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The United Body
1 Cor 12:12-13
Indispensable Parts• “The eye cannot say to the hand, „I have no need of you,‟ nor
again the head to the feet, „I have no need of you.‟ On the
contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are
indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less
honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable
parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more
presentable parts do not require. 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,
but that the members may have the
same care for one another. If one
member suffers, all suffer together;
if one member is honored, all rejoice
together” (1 Cor 12:21-26, ESV).
Not Individual Members
• Your spiritual gift is absolutely essential to this
congregation.
Not Individual Members
• Your spiritual gift is absolutely essential to this
congregation, but you don‟t have to the one
exercising it!
Not Individual Members
• Your spiritual gift is absolutely essential to this
congregation, but you don‟t have to the one
exercising it!
• God can give spiritual gifts to other members.
The Unified Body
• The lawyer‟s body was no longer unified.
The Unified Body
• The lawyer‟s body was no longer unified.
• The body of Christ in Corinth wasn‟t unified.
The Unified Body
• The lawyer‟s body was no longer unified.
• The body of Christ in Corinth wasn‟t unified—
preachers, fornication, suing one another, the Lord‟s
Supper, etc.
The Unified Body
• The lawyer‟s body was no longer unified.
• The body of Christ in Corinth wasn‟t unified—
preachers, fornication, suing one another, the Lord‟s
Supper, etc.
• In this text, the disunity concerns the “superiority”
of tongue speaking.
The Unified Body
• ONE BODY.
• ONE BAPTISM.
• ONE BEVERAGE.
ONE BODY
One Body
• “Just as the body is one and has many members, and
all the members of the body, though many, are one
body, so it is with Christ” (v 12, ESV).
One Body
• “Just as the body is one and has many members, and
all the members of the body, though many, are one
body, so it is with Christ” (v 12, ESV).
• In these two verses, the word “one” occurs 5 times out
of 49 words in Gr.
One Body
• “Just as the body is one and has many members, and
all the members of the body, though many, are one
body, so it is with Christ” (v 12, ESV).
• In these two verses, the word “one” occurs 5 times out
of 49 words in Gr. Paul really wants to emphasize the
oneness of the body.
Corinthians were One Body
• That‟s a surprising statement.
Corinthians were One Body
• That‟s a surprising statement.
• The Corinthians were as divided as could be.
Corinthians were One Body
• That‟s a surprising statement.
• The Corinthians were as divided as could be.
– Prejudiced against one another.
Corinthians were One Body
• That‟s a surprising statement.
• The Corinthians were as divided as could be.
– Prejudiced against one another.
– Supported immorality.
Corinthians were One Body
• That‟s a surprising statement.
• The Corinthians were as divided as could be.
– Prejudiced against one another.
– Supported immorality.
– Boasted in the exercise of their gifts.
Corinthians were One Body
• That‟s a surprising statement.
• The Corinthians were as divided as could be.
– Prejudiced against one another.
– Supported immorality.
– Boasted in the exercise of their gifts.
• Paul says they were one body, not that they were
united.
Corinthians were One Body
• That‟s a surprising statement.
• The Corinthians were as divided as could be.
– Prejudiced against one another.
– Supported immorality.
– Boasted in the exercise of their gifts.
• Paul says they were one body, not that they were
united. They needed to become united because of the
spiritual reality.
Unity
• We are to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace” (Eph 4:3, ESV).
Unity
• We are to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace” (Eph 4:3, ESV).
• “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel
of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am
absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in
one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the
faith of the gospel” (Phil 1:27, ESV).
Physical Bodies
• Just because our bodies have different parts doesn‟t
mean we have different bodies!
Physical Bodies
• Just because our bodies have different parts doesn‟t
mean we have different bodies!
• Our bodies have to work in unison to do anything!
Church as a Body
• If we want to accomplish the Lord‟s work, we must
work in unison!
Paul‟s Example
• I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
So neither he who plants nor he who waters is
anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Cor
3:6-7, ESV).
Paul‟s Example
• I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
So neither he who plants nor he who waters is
anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Cor
3:6-7, ESV).
• “Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark
the cousin of Barnabas . . . and Jesus who is called
Justus. These are the only men of the circumcision
among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God”
(Col 4:10-11, ESV).
CAN WE DO ANYTHING
OTHER THAN WORK
TOGETHER?
ONE BAPTISM
One Baptism
• “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—
Jews or Greeks, slaves or free” (v 13, ESV).
Baptism & the Spirit
• “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water
and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God”
(Jn 3:5, ESV).
Baptism & the Spirit
• “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water
and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God”
(Jn 3:5, ESV).
• “He saved us, not because of works done by us in
righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the
washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy
Spirit” (Tit 3:5, ESV).
Baptism & the Spirit
• “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will
put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone
from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I
will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk
in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezek
36:36-37, ESV).
Baptism & the Spirit
• “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will
put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone
from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I
will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk
in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezek
36:36-37, ESV).
• “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-
control; against such things there is no law” (Gal
5:22-23, ESV).
Baptism & the Spirit
• Paul‟s emphasis is the one Spirit and the one body.
Baptism & the Spirit
• Paul‟s emphasis is the one Spirit and the one body.
• No room for division over gifts.
Class Division
• Jews & Greeks were divided over the eating of food
sacrificed to idols.
Class Division
• Jews & Greeks were divided over the eating of food
sacrificed to idols.
