SPIRIT BAPTISM

I Corinthians 12:13

(Doctrinal Study series - Church) Lesson. 3

July 3, 2022 - SUN p.m.

The passage we can used on the topic of Spirit Baptism is I Corinthians 12:13 “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” Notice in this verse Paul says, that by one Spirit we are all immersed or placed into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles. This passage talks about “one body” which refers to the Church. How does a believer become a member of the body of Christ? The answer is by Spirit baptism.

Then Paul said in Ephesians 1:22-23 “And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, ²³Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” This verse says that the Church is the body of Jesus Christ. The church is the body of Christ.

Then Paul writes in Colossians 1:18 “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” This verse teaches us that Jesus Christ is the head of the body which is the church. We therefore defined that the church as the body of Christ and Christ is the Head of that body. Jesus Christ is the head of the body which is the church.

Several Baptist groups wrongly teach that the passage in I Corinthians 12:13 is referring to water baptism. They interpret this specific verse of I Corinthians 12:13 as water baptism to teach that after a person is baptized in water, that person placed into the local church composed of water immersed believers. Although they are correct that a believer who is baptized in water becomes a member of that local church but is not the right interpretation or application of this specific verse I Corinthians 12:13. Why are these Baptist groups says that I Corinthians 12:13 refers to water baptism? because they do not believe in the existence of a universal church, they do not believe in Spirit baptism. According to these several Baptist groups there is only one baptism in the bible and that is water baptism. However, to prove that these Baptist groups are wrong in their doctrine and notice that the verse says nothing about water baptism but that the believer is baptized or placed into one body according to I Corinthians 12:13 “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body”. It did not say about water baptism, and it does not say he is baptized into water. Now, this doctrinal teaching of Spirit Baptism is something that takes place at the time of salvation, not at the time of water baptism. Look at Acts 2:47 “Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” Carefully notice it teaches us that the Lord adds to the church daily such as should be saved, and it does not say that the Lord adds to the church daily such as should be baptized. The belief that is correct is as soon as a person is saved, he is added to the Church, the body of Christ. Look again to another verse in Acts 5:14 “And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.)” we learn again in this verse that the moment a person believes, not the moment a person is baptized in water, it simply says that the moment a person believes is added to the Lord, and to the Lord’s body, the church, which Christ is the head.

The very important question as to when the Church began will be satisfactorily answered by the passage of I Corinthians 12:13. Once we determine when Spirit baptism first began, then we will know when the Church began. We call it the foundation of the church. Now, the question is when did God first baptize believers into His body? I did not say when did God first baptized into water the believers into His body. I mean when were the believes first placed into the body of Christ? I simply did not mean when the believers were first placed into the local church. Whatever the answer to that question will determine the doctrine of the day on which the church began. Whatever the answer, it would determine the doctrine of the foundation of the church that the local church has in their doctrinal statement.

We can read in four gospel books when John the Baptist was first predicted the Spirit Baptism in Matthew 3:11 “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:"; and with fire:”; Mark 1:18 “I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.”; Luke 3:16 “John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:”; John 1:33 “And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.” According to these passages, the baptism of John the Baptist was a water baptism, as he said “I baptize you with water”, while on the other hand according to the passage, Christ’s baptism would be a spiritual baptism because as John said, that “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost”. That is Spirit Baptism. How about the word “fire” mentioned? That is the “fire baptism” for the unsaved and involves judgment which is yet future according to Matthew 3:12 “Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Notice if we go back to Matthew 3:11 “he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” The term “with” in Greek is “en” and the verb “shall baptize” is in the future tense, that means during the time when John the Baptist spoke these words the Spirit baptism had not yet taken place and John the Baptist was predicting that the Spirit baptism would happen in the future, but John the Baptist did not predict exactly when the Spirit baptism would occur. John the Baptist statements is very clear so that others would not misinterpret and mislead by the wrong doctrine regarding who is the baptizer of the Spirit Baptism. As we notice in this passage according to John, that Christ is the Baptizer which means the Lord Jesus Christ is the One who will place the believers into the body of Christ, the church not placed into the local church. Not only we learned that Christ is the Baptizer in Matthew 3:11, but Christ also is the baptizer in our text I Corinthians 12:13.

Again, in Matthew 16:18, Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 “I will build my church” The verb “will” is in the future tense that indicates that the time when Jesus said these words, the building of the Church had not yet begun. Notice carefully Jesus did not say, “I have built My Church” the verb is in past tense when He said that, neither Jesus did not say, “I am building My Church” the verb is in present tense, the time when He said that words. Therefore, the correct doctrine about the foundation of the church when Jesus said “I will build My Church” is that the building project had not yet begun, so the Church was yet future or the Church had not yet begun when Jesus said that phrase “I will build My Church.”

We see in Acts 2:47 “Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” This shows us that today Christ is building His Church daily. But we want to know, when did this building program first begin?

