I Corinthians 12
12
Spiritual Gifts: Unity in Diversity
1Now #1 Cor. 12:4; 14:1, 37concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: 2You know #1 Cor. 6:11; Eph. 2:11; 1 Pet. 4:3that you were Gentiles, carried away to these #Ps. 115:5; Is. 46:7; Jer. 10:5; Hab. 2:18dumb idols, however you were led. 3Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and #Matt. 16:17no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
4#Rom. 12:3–8; 1 Cor. 12:11; Eph. 4:4, 11; Heb. 2:4There are diversities of gifts, but #Eph. 4:4the same Spirit. 5#Rom. 12:6There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God #1 Cor. 15:28; Eph. 1:23; 4:6who works all in all. 7But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8for to one is given #1 Cor. 2:6, 7; 2 Cor. 1:12the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another #Rom. 15:14; (1 Cor. 2:11, 16); 2 Cor. 8:7the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9#Matt. 17:19; (1 Cor. 13:2); 2 Cor. 4:13to another faith by the same Spirit, to another #Matt. 10:1; Mark 3:15; 16:18; James 5:14gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10#Mark 16:17to another the working of miracles, to another #Rom. 12:6prophecy, to another #1 John 4:1discerning of spirits, to another #Acts 2:4–11different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11But one and the same Spirit works all these things, #Rom. 12:6; 2 Cor. 10:13distributing to each one individually #(John 3:8)as He wills.
Unity and Diversity in One Body
12For #Rom. 12:4, 5; 1 Cor. 10:17; Eph. 4:4as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, #(Gal. 3:16)so also is Christ. 13For #(Rom. 6:5)by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—#Rom. 3:22; Gal. 3:28; (Eph. 2:13–18); Col. 3:11whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and #(John 7:37–39)have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14For in fact the body is not one member but many.
15If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 16And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 17If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18But now #1 Cor. 12:28God has set the members, each one of them, in the body #Rom. 12:3just as He pleased. 19And if they were all one member, where would the body be?
20But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 21And 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.” 22No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. 23And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, 24but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, 25that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. 26And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
27Now #Rom. 12:5; Eph. 1:23; 4:12; 5:23, 30; Col. 1:24you are the body of Christ, and #Eph. 5:30members individually. 28And #Eph. 4:11God has appointed these in the church: first #(Eph. 2:20; 3:5)apostles, second #Acts 13:1; Rom. 12:6prophets, third teachers, after that #1 Cor. 12:10, 29; Gal. 3:5miracles, then #Mark 16:18; 1 Cor. 12:9, 30gifts of healings, #Num. 11:17helps, #Rom. 12:8; 1 Tim. 5:17; Heb. 13:17, 24administrations, varieties of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? 30Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31But #1 Cor. 14:1, 39earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.
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I Corinthians 12: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
1 Corinthians 12
12
Spiritual Gifts
1-3What I want to talk about now is the various ways God’s Spirit gets worked into our lives. This is complex and often misunderstood, but I want you to be informed and knowledgeable. Remember how you were when you didn’t know God, led from one phony god to another, never knowing what you were doing, just doing it because everybody else did it? It’s different in this life. God wants us to use our intelligence, to seek to understand as well as we can. For instance, by using your heads, you know perfectly well that the Spirit of God would never prompt anyone to say “Jesus be damned!” Nor would anyone be inclined to say “Jesus is Master!” without the insight of the Holy Spirit.
4-11God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful:
wise counsel
clear understanding
simple trust
healing the sick
miraculous acts
proclamation
distinguishing between spirits
tongues
interpretation of tongues.
All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.
12-13You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. It’s exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.
14-18I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, “I’m not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don’t belong to this body,” would that make it so? If Ear said, “I’m not beautiful like Eye, transparent and expressive; I don’t deserve a place on the head,” would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.
19-24But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn’t be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”? Or, Head telling Foot, “You’re fired; your job has been phased out”? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it’s a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn’t you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?
25-26The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.
27-31You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything. You’re familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his “body”:
apostles
prophets
teachers
miracle workers
healers
helpers
organizers
those who pray in tongues.
But it’s obvious by now, isn’t it, that Christ’s church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, unidimensional Part? It’s not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker, not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues. And yet some of you keep competing for so-called “important” parts.
But now I want to lay out a far better way for you.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.