1 Corinthians 12:13 Amplified By Ephesians 4:4-6

Ephesians 4:4-6 [There is] ONE BODY, and ONE SPIRIT, even as ye are called in One Hope of your calling; 5 ONE LORD, One Faith, ONE BAPTISM, 6 One God and Father of all, who [is] above all, and through all, and in you all.

1 Corinthians 12:13 For as the Body is One, and hath many members, and all the members of that ONE BODY being many, are ONE BODY, so also [is] Christ [our ONE LORD]. For by ONE SPIRIT, are we all BAPTIZED [with the ONE BAPTISM] 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.

If the ONE BAPTISM in Ephesians 4:5 is (physical) water baptism then — “for by ONE SPIRIT are we all baptized into ONE BODY” (1 Corinthians 12:13) — must require water baptism. If water baptism is required to be baptized into the ONE BODY which is the same as being baptized into Jesus Christ [who is the ONE LORD and who is the Head of the Body], which is our great deliverance, then we all should quickly join the Church of Christ (i.e. the heretical denomination) and get immersed for our salvation. If, however, being baptized in/by/with (“en”) the One Spirit into the One Body is spiritual — then how can this verse be used to support a water ordinance?

Moreover, the words “made to drink” are from the same word translated “drink” in Matthew 10:42 — “And whosoever shall give to DRINK unto one of these little ones a CUP OF COLD WATER only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.” This same word for “cold water” is found in Revelation 3:15 “I know thy works, that thou art neither COLD nor hot: I would thou wert COLD or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither COLD nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”

Now if we make the baptism of 1 Corinthians 12:13, which is the same baptism as Ephesians 4:5, a physical water baptism, if we make it earthly water — then shouldn’t the “drinking,” or being “made to drink,” also relate to physical, earthly water in these other verses? For the sake of consistency, shouldn’t we presume that when God says “And whosoever shall give to DRINK unto one of these little ones a CUP OF COLD WATER only…” He has in view nothing more than giving them some water with a little extra ice in it — as opposed to giving them the clean/pure/living waters spoken of in Scripture? When God states that a congregation is lukewarm shouldn’t we just think of it as them not having any cold (physical) water, or hot (physical) water to give people when they are thirsty or in need of a warm bath? But remember, the Holy Spirit is specifically called the living waters. So to be made to drink into One Spirit is to be made to drink into these same living waters, clean waters, and pure waters. Note that the fact that the water (physically-speaking) was deemed living related to it running — it was coming down from colder regions and it was refreshing… it wasn’t stagnate, putrid water that festered with disease and waste and was lukewarm and good for nothing. So cold water is the blessed running water, which typifies the spiritual living water (moving, working, effectual, fit for the cause) and this points to the Holy Spirit and His work in us through the word. It is because of Him that these cold waters, living waters, are deemed clean and pure.

So I do not say these things to mock, or to antagonize, but to try to drive home the folly of trying to make that which should be (and is) spiritual into something that should not be (and is not) carnal. The Bible is clear, we were spiritually circumcised, baptized, crucified, and buried, with Christ on the cross. As a result, we are risen, quickened, and Justified with Christ from the cross. Our life is ‘hid in Christ’ and ‘it is Christ‘ and when He was raised and quickened so were we. However, when upon our receipt of newness of life when we are born again, we are indeed baptized into Christ, baptized into His body, and the efficacy of the cross is yoked to us in that regard. This is why I say the two acts are united in one, though separate in time. This is why we can be both baptized with Christ on the cross and baptized into Him when the Spirit quickens and converts us in time (giving us that newness of life) and it still be the One Baptism.

In light of this, what place does an obsolete water ordinance have in all of these things? All it does it give men room to boast, to talk about how they were (supposedly) “led by the Spirit into immersion and believers baptism” (or vice versa if they are sprinklers or aspersionists and make such statements). It causes division amongst the true church when, as an ordinance, it should have ended at the cross when it was nailed thereon with the other abrogated OT ordinances, rules, and regulations. Water baptism (the ordinance) allows us to glory in the flesh – spiritual baptism (which is the Gospel) declares glory in Christ and His finished work on the cross and be satisfied therein.

To God be the glory!