1 Corinthians 12:12-26 Bible Teaching

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1st Corinthians 12.12-26
September 23rd 2018
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All right . . . we left off last week with Paul listing a number of the spiritual gifts that were thriving in the Church-bride in that day, and I would suggest that they continue to exit in the world by the same Spirit as a means to be profitable to the Body.

At this point Paul continues to speak of the gifts, but in another way – he speaks of how they ought to be received by others in the body.

The words he shares are some of the most poignant in the New Testament relative to believer unity. I think they are a real joy to read and discuss.

So he says, beginning at verse 12

12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
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.
14 For the body is not one member, but many.
15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
19 And if they were all one member, where were the body?
20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.
21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:
23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.
24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked:
25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.

So let’s jump back to verse 12 where Paul, having described the various gifts, and then said at verse 11 (which we covered last week)

11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

now says:

12 “For” (in light of the fact that the same spirit divides these gifts up as it wants, Paul says) “as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

Paul has emphasized the the SAME spirit is the giver of all of these diverse and different gifts which it distributes to the entire body of believers as it (or he) wishes.

Now he begins to discuss the unity of the one body where these gifts are given – illustrating the church-bride as “one body of many members” (which he reverses on us, being a Jew, and says in the other direction) “and all the members of that one body, being many , are one body – so also is Christ.”

From verses 12-27 in this chapter Paul’s main point is to say, 1st, that there are a lot of different gifts and they are all from the same Spirit, then he appeals to an illustration of how all of these differing spiritual gifts are to work in unity and harmony with each other, and he gives us the model of the various parts of a single human body and the mutual dependence all the parts of the human body have on each other – truly have on each other – and it is really a supreme example he provides.

Then in making this illustration to all the parts or members being interrelated in a human body he takes it further and removes it from this carnal but excellent example, and brings it into the sublime – that of likening the body of believers to the actual earthly spiritual corpus he calls, “the Body of Christ.”

Which is why he ends verse 12 with
“so also is Christ.”

In the book of Ephesians Paul wrote the following:

Speaking of what God has done with Christ, Paul writes, speaking of Christ, says

Ephesians 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
22 And (God) hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Then moving out to chapter four of Ephesians, Paul adds, speaking to the believers at Ephesus:

Ephesians 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Reiterating that Jesus is the head of the Body, Paul adds in Colossians 1:18

“And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

Because of all of this, and the focus on God making Jesus Christ the Head of the Body, I am of the opinion that Jesus in heaven beyond and earth below governs and heads the body of Believers – that all who come to Him by faith are His, who is the only way to Father God.

Those outside of the Body, I suggest gently and with some uncertainty, and in the direct jurisdiction of Father God – as they have yet to receive His only Human Son by faith.

Of course direct relation to God who is a consuming fire could be an all together fearful frightful thing, as evidenced by those who have had direct engagement with him – but this is just a side issue.

The point is Jesus of Nazareth has been made the head of the church, meaning all believers in Him make up the body, which is Christ’s spiritual body of which all believers are apart.

I make a big deal of the difference between the material church and the spiritual, well you don’t get any more spiritual relative to the faith then to call is it His body. That is a direct appeal to spiritual things as Jesus, resurrected and ascended being the Head – the mind, the director, the King over this Kingdom and His constituents – from all over many ages, places, cultures, genders and ages – making up His body.

Let me read that last passage (verse 16) from Ephesians 4 again where Paul, describing the true body of Christ says:

16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body . . . unto the edifying of itself in love.”

So back here in 1st Corinthians 12, what Paul is really addressing is how a body of so many members performing different things in the Spirit can remain unified.

In his Epistle to the church at Rome, Paul wrote the following (listen closely to the way he describes how believers should engage with each other) saying:

Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one “members” one of another.
6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another;
11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

When we consider that the body of believers IS the body of Christ spiritually here and on high, these directives make great sense.

IF or when we begin to think that the body is a material institution needing human interventions, planning committees, agendas, and other things the ability to thrive and love in the Spirit becomes greatly diminished.

The failsafe is love – err on the side of agape love with all – all – all who profess Christ and we will do more to unify the true body of Christ than anything else, in my estimation.

Paul continues to make his point and says at verse 13

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.

Now, this passage has been interpreted a number of ways (obviously) because it mentions that incendiary word in Christian realms, BAPTISM.

Im not going to regurgitate all that we have said about baptism but will summarize my understanding of this verse through what I believe is a reasonable take on Paul’s meaning:

When John the BAPTIST – John the BAPTIST (meaning, John was a living representation of water baptism) walked the earth preparing the Nation of Israel to receive her promised Messiah, he practiced WATER BAPTISM as a means to reach a people who were accustomed to this rite in association with re-direction and change of mind.

But we CANNOT forget that John the WATER BAPTIST himself said the following in Matthew 3:11:

“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.”

Based on this alone – forgetting that baptism of the Spirit is certainly a New Testament event – I would suggest that Paul is NOT referring to water baptism in this verse.

This is NOT to say all the believers at Corinth were not baptized in water – they probably were.

