1 Corinthians 12:4–27

The Corinthians forgot these truths. They wanted to use the gift of tongues to lift themselves up and win glory for themselves. Yet what was it but a gift given to them, and by the Spirit just as He would? In truth, every gift was, as its name implies — charisma — a favour given to its owner by the Holy Spirit, just as He chose. The person had not deserved it, and could not claim it. He only received it. And each gift of the Spirit was for the profit of all.

Along with this testimony there were "varieties of gifts," yet not many spirits, "but the same Spirit." And there were "varieties of service, but the same Lord" — not "many lords"; Jesus was Lord. There were "varieties of activities, but the same God who empowers them all in everyone," for the activities were truly divine. There were not "many gods": all were the working of the one true God.

Though all who speak by the Holy Spirit exalt Christ, it does not follow that all have the same gift. This leads the apostle in verses 4 to 6 to speak of the diversity of spiritual gifts. The apostle tells us there are varieties of gifts. At the same time he reminds us that variety of gifts does not sacrifice unity of aim. For the same Spirit controls the varieties of gifts, and so all lead to the exaltation and expression of Christ.

In verses 4-6 we hear of the Spirit, the Lord, and God; the same Spirit — the same Lord, and the same God. Yet there is not a division into three classes of gifts, but the same thing is seen in three relations. The varieties of gifts are by the same Spirit; He gives them all. These gifts are also in relation to the Lord. They are for ministries — that is, service for the Lord, under whose authority and for whose glory we use them. And the whole working is of God, who works all in all.

These verses (4-6) rebuke, and at the same time correct, much of the serious disorder in Christendom. Christendom demands human ability, human wisdom, and theological training first, before anyone may use a gift. No, says the apostle. You need what no schools of men can give and no human attainments can supply — you need the power and energy of the Holy Spirit.

There are varieties of gifts, "but the same Spirit." These gifts differ greatly in character, yet they all come from the same source. God has to do with one as truly as with another. There is an immense difference between the lesser and the greater gifts, but still "the same Spirit." If I would respect the Spirit of God, I should respect the least gift that comes from Him.

Like them, we are inclined to talk a great deal about the greater gifts. We leave very little room for the exercise of the lesser. Sometimes the lesser gifts get shut out, either by arrangement beforehand or by strong preferences. Wherever that happens, the Spirit is quenched, and the assembly loses the benefit of the variety of gifts.

This is not the Trinity as such. Still, "the Spirit" and "the Lord" could not be brought in this way unless they were God just as the Father is. But it is plain that our Lord appears here not so much in His divine glory as the Son, but in the official position given to Him... it is not a division into three classes of gifts. It is the same thing seen in three relations. Gifts, in relation to the Spirit, through whom they come. Services, in relation to the Lord, under whom and for whose glory we carry them out as responsible servants. Operations, or workings, or effects, in relation to God, for it is God, and not man, who works the whole in all.

There were, along with this testimony, "diversities of gifts," yet not many spirits, but the same Spirit. There were differences of administrations (that is, ministries), but the same Lord — not "lords many"; Jesus was Lord. There were diversities of operations, but the same God who works all in all, for the operations were truly divine. There were not "gods many": all were the operation of the one true God.

Ministry is always under the Lord: "there are differences of administrations (ministries), yet but one Lord." The apostle says this just after he had said, "there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit." (1 Cor. 12:4-5.) The two things are very different: the power is of the Spirit; rule and oversight belong to the Lord.

Verse 5 adds another thing: "And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord." You cannot have a gift without being a servant. You are not your own master in the use of the gift; you are a servant of the Lord Jesus. This the Corinthians had forgotten. They were acting independently. Even the Holy Spirit Himself has been willing to take the place of a servant. Having come down to that place, He lifts no one above it.

The Spirit witnesses to Jesus and glorifies Him by showing His perfections to the eye of faith. In the same way, all spiritual service flows directly to one common object, from the labour of an apostle to the simplest act of kindness for the Master's sake. For to us there is one Lord. We serve Him if we love Him, and are His disciples if we keep His sayings.

If there is the possession of a spiritual gift, the only one to whom the possessor of that gift is responsible is the Lord. He is responsible to go out in the exercise of that gift to the Lord, and where the Lord may lead him. He is no man's, and no church's servant, though delighted to serve all, if in doing so he can please his Master.

We must always remember this. If, by the power of God, we are free from all men, and responsible to God alone for the use of the gift He has entrusted to us, it is so that we may be the servants of all... He has made us free from self, free from independence, free from our own wills. He freed us to act as God acts, as He has acted in Christ — not to please ourselves, but to serve one another in love.

It is not a division into three classes of gifts. It is the same thing in substance, seen in three relations. They are gifts in relation to the Spirit, through whom they come. They are services in relation to the Lord, under whom and for whose glory we are responsible to use them. They are operations or workings or effects, in relation to God, for it is God, and not man, who works the whole in all. So if the Spirit gives a gift, using it is a ministry or service of the Lord, carried on by His authority. And it is God who makes it all effective.

The word "operations" means inner workings in the spirit of those in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. In every case God Himself alone sets these workings in motion and controls them by His active will.

And there are "diversities of operations" or results produced, but it is "God that works them all" — the same spring of power. There may be many separate streams through which He is pleased to reveal Himself. But one source of supply feeds them all.

The words are framed so that nothing escapes His working. No member is so small or unnoticed that his part falls outside it. No small deed, no act such as giving out a hymn, no simple thing done by any member of the body of Christ happens apart from Him. God Himself is the One Who works all things in all. What a holy character this truth gives to assembly activity!

There were varieties of gifts, yet not many spirits, but the same Spirit. There were differences of ministries, but the same Lord — not many lords; Jesus was Lord. There were varieties of operations, but the same God who works all in all, for the operations were truly divine. There were not many gods. All were the work of the one true God.

Power belongs to God. What He wills He works, resisted or unresisted, in the armies of heaven, or with men upon the earth. But these words point above all to God's power at work now, and to its results. He shows those results in creating and preserving the Church, both to the faith of His chosen and to the rulers and powers in the heavenly places.

