For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
Parallel translations
- WEB For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all given to drink into one Spirit.
- KJV 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.
- BSB For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink.
- NASB For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
- NLT Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
By one Spirit all believers were baptized into one body and made to drink of one Spirit. Spiritual unity transcends ethnic and social divisions.
Overview
Paul grounds the church's unity in a shared experience of the Holy Spirit at conversion, which incorporates every believer into Christ's body. Distinctions that divided the ancient world (Jew/Greek, slave/free) are relativized by this common possession of the Spirit. This is a foundational text for Christian unity, showing that what believers share in Christ is deeper than what separates them.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 34
- Eph 4:5one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
- Col 3:11where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all.
- Gal 3:28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
- John 7:37–39Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!
- 1 Pet 3:21This is a symbol of baptism, which now saves you — not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
- Rom 6:3–6Or don’t you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
- Acts 1:5For John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
- Titus 3:4–6But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared,
- Luke 3:16John answered them all, “I indeed baptize you with water, but he comes who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to loosen. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire,
- Rom 3:29Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn’t he the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
- John 4:10Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
- John 4:14but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
- Matt 3:11I indeed baptize you in water for repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.
- Eph 2:11–22Therefore remember that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “uncircumcision” by that which is called “circumcision”, (in the flesh, made by hands);
- Ezek 36:25–27I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
- John 1:33I didn’t recognize him, but he who sent me to baptize in water, he said to me, ‘On whomever you will see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’
- John 3:5Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into God’s Kingdom.
- Rom 8:9–11But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.
- Eph 5:26that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word,
- Col 2:11–12in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;
- John 6:63It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life.
- 1 Cor 10:2and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
- Col 1:27to whom God was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory;
- Eph 3:6that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus through the Good News,
- Gal 3:23But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, confined for the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
- Eph 6:8knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive the same again from the Lord, whether he is bound or free.
- Isa 41:17–18The poor and needy seek water, and there is none. Their tongue fails for thirst. I, Yahweh, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
- Isa 44:3–5For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring:
- John 1:16From his fullness we all received grace upon grace.
- Rom 4:11He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they might be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might also be accounted to them.
- 1 Cor 7:21–22Were you called being a bondservant? Don’t let that bother you, but if you get an opportunity to become free, use it.
- Song 5:1I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride. I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, friends! Drink, yes, drink abundantly, beloved.
- Zech 9:15–17Yahweh of Armies will defend them; and they will destroy and overcome with sling stones; and they will drink, and roar as through wine; and they will be filled like bowls, like the corners of the altar.
- Isa 55:1“Hey! Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters! Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
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Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
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Original language
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