A seventh image for understanding the Holy Spirit is that of “Incorporation.”
Heb 7:9 One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, 10 because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.
The author of Hebrews argues that the sons of Abraham (Levites) participated in Abraham’s tithe long BEFORE they were even born via the ancient principle of “incorporation.”
In other words, the Levites tithed through Abraham because they were “part of his body.”
In a similar way, present-day Christians participate in the miraculous manifestations of the Spirit in the first century because they too are “part of the same body”– the body of Christ.
God sanctified (set apart) His “body” (the first-century church) with the gift of His Spirit and present-day Christian inherit that heritage of sanctification at baptism because they too are part of the same “body.”
–Bill Brewer
Tags: baptism, sanctification, Spirit
