In 1 Corinthians 12:13 Paul tells us not only that in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body but also that we “were all given to drink one Spirit.” To be baptized in the Spirit is to get into the Spirit and be lost in Him. To drink the Spirit is to take the Spirit in and have our being saturated with Him. By these two procedures-baptism and drinking-we are mingled with the Spirit. To be baptized in the Spirit is the initiation of the mingling and is once for all. To drink the Spirit is the continuation and accomplishment of the mingling and is perpetual, forever. Therefore, after being baptized in one Spirit, we need to drink of the one Spirit to be saturated and permeated with the Spirit.
First Corinthians 12:13 indicates that we drink the one Spirit in the Body. In one Spirit we have all been baptized into one Body to drink one Spirit. The Spirit is in the Body. As long as we stay in the Body, we may drink the Spirit.
To be baptized in the one Body is to experience something once for all, but to drink one Spirit is a continuing experience. In the Body life we have both baptism and drinking. We have baptism as the procedure to receive and accept the fact, and we have the drinking as the moment-by-moment experience. Now we are in the Body to drink. In one Spirit we have all been baptized, and now we are in the Body drinking of one Spirit.
In Ephesians 4:4 Paul speaks of “one Body and one Spirit.” The Body is mentioned before the Spirit because the oneness among us is related to the Body and is for the Body. The reason we need to keep the oneness of the Spirit (v. 3) is that we are all one Body.
There is a deep relationship between the one Spirit and the one Body. The Spirit is the essence of the one Body. Without the Spirit, the Body would be empty and lifeless. The Body in Ephesians 4:4 is the Body of Christ, and the essence of the Body of Christ is the Spirit. Hence, the Body and the essence of the Body are one. It is impossible for the Body of Christ to have more than one essence. The unique essence of the Body is the Spirit.
The Spirit is in the Body, as indicated in 1 Corinthians 12:13. This verse reveals that the one Spirit is not only the essence of the Body but also the life and life supply of the Body.
In Ephesians 4:3 Paul speaks of the oneness of the Spirit, and this Spirit is the Spirit in the Body. The Spirit is not only for the Body but in the Body. The Spirit is in the Body, not just in individual members.
“One Body and one Spirit” means that this one Spirit is wrought into our being and constituted into our being that we may be constituted into one Body. The Body is the constitution of the one Spirit. When we say, “One Body and one Spirit,” we mean that the Body is the constitution of the one Spirit, that the one Spirit has been wrought into the being of the one Body. Eventually, because the Body is the constitution of the one Spirit, we can say that the one Body is one with the Spirit. The one Body and the one Spirit, therefore, are not two separate entities. On the contrary, the one Body is one with the Spirit, and the one Spirit is one with the Body.
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