The Spirit is named first, because His working is what makes life and godliness exist and continue. The Lord comes next, because the Spirit bears direct witness to Him, and all spiritual teaching leads to obedient acknowledgment of Him.

This is not the Trinity as such, though certainly "the Spirit" and "the Lord" could not be introduced this way if they were not God equally with the Father. Our Lord appears here not so much in His divine glory as the Son, but in the official position given to Him. And God is spoken of as God, not in His personal distinctiveness as Father.

What are we to understand by "the manifestation of the Spirit"? To manifest is to make the presence of the Spirit plain and clear to others. What is hidden is not manifest. The Holy Spirit Himself is here in this world in an invisible form. The Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son, was manifest in flesh. He was seen by angels, as well as men... but the Holy Spirit did not take a body of flesh, so His presence and His action stay hidden for the most part. The manifestation of the Spirit is through the members of the body of Christ.

Take the first example given. A certain man has the word of wisdom; there it is in his soul... The Spirit has given it to him, and he enjoys it himself. But the rest of the assembly knows nothing of it, until the Holy Spirit leads that person to use the word of wisdom for the comfort and well-being of his fellow members. Then the action of the Holy Spirit is made manifest.

The Spirit gives the manifestations of the gifts to "every man." He refuses to gather all His manifestations into one man, or into one particular class of men. This rebukes the greatest of all disorders in Christendom: setting apart a special class of men for the ministry. That splits the professing people of God into clergy and laity. Scripture allows no such distinction... No, says the apostle, it is to every man in the Assembly.

Every true Christian has been given something for service in the body, perhaps only a little wisdom. Everybody has something for service to the body, like a hand or a foot or an eye. But not everybody has a prominent gift, like a pastor or an evangelist.

The Corinthians were acting much like children. They treated the spiritual gift they had been given as a new toy, to use and enjoy for their own pleasure and standing. It was not that. It was a gift given to one member for the benefit of the whole body.

It is given in view of the common good. It is not given for the exaltation or prominence of the individual, for obtaining personal influence or gain, or as a means of living. It is given for profit — spiritual profit.

It pains me to have to reject an idea some hold, an idea so opposed to the grace of God: that this verse is about the work of the Spirit in a man for his own salvation. The question here is the Spirit's manifestations in the church, and their purpose was the common good.

Here the apostle is speaking strictly of the church. To each one inside it the manifestation of the Spirit is given, and it is given with a view to the common good, not for personal influence or display... It is not a question of miracles only, as the very first examples (the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge) prove. Nor is it a sign to unbelievers. It is for the profit of believers.

It is in a practical interest, and in the interest of all, that the Spirit manifests Himself. So the responsibility of everyone who has any gift at all is that by this he is made a debtor to others, for whose profit the gift is given. He is not his own in this sense. He belongs to those among whom God has given him his place.

The very fact that he had it made him responsible to use it — responsible to Him who did not give it for nothing. The gift itself carried both the ability to serve and the right to serve, for I am bound to help and serve with what I have. And if souls are helped, they hardly need to ask whether I had official permission to do it.

The faith here is not simple faith in the gospel. That is not a special gift which one believer may have and another may not. This is clear. It is the faith, the energy, that God gives. It overcomes difficulties. It rises above dangers. It faces them and is not alarmed by them.

Faith is the power to take hold of God, to take hold of His word, and to count on Him in the face of every difficulty and every enemy. God the Spirit gives this faith to some. We are all believers, but not every believer has the faith Paul speaks of here. It is the faith that removes mountains. It is the faith that stands against Satan and puts out his flaming arrows. It is the faith that always wins. It is the faith that walks even on the waves of the sea.

Scripture recognises specific faith about a specific thing. One of the people who received a miracle had faith to be healed (Acts 14:9). And 1 Corinthians 12:9 plainly teaches that there is a distinct spiritual gift of faith, which some have and some do not. Perhaps this is the special faith the Lord means when He says, "whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mark 11:24). Real, God-given faith is meant here, not mystical or imagined faith. Many have probably tried this promise as an experiment, only to be disappointed. But God does not give His promises and the power of His Spirit to be tested out of curiosity, or used to serve private ends.

Then he says, "to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit." Why does this varied list repeat the words "by the same Spirit"? Because we so easily approve only of the one gift that pleases us, and forget how varied the Holy Spirit's work is.

No one could use the gift of healing, or gifts like it, whenever he chose. These gifts appeared only at the right time, and they worked only by the direct will of God. Power is His, and always in His hands. When Trophimus was sick, Paul's wish could not restore him. Yet the believer can come to the Lord in prayer and claim His power. In time of need we must seek refuge not in God's gifts, but in the faithfulness of the Giver.

It is worth noticing that the disciples never did miracles to save themselves from suffering, or to heal their friends when they were ill. Paul left Trophimus sick at Miletus. It was only God's mercy that healed Epaphroditus. The miracles the apostles did confirmed the testimony, and Christ glorified with the Father was the subject and source of that testimony.

Some teach that every believer who receives the baptism of the Spirit shows it by speaking in tongues. But that is not what Scripture teaches. 1 Corinthians 12:9-10 says, "to another [not to ALL] gifts of healing by the one Spirit … to another [not to ALL] various kinds of tongues."

Another might have "operations of powers." The Rheims and King James Versions wrongly render this as "the working of miracles." These were not "healings." They were power over material things, or over spiritual beings, as promised in Mark 16:17-18 and shown in the Acts of the Apostles.

Thinking of the Old Testament prophets, we may limit prophecy to foretelling future events. But that was only a small part of the prophet's work, even in Old Testament days. His great mission was to apply the word of God to the conscience and heart, to build people up. This is still the prophet's service in Christian times, and in this sense the gift continues.

A man surely builds others up when he strengthens souls by holding up Christ and making His love better known. So does the man who exhorts or teaches well. But none of these things is prophesying. Prophesying is that character of truth which puts a man's conscience in the presence of God. It gives the soul the certainty that His mind is in what is spoken. It strips and lays bare thoughts, motives, feelings, everything.

