual identity
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