The first step of our living in the Body of Christ is that we are baptized in one Spirit into one Body. First Corinthians 12:13 says, “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and were all given to drink one Spirit.” The Spirit is the sphere and element of our spiritual baptism, and in such a Spirit we were all baptized into one organic entity, the Body of Christ, so we should all, regardless of our race, nationality, or social rank, be this one Body. Christ is the life and constituent of this Body, and the Spirit is the reality of Christ. It is in this one Spirit that we were all baptized into one living Body to express Christ.
The baptism of the Spirit is not for individuals but for the Body. In 1 Corinthians 12:13 Paul clearly says, “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body.” This Body is an organic entity. We know from Matthew 28:19 and Galatians 3:27 that we have been baptized into the Triune God and into Christ. The Triune God and Christ are organic—They are living. Romans 6:3 reveals that we have not only been baptized into Christ, but we have been baptized into His death. On the positive side, we have been baptized into the Triune God and into Christ; on the negative side, we have been baptized into Christ’s death, having a clearance of all the negative things, such as sins, the flesh, the self, and the old creation. Therefore, the believers in Christ are baptized through water and in the Spirit into Christ, the death of Christ, the name (the person) of the Triune God, and the Body of Christ. Baptism ushers believers into an organic union with Christ and the Triune God, making them living members of the Body of Christ. The ultimate result of baptism is to put the believers into the Body.
We have been baptized into the Triune God, into Christ, into the death of Christ, and into the Body of Christ, but the destination of this baptism is not the Triune God, Christ, or the death of Christ; our destination is the Body of Christ. Our baptism begins with our being brought into the Triune God, but it eventually leads us to the Body of Christ. Since the Body of Christ is the destination of baptism, we need to remain in this destination. Today we are not only in the Triune God, in Christ, and in the death of Christ, but we are in the Body of Christ—the church. The Body of Christ is our destination, and we should live, move, serve, worship, grow, act, work, and have our being in the Body.
In 1 Corinthians 12:13 Paul tells us that we were not only baptized in one Spirit into one Body, but we were also given to drink one Spirit. To be baptized in one Spirit is to get into the Spirit and to be lost in Him; to drink the Spirit is to take the Spirit in and to have our being saturated with Him. By these two procedures 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.
This verse also shows us where we can drink this Spirit. We drink this Spirit in the Body. If we were not in the Body, there would not be the flow, and there would be nothing to drink; the flow is in the Body. According to Revelation, in eternity the flow will be in the New Jerusalem (22:1-2); today the flow is in the Body. We were all baptized in one Spirit into one Body, and we were all given to drink one Spirit. The Spirit is in the Body of Christ. As long as we remain in the Body, in the destination of our baptism, we can drink the Spirit. Those who seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit should enter into the Body of Christ, because in the Body we were all given to drink the Spirit, who is in the Body. To be baptized into the Body is once for all, but to drink the one Spirit is perpetual. As along as we are in the Body, we are given to drink this Spirit. We have been baptized in one Spirit, and now we drink this one Spirit in the Body.