By One Spirit … Baptized Into One Body

by Terry W. Benton

"For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free--and have all been made to drink into one Spirit" (I Corinthains 12:13).

1. What does "by one Spirit" mean?
   1. The Holy Spirit is the element we are immersed in?
   2. Holy Spirit is the agency directing us to be immersed in the name of the Lord?
2. True or False:
   By One Spirit:
   1. 3,000 people were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ in the element of water (Acts 2:38,41) [T or F]?
   2. The Ethiopian Eunuch was baptized in water in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 8) [T or F]?
   3. Cornelius and his household were baptized in water in the name of the Lord (Acts 10:47-48) [T or F]?
   4. The Corinthians, hearing, believed, and were baptized in the same way as the others (Acts 18:8; Mark 16:16) [T or F]?
   5. All who are baptized in water in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, do so by the urgent appeal of the same Spirit as all of the above [T or F]?
3. Conclusion:

   Even without appealing to the meaning and usage of the Greek words "by one Spirit", we can easily look at the cases of conversion and conclude the following truths:

   1. The Holy Spirit is not the element that all are immersed in.
   2. The Holy Spirit is the directing agency (by His revealed and confirmed word) that urges all to be baptized (immersed in the element of water) in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38,41; 10:47-48).

Those who do not yield to the Spirit's urgent message and "gladly receive His words" will not be baptized into the One Body. They have resisted the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51). The Corinthians heard the Spirit's message, believed, and were baptized into one body (Acts 18:8; I Corinthians 12:13). By one Spirit we all are baptized into one body unless you harden your heart and refuse His great salvation message.