15 E. How we got in the Body!

Appendix E How We Got In The Body!

(The Baptism of the Holy Spirit) If you are "in Christ," how did you get there?

1 Corinthians 12:13 tells us: "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body-so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body .

Analyzing this last phrase, we need to determine (1) the meaning of the word "baptize," and (2) the grammatical structure of the sentence,

(1)"Baptize" is originally a Greek word. We borrowed it and transliterated it into the English language by simply changing one letter. Therefore we cannot rely on our twentieth century understanding of this word, but must seek to discover what it meant in its Greek usage in the first century, when 1 Corinthians was written. When we do this, we discover it had two meanings:

(a) A ceremonial usage, in which a ritual dipping symbolized something, e.g., warriors "baptized" the tips of their spears in blood before battle, symbolizing the intent to kill by letting the blood of the enemy. (b) A mechanical or "real" usage, where "to baptize" is to place into or introduce into, causing a change of relationship, e.g., a ship was "baptized" in the harbor when it sank. In this verse it is obvious that the action described is real-not symbolic or ritual, so we take the second meaning, as in (b) above. When we employ this meaning in the verse, it reads: "For by one Spirit we were all placed into one body." This is how we got in the body of Christ: The Spirit of God placed us into living union with him, our living Head, when we received Christ as our Lord!

(2) The verb ’baptized" describes completed action at a point of time-something that has already happened to those who are Christ’s. That’s why the complete form says "we were baptized." Note also that this verb is a passive form, signifying that we were the ones receiving the action, not the ones acting. This means that the Spirit of God did the placing into the body. We simply received the gracious ministry of the Holy Spirit. He placed us into the body so we could enjoy the new relationship with Christ. This is the baptizing ministry of the Spirit, by which all who know Christ were taken out of Adam and placed "in Christ."

What does that mean to me? Quite a lot---it means I’m identified with Christ in all that he is and does: "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Galatians 3:27).

I shared his death (Romans 6:6). I share his resurrection life (Romans 6:8). As a member of his body, I share all that is his (1 Corinthians 3:22-23). In Time and Eternity!

Romans 8:14-21Romans 14:9 The Spirit’s Ministries To Us Getting it in perspective:

CONVICTED by the Spirit: we are shown our need to believe in Christ as our Lord and thus gain all the value of his death and life (John 16:7-11).

BORN of the Spirit: we enter into God’s family as his dearly loved children (John 3:3; John 3:6; Titus 3:5-7; 1 John 3:1-2).

BAPTIZED by the Spirit: we are placed into the body of Christ as living members joined to our living Lord (1 Corinthians 12:12-13).

SEALED by the Spirit: we are made safe and secure under God’s ownership. (Ephesians 1:1114).

INDWELT by the Spirit: we become his temple, the place for offering the sacrifice of praise (John 14:1~17; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 2:19-22; Hebrews 13:15).

FILLED with the Spirit: we are controlled and empowered for useful life and service, showing forth the fruit of the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18; Galatians 5:22-23).