Holy Spirit -20- Explain 1Co_12:13

5. Explain 1 Corinthians 12:13 : "By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free: and have all been made to drink into one Spirit."

Answer: When a thing is done by the authority of a proper agent, it is tantamount to saying that that has been done by the authority even though the authority may have used an agent- as for example, men build a bridge by the authority of the state, we say that the state built the bridge. Again, "When the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, though Jesus himself baptized not but his disciples" (John 4:1-2). Though Jesus personally did no baptizing but only his disciples did the baptizing-even baptizing more than John the Baptist had baptized-the Pharisees knew that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John-because they knew enough to know that when one in authority has his agents do any thing that it is his work just as much as if the authority had done it personally. So when men following the instruction of the Spirit baptized men and women into Christ-into the church, which is his body (Ephesians 1:22-23), these men and women are baptized by the Spirit. Such is the Spirit’s baptism but not Spirit-baptism. The fact that no one was baptized under the authority of the Great Commission until the Holy Spirit came to lead them to do so, and after that the Spirit led the disciples into baptizing believers both Jew and Gentiles into the one body it completely harmonizes with Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 12:13 that "by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free: and have all been made to drink into one Spirit." The Revised Version says "in one Spirit" instead of "by one Spirit" but the thought is the same. The Greek preposition "en" is translated both "in" and "by" when it is used in an "ablative" sense, and such is the case here. Whether we use "in" or "by" the thought is the same; that is to say, in the teaching or guidance of one Spirit, we are all, both Jews and Gentiles, both bondmen and free men, baptized Into one body, the body of Christ. On this passage, note the following outstanding scholars:

(a) Jamieson, Faussett, and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, in loco, "By Spirit .... baptized-literally, "in;" in virtue of; through. The designed effect of baptism, which is realized when not frustrated by the unfaithfulness of men. Gentiles-literally, Greeks. All made to drink into one Spirit, The oldest MSS. read: "Made to drink of one Spirit," omitting "into" (John 7:37). There is an indirect allusion to the Lord’s supper, as there is a direct allusion to baptism in the beginning of the verse. So the Spirit, the water and the blood" (1 John 5:8) similarly combine the two outward signs with the inward things signified, the Spirit’s grace.

(b) Beet-In 1 Corinthians 12:13, we read: In one Spirit are we all baptized into one body ......and all were made to drink one Spirit. This probably refers to baptism by water. For we have here no suggestion of any other than the ordinary meaning of the word baptize. St. Paul is speaking of the church which is the body of Christ, and of the Holy Spirit who is its animating principle. By baptism, his readers entered the Church and were thus united to the body of Christ. And by faith, of which their baptism was a confession, they obtained (Galatians 3:2) the gift of the Spirit. Consequently, to St. Paul’s thought the outward condition, and the inward source, of the new life were closely associated: In one Spirit they were baptized into one body. Similarly in John 3:5 we have a birth of water and Spirit. So in Acts 2:38 we read: Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, St. Paul never uses the phrase baptize with the Holy Spirit, found in Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 1:5. If our exposition is correct, we have in 1 Corinthians 12:13 a definite reference to baptism as the outward and visible gate into the church and into the company of those savingly joined to each other and to Christ-Christian Baptism, pp. 18, 19. (Quoted by Shepherd in his Hand Book on Baptism, p. 393.) Dr. Beet was a most learned Methodist commentator and theologian. Perhaps the Wesleyan Methodist Church never produced another scholar his equal.

(c) Blount-For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body. Thus the Unity of the Church originates in its sacramental life: its members becoming one, not through any act of mutual consent, agreement, or love, but because God the Holy Spirit has made them one by the life which he has bestowed in baptism, when he made them "members of Christ"-Annotated Bible, 1 Corinthians 12:13. Quoted by Shepherd in Hand Book on Baptism, p.394. Blount was a distinguished theologian of the Church of England, and a prolific writer.

(d) Hammond-For in baptism being made partakers of the same Spirit we are entered into one body to be fellow members with all Christians, of what quality or sort soever we are--Paraphrase on 1 Corinthians 12:13. It is said of him, who was Chaplain to Charles I of England, "He was a man of great learning, as well in the classics and general philology as in doctrinal and school divinity, and possessed great natural ability." See Shepherd’s Hand Book, pp. 394, 483.

(e) Sadler-In 1 Corinthians 12:13, the Fathers and the Divines of the time of the Reformation, without exception, find a reference to water baptism as the outward and formal means by which the Holy Spirit grafts men into the mystical body of Christ. This text can only mean this, for St. Paul, as the whole context shows, is evidently speaking of a something which pertains to the whole Corinthian church and to every individual of it-Church Doctrine-Bible Truth, p. 59, See Shepherd’s Hand Book on Baptism, p. 394. Sadler belonged to the Church of England and was a learned commentator.