BAPTIZED BY ONE
SPIRIT INTO ONE BODY
A TEXTUAL EXPOSITION
OF I CORINTHIANS 12:13
by Forrest L. Keener
"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."
This is a verse
which has, through the years, received a huge amount of attention. I have read a
great deal of material on the subject, and even distributed a lot of tracts with
which I am less than totally pleased. I will try, in this brief tract, to state
what I feel is the extremely simple and pointed truth of this verse. May I say
to begin with, I don't think we need to be an egoistical or a translation expert
to understand it; it is just not that complicated. It says precisely and simply
what it seems to say.
WHY COMPLICATED
APPROACHES
I have read many
discourses which approach this verse as if we needed some particular insight
into great mysteries, or an ability to dig out very obscure interpretations of
other Bible verses, to understand this one. These approaches normally lead to
some "necessary implication" of a "universal body." This wrong interpretation of
I Cor. 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.") is supported by a wrong interpretation of Ephesians 4:3 and
4, ("Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is
one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;")
and in turn that wrong interpretation of Ephesians 4:3 and 4 is supported by the
same wrong interpretation of I Cor. 12:13. The fact of the matter is that
neither of these verses so much as hints at any kind of a universal body. In
fact, the words universal and body are so antagonistic to each other, that we
should be forced into laughter, by merely hearing them so used. The word body
always means something that is localized by union and united by locality, while
the word universal, as used in this respect, means something that is everywhere.
Infinitude of locality always necessitates a spirit, as opposed to a body. Why
the complication then? It is because of the carry-over of Catholicism, even
through Protestantism, in so much of our "Christian literature."
If it were not for
the Catholic teaching that the "body of Christ" is literally the visible
universal (Catholic) church, or the Protestant teaching that the "body of
Christ" is literally the invisible universal ("Holy Catholic") church, no such
notion would ever exist among evangelical Christians. They certainly would not,
in a million years, arrive at it, merely by reading I Cor. 12:13, Eph. 4:3,4 and
Eph. 5:25-27. The fact is that to arrive at a universal church interpretation of
these verses, a man must start with this Catholic presupposition and use these
verses as proof texts to support it. I want to take each of the determinative
words of I Cor. 12:13 and show that this passage does not even suggest
universalism. Then, I want to very briefly expound the verse in its simple
contextual meaning.
THE WORD "SPIRIT"
"For by one spirit
are we all baptized into one body." It has been argued by some, who realized the
error of the Catholic interpretation, that the Spirit here was "a spirit of
unity," and should be translated spirit not Spirit. Such a conclusion is not
necessary, and I do not believe it is either accurate or logically justified.
The Spirit here is the Spirit of the context. He is the Spirit who, according to
verse 3, leads one to confess Christ, in verse 4 bestows diversities of gifts,
and in verse 7 manifests Himself for the overall profit of the church. He is the
same Spirit who, in verse 8, gives the word of wisdom to one and the word of
knowledge to another, and who in verses 9 and 10, gives gifts of faith, healing,
miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, divers tongues, and interpretation.
He is the same Spirit who, in verse 11, sovereignly divides gifts to men,
individually as it pleases Him. It is, by every contextual standard of
interpretation the "Spirit" of the context and thus, the Holy Spirit who is
mentioned here.
THE WORD "BY"
"For by one Spirit
are we all baptized into one body." It is thought, by the universalist, that
this word, if properly translated, forces us to believe that this verse has the
Holy Spirit baptizing us into Christ literally, and thus the baptism could not
be water baptism, and the body referred to could not be a local church. This is
interpretation either by presupposition, or by panic, or some of both. The word
by need carry no such meaning. It simply means we are led by the Holy Spirit to
unite with that body (local church), exactly as we are led by the Spirit to
confess Christ in verse 3. This is how Simeon, in Luke 2:27, came into the
temple at the time of Christ's dedication. ("And he came by the Spirit into the
temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the
custom of the law,") He came by the influence of, or the leadership of, the Holy
Spirit.
THE WORD "BODY"
"For by one Spirit
are we all baptized into one body." Again the "body" of this verse is the body
of the context, that is the church at Corinth. This is what Paul is, throughout
the chapter, illustrating by the human body. The first question that should be
asked here is this: Is the word "body" in this verse, that is the body of
Christ, being used literally or figuratively? Is Paul saying we are literally
being placed by this baptism into the physical, fleshly, actual, biological body
of Christ? Of course not! He is using the human body, in this chapter, to
illustrate the truth of necessary union and interdependency within the church,
and he is using this metaphor, "body of Christ," to illustrate the relationship
that the local church has with Christ as her "head," which is simply to say He
has complete authority over the church. To make the use of the words body or
head more literal than that is to violate the whole nature of the chapter and
indeed the entire epistle. Let it farther be understood that we are to think
locally, that is of the church at Corinth, and locally as these truths apply to
us in any church. Only in this setting can verses like 25 and 26 have any
applicable reference to the context. Members of a local, visible assembly are to
have the same care one for the other, suffer with each other and rejoice when
another is honored. If there were such a thing as an invisible, universal body
(whatever that might possibly be) this conduct would surely not be possible for
them. So the term body here is a metaphorical term describing the relationship
that the members of the church at Corinth had with each other under Christ their
head. He is talking specifically of the body, that is the church, at Corinth.
