IN ONE SPIRIT WE ARE ALL
BAPTIZED INTO ONE BODY
(1 Cor. 12:13)

THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENT that occurs at the moment of our call by God is His giving to us a portion of His holy spirit. Every son whom He chooses receives, at the time of his call, a part of God’s spirit, which makes its home in him until death or until our assembly above, when it will fill every fibre of our being. Our spirits are immersed in His spirit when He calls us.

This is the baptism of spirit which every believer experiences immediately he believes. It is the seal of our salvation, securing us against all who might oppose. God’s spirit cannot leave us. We may grieve it and ignore it and be ignorant of its presence, as were the disciples in Ephesus who had not heard of holy spirit. Ignorance of any truth deprives us of the joy of its benefits.

The holy spirit within us is the source of all our spiritual power. Without it we are as the world. It does not give us today the ability to heal diseases or talk in different languages or cast out demons, for these gifts ceased with the coming of maturity. But it empowers us to know the will of God through His word, and to walk in a way pleasing to Him. It turns our hearts to Him in prayer and supplication.

God’s spirit is the greatest gift now given to those whom He loves and chooses. Our spirits have been immersed in His spirit, creating an indissoluble unity which no one can sever. No other baptism is needed today. That in water is a picture of the living, cleansing reality, which is the one baptism that remains today.