Chapter 11:
Ten Principles from 1 Corinthians 12-13
gifts. We should note that the “members” are not persons in the context, but rather gifts. Obviously people possess gifts, but here the emphasis is on the gift, not on the person. Therefore, “the body is one and has many members (gifts)” (12:12). At least 20 gifts are named in the New Testament. If we accept that God can make combinations of gifts, we can see almost an infinite number of possible varieties, especially if we see God’s gifting of believers even beyond the revealed spiritual gifts. Unity in the midst of such diversity is possible when all the members are “likeminded” (Philippians 2:2), that is to say, when “the members…have the same care one for another” (1 Corinthians 12:25). Any self-centered interest or motivation detracts from the unity that God desires of the church. No true gift motivates the person to worry about or focus on himself, but rather to be concerned for others. Paul wrote, “God composed the body” (1Co 12:24). Here we find the very interesting verb sunekerao, which means “mix together, cause the several parts to combine into an organic structure.” (Strong 4786). The verb is in the aorist tense meaning a one-time action and not a repeating action. It is used to describe a painter who mixes his colors before painting. The reason that the body is so beautiful is that God is painting an image of the Body of Christ with the various gifts of the Spirit. Each gift is as a distinct color to enhance the image. To change the distribution of those gifts would be like changing the color the artist intended to use thus ruining the picture of the body that God is painting. Ephesians 4:16 reads, “the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share.” The word “joined” is the word that we find in 2:21 meaning, “frame together,” like parts of a building. The root of the word describes joints that have been fixed in unity. It is like a symphony with many different instruments functioning in harmony, each one contributing something unique to the overall purpose of providing everything necessary for good music. When we hear an individual instrument play its score or musical part, it often doesn’t make sense or sound pretty, but when everyone together contributes their parts, it becomes beautiful. The body of Christ is similar. If everyone played the same instrument, there would be no harmony and the sound would not be pleasant. With diversity of gifts and commitment to one another, we have a beautiful picture of the body of Christ in action. 5. The possessor of a gift should not envy or desire the gift of another (1 Corinthians 12:7, 11, 18). “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:” “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” “But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.”
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