This gift is not about discerning whether or not people were Christians. It is about discerning whether the spirit by which they spoke was of God or of Satan.

This was one of the gifts in the early church, needed for "testing the spirits," because even then many false prophets had gone out into the world. 1 Cor. 12:10; 1 John 4:1-3. This gift was especially necessary at the time when the word of God was not fully written.

The deliberate distribution of these gifts stands out in the last two. "Kinds of tongues" means a variety of languages the speaker never learned. It is set apart from "interpretation of tongues," which is given to another, though 1 Corinthians 14:13 suggests how desirable it is for the two to go together.

Tongues, and the interpretation of tongues that completes them, come at the close of this list. That shows their relative importance from God's point of view. The primary gifts are always those that develop the church in love and faith and the knowledge of Christ. Scripture, on the other hand, always places the sign-gifts lowest on the scale, though people tend to value them differently and far too highly.

1 Corinthians 14 makes it clear that the gift of tongues was not only miraculous. It was also a sign to unbelievers, unlike prophesying, which was expressly for building people up. So it was forbidden to speak "in a tongue" in the Christian assembly, unless someone there could interpret the unknown language for the profit of the saints. The sign-gifts are the ones the Holy Spirit has seen good to withdraw. He still grants all the others that are needed for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, and for building up the body of Christ.

It is taught that every believer who receives the baptism of the Spirit shows it by speaking with tongues. But that is not the teaching of Scripture. 1 Corinthians 12:9-10 says, "to another [not to ALL] gifts of healing by the one Spirit… to another [not to ALL] various kinds of tongues."

Here it is what God does, not man. The Spirit gives to one the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge, to another faith. To another He gives miraculous gifts, to another prophecy, to another the gift of tongues. "AS HE WILLS" covers all this. It is the assertion of sovereignty, an essential attribute that belongs to God alone.

Many passages prove His personality — a matter of great importance, often lost sight of by those who constantly speak of Him as an influence. Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3). He "apportions to each one individually as He wills" (1 Cor. 12:11).

Here we see the unity of the Spirit. He not only distributes each gift to each person; He works all the gifts, so keeping up dependence on His power. We see no less His sovereign activity as a divine Person… Evil and error may have as many springs as there are men and demons with their varied and often conflicting wills, lusts, and passions. But the very same Spirit works all that glorifies Christ in these different gifts. He gives them out at His pleasure to each servant of the Lord.

God's order for His assembly is a variety of gifts, given to different people, exercised by one will — the power and will of the Holy Spirit. All true order in the assemblies of God's people is the outcome of God Himself working among His people. The Christian world at large ignores this order in practice, if not in doctrine. It does so by its human arrangements, its appointed ministers and its fixed ritual.

Setting aside a special class as priests limits the action of the Spirit of God to one class. It plainly contradicts the Scripture, "who apportions to EACH ONE individually as HE wills" (1 Cor. 12:11).

The Corinthians, unmindful of these truths, wanted to exercise the gift of tongues for their own exaltation and self-glorification. Yet what was it but a gift given to them, and by the Spirit just as He would? In truth, every gift was what its name meant — charisma, a favour. The Holy Spirit granted it to the one who had it, just as He chose. The person had not deserved it, and could not claim it. He only received it. Each gift of the Spirit was for the profit of all.

God is sovereign in His choice of instruments, true; but He morally fits the instrument for the purpose He has in view… So it is always true that in giving His gifts the Holy Spirit "apportions to each one individually as He wills" (1 Cor. 12:11). It is equally true that for the exercise of these gifts He selects those whom prayer and the diligent study of His word have fitted for His service.

The Holy Spirit is Sovereign, but He does not work in one member independently of all the others. I think no two gifts are alike. There are varieties of gifts, but one Spirit, and He alone has distributed them. We would do well to pay attention to this, and to the fact that services differ while there is one Lord. Man cannot make gifts; God gives them… If we understood the differences of services, and that each of us is responsible to the Lord, it would keep us from imitating others, or criticizing them.

Scripture does not only say the body is united with Christ. It says the body is Christ Himself — "so also is Christ." The limbs, so to speak, are simply attached to the Head. The Head gives motion, life, and character to the whole, so the whole thing goes by the name of the Head. It is not easy to grasp the full force of this remarkable language. It seems to lose the Church in Christ, so that He alone is seen, and the Church looks like only a part of Him.

Paul is clearly speaking of the Head in glory and the body here on earth. Together they make up one spiritual "man": Christ is the Head, and all the members are the body. When he says, "So also is Christ," he gives that one mystical man a single name — Christ.

Verse thirteen explains the statement made in verse twelve. It gives the nature and origin of the wonderful truth of verse twelve, which is this: though we are many members, we are one body, and that body carries the name Christ.

We, the members, do not build this unity ourselves. It does not come from each one losing his individuality and merging into the others. That is not how the body is formed. What forms it is the connection of the members with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Look at 1 Corinthians 12:12 to the end. No one in his right mind can fail to see a body on earth here. Paul compares it to our natural body... But it is by one Spirit that we are baptized into one body, and this took place on earth... Which of these gifts are to be exercised in heaven? The whole passage is as clear as language can make it: there is a body formed on earth.

Our human spirit controls how our bodies work. In the same way, the Spirit of God is the animating power of every member of the body of Christ. The body is one. It has many members, yet together they are one body. "So also is the Christ." This is not just local. It takes in the whole body of Christ worldwide, though the local assembly is meant to give expression to it.

"For just as the body is one and has many members" — this is diversity in unity. "And all the members of the body, though many, are one body" — this is unity in diversity. "So also is the Christ." We are united in one body, the Christ, and yet every child of God has his own appointed work, which no one else can do for him. Each one receives a different service. I cannot do yours, and you cannot do mine.

This side of the truth guards us from clericalism, and also from independence. Every member of the one body is needed. Where the gathering does not quench the Spirit, He works through the members for the profit of all.