But Paul is speaking to the baptism that matters relative to a person genuinely being a member of the church-bride then, and the Body today – the baptism of the Holy Spirit which John the Baptist said Jesus would bring to those who were His.

This is the baptism Paul was speaking too here – from what I can tell. And I think this is an important stance because to make it removes any and all power water baptisms have to make a person a member of the Body of Christ or qualified for heaven – those things only occur through the shed blood of Jesus and being baptized in the Spirit.

So Paul reminds his reader at Corinth

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 will talk a bit more about the nuanced references here to One Spirit mentioned twice, etc.

But right off the bat listen to the overall appeal Paul makes to them being one here:

13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; (beat) and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

Now just allow this to sink into your hearts – we are really diverse in many ways as people. And there was probably a very diverse group of people there in Corinth who had come to receive Christ.

Former pagans, former Jews, slaves, freemen, males, females, sinners and devotes to God.

The common denominator that Paul appeals to that would serve to make them one was spiritual – because look, the material will never be one – we are too diverse.

So, we cannot look to the material as the driver to make us united – if we do, we have appealed to the flesh and appealed to the ideas of Man to form an army of like-minded souls.

I am distinctly against this form of unity in religion because I see it as a lesser, pseudo approach to the unity that matters and lasts – the unity that comes by the Spirit.

And I know this is a high horse I climb upon but it is direct response to those who attempt to take what Paul says in verse 13 and to make it apply in this material world.

The Mormons are preeminent among the perpetrators of material, outward demands to invoke unity. And I hate it – along with ever other attempt that other religionist uses in the same vein – like a designated (but unspoken) dress standard, a designated hair style, a designated political party, or even a set of designated beliefs and doctrines that are ancillary to Him.

Remember, we are one Spiritually by One and the Same Spirit, as Paul puts it:

“For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; (beat) and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”

And since the FRUIT of that Spirit is love, then it is by this LOVE that we express for each other that tells us we are part of the Body of Christ, as even the Head of the Body said that it would be by this that all men would know that we are His disciples.

Some wonder how this love is actually shown – but the scripture is clear – it is kind, patient, longsuffering, easily entreated, joyful, and all the other descriptions found in chapter 13.

Now, to the actual verse – we see a contrast between the unique diversities in the Body that Paul mentions (bond and free, Jew or Gentiles) and the words “ALL” used twice and “ONE” used three times – twice toward the One Body and once with regard to One Spirit.

In other words it is by the SPIRIT that we are all made ONE and since the Spirit bears specific fruit we must conclude that such fruit will be present in the engagements of those who are truly part of that One Body.

The idea of its having been done by one and the same Spirit is kept up, and often presented, in order that the endowments conferred on them might be duly appreciated.

We note that Paul speaks of all being baptized into ONE BODY (which is Christ’s) but he also adds a sort of quizzical phrase . . .

“And have been all made to drink
into One Spirit.”

In all probability this is a reference to their unitedly drinking the cup of the Lord’s supper as they were commanded to do until He came and I am of the opinion that there could have been some true spiritual properties in their doing so then.

However, there are some translations that seem to think this means that they were full or filled with the Same Spirit (which is the result of drinking) so I could be off on the tie to communion. But at verse 14 Paul restates his point, which leads us into the rest of the chapter as he says:

14 For the body is not one member, but many.

Taking this principle, which is true of I suppose every body in creation, Paul now enters into his teaching full force, saying
SOOOOO . . .

15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

Now, I have some information that disturbs some people but Paul was not original in this astute teaching.

In fact, Aesop, the Greek myth-maker who lived some 500 years before Christ taught the same illustration.

Similarly, there was a man named Menenius Agrippa, a Roman General, as told by historian Livy, used this same illustration again, 500 years before Christ, to confront division in the people.

Livy, a Roman Historian who was born in 59 BC and died in 17 AD, reported that Menenius, in trying to repress a rebellion against Roman nobles and senators, and to show the folly in this thinking, likened the differing members of a body attacking the stomach.

In all likelihood, Paul, an educated man, read of these Greek and Roman illustrations and applied them to the Body of Christ.

So, Paul starts off with one way in which the body of differing members could come apart, and that would be when one member did not see as belonging because it was NOT like another member. And in this illustration Paul gives us TWO examples – one of the foot and one of the ear, who apparently have a tendency to compare themselves to other members in the body, or, as Paul puts it:

15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

And then verse 16

16 And if the ear shall say, “Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body;” is it therefore not of the body?

The idea here seems to be

First, don’t compare yourselve to other members of the body.

We can’t all be Billy Graham, we can’t all be Charles Spurgeon, we can’t all be Mother Theresa’s.

God does not work that way, thank God – His wisdom, which Paul is going to make clear, goes much deeper.

So, just because some member of the Body of Christ feels or thinks that it is not as important as another part in no way means they are correct.

And Paul addresses that right off the bat. And he adds the following insight at verse 17

17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?

Just think of the human body for a moment in this analogy – which is where Paul is leading us.

What good would the human body be if it lacked its magnificent diversity created by God.

What if a body was all faces – no neck, no torso, no arms or legs – just faces, pretty as they might be!

