The Gospel: Not Baptism

If the Gospel is the way God moves men from no relationship to a relationship, and if the Gospel is God’s dynamite that saves men, then next we need to understand just exactly what the Gospel is and what the Gospel is not. In First Corinthians 1:17 Paul tells us what the Gospel is not. ‘For Christ sent me not to baptise, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.’

In the previous chapter we talked about the things men do to try to make themselves right with God. One of the things we listed there was that people like to get baptised to make themselves right with God. Many people today believe that as long as you have been baptised, you are going to be okay. They believe they are going to be in Heaven because baptism takes away sins. They believe that somehow baptism takes you from no relationship to a relationship with God. But that is not what the Bible teaches. Paul says that he wasn’t sent to baptise, but he was sent to preach the Gospel. In other words, the Gospel and baptism are two different, separate items. They are not related.

Paul is not saying that baptism is not important. He is just saying that baptism does not save anyone. He is making clear that baptism is not the Gospel. It isn’t even part of the Gospel. Remember, we are not looking at this from how I look at it, or how you look at it. We are asking ourselves how God sees this, and God says baptism is not the Gospel. So what is the Gospel then?