Of much importance is verse 13... This refers to the formation of the body. The baptism mentioned in this verse is not water baptism. Water baptism does not save, nor can this ordinance put anyone as a member into the true church, the one body. The baptism is the baptism of the Spirit. It took place on the day of Pentecost. On that day the Spirit was poured out, and while He filled every believer, He also united them into one body. Then the body of Christ was formed once for all by this baptism... Many Christians speak of repeated baptisms by the Spirit and point to certain experiences as new baptisms. In the light of this verse all this is incorrect. Scripture knows only one baptism.

Note this carefully: faith did not form this unity, precious and mighty as faith is. The Holy Spirit formed it, sent down in person from heaven. Faith is individual; it does not unite, though it fits for union morally. One believes the gospel for one's own soul... But the baptism of the Spirit is something more than life. So it is not given to the dead unbeliever, but to those already made alive. The result is the one body.

Picture a lake with water as smooth as glass. Someone picks up a pebble and flings it into the centre. What is the result? A circle forms, and it widens and widens until every reed in the lake stands inside it. From the day of Pentecost until now, every soul born of God is brought into that unity, sooner or later, when he receives the forgiveness of his sins and the Holy Spirit.

In baptism a man is submerged and figuratively buried. Here is the basis on which the one body was formed and we are brought into it. We are natural men, children of Adam, with all our personal quirks and rough edges. And we have been submerged in the one Spirit. So all our natural distinctions have disappeared in the one body. There was no greater national distinction than Jew and Gentile. There was no clearer social divide than slave and free. But these distinctions and divides, and all others like them, are gone in the one body.

We have all been baptized in one Spirit into one body. But there is more: each of us, separately and for ourselves, has been made to "drink into (or, of) one Spirit." This seems to be a reference to John 7:37-39. Each member of the body has personally received or drunk of the one Spirit, so that He characterises and governs each. So unity is produced in this twofold way. Each has been submerged in the Spirit, and the Spirit is in each by a personal drinking in.

"We have all been made to drink into one Spirit." This is characteristic... They are all of one mind, all set on the same thing; heart and soul they are seeking the same object... What is that Spirit? It is the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit which produces likeness to Christ.

God formed it by an act in the energy of the one Spirit, and that guarantees its integrity. Man cannot violate or destroy it, and neither can satanic power. But the visible display of it during its stay on earth may be marred, and has been. The thing itself, divinely formed, remains, and will be perfectly displayed in glory.

Had the Corinthians paid attention to this, how much sorrow and shame would have been spared!... It is a state that is always ready to repeat itself. It shows up most where knowledge takes the place of love, and believers stoop to form cliques with a favourite leader.

The great and most obvious mark of the body is that it consists of not one member but many. This is so essential to its nature that it could not be called "the body" if it consisted of only one member and not of many. It would be a monstrous shape. It would lack the beautiful unity with diversity seen in the human body, and in every other living structure. It is exactly so with the assembly of God. It is not only His house. It is also Christ's body, because one Spirit has baptised all the believers into one, whatever their background and their otherwise irreconcilable differences. This unity exists now, not only later. It is on earth, not only in heaven.

First, we are reminded that in the human body there is diversity in unity. "The body does not consist of one member but of many." Suppose each member neglected its own function out of envy of members that perhaps have a higher function. Then this diversity would be completely ignored, and the most serious disorder would follow. If the foot began to complain that it was not a hand, or the ear that it was not an eye, the work of the body would stop. Complaining members stop working well for the good of the body.

Sadly, some were misusing what God had given, so that they could exalt themselves. Others, giving their support to one leader or another, helped along a party spirit. This had led to envying, strife and division — marks of man in the flesh rather than of those "sanctified in Christ Jesus". Here in chapter 12 he shows that their behaviour clashed with the truth that the members of the body of Christ depend on each other.

If a humble member of the body were to complain that he was not put in a more exalted place, is he not part of the body? There are two ways the flesh acts: the first is discontent with oneself, and the second is contempt for other people. Each is to be content with his place. The ear would like the position of the eye; there is discontent... but the full blessing of the body normally depends on these differences.

Suppose I now looked to my head or my hand to perform all the functions of the body — it would be nothing less than folly. But the folly is still greater when you look to a "minister" to carry out all the functions of the body of Christ. I do not deny his gift, or gifts: he may be very gifted. But he cannot do the work of all the members of the body gathered there. All of them have gifts that differ according to the grace given.

If everyone realised that the body is not one member, there would not be this desire for uniformity in the things of God. There is unity, but not uniformity... The apostle wants each believer to realise that he has a part to play for all God's people. That part is not only in relation to the church everywhere, but right where he lives... It is so easy to want to be something other than what we are, and to be somewhere else. We imagine that we would then be of greater service. Whatever gift has been given to us, whether it looks important or not, it is for use. It may be of much greater value than we imagine.

Suppose a humble member of the body complains that he was not given a higher place. Is he not still part of the body? There are two ways the flesh acts. The first is discontent with oneself. The second is disdain for other people. Each one should be content with his place.

Here it is not the lower part wanting to be something greater. It is the higher part looking down on the lesser one... Let us be thankful for the grace that has given us any place at all. Let us throw ourselves into the work God has given us in the body of Christ. And let us value and make the most of every other member — not least those whose place is completely different from our own. Let disdain be as far from us as discontent.

No one person, no one member, can cut himself off from the body and stay independent... What makes this spirit of independence so serious is the attempt to break off practical connection with the body of Christ. A foot that claims to have no connection with the hand injures the hand. But the harm does not stop there: it reaches the whole body.

If the foot or the hand were cut off from the body, the relations would be different. But each one forms an essential part of the body. What is the body without the foot? It is incomplete. A body that has lost a part is imperfect, and its well-being suffers... If the foot does not act, what use is it? It still exists as part of the body, but it is a useless member. It gives no help, and it affects all the members.

