1 Corinthians 16:15
I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,) I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,)
The chapter lays out a plan for collecting and sending relief to the poor believers in Jerusalem. The household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, a family that devoted itself to serving and helping fellow believers. Their baptism belongs to those with a personal interest in the gospel and a devotion to its work, and the mention of a household being baptized does not by itself prove that every member including infants was baptized. Those who so give themselves to caring for the church are specially honored by God and worthy of the highest regard, and other believers should submit to them and to fellow workers who labor, each giving and serving according to circumstances. Thus the first converts won in any new region or people are its firstfruits, whose genuine conversion, steadfast faith, and wide influence begin the gospel harvest there and open the way for others to follow.
Words and Historical Setting
The sixteenth chapter of First Corinthians gives directions for collecting and sending relief to the poor believers in Jerusalem, laying out a method for carrying out that benevolent work. The word firstfruits identifies the house of Stephanas as the first converts in Achaia. They had devoted themselves to serving the saints.
The word house refers to the family, and to say the household devoted itself to this work does not require that every member including infants performed it, but those old enough to serve. The word ministry renders the Greek diakonia, the same word elsewhere rendered ministration, as in 2 Corinthians 3. It means devoted service and help to fellow believers, entered into with a personal interest in the work of the gospel.
Baptism and Christian Service
The house means the family, yet to say that the household of Stephanas addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints does not require that every member including infants performed that service, but only those old enough to serve. For the same reason to say that the same household was baptized does not by itself prove that infants were baptized, since a statement about something done by a household does not by itself prove that every member took part. They were proper subjects for baptism because they devoted themselves to serving the saints and took a personal interest in the work of the gospel.
Those who give themselves to caring for the church, as that household did as the first converts in Achaia, are worthy of the highest regard, and other believers should submit themselves to them and to fellow workers who labor with them. Such devoted service is specially honored by God. The amount given and the form of service are not the same for all, but depend on a person's circumstances.
Firstfruits in Mission Fields
The firstfruits are the first results of work in a region, as when believers baptized from separate parts of a valley were the first results there, their wide distribution helping to spread the truth, their steadfast commitment to the faith holding firm, and two young men carrying the work forward by preaching and literature. They are also the earliest converts among a people, who must be genuinely converted and set a worthy example to those around them instead of hindering the work. In this sense three newly baptized Santals were the first-fruits among the Santals, the first known converts and Sabbath-keepers in that group.
The first eleven persons baptized in a field are the beginning of the gospel harvest there, the start of a church that may grow strong and send missionaries throughout the field. Likewise three persons baptized after local missionary work were the first fruits of that work and shared the devoted service to fellow believers that marks the first converts in a region, with others expected to follow. The first believers won in a new field are the firstfruits of the message among that people, as when a husband and wife's baptism in Honduras was the firstfruits among the Spanish people there, and their rising from the water to walk with God marked a new era in the work.
The first souls who come forward when a mission opens are its first-fruits, met with continued faith that God is with them and with testimony to His kindness as evidence that He is working for precious souls. So the Spanish-speaking people awaiting baptism in Honduras were the firstfruits of the message among their people, the first in the region to receive the gospel. So too the first Papuans baptized at Bogadjim after years of missionary labor were the earliest converts in the region.