14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. 16 Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. (1 Corinthians 1:14-17)
Before Paul began an extended discourse about Christ crucified being the wisdom of God and the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18-2:5), he first gave, what we might call, an interesting bit of thanksgiving. Having already given God thanks for the way His grace was at work in the Corinthian church (vs.4-9), he then thanked God that he hadn’t baptized any of the Corinthians except Crispus (vs.14c), the ruler of the synagogue in Corinth who “believed on the Lord with all his household” (Acts. 18:8b), Gaius (1 Cor. 1:14c), the Corinthian believer who hosted Paul while he wrote the epistle to Rome (Rom. 16:23), and “the household of Stephanas” (1 Cor. 1:16b). It’s not every day you hear someone give thanks for who they haven’t baptized. But Paul’s thanksgiving was not without a good explanation.