Whenever someone uses the gift given to them, blessing always follows. But take the one with a humble gift, the kind pictured by "the foot." If he covets what he does not have, he loses his own proper work by ignoring his own place in the body. The whole idea dishonours God.

Can the foot excuse itself from use because it is not the hand? Does walking have no place because it is not work? Whether someone is prominent or not makes no difference. God has set every member in its own place in the body — not by our preference, but as it has pleased Him. If I wanted a different function, let me remember this: if I could change, I would very soon want something else. God knows better what is good for me than I do.

It is so easy to want to be something other than what we are, and to be somewhere else. We imagine we would then be of greater service in the things of God. Many may be saying "I am not of the body" by the attitude they take; their actions say it more plainly than words... They are content to let others do the service God fitted them for. They give little or no thought to their own place in the body.

There are two ways the flesh acts. The first is discontent with oneself, and the second is disdain of other people. Each should be content with his place. "If the ear should say, 'Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body'"... The ear would like the position of the eye. There is discontent.

Here we plainly have discontent with what the Lord had given... if the one with a humble gift, like the foot, covets what he does not have, he loses his own proper work by ignoring his place in the body. The whole thought is therefore dishonouring to God. So again in verse 16... It may run through the members, the highest as well as the lowest.

The foot or the ear cannot help themselves; they are part of the body. They may deny it. They may reject all connection with it. But they cannot get free from it except by amputation, which would be a loss to the body and death to them. The members have no choice about it. They are in the body. Just so it is with Christians and the body of Christ. They may not know it. They may refuse to learn about it. They may reject all connection with it. But they cannot get out of the body.

Because the ear is not as prominent as the eye, is it therefore unnecessary? Is receiving a report unimportant because it is not personal observation by sight? These verses show that no child of God ever has any excuse for not functioning in unity with the rest of the body of Christ... Suppose I preferred a different function. Let me consider this: if I could change, I would very soon prefer something else. God knows better what is good for me than I do.

The blessedness of the body is in each member doing its own function. It is not merely my ear that hears, but I that hear; nor is it only my eye that sees, but rather I who see. It is the man. This is what gives such a sense of unity. It is a real means of blessing to every member, the least just as much as the greatest. They all contribute; and indeed there would be a very noticeable loss if the least member failed to do its part.

Many may be saying "I do not belong to the body" by the attitude they adopt. Their actions speak more loudly than words. The clerical system exists largely because of those who are in effect saying "I do not belong to the body." They are content to let others do the service God has fitted them for. They have little or no concern about their own place in the body.

It is not the inferior part that wants to be something greater, but the superior part that disdains the lesser one... Let us be thankful for the grace that has given us any place. Let us earnestly carry out the functions God has given us in the body of Christ. But let us prize and make the most of every other member, not least those who have a place wholly different from our own. Disdain should be as far from us as discontent.

Next the passage shows how absurd such wishes are. If one member had the right to want some special place, so would all the rest. The result would be the ruin of the body. "If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?" The wonderful coordination of the various members in the one body, each in its proper place, would be at an end.

If everyone realised that the body is not one member, no one would want uniformity in the things of God. There is unity, but not uniformity. There is diversity in the unity, and unity in the diversity.

These verses show that no child of God ever has any excuse for not functioning in unity with the rest of the body of Christ. And verse 17 adds that if the eye is essential (observation), so is the hearing (communication), and the smelling (perception). Whether one is prominent or not makes no difference. God has set every member in its own place in the body. He did it, not by our preference, but "as it has pleased Him." Suppose I wanted a different function. If I could change, I would very soon want something else. God knows better what is good for me than I do.

There is the hearing, the seeing, the smelling, and the many other necessary functions of the body, which have their matching parts in the body of Christ. Some are specially fitted with a discerning eye. Some can hear and judge so clearly. Others have such developed spiritual senses that they can tell sooner when things are right or wrong.

The blessing of the body is in each member doing its own work. It is not just my ear that hears — I hear. It is not just my eye that sees — I see. It is the whole person. And this is what gives such a sense of unity. It is a real means of blessing to every member, the least just as much as the greatest. They all contribute, and there would indeed be a very real loss if the least member failed to do its part.

There are two ways the flesh acts: the first is discontent with oneself, and the second is disdain of other people. Each is to be content with his place… The ear would like the position of the eye; there it is discontent. "If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing?" The same holds if the whole body were an ear. But as a rule the full blessing of the body depends on these differences.

Suppose I looked to my head or my hand to perform all the functions of the body — it would be nothing less than folly. But the folly is greater still when you look to a "minister" to discharge all the functions of the body of Christ. I do not deny his gift, or gifts. He may have many gifts. But he cannot do the work of all the members of the body who gather there, since all have gifts differing according to the grace given.

This is not a question of a true theory or of a wise practice, but of the divine will. God has so ordained it, and those who wish otherwise are fighting against His word... The assembly follows God's design and constitution, so God sets each member in the place He arranged in the body of Christ, and gives a gift to suit it. Neither self, nor man, nor the church, but God, can and should set the members... He determines for the least as well as for the greatest.

In 1 Timothy 1:12, "Putting me in the ministry," the word is tithemi — to place. The same word appears in Acts 20:28, "over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers," and in 1 Corinthians 12:18, "God has set the members, every one of them, in the body as it pleased Him." Every one of these passages records God's act: putting the apostle into the ministry, placing elders over the church at Ephesus, setting all the various members in the body according to His pleasure.

How then is disorder prevented among the many members? By the recognition that it is God who has "set the members every one of them in the body as it has pleased Him." So in the body of Christ God has given each member his appointed place and function. The result is that no member is pre-eminent. If one member were pre-eminent, there would be no body at all. "If they were all one member, where would the body be?"

There are two ways the flesh acts: the first is discontent about oneself, and the second is disdain of other people. Each is to be contented with his place... The ear would like the position of the eye; there is the discontent... but the full blessing of the body ordinarily depends on these differences.

The moment I see that God has set that brother in his place, and this one in his, I am content, and say, Thank God for that servant and his ministry! It is his place, not mine, so, if I am right, I neither imitate nor copy it, being just satisfied with my own place and niche in the body.

