There is some debate as to whether with Spirit baptism (mentioned 11 times in the NT), the Holy Spirit is the agent of baptism or the medium of baptism. While viewing the Holy Spirit as the agent of Spirit baptism is a grammatical possibility in some texts, such as the key text of 1 Corinthians 12:13, the four earliest references to Spirit baptism (Mt 3:11, Mk 1:8, Lk 3:16, Jn 1:33) predict that Christ is the one who does the action of baptizing in (en) the Spirit, parallel to John baptizing in (en) water, thus identifying the Spirit as the medium of the baptism.
However, regardless of whether one takes the Spirit to be the agent or medium, the results are clearly articulated in 1 Corinthians 12: Spirit baptism unites all believers to Christ from the moment of their salvation and forevermore.
Spirit baptism unites all believers to Christ from the moment of their salvation and forevermore.
Because this is a highly controversial matter especially with the influence of the charismatic movement today, it deserves some attention. Let’s examine the key text:
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Cor 12:13)
First, who are the subjects of Spirit-baptism? Paul says we all were baptized. Who are the “we all”? All Christians. If you are a Christian, then you have been Spirit baptized. Spirit baptism is not limited only to apostles or to super-Christians or to any subgroup within the body of Christ. We all were baptized in the Spirit.
Second, when does Spirit baptism occur? Well what is the tense of the verb here? We all were baptized. It is past tense. So Spirit baptism occurred sometime in the past for all Christians. And the fact that Paul can say that “we all were baptized” must indicate that Spirit baptism occurred at the moment of our salvation. If Spirit baptism took place some time after salvation, then Paul would not be able to say “we all were baptized.” Paul did not say “some were baptized,” and he did not say “we will be baptized” or “we might be baptized.” Paul said, “we all were baptized.”
This also means that Spirit baptism happens one time, at the moment of our salvation, and it never happens again. This is true of all believers from the moment of their salvation for all time. And it also means that Spirit baptism is not something that we need to seek for, pray for, or actively receive somehow. All Christians were baptized in the Spirit the moment they put their faith in Christ. Spirit baptism is something like justification; it happens the moment we are saved, it’s not something we feel or pursue; it’s simply something that occurs as a result of our faith in Christ. It is not experiential, though it has dramatic effects for a believer’s life.
And that leads us to the nature of what Spirit baptism is. Paul says here that we all were baptized in one Spirit. So the Spirit of God is like the water with which we were immersed—the word “baptize” literally means to dunk—we were all dunked with the Spirit at the moment of our salvation; in fact, Paul continues that analogy of the Spirit and water at the end of the verse when he says, “all were made to drink of one Spirit.” The Spirit is the water with which we all were baptized.
If you are a Christian, then you have been Spirit baptized. Spirit baptism is not limited only to apostles or to super-Christians or to any subgroup within the body of Christ. We all were baptized in the Spirit.
Now the one question about Spirit baptism that this verse does not address is who is the one doing the baptizing? But we do have an answer to that elsewhere in the New Testament, and the earliest and perhaps best way we can answer that question is to look at the first chapter of John’s Gospel.
In verse 33, John the baptizer says, “I myself did not know him”—referring to Jesus Christ—”but he who sent me to baptize with water”—the word translated “with” there is the same preposition in 1 Corinthians 12:13 translated “in” the Spirit—”he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with”—same preposition—”the Holy Spirit.” So John the Baptist is predicting Spirit baptism, and he specifically tells us who it is who would do the baptizing. Who is it? Jesus Christ baptized all of us with the Spirit at the moment of our salvation.
Now this, of course, leads us to the final piece of a complete understanding of the nature of Spirit baptism, and that is its results. What happened to us when Jesus Christ baptized us with the Spirit at the moment we trusted him for our salvation? At that moment, Jesus Christ immersed us with one Spirit into one body.
So Jesus is the baptizer, and the Holy Spirit is the water, and the body of water, or the pool, or the lake into which we were all baptized is the body of Christ. Through Spirit baptism we are made one with that body. So while Spirit baptism is a work of Christ rather than action of the Holy Spirit, it is nevertheless possible only because of the Spirit’s unique presence in the New Covenant age.
Through the Spirit, we who believe are united to Christ and to one another in Christ’s body. Through the Spirit, we who believe enjoy a special communion with Christ and with the Father, along with everyone else who believes (2 Cor 13:14). As Paul clearly states, “For through [Christ] we both have access in one Spirit to the Father” (Eph 2:18). This is why Jesus had promised that in the day he would send his Spirit, “you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (Jn 14:20).
