WE come now to the problem of spiritual gifts which occupies three chapters. Like the Charistmatic movement in recent times, the Corinthian church had been exalting some gifts of the Spirit above others, and tending to look down on any in the church who did not possess these gifts. Paul seeks to deal with this problem and in doing this speaks of very important truth as to the nature of true Christianity and the nature of the church.

VERSES 1-3

In these opening verses Paul tells us what is the mark of a real Christian and possession of the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. It is not the possession of any particular gift of the Spirit, but rather being able to say 'JESUS IS LORD'. This is a very important statement. It is a statement that qualifies what it means to believe in Jesus unto salvation. The Christian is somebody who believes in and receives Jesus as their Lord and their God, and in total submission rests their soul on Jesus, gives Jesus worship as God, adores Jesus, obeys Jesus, lives for Jesus, seeks to serve Jesus, and so on.

VERSES 4-6

From this relationship and commitment to Christ comes the evidence in our life of some gift or gifts from the Holy Spirit. However each Christian is given different gifts and there is no gift which is universal to every believer. Whatever gift we may possess it comes from the same source, that is God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

VERSES 7-11.

Paul then goes on to say that these gifts are given for the common good (v.7), that is for the good and blessing of the church fellowship, which he then illustrates with the analogy of the body. Paul affirms that gifts are given by the Holy Spirit (v.8). He affirms that these are given by the sovereign will and decision of the Spirit (v.11). By implication Paul is saying that what gifts we have are nothing to be proud of, or to give us a sense of superiority, and each gift is important for the well-being of the body of Christ.

VERSES 12-26

To illustrate what he teaches Paul uses the analogy of the body as a picture of the church, or any particular church fellowship.

The body, the church is the important thing, and so all believers make up the unity of the body. We are baptised into the Body of Christ.

Christ, by implication is the head of the body, and so every member of the body, the church, lives for Christ, the head, and follows the direction of the head.

Every member of the body is important, and fulfilling a vital roll in the health and well-being of the body. Every member receives his or her gift in order to use it for the whole body. We do not receive spiritual gifts for our own glory or personal use.

It follows from this that every believer is important however insignificant their gift may seem to be, and if a member does not use his or her gift under the direction of Christ for the church, the body, the church, will be impaired.

Even though there are some members who seem to be in a more important position than others, this does not mean they are more important in the eye of Christ, than others. Nor should such people set themselves above others, but be humble servants of all.

Whoever we are in the church, what we do effects the whole, whether for suffering or blessing. The behaviour of one Christian effects the whole (v.26).

All this needs serious meditation and application to each one of us, and the principles concerning the church given here by Paul need to be applied to each individual congregation.

VERSES 27-30.

So Paul tells us 'You are the body of Christ'. This is a tremendous truth. If we are the body, then we are joined to Christ is an organic and intimate way. It is the same idea as Jesus expressed in the allegory of himself as the Vine and ourselves as the branches. This means that the life of Christ flows to us and in us continually, and that life then is lived for the good of the whole and for Christ.

We need to identify the gifts we are given. It may be one of these listed in these verses, but it may be some other gifts which may well be an off-shoot from one the ones listed. Nobody has all the gifts, and no gift is universal in all. So if we do not exercise our gift the body of Christ will suffer.