What rest for the heart to know that man did not choose our place in the body — neither we ourselves nor anyone else! God marked out that place for us in infinite wisdom, and with perfect love. God has placed us where our part could best serve His will for the good of His church. In divine grace He has fitted us perfectly for that part. There is therefore no room for envy, no room for self-seeking... God has fitted no one else for the part He has given us. So if we do not serve God where He placed us, the saints of God will lose something.

Only real believers are members of the body of Christ — those who are born again, with the Spirit of God living in them... God has set the members, each one of them, in the body as it has pleased Him. It is inconceivable that God would put in the body any who are not genuine believers in Christ. The body is OF CHRIST and derives FROM Him... It is a living organism.

The body's diversity would be entirely ignored, and the gravest disorder would arise, if each member neglected its own function. That happens when a member envies members that may have a higher function. Suppose the foot began to complain that it was not a hand, or the ear that it was not an eye. Then the work of the body would stop, because complaining members stop working well for the good of the body. Only one thing prevents such disorder. We must recognise that it is God, and not man, who has "set the members every one of them in the body, as it has pleased Him". He gives each member its appointed place and function. The pre-eminence of one member would do away with the body. "If they were all one member", there would be no body.

Another writer remarks that the earlier proof of absurdity (v. 17) appealed to the concrete, while this one appeals to the abstract. I would add this. The first shows that forgetting the truth would destroy what makes each member distinct. This one shows that it would destroy the completeness of the body. "But now they are many members, and yet one body." (v. 20.) The unity of the body fits perfectly with diversity in the members. The diversity of the members fits that one body. And in fact this is according to God's mind.

Some object that in all God's works there is variety. They say that people's minds differ, and that you cannot shape everyone to the same monotonous pattern. Does the oneness that Scripture insists on so strongly mean a lifeless uniformity? The very picture constantly used to describe it proves the exact opposite. In the human body no two parts are alike. The endless differences in its bones, veins, muscles and ligaments all contribute to the healthy action of the whole. Difference of action does not involve schism and division.

What rest for the heart to know that man did not choose our place in the body — not we ourselves, and not anyone else. God marked that place out for us in infinite wisdom, and with perfect love. He has placed us where our part could best serve His will for the good of His church. In His grace He has fitted us perfectly for that part. There is therefore no room for envy; no room for self-seeking... God has fitted no one else for the part He has given us. So if we do not serve God where He has placed us, the saints of God will lose something.

The blessedness of the body is in each member doing its own function. It is not merely my ear that hears, but I that hear. It is not only my eye that sees, but I who see. It is the man... They all contribute; and there would indeed be a very real loss if the least member failed to do its part. This is what the Corinthians had seriously lost sight of. We are in just the same danger as they were. Indeed our danger is special, because we have come out of systems where there was only room for the priest or the minister, and we naturally tend towards it.

The unity of the body agrees perfectly with diversity in the members. And the diversity of the members agrees with that one body. This is in fact according to God's mind. The departure from this is what mainly makes up the disorganised state of the church we now see in Christendom. For the most part all the gifts that can find expression must be in one member in a congregation. And there is not one body, as far as the facts show, but many bodies, differing and opposed.

If verse 13 teaches that all true believers have been baptised into one body, the next verse again stresses the matching truth. The body is made up of many members. Do not confuse the unity God has established in the one body with uniformity. Uniformity marks much of man's work, especially in our day, but not God's work. Man invents machines. They turn out articles by the thousand or the million, exactly the same in every respect. In God's handiwork we see the utmost diversity in unity — unity in the most marvellous diversity.

In 1 Corinthians 12 the key point about the body is its oneness. This oneness rests on the truth that one Spirit forms the body. The body is therefore organic, with nothing artificial about it. The one body is therefore the fruit of an act of God. It is His workmanship. We did not make ourselves children of God. We were born "not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12-13). In the same way, we did not make ourselves members of the body of Christ. That too was not of the will of man but of God. So it comes under the statement that applies to all God's spiritual works: "whatever God does endures forever" (Ecclesiastes 3:14). No human opposition or failure can touch it. It stands today.

Here in chapter 12 he shows how far their behaviour was from the way the members of the body of Christ depend on each other. He illustrates his point from the human body (1 Corinthians 12:14-26). There is both a diversity of members — "the body does not consist of one member but of many" — and an essential unity. Paul clearly had the divided state of the Corinthians in view when he wrote that "the members may have the same care for one another". Understanding and valuing "There is one body" would stir up this mutual care in place of self-exaltation and favouritism (Ephesians 4:4).

It is well to remember the precious truth of one body, formed and energised by one Spirit. This truth is not merely something we express on certain occasions. It is what should shape and fashion all our ways in relation to Christ and His members. We need every member of the body, and each member needs us. We are bound together in mutual care and activity for each other's good. We are members one of another. Each member depends on the Head, and is never right unless right with Him. Yet the Head acts through the various members to build up the whole body.

All gifts, whether apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors or teachers, were for building up the body of Christ. Some of these gifts might never be used outside one assembly, yet they are for the whole Church.

Here the apostle puts down disdain — the higher members looking down on the lower. He puts it down even more strongly than he put down discontent in the lesser member toward the greater. The highest cannot do without the least. God has made nothing, gives nothing, in vain.

Here it is disdain, not discontent. Earlier it was the lower member discontented because it was not the higher. It is only flesh, no matter where it shows up. This is what is rebuked and set aside.

We have seen that envy of one another would break up the diversity; now we learn that disdain would break up the unity. If the eye treats the hand with contempt, and the head sneers at the feet, all unity of the body would be gone. What meets this danger? Again, recognizing God's own work. God has fitted the body together in such a way that no member can do without the other... in a word, every member is indispensable.

The eye lets in the light. But is light — even spiritual light — enough by itself, without the matching actions of the hand? The one may grasp a true principle, but the other is needed to put it into practice. Or can the head do without the feet? In other words, is intellect enough, apart from a consistent walk? Indeed, to reject one member would be to cripple the body.

