For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel

1 Corinthians 1
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.

A few things we can learnt from this passage. Firstly, Paul is very clear of his mission. Just as John the Baptist was appointed to preach repentance and baptize the people in water, Paul's mission was to preach the gospel. The gospel is the good news of salvation through faith in our Lord Yeshua. Paul could have done many things, but his main purpose was to preach the gospel.

The second part is that the way he preached the gospel did not depend on wise words to be effective. Here we have to imagine beyond Paul's writings in the New Testament. Although Paul was educated and eloquent in his writing, his contribution was guided by the Holy Spirit. Moreover, his writing was quite a different task to the many days and years that Paul spend preaching the gospel directly in person to other people. The core of the gospel must be, not due to the power of convincing words, but the work done by Christ on the cross.