@Eternally-Grateful, let us look at some of those scriptures that you mentioned yesterday.
1st Corinthians 12:13
“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."
We all know that the baptism here is not water baptism, for it is a baptism performed
by the Holy Spirit. We also know not every every baptism is a baptism involving water and burial in it (
Matthew 3:11).
Since baptism
is an immersion, the verse describes the Spirit
immersing us into a church. For the context drive this meaning for us if we stay with the context.
Churches lay claim to this verse by asking for it to be done when they receive new members, which is the opposite action we take when excluding a member from our church body. At least they should, if you understood what Paul is saying.
We know the church of God/Christ has binding and loosing authority, which the Spirit applies (
Matthew 18:18).
The Holy Spirit immerses, buries, plunges, dips, and otherwise sticks new members into the body until they are grafted onto it
and participate in the same Spirit in the body.
The result is
not salvation, but being part of a local body of believers, gifts, or anything else, but
participation in the local body of the saints. “To drink into one Spirit”
is mutual participation in the lively energy of the Holy Spirit. This is a passive work done to members, just like the baptism in the first part of the verse.
The verse
before and the verse after define the unifying animation of the Spirit of God. The coordination of members in a church is not by a faithful elders, but by a perfect Spirit. The closer a church gets to Christ and walks in the Spirit, the more benefits they realize.
This scripture is misused, and truly only a few understand what Paul is teaching here, yet if we follow all of the context, before and after 1st Corinthians 12:13 it should be clear as to what Paul is teaching us.
Next I want to look at Romans 6:3-6