He is using the comparison of the body, but not speaking of Christ. The fact is, this chapter does not present the Lord Jesus as the Head on high; here he is looking at the church on earth, and he calls it "Christ" — that is, the identification of the whole.

In Corinthians we see the Church in its order, fellowship, and service. It is the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27), and so Christ is its Head. But the Head is not brought before us directly here, only in passing: "nor again the Head to the feet, I have no need of you." I see no difficulty in applying this to Christ.

We cannot do without every member... Because of the disorder in the church of God, we certainly cannot make use of the help of every member of the body of Christ. But even though we are largely deprived of their help and service, we cannot be independent of one of them without suffering loss. The members of the body are bound together that closely... The Corinthians, when split up into parties, were robbing themselves of the gifts given for them all.

He is looking here simply at the body, and bringing out the moral force of the comparison: the highest gift cannot treat the lowest as if he had no need of him. I am sure you will find that where there is spirituality as well as gift, the greater the gift, the more hearty the desire to see the least gift at work — the gift God has given for the good of the church. There will be no such thought as this: that because one person has a superior gift, all others must keep quiet while he is present. The spring of blessing in the church is God Himself, not any one member of the body...

If there are many members, we must remember there is only one Body. But the unity of the Body would be in danger if the higher members looked down on the lower. We have seen that envy of one another would break up the diversity; now we learn that disdain would break up the unity. If the eye treats the hand with contempt, and the head sneers at the feet, all unity of the body would be gone. What meets this danger? Again, the recognition of God's own work. God has tempered the Body together in such a way that no member can do without the other. The greatest member needs the least.

An instinct planted in us tells us this. We feel that the most attractive features can do without the care we freely give to the less attractive ones. Yet we know that some parts of the body seem weaker and are still necessary to its wellbeing, or even to its life. That is not true of some parts that have show and strength and a good place, though they are not so essential.

The main thing is this: the lesser members are not to want a greater place than they have. And the greatest ones are not to act as if they could do without the least. They are all precious in the assembly of God. It is not that they just have their place; "they are necessary." At times they can be hard to bear. They may show all too clearly the feebleness of people who cannot rise above their circumstances and surroundings. But still, "they are necessary."

This comparison drawn from nature checks the tendency of gift to exalt itself. At the same time it cheers the humbler believer with fewer gifts, who might imagine that honour belongs only to prominence in ministry. But in God's household honour follows duty, and the measure of duty is ability. A shepherd without a flock would be nothing but a name. In the same way, the Spirit's gifts only prove themselves when the body holds people those gifts were sent to help. So that the strong may make right use of their strength, the feeble must exist.

The most faithful and advanced Christians feel their dependence on God, and on all saints. Paul's apostolic gift depended in one sense on the prayers of the saints. God meant it to be that way, so that love would bind the church together. The apostle was in a prominent position. Yet he may have received power through the prayers of a poor bedridden woman. All hidden fruit will come to light in the last day… If my heart, which no one sees, does not beat, I cannot run. Some people are the real heart of the church. What we can see is not often what is most precious in God's sight.

Our concern for the parts we cover shows that we should care in the same way for every weakest member of the body of Christ. We should give them honour, if no prominent gift or public role has already brought them honour. The more quiet and obscure the gift, the more encouragement we ought to give that person; those more publicly gifted do not need the same encouragement, though they need our prayers.

Take the face, for instance. It needs no attention, since it is of itself a presentable part. But we naturally take more care of the part that lacks that quality — the foot, for example.

Do I own that I am a member of the body of Christ? That member may be an "unpresentable" or "less honourable" one, yet it is infinitely precious and necessary to the Head. The more "unpresentable" and "less honourable" it is in the sight of men, the more honoured by Him. And God set me in my right place in that body, as it pleased Him.

There was to be no self-exaltation. Among the Corinthians there certainly was, because they had so many gifts, especially the sign-gifts. They looked down on other members who were less prominent. And this caused the division that threatened the body.

The most dignified and most useful gifts in the local assembly were not the ones that drew the most attention. They were the ones that brought real blessing to the saints. Gifts of healing, miraculous powers, speaking with tongues and other sign-gifts were like the ornaments we put on our bodies. The gifts of greatest value built up, encouraged and comforted the saints.

When we dress our bodies, we use every skill we have to give them a beauty that nature has denied. So it is also in the Church. The more abundant grace given to some should find its happy opportunity in hiding what others lack. Love covers many sins like a garment. And the patient, diligent ministry of grace makes the beauty of Christ appear in many a soul. Without such care, that soul might waste away, unnoticed by every eye but that of the great Shepherd of the sheep.

We cover most of our visible members with clothing, to give them more abundant honour. Our concern for them is a witness that we should care in the same way for every weakest member of the body of Christ. We should give them honour, if no prominent gift and function has honoured them in public. The more quiet and obscure the gift, the more encouragement we ought to give that person. Those with more public gifts do not need the same encouragement, though they need our prayers.

Here we plainly see that our responsibility flows from what God has done. He has tempered the body together, fitting all its parts for mutual help and blessing, and we are to act in line with His purpose... Is there no danger of forgetting this truth? Do we care mainly for prominent members and splendid gifts, and neglect the members we think to be less honourable? Very often the assemblies with the most distinguished gifts are spiritually the weakest.

Take the face, for instance. It needs no special care, because it is presentable in itself. But we take more care of the part that is not as presentable — the foot, for example. So here we find God's aim: "But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body."

The quieter and more hidden the gift, the more encouragement we ought to give that person. Those with more public gifts do not need the same encouragement, though they need our prayers. It is God who has tempered the body together. He fits each member into its own place, where it depends on all the others and works with them. In doing so, He has shown real care for the weakest member.

The apostle never presents the gift with the outward, visible sign as the most valuable and important one. He states the exact opposite, and he separates the two kinds of gift.