Oh, but someone asks, does Christ have many bodies? This is a foolish question.
Once we see the metaphorical use of the word body in this passage we understand
that the usage is generic or institutional and thus is not numerical in any
sense of being either singular or plural.
Let me illustrate
this truth in this way: Christ took a piece or loaf of bread, on the night
before His crucifixion, He broke it and said, "Take eat, this is my body." He
was simply saying this piece of bread, which you are to eat, pictures my body.
But He said "This is my body." Now, are we to understand that this was the only
piece of bread about which that statement could be made, or that all pieces of
bread are a composite part of one great piece? Absurd! When we see that the
statement is a metaphorical one, and could be rightly made of any qualifying
piece of bread, that is unleavened bread consecrated to the purpose of
symbolizing Christ's body, we see the truth that applies in I Cor. 12:13. Any
proper qualifying piece of bread, at any proper time, and in any proper place
and setting, could be referred to as "His body," and in the singular, without
violence to any other piece. The very same thing applies easily and
automatically to any true church, and it does no violence to any other true
church, nor does it so much as hint that they are composite parts of the same
thing. Moreover, it does not hint at the foolish idea that the local church is
only the manifestation or as some prefer to say, the only visible manifestation
of the "real thing," "the true church," or the "universal church." Notice this
truth as applied to the human body in I Cor. 12:15: Can the foot say "... I am
not of the body..." What body? It speaks of the human body as an object, not an
individual. So is the normal case in all metaphorical usages.
THE WORD "WE"
"For by one Spirit
are we all baptized into one body." Some have said the word WE here of necessity
includes Paul, who was obviously not a member of that local assembly, and thus
the usage of WE; supports a universal interpretation. Nonsense! If the word WE
in verse 13 necessarily included him, the word YE in verse 27 of the same
chapter would necessarily exclude him. The principle, that we are each part of a
local body, applies to Paul, and thus he uses the word WE in an editorial sense.
However, throughout the epistle and especially in the context, he excludes
himself from this body of which he is speaking in this chapter. Notice verses
1,2,3, and 27. In none of these places does he imply that he is including
himself in the body to whom he is speaking. To understand his editorial use of
the word WE in verse 13, notice the use of the word I in chapter 13, verses 1-3.
His usage here is hypothetical as if he had not love and became as sounding
brass, but he does not really include himself in that group. For an example of
the use of the word WE, which does not include both first and second persons,
notice I Thess. 3:1. Notice I Thess. 5:5, where he, in the same verse, uses YE
and WE referring to the same group. So don't let the word WE in I Cor. 12:13 be
used to erroneously point you in a universal direction. It implies no such
thing!
THE WORD "BAPTIZED"
"For by one Spirit
are we all baptized into one body." The universalist's interpretation of this
verse is essentially this: The Holy Spirit places (baptizes) us into the "true
church," "The Body of Christ." They make this a statement of regeneration, that
is to say salvation is the Holy Spirit baptizing us into the "true church," the
universal body of Christ. But where in Scripture is salvation referred to as
"baptism" either in or by the Holy Spirit? While it is true that baptism is used
metaphorically to describe salvation, salvation is never referred to as baptism
in or by anything or anyone, unless I Cor. 12:13 is the only place. No ground is
laid for it anywhere in Scripture. The believers of Luke 3:16 and Acts 1:5 were
promised the baptism of the Holy Ghost. It was fulfilled to them in Acts 2:1-4,
but no one would claim that this was their regeneration. Salvation is not the
context of I Cor. 12:13, the context is conduct in the local church. Again,
salvation is not the context of Eph. 4:4. In reading Eph. 4:1-3 you find that
mutual conduct among the members of the church at Ephesus is the context. This
will be the case everywhere in Scripture you see the illustration of the body
used. Regeneration is never the context. I thus conclude that no place in
Scripture ever refers to salvation as baptism in, or by, the Holy Spirit. These
people in the church at Corinth had been led by the Holy Spirit to confess
Christ, and had by the same Spirit been led to identify themselves with that
particular body, by water baptism. It was by the ordinance of water baptism that
they had come into the fellowship of that body (the church at Corinth).
THE SIMPLE
INTERPRETATION OF THE VERSE
The message and
exhortation of I Cor.12:13 and 14 is this: Cease your individual competition in
the attempted display of spiritual gifts. Notice the first and last verses this
chapter are clearly this, and every verse in between is right on that line. This
verse is simply saying: All of you whether Jew or Gentile, whether bond or free
have been led by the Holy Spirit to, by water baptism, unite yourself with this
body (the church at Corinth). Now stop competing for position and pre-eminence,
as if you were a unit within yourself, and accept the place in the body to which
God has sovereignly appointed you, because you are by the design of God all
dependent upon each other.
If this simple truth
is missed, we not only entertain a totally wrong concept of Bible doctrine and
definition of the biblical word church, we miss the glorious practical appeal
for church unity and inter-submission within our church. Any notion of a
universal church becomes an escape from the obligation to the local church, and
to proper conduct within the local body, the true and only church of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen