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Spoken of the different gifts from the Holy Spirit, Paul also asserted that he has given different gifts to the church. God’s plan in doing this is that members should work together as one body. Paul used the analogy of a body that has many parts to illustrate the body of Christ.
Maybe they are Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free, Christians have been said to be one body by the same Spirit (v.13). Interestingly, each part has its role, without which the body is incomplete or cannot function well. It implies that a single part cannot disregard the others without serious consequences neither can the body be healthy and effective in its functions if the whole body were made up of one single part (vv.18-19). The body metaphor illustrating the different gifts in the church recognizes the importance of unity in diversity in the body. It also stresses the issue of independence among the members of the church.
Paul also used this picture in his letter to the brethren in Rome (Romans 12: 4-5). So, by comparing members of the church of Christ to the different parts of a human body, he presented two complementary truths that the church in Corinth failed to comprehend: 1) each part of the body makes a valuable contribution to the whole body, thus, whenever any part is missing, the entire body suffers; 2) the diversity in the composition of the different gifts is actually intended to achieve unity for accomplishing God’s purpose.
The church is a body of believers who have come together to worship God and fellowship with one another. In the early Church, the need for mutual support and encouragement could hardly be overemphasized. Some Corinthian Christians believed strongly in the importance of the gift of speaking in tongues and, therefore, boasted about it.
But in his letter, Paul made it clear that the most important gifts are those that contribute to the good of all (v.7), build up, and help the whole church (1 Corinthians 14: 6.12). Of course, this was briefly expressed by Paul in the parallel he draws between the church, which has many parts with each performing its special role, and the human body, with many parts only to make up one body for effective functioning (v.12). Paul did not fail to emphasize that the gifts are graciously given according to God’s will (Ephesians 4:7). Of course, God does not give spiritual gifts indiscriminately because they are expected to be used for specific purposes in the church. Therefore, Paul’s explanation was meant to discourage Christian brethren from being boastful and considering themselves more important than others by virtue of the gifts they possess.
More so, every member has been specially endowed with some spiritual gifts, which are generally geared towards the well-being of the whole community (v.7). Therefore, every part is relevant and useful to the body, because no one part can be independent and function effectively.
Similarly, Christians are not meant to be in isolation and expect to be all that Christ wants them to be. This presents the principle of teamwork, as each member synergizes with others so that the church can fulfill her God-given task. In fact, the real test of spiritual gifts as to whether they come from God is that they contribute to the common good and edify the community of faith.
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