TO what end? How inferior it would be to the body that is equipped with ALL of its parts, including the capillaries and veins in the hands, the sinews in the feet, the calluses on the little toe.

All the parts of the body are not only extremely useful in their proper place to remove any of them or allow any of them to become infected would cause the whole body to roil in pain.

This is the case in the human body and it should NOT be the case in the body of Christ.

When one member is infected, hurt, or misaligned, the whole body feels it – or at least it should.

So the first point is, realize the important role you play in the body of Christ. You bring something to the table, even if that something is not a pretty or popular as other members.

Paul brings this point forward in verse 18 saying

18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

Do we trust this? Do we accept this? Do we ever find ourselves as believers saved by grace through faith even if we are so different from other believers materially, feel that the way we are is not fitting to the body?

This would be a lie from darkness. All parts of the Body have been set by God “as it has pleased Him.”

And so Paul reiterates the point saying in verse 19

19 And if they were all one member, where were the body?

If everyone was a prophet, how would anything get done that required service and helps?

If everyone is a main artery, how or who (as gross as this sounds) would serve to rid the body of its waste?

God has put the body together and all parts are important – even if they appear to serve in a function that is not readily appreciated or acknowledged or that gets any attention at all.

I mean, who really gives much attention to their small intestine, their epiglottis, or the little hairs that line our lungs.

But how vital are every one of these parts.

And so Paul says it again!

20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.

At this point he steps from an individual member not feeling important or as important as others and speaks to one member attacking another as being inferior, saying:

21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

In other words, it is just as illogical for a member of the body of Christ to look at others and contextually, the spiritual gifts they bring to the table, and to say to them – we don’t need you and your ways – as it is for an eye to say to the human hand, “there is no need of you.”

When we think about it, it would be a form of myopic thinking, and arrogance, and pride that would cause an eye to say to the hand, “I don’t need you,” – it would be presumptuous, it would be speaking as if the eye were all knowing, even taking the place of God.

Paul says this is not good – or right. The eye needs and relies on the hand (even if it is to merely remove dust from it) and the head needs the feet even if it is so the feet can remove the head from danger.

Naturally, the solution to all of this potential division is selfless love – which Paul will address later – but these principles are so vitally important.

In fact, Paul takes us all to a new level to consider, just in case the more noble or popular parts of the Body of Christ start to think of themselves as more important than others because of the attention they get, Paul says (in verses 22-24):

22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:
23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.
24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked:

Here Paul is pretty much making a comparison to the parts of the Body that are attractive, compared to the parts that appear less attractive (or as Paul puts it, “more feeble” “less beautiful”) and tells us that the appealing parts are generally much less important, honorable, and necessary, than those parts that appear more feeble or unattractive.

I mean, let’s personify the human body for a minute – we’ll use a man to keep it simple.

What parts of a human male’s physical body are requisite for life to continue? Lets put them on a slab.

There’s the heart, the brain, the kidneys, the lungs, the liver, – all the things that are considered the vital organs – and there are all the connective vessels that keep them functioning.

On a table, none of it very appealing, right? But all of them essential.

Now let’s put on another slab the things that make the human male attractive or appealing:

The hair, the eyes, the lips, the chest, stomach arm and leg muscles, the butt for you women and gay people and perhaps a few other items.

Attractive but not necessary to life.

This is Paul’s point. However, lest we forget, if any of these more attractive parts were injured or infected, the whole body would respond in pain, so its not that they are to be ignored or looked down upon, they are not just not as vital.

In this Paul reminds us that “God hath tempered the body together.”

Literally, God has mingled or mixed, He has coalesce, or joined, or formed the body with ALL of these parts to work in union, love, and harmony with the other because EVERY part is useful, is important in terms of health and since God has arranged the human body this way we ought to see that He has likewise united – put together – harmonized the Body of Christ.

Therefore every part should be seen as useful and therefore important and welcome to the whole.

In giving the uncomely parts more honor, and the popular parts less importance in terms of actual survival, Paul reminds us that God has done this (verse 25-26)

25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.

By now we should realize that that term, schism, used by Paul, is not something that God appreciates in His body.

The word is Schizma and means division or a rent, or a tear and it is only used twice as an act of God in scripture, but a number of times in describing the actions of Men.

No schitzoing (the root word) in the body of Christ – which leads Paul to supply us with our last phrase for the day.

And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.

Before we conclude, I want to make it clear that I DO seek to unite with all people who claim Jesus Christ as Lord and to let God decide if their claims are genuine while I choose to unite with them in love.

When I have attacked other expressions of church in the world (especially in the valley) I have justified doing so in the name of protecting innocent people from what I believe are predatory measures some pastors implement and heap upon them.

And while I have done this, perhaps acting in the moment as the lymphatic system in the body in Utah which serves to rid the body of disease, I have had to reflect on this approach as perhaps inferior to what I am called to actually be in Him.

In other words, I was not giving other believers to be what they believed they were called to be in the body and was creating a schism where God had not.

So, I am again learning and living, and am readdressing this approach to what He has called me to be.

Okay, Questions/Comments
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