Many Members

RECAP

1Corinthians 12:1-11

Paul deals with the diversity of gifts in the body of Christ.

That they are given by the SAME SPIRIT.
These gifts are given for the PROFIT of ALL.

Paul was concerned for the Corinthians that they would continue down a path that would lead to permanent damage in their testimony and health of the fellowship.

Here Paul begins to express the REALITY of MANY MEMBERS within the Body of Christ. A DIVERSITY of GIFTS for a DIVERSITY of MEMBERS

Romans 12:3-8

Prophecy, Service, Teaching, Exhortation, Giving, Leading, Mercy

1Corinthians 12:8-10

Word of Wisdom, Word of Knowledge, Faith, Miracles, Prophecy, Discerning Spirits, Tongues, Interpreting Tongues,

1Corinthians 12:28-30

Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, Miracles, Healings, Helps, Administrations, Tongues, Interpreting Tongues,

Ephesians 4:11

Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors/Teachers

1Peter 4:10-11

Serving, Speaking

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(v12,13) For 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. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

This “body-like” unity of the Church is not a goal to achieve – it is not the focus of the church, as much as it is a fact, a reality to be experienced.

(v12) One body . . . many members: Paul uses the beautiful illustration of the human body to relate the working of the community of Christians.

· Even as every cell in a human body is linked by a common factor (DNA code), the parts of our body (members) look different, work differently, different purposes and all with differing limitations as well.

There is great diversity in the body of Jesus Christ, both in appearance and function, yet each member has a common root and a common goal.

UNITY in the BODY of CHRIST is a supernatural by-product of abiding in Christ.

Unity in the BODY in relation to the Head.

As we SUBMIT to the Lordship of Jesus in our lives and fellowships…unity is realized.

Unfortunately, disunity is too often the reality.

Ephesians 4:1-3 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, (2) with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, (3) endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

All Christians are one in the Spirit.

It is our duty to keep or observe that unity, recognize it as real, and act upon it without a sectarian spirit/divisive attitudes.

Jesus PRAYED for HIS BODY to be UNIFIED

John 17:20–26 [ESV] “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, (21) that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (22) The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,

(23) I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. (24) Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

(25) O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. (26) I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

endeavoring (Eph. 4:3) means to make every effort, to work hard at maintaining the unity of the Spirit. [forgiveness, compassion, LOVE]

(v13) For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body: Paul does not have in mind water baptism as much as Spirit baptism - Paul here is writing of the common “immersion” all believers have in the Holy Spirit and in Jesus, a common “immersion” which brings them into one body.

Passages like (v13) have led many to regard baptism as sort of the “initation ceremony into the community of Christians.”

This may be an aspect of baptism, it is certainly not the main point. The main idea behind Christian baptism is the identification of the believer – his “immersion” in Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3-5).

The idea that baptism is primarily the initiation ceremony into the church has led to, and reinforced, unbiblical ideas such as the baptism of infants (upon the thinking, “who wants to exclude them from the church?”

Those who use this verse as proof that all Christians are baptized in the Spirit fail to understand that there are many baptisms seen in Scripture.…

• John’s baptism is the baptism of repentance (Luke 7:29).

• The baptism of Moses refers to those who followed him through the Red Sea (1 Corinthians 10:2).

• Jesus told His disciples they would be baptized with the Holy Ghost (Acts 1:5).

• Paul speaks of being baptized into Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3).

What baptism is being talked about here? It’s the Spirit baptizing us into the body of Christ. Jesus baptizes us into the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11). And here we read, the Spirit baptizes us into one body.

What Is the Baptism with the Spirit?

In Luke 3:16, John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire”

In John 1:33, once again, John the Baptist says of Jesus, "I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 1:4 describes how Jesus was assembled with His disciples when He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the Promise of the Father which "you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

These verses teach us that there is an experience properly called the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

Is It the Same as Regeneration?

The Bible teaches that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is separate and distinct from regeneration.

· It is one thing to be born of the Spirit; it is yet another to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

In John 20:22, “And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

The laws of biblical interpretation insist that the obvious meaning is usually the correct one.

· If Jesus breathed on His men and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit," the obvious meaning is that they received the Holy Spirit at that point - the Holy Spirit began to indwell them.

Some say that Jesus' words were only symbolic. That regeneration and the baptism of the Holy Spirit are the same experience. That Jesus’ words in John 20:22 only preview what was to come at Pentecost.

Yet there is no scriptural warrant for such an interpretation. Nothing in Scripture indicates that the disciples did not receive the Spirit in John 20.

· It's hard to believe that when Jesus says, "Receive the Holy Spirit," nothing happens.

The HOLY SPIRIT filling us and making us ONE BODY, EACH MEMBER IS VALUABLE and NEEDED IN the BODY.

(v15) If the foot should say: If the foot felt, or declared, itself not part of the body because it was not a hand, the foot would be both foolish and mistaken. Diversity does not disqualify one from the body.

· Paul puts the question into the mind of the one who feels excluded from the body. It is as if some of the Corinthian Christians were saying, “I don’t have this certain spiritual gift. I guess I’m not part of the body of Jesus Christ.”

After all, hands and eyes seem more important and more “glamorous” than feet and ears. Paul wants these Christians who feel excluded to understand that they are indeed members of the body, and their sense that they are not, is just as foolish as the foot or the ear who feel excluded.

The same principle can be stated towards those who desire to exclude others from the body. Paul could have just as well said, “The hand cannot say the foot is not of the body because it is not a hand.”

Paul also wants Christians who might exclude others because they don’t appreciate their place in the body to recognize the fact of unity.

(v17) If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? Diversity in the body of Jesus Christ acceptable, it is essential.

The body cannot work properly if all are hands, or if all are eyes. The body must have different parts and gifts, or it would not work together effectively as a body.

(v18) each one of them, as he chose [NKJV just as He pleased]: Why is the foot a foot and the hand a hand? It pleased the Designer to make it so. So, the hand can take no “pride” in being a hand, and the foot can take no “pride” in being a foot. Each is serving the pleasure of the Designer.

In the design, we see the wisdom of the Designer: everybody has something; but nobody has everything.

(v19) If all were a single member, where would the body be?

· The unique place we all have within the Body of Christ.

· To settle into our individual place within the Body of Christ.

· To appreciate our individual place within the body.

· To be thankful for the unique abilities of others.

God’s specific design for the Body of Christ

(v21) “…that they may be one…”

(v22) “…that they may be one…”

(v23) “…that they may be perfectly one…”

To be ONE BODY is the ultimate and final goal for the church.

One in PURPOSE

Ephesians 4:13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

One in ATTITUDE

Psalm 133:1 (A Song of Ascents of David) Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!

(v20) As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

Romans 12:4-6 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, (5) so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. (6) Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them

· Not to SIT on them or to STAND By and watch, but to be involved – Christianity is NOT a spectator sport.

Ephesians 4:4-6 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; (5) one Lord, one faith, one baptism; (6) one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Ephesians 4:15-16 [ESV] Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, (16) from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

· speaking the truth in love: suggests that all that believers say or do should be honest and true, and said or done in a loving manner.

· every joint . . . every part is essential to full growth. There are no insignificant parts in the body (see 1 Cor. 12:14–27). Anything that builds up believers and the church can be said to be edifying.

Working Properly: Is each part submitting to the HEAD of the Body, Jesus Christ.

Each PART working in UNISON ACCORDING to the WORD of GOD, in the SPIRIT of GOD.

TURN TO: Ephesians 2:19-22