• Rich & poor were divided at the Lord‟s Supper.
Racial Division
• “God created man in his own image, in the image of
God he created him; male and female he created
them” (Gn 1:27, ESV).
Racial Division
• “God created man in his own image, in the image of
God he created him; male and female he created
them” (Gn 1:27, ESV).
• God “made from one man every nation of mankind to
live on all the face of the earth, having determined
allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling
place” (Acts 17:26, ESV).
“If any Christian wants to know how to treat the colored
people, read God‟s explicit instruction to the Jews on that
particular subject . . . [“you shall conquer them and utterly
destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor
show mercy to them. Nor shall you make marriages with
them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take
their daughter for your son] . . . . They have always been
cursed with a sense of fear, ignorance, superstition and an
inferior complex . . . We have to admit that we have had
some very well educated Negroes among us. Some who
have made good in business and various trades. How do
you account for that? Yes, all those Negroes who have a
generous fertilization of white blood have invariably left the
evidence of it behind them. But the genuine Negro article is
just what he has always been.”
Social Division
• “My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, „You sit here in a good place,‟ while you say to the poor man, „You stand over there,‟ or, „Sit down at my feet,‟ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?” (Js 2:1-7, ESV).
DO WE SHOW PARTIALITY?
ONE BEVERAGE
One Beverage
• We “all were made to drink of one
Spirit” (v 13c, ESV).
One Beverage
• We “all were made to drink of one
Spirit” (v 13c, ESV).
• The idea of making to drink doesn‟t
translate well.
One Beverage
• We “all were made to drink of one
Spirit” (v 13c, ESV).
• The idea of making to drink doesn‟t
translate well.
– The term “made to drink” refers to giving
someone something to drink.
One Beverage
• We “all were made to drink of one
Spirit” (v 13c, ESV).
• The idea of making to drink doesn‟t
translate well.
– The term “made to drink” refers to giving
someone something to drink.
– NIV: “We were all given the one Spirit to
drink.”
Water & Life
• “Everyone who drinks of this water
will be thirsty again, but whoever
drinks of the water that I will give him
will never be thirsty again. The water
that I will give him will become in him
a spring of water welling up to eternal
life” (Jn 4:13-14, ESV).
Spirit as Water
• “Jesus stood up and cried out, „If
anyone thirsts, let him come to me and
drink. Whoever believes in me, as the
Scripture has said, “Out of his heart
will flow rivers of living water.”‟ Now
this he said about the Spirit, whom
those who believed in him were to
receive, for as yet the Spirit had not
been given, because Jesus was not yet
glorified” (Jn 7:37-39, ESV).
Drinking of the Spirit
• Indwelling we receive at baptism.
Drinking of the Spirit
• Indwelling we receive at baptism.
Jesus said that whoever believed in
him would receive living waters, and
he spoke of the Spirit.
Drinking of the Spirit
• Indwelling we receive at baptism.
Jesus said that whoever believed in
him would receive living waters, and
he spoke of the Spirit.
– In 1 Cor 12:13, baptism and drinking of
the Spirit are simultaneous verbs.
Drinking of the Spirit
• Indwelling we receive at baptism.
Jesus said that whoever believed in
him would receive living waters, and
he spoke of the Spirit.
– In 1 Cor 12:13, baptism and drinking of
the Spirit are simultaneous verbs.
– “Repent and be baptized every one of you
in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins, and you will
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts
2:38, ESV).
WHAT DOES DRINKING
OF ONE SPIRIT HAVE TO
DO WITH US?
Paul‟s Point=One Body
• No reason to believe that one gift is
any better than another, for there is one
body working in unison.
Paul‟s Point=One Body
• No reason to believe that one gift is
any better than another, for there is one
body working in unison.
• Regardless of what miraculous gifts
the Corinthians had, they all had the
non-miraculous indwelling of the
Spirit.
Paul‟s Point=One Body
• No reason to believe that one gift is
any better than another, for there is one
body working in unison.
• Regardless of what miraculous gifts
the Corinthians had, they all had the
non-miraculous indwelling of the
Spirit.
– Maybe not all in Corinth had miraculous
gifts.
Paul‟s Point=One Body
• No reason to believe that one gift is
any better than another, for there is one
body working in unison.
• Regardless of what miraculous gifts
the Corinthians had, they all had the
non-miraculous indwelling of the
Spirit.
– Maybe not all in Corinth had miraculous
gifts.
– In that case, Paul says, “Even if you don‟t
have a miraculous gift, you still have the
non-miraculous gift, and you are part of
the one body.”
What Does This Say to the Modern
Church?
• Because we all have the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit, we are equals.
What Does This Say to the Modern
Church?
• Because we all have the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit, we are equals.
What Does This Say to the Modern
Church?
• Because we all have the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit, we are equals.
• The Spirit is our guarantee that we are
not better than one another.
DO YOU HAVE THE
SPIRIT THIS MORNING?
We‟d Better Have the Spirit!
• “You, however, are not in the flesh but
in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God
dwells in you. Anyone who does not
have the Spirit of Christ does not
belong to him” (Rm 8:9, ESV).
We‟d Better Have the Spirit!
• “You, however, are not in the flesh but
in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God
dwells in you. Anyone who does not
have the Spirit of Christ does not
belong to him” (Rm 8:9, ESV).
• Do you need to come and receive the
Spirit this morning?