No doubt this had special application to the conditions in Corinth when the apostle wrote. The most dignified and most useful gifts in the local assembly were not the ones that drew the most attention. They were the ones that brought real blessing to the believers. Gifts of healing, miraculous powers, speaking in tongues and other sign gifts were like the decorations we add to our bodies. The gifts of greatest value were the ones that built up, encouraged and comforted the believers.

There are many members, but only one body. That unity is in great danger if the higher members look down on the lower ones. Envy of one another would break up the diversity; disdain would break up the unity. If the eye treats the hand with contempt, and the head sneers at the feet, all unity of the body would be gone. Only one thing shuts out this disorder: recognising the presence and power of God. He has tempered the body together so that no member can do without the others.

Here we see that our responsibility flows from what God has done. He has tempered the body together. He adjusted it in all its parts for mutual help and blessing, and we are to act in line with His purpose and preserve what He has made... Is there no danger of forgetting this truth? Do we care mainly for prominent members and splendid gifts, and neglect the members we think are less honourable? Very often the assemblies with the most distinguished gifts are the weakest in spiritual life. Their danger is losing their sense of dependence on the Head and on one another, and looking too much to the gifts they admire.

The moment I see that God has set one brother in his place and another in his, I am content. I say, Thank God for that servant and his ministry! It is his place, not mine. So, if I am right, I neither try to rival it nor copy it. I am satisfied with my own place and niche in the body.

We have seen, then, that God has made the body of Christ like the natural body. He formed it so that there would be no division of interest. Instead, the good of each lies in the good of all, and each member cares for every other. It is His aim, but may not be the fact.

The word is translated "divisions" in 1 Corinthians 1:10 and elsewhere. It refers to divisions caused by parties in the church. Given the unity of the Spirit, schism can only be sin… Scripture does not teach the modern ideas of "agreeing to differ" or "unity only in essentials." It teaches the opposite.

There was to be no self-exaltation. But there certainly was among the Corinthians, because of the gifts they had in such abundance, especially the sign-gifts. They looked down on other members who were less prominent. And this was responsible for the threatening division in the body.

…and not least where knowledge takes the place of love, and saints stoop to form cliques with a favourite leader, to help them on in the sorry work of jealousy and running others down. Is this the members having the same care for one another? Or is it not schism, against which God tempered the body together so that there should be none?

Every member has his own special place in the body, given to him by God… Knowing this for certain keeps us from self-occupation, pride, and envy. Suppose our place looks brilliant. Then, unless we are very watchful, the vanity of the flesh stirs. Instead of being tender and considerate toward others, and using what we have received to build up the body, we will most likely turn haughty, hard, and domineering. We will be an annoyance rather than a comfort to the saints. On the other hand, suppose our place is neither prominent nor brilliant. Then the tendency is to shrink from any service given us to do, and the whole body loses the ministry no one but ourselves can give.

…not a slavish subjection to hard "ecclesiastical" prohibitions and restrictions, to rules and regulations, but a tender care for every member of that one body… I believe this is part of what the Apostle means when he says, "when you come together to eat, wait for one another" (chapter 11:33). That means more than waiting until everyone has arrived. It means the spirit of patience, consideration and compassion that those bound together by such a bond should show each other as they gather in the fellowship of the Lord's death.

God has taken care that "there may be no division in the body." The strictest discipline of the house of God can never touch, in the most remote way, the unity of the body of Christ. That unity is absolutely indissoluble. A clear understanding of this would answer a thousand questions and solve a thousand difficulties.

Yes, God could not speak more plainly, not only about what He condemns, but also about what His will is as to what is right… Man says there should be sects, and would have me join one or help to grow it. God says there should be none, for the body is one. Shall I obey God or man? Judge for yourselves.

It is not said merely that they ought, but that they do. Whether it is good or ill, all that is according to God in one Christian goes out for blessing to all the rest. And when a saint on the other side of the world falls into evil or scandal, its shadow and its suffering reach every other one in these lands. We consciously suffer or rejoice, one may add, in the measure of our spiritual power. But the effect is real throughout the church. It is a body — the body of Christ — and as a whole it feels in joy or sorrow: otherwise it would not be a real organic unity. Its present condition, with denominational barriers that split the saints into independent groups, reduces spiritual sensibility to the lowest. Still, it survives these sad hindrances by its own life, which flows from the Holy Spirit of God who dwells in the church.

No part of the human body suffers in isolation; the suffering of any one part affects the whole body, and every individual part of it. It is the same where the truth of the one body in Christ is known and taken in. Any trial or sorrow that comes on one saint of God is felt by every other member of the assembly. We suffer with them because a divine unity binds us together. That unity holds us closer in life and affection than any other bond of fellowship in this world. The ties that bind people together here are bonds that death snaps. But in the one body the Holy Spirit binds the saints of God together in a unity of divine life that death cannot touch.

If one member is suffering spiritually — from lukewarmness, from backsliding, or through falling into temptation — all the members will be affected, though they may not know it. The state of the whole is the state of its individual members. Take a basin of hot water, and if you add only two drops of cold, the temperature of the whole will be lowered. It is so in the Church too. Let one person in the assembly be cold at heart, and the tone of the whole will drop. All suffer with the suffering member.

We must not lose sight of the truth of the one Body. Just before this verse, in verse 25, we read: "that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another." A member of the Church of Christ in Africa is just as truly linked with us as one we see every day.

It might be comparatively easy to suffer with each other; our compassion, our feelings and our hearts go out to those who suffer in whatever way the suffering is known. But it is a different matter to rejoice with each other. Someone is moving forward. Someone is being blessed. It is plain that the Lord has laid His hand on him and he is growing spiritually. How easy it is then for the seeds of envy to spring up in the heart and mind. "But," says Paul, "we are to rejoice with each other." Can I do that? Yes, we can all do it in the Spirit's power. It is the fruit of the Spirit.

We must not suppose that fellowship is limited to the privileges and blessings we enjoy when we meet together. It reaches into all the details of the state and circumstances of every member of the body… We are all urged to "rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep," and to "bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."