Dwell in the Word 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Contemplate these questions as you dwell in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31:

1. How does Paul emphasize the unity within the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12, and what key distinctions does he address regarding believers' backgrounds and roles?

2. What significance does Paul place on the Holy Spirit's role in uniting believers, regardless of their cultural or social distinctions? How does this understanding reshape the way we perceive and value our fellow members in the body of Christ?

3. Paul employs the metaphor of the body to illustrate the interdependence of its members and their varying roles. How does this metaphor emphasize the importance and value of every individual's contribution to the body of Christ, regardless of the perceived prominence of their role?

Transcript:

 As we come to this passage, it's likely one you are familiar with. It is a well-known passage, and it's an awesome one, really. The way that Paul knits all this together and creates this image for us is fantastic. It really helps us to understand our role within the church, within the body of Christ.

And so, we see in verse 13, for in one spirit we were all baptized. Remember, Paul talked about that previously. We were all baptized in one spirit, into one body. And look at the distinctions he makes here. Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one spirit. In other words, it doesn't matter who you are.

Whether you're Jew or Gentile, whether you're a free person, a slave person, there is no distinction here. We all receive the same spirit. There wasn't a special Holy Spirit for the Hebrew people. There wasn't one for the Greeks or the Gentiles. There wasn't one for slaves and one for the people who were free.

There is one Holy Spirit. And that is what unites us together. We are united not... By our earthly markers of difference, we're united by the Holy Spirit and the faith that we have received. We're united together because we are united to Christ. And so, we see that this is, this is who we are, and we shouldn't look at one another as having, um, somebody being higher, somebody lower, or, or seeing one job in the church being better than the other.

Instead, they're all important. They all come together. And Paul uses the imagery of the body to help us out. And notice what he says in verse 18. God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. This is, it’s not simply ordained that, that the Holy Spirit would come to us and give us the gift of faith, but it's also ordained what gifts we would be given that we might build up the church, that we would build up the body.

And so, Paul says here, he goes through in verses 22 through 26, that there's all these parts, and even though some seem to be weaker, they're still indispensable. You know, if we think about it,  uh, Sounds really good that, that maybe that the eye is more important, uh, than the hand. But, you know, what is one without the other?

You know, if you don't have those parts working correctly, uh, life becomes more difficult, right?  All of it works together. And Paul points out, you know, that we give greater honor to greater things and we give modesty to other things, thus showing that they have different roles, but they are indispensable, they are, they are needed.

and you gotta really appreciate what Paul says here in verse 26. If one member suffers, all suffer together, if one member is honored, all rejoice together. You know what? If we are, if we go back to the body imagery, if, if we're in pain in one part of our body, our whole body is going to suffer. It affects us through and through, and the same should be the case in the body of Christ.

If one of us is suffering. And as a need, we should be caring for one another. And if we are rejoicing in something awesome that has happened, we should rejoice together because we are God's people together. This is important. That we suffer together and we rejoice together. It's a part of being a family.

It's part of being the body of Christ.  And so, we desire to have this unity, this unity that understands that one person who does one thing in the church doesn't have a more important role than the person who's here. We are united together. And what's important about that is, is that God gives those roles.

So, whatever it is that we do in Christ's body, God has ordained that we use those gifts for his glory. And none are greater than the others. And so, many times. It's easy to look at the people who are maybe out front, the people who are, who are teaching or something else and say, they're the most important, but think about what it takes for that teaching to be supportive.

Think about what it takes for those things to happen in the church that are unseen. We can't do that without the other parts of the body. And God has ordained that every part works together, that he might be glorified. And so may we think about this today. What is our role? How does it build up the body?

And how can we continue to grow in that? That we might be the people of God that is doing what God has ordained for us to do. May we seek those things out and use those gifts to glorify Him today.