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.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 17. and so forth Not to baptize. That is, the first and principal intent, in my vocation to the apostleship, was to preach the gospel, before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel. Acts chapter 9:15. To baptize is common to all, but to preach is peculiarly the function of an apostle. Est. Menoc. Grot.—I was sent to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of speech, and as he says in the next chapter, (verse 13) not in the persuasive words of human wisdom, and so forth The Spirit of God, which guided the thoughts and pen of Saint Paul, and the other sacred writers, inspired them to deliver the gospel-truths with great simplicity, without the ornaments of an artificial human eloquence, lest the cross of Christ should be made void, lest the conversion of the world might be attributed to any human means, and not to the power of God, and of Christ crucified. Witham.