1^st Corinthians 12v13

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.

In order to see this verse in it’s particular context, we need to look at what Paul was saying in most of this chapter. In verse one, Paul tells us that he is about to write “concerning spiritual gifts” so that the Corinthians would not be “ignorant”. Through the section following, up until this current verse, Paul tells us the following about the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts:

No believer speaking by the Spirit of God can call Jesus “accursed” (v3).
Nobody can say that “Jesus is the Lord” but by the Holy Spirit (v3).
There are different spiritual gifts, but they all come by (from, through, with) the same Holy Spirit.
There are different ways and levels of working within the church (“administrations”) but it is all led by and glorifies the same Lord (v5).
It is the same God that works everything in everybody that follows His leading (v6).
The manifestation of the Holy Spirit is given to every believer (v7).
This manifestation of the Holy Spirit is so that every believer would profit and gain from it (v7).
Some of the gifts that come from the Holy Spirit and can be found in believers include:
- “word of wisdom” (v8).
- “word of knowledge” (v8).
- Special amounts of faith (v9).
- Gifts of healing (that is, a gift not for the individual but to be given by God through that individual to others) (v9).
- Working of miracles (v10).
- The gift of Prophecy (v10).
- Discerning of Spirits (v10).
- Many diverse kinds of tongues in the one believer (v10).
- The interpretation of tongues (v10).
All of these are workings of the one and only Holy Spirit, working in and through each believer as He sees fit (v11).

Paul then moves on to comparing the different operations of the Holy Spirit as being similar to the way the parts of the body of a person work. Paul starts showing that believers are all part of one greater body, so that while we may all look different or have different functions, gifts and abilities, it is all part of the same body, motivated by the same thing, and moving in the same direction.

When we look closely, we find that this current verse of study appears at a junction point. It is at the point between talking about the specific ways and ministrations of the Holy Spirit, and the start of the description of the ways of a human body working. So the current verse is the turning point showing the relationship between the action of the Holy Spirit, and the body of believers that he is going to describe further on.

The verse shows that there is only one Spirit – and it is through this one Spirit – the Holy Spirit – along with baptism, we gain entry into the body of believers. It does not matter whether we started off as a Jew or a Gentile, a Muslim or an infidel, a servant or a master, a Catholic or a Protestant, a male or a female, a young person or an older person, or anywhere in between, the entry point is still the same – the action of the Holy Spirit, along with our belief and faith to be baptised. This is the narrow gate and pathway that, in the words of Jesus, “leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7v14). Indeed, as Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14v6) – showing that if Jesus isn’t involved intimately in all aspects of our walk, then we will not make it to God the Father.

Looking at this from another perspective, we find that without baptism we will limit the power of the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. Baptism and the Holy Spirit need to work together to gain us entry into the body of believers. When we gain entry to the body, and become a part of it, we are then all a part of each other, and not separate. We are all joined together by the Holy Spirit. Notice also that although the Holy Spirit may work in different ways through different believers, and manifest in different ways through each, we are all partaking of the same Spirit.