1 Corinthians
12:12-31
If you are not a follower of Christ, or if
you have not been under the authority of godly teachers of Scripture, when the
word flesh is used one might think of the soft tissue of the body or human
skin, put that is not the meaning of the word when one encounters it in
Scripture. An example of it being used
in Scripture is found in many places but these are two examples you might look
into, Ephesians 6:12 and Galatians 5:17.
I’ve learned that everyone in Christ
is going to battle with this thing God calls flesh, and I’ve also learned it’s
unique to each of us. Flesh is best
defined as baggage you bring into your relationship with Christ, where you
learn how to get your needs met living independently from God’s authority. As you grew up your mind and emotions learn
to respond to stimuli, and as Bill Gillman often said, if you are chronically
exposed to harmful stimuli, your emotions can become stuck. One of Bill’s key concepts – “Walking in the
Spirit most often requires you to choose to walk by what God’s Word says rather
than by what you feel.”
With that as our backdrop let’s look into 1
Corinthians 12:12-31, and beginning in verses 12-13, “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. 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.”
Jesus is teaching us through the
Holy Spirit leading the apostle Paul, that His church is designed like your
body. And I’ve never had anyone tell me
what great lungs you have, or it is your kidneys that I find to be so
attractive. If we began to list all the
parts of our body it would take a lot of ink and I bet we would leave some
parts out, but each is there for a purpose, and the same is true with the
Church.
The apostle Paul goes on to share how each
part of our physical body needs the others, and in verses 18-20, “But as it is, God
arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a
single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one
body.” As a child going
barefooted often I stumped my toe and guess what, the hand always grabbed that
toe and ministered to it. So by nature
God has made this very clear to each of us; “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member
is honored, all rejoice together.”
As we move into verses 27-30, we see God’s
design for the Church, as the body of Christ.
“Now you
are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in
the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then
gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are
all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all
possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But
earnestly desire the higher gifts.” The
answer to those eight questions in verses 29-30, is not even close, we all have
gifts, but some never developed theirs, others let the flesh take over and are
envious of someone else’s gift, and when flesh is active there will always be
division in the body, and it brings shame on the name of God.
Now flesh will not go away it must be put to
death, and that is going to hurt, that is going to take discipline. Do you recall us reading in 1 Corinthians
11:18, “For, in the first place, when you come
together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you.” The churches at Corinth were each looking
to self, not to building up the body, not to serving those in the body of
Christ that is flesh at its best. But
the apostle Paul in verse 31, tells us there is a better gift, and tomorrow we
will look at a more excellent way.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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