Let us trace the beginning of the building of Christ’s Church. Jesus Christ predicted that Spirit Baptism was still future in Acts 1:5 “For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” Here, we see that the prediction of the Lord about Spirit Baptism had not taken place yet, though it would soon take place. During the time when the Lord predicted the building of the Church, there is no person had yet been immersed into the body of Christ. So, the Church could not have begun prior to Acts 1:5. There is no body of Christ yet, there is no Church existing before the prediction of Christ in Acts 1:5. When Jesus spoke about His prediction of Spirit Baptism in Acts 1:5, His death, and His resurrection had already taken place, and yet the Spirit Baptism had not yet fulfilled, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come and the Church, the body of Christ had not yet been formed. But let us put in our mind that the announcement of Jesus in Acts 1:5 was very important because as Jesus had said that Spirit Baptism would happen not many days from that time Jesus spoke His prediction. The words in Acts 1:5 “not many days hence” means the Spirit Baptism would happen soon, in a matter of days. In fact, the Holy Spirit comes, the Spirit Baptism happened just 10 days later and that is on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. That day of Pentecost is the foundation of the Church.

There are unique events that occurred in the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. The Spirit Baptism is not specifically mentioned in Acts 2 not until Acts 11. We are told in Acts 11:15-16 that Spirit Baptism took place on the Day of Pentecost. Acts 11:15-16 “And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. ¹⁶Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.” Through this passage now we know that the Spirit Baptism first took place on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. It was therefore on that day of Pentecost that believers were first placed in the body of Christ through Spirit Baptism. That is the day the Church began. The foundation of the Church began at Pentecost and not on the earthly ministry of Christ neither on any other time.

Let us take a look at who were believer placed into the Body of Christ:

1. First, the Jews were place into the Body of Christ – Acts 2

2. Second, the Samaritans (half-Jews, half-Gentiles) were place into the Body of Christ – Acts 8

3. Third, the Gentiles were placed into the Body of Christ – Acts 10

Some people have an objection, because they said that the Spirit Baptism that was mentioned in Matthew 3:11 is not the same Spirit Baptism that was mentioned in I Corinthians 12:13.

They comment that Christ is the Baptizer in Matthew 3:11 “he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost” and they comment that it was the Holy Spirit is the Baptizer in I Corinthians 12:13 “by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.” Now, this is very important to know, as we read the English Bible translation this seems that Christ is the Baptizer in Matthew 3:11 and the Holy Spirit is the Baptizer in I Corinthians 12:13, however the Greek construction of Matthew 3:11 is practically identical to I Corinthians 12:13.

Let us use four passages that talk about same Spirit Baptism and the literal Greek construction will reveals to us the four passages are closely equivalent:

1. Matthew 3:11 (In Greek Construction – He (Christ) shall baptize you with (in) Holy Spirit.

2. Acts 1:5 (In Greek Construction – You shall be baptized (by Christ – Matthew 3:11) with (in) Holy Spirit.

3. Acts 11:16 (Greek Construction – You shall be baptized (by Christ – Matthew 3:11) with (in) Holy Spirit.

4. I Corinthians 12:13 (Greek Construction – We all were be baptized (by Christ – Matthew 3:11) with (in) one Spirit into one body.

The order of the words in English translation of I Corinthians 12:13 has been altered so that we can see the importance of the same Greek construction that is used. The Greek preposition “en” is translated in the King James Version “By one Spirit” (I Corinthians 12:13), which that misled many preachers and church leaders to wrongly conclude that the Spirit is the Baptizer. In order to be understood correctly, let us render the passage this way “With (en) one Spirit were we all baptized (by Christ) into one body (the body of Christ), His Church)”. Christ baptized us into His body and it is not the Holy Spirit who baptized us into one body, which is the Church.

Jesus Christ not only placed us into His body, the Church but Jesus Christ also immersed us in the Holy Spirit. It says in I Corinthians 12:13 “and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”

We Believers have participated fully in the reception of the Holy Spirit with all the abundant blessings which accompany this reception.

Titus 3:5-6 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; ⁶Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;”

Acts 2:33 “having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost,”

John 7:38-39 “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. ³⁹(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”

Glory to God, thank God, the Comforter which is the Holy Spirit has come. We have received the promise of the Father that has been given to us. Starting at Pentecost the Spirit baptism still going on until today, whenever someone believes on Christ as Savior. Every believer was placed into His body, the Church. That is Spirit Baptism.

If you believe in your heart that Christ died for your sins, buried and risen from the dead, the Bible says you are saved, you are a believer (Romans 10:9 “believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”) and since you received Jesus as your Saviour you now born spiritually into the family of God (John 1:12 “ But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”). Are you grateful that you now baptized in the Spirit into one body and you now become a member of the body of Christ? (I Corinthians 12:27 “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”). Most of the time, many people used to speak of going to church, but have you realized that you are the Church? You need to see that yourself as part of the body of Christ and once you see that reality of blessing this will make a great difference in your Christian living. Think that you are the Church and God has joined you in a vital way with your head, the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:30-32 “For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. ³¹For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. ³²This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”). Not only God has joined you with the Head of the Church but God has joined you in a very important way with every believer in the body, which is the Church of the True and Living God. Now, you learned that the Church is not an organization, it is a living organism, and pulsating with the very life of Great God (Colossians 1:27 “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:”; Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”).