Spiritual gifts are diverse, yet all to profit withal; and to that end are diversely bestowed: that by the like proportion, as the members of a natural body tend all to the mutual decency, service, and succour of the same body; so we should do one for another, to make up the mystical body of Christ.
Anno Domini 57.
THE spiritual men* at Corinth having had great dissensions among themselves about the comparative excellence of their several gifts, and the honour which was due to each onaccount of his particular gift, the Apostle's adherents, we may believe, in their letter, had requested his opinion and direction concerning these matters. In compliance, therefore, with their desire, and because it was of great importance that mankind, in future ages, should have a just idea of the supernatural gifts with which the Christian church was at first enriched, the Apostle, in this and in the following xivth chapter, treated largely of these gifts, and of the persons who possessed them.
* By spiritual men I here mean only men endowed with supernatural gifts. The graces of many who possessed not any of the supernatural gifts might have been far superior to the graces of some who did posses them. The Apostle's mode of expression in this chapter appears to me to justify the expression which I here use.
His discourse on these subjects he introduced with telling the Corinthians, that he wished them not to be ignorant of the offices of the spiritual men, and of the excellency of their gifts, 1 Corinthians 12:1.—And to make them sensible of the honour which the church derived from the gifts of the spiritual men, he put the brethren at Corinth in mind that, before their conversion, they worshipped idols, who, being themselves dumb, could not impart to their votaries instantaneously the faculty of speaking foreign languages, as Christ had done to many of his disciples, 1 Corinthians 12:2.—Next, because there were in that age impostors, who said they were inspired, and, because the persons who possessed the gift of discerning spirits werenot always at hand to examine them, the Apostle gave the Corinthians a rule, by which they might judge with certainty of every one who pretended to be inspired. No teacher, said he, speaks by the Spirit of God, who calls Jesus accursed, that is, who affirms that Jesus was justly punished with the accursed death of the cross. Probably some of the heathen priests and priestesses, in their pretended fits of inspiration, had spoken in this manner of Jesus. On the other hand, every teacher speaks by the Spirit of God, who acknowledges Jesus to be Lord, and endeavours to persuade men to become his disciples, 1 Corinthians 12:3.
Having thus directed the Corinthian brethren to judge of the inspiration of the teachers who came to them, by the nature and tendency of the doctrine which they taught, the Apostle proceeded to that which he had chiefly in view, namely, to remove the dissensions which had taken place at Corinth among the spiritual men. For such of them as possessed inferior gifts, envying those whose gifts were of a superior kind, and the latter behaving with insolence towards the former, the Apostle, to allay their animosities, explained, in this chapter, the nature and difference of the spiritual gifts; discoursed concerning their comparative excellency,and concerning the purposes for which they were bestowed, and the different offices allotted to the persons who possessed them; then gave directions concerning the manner and order in which these gifts were to be exercised.
And first he observed, that there were diversities of gifts, but one Spirit from whom they all proceeded, 1 Corinthians 12:4.—That there were diversities of ministries, or offices, in which those who possessed the spiritual gifts were employed, but one Lord whom theyall served, 1 Corinthians 12:5.—And that there were differences of in-workings in the spiritual men, but it was the same God who wrought inwardly in them all, 1 Corinthians 12:6.—Next, he enumerated the spiritual gifts in the order of their dignity; and from his account it appears, that these gifts were various in their nature, and were bestowed on the spiritual men in the greatest plenty, 1 Corinthians 12:7-10.—Now all these, said he, one and the same Spirit of God worketh, distributing to each according to his own pleasure, 1 Corinthians 12:11.—But, however different in their nature the spiritual gifts might be, he told them they were all so distributed, as to render the church one body. For as the human body, though it consists of many members, is but one body, so also is the body of Christ, the true christian church, 1 Corinthians 12:12.—All the individuals of which the church is composed, whether they be Jews or Gentiles, slaves or freemen, through their being baptized into one Spirit, are formed into one body or society, 1 Corinthians 12:13.
Having thus compared the church to the human body, the Apostle carried on the allegory, by observing, that since the human body does not consist of one member, but of many, 1 Corinthians 12:14.—if the foot shall say, because I am not the hand, I am no part of the body, is it for this not a member of the body, and free from doing its office in the body? 1 Corinthians 12:15.—And if the ear shall say, because I am not the eye, &c. ver.
16.—If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? and if the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? 1 Corinthians 12:17. His meaning is, that the inferior members should not decline their particular functions, because they are not the superior.—But now, says he, God hath assigned to every one of the members its own place and office in the body, because if all were one member, there would not be a body, 1 Corinthians 12:18.—Whereas, by the union of many members, there is one body formed, to the existence of which the service of all the members is necessary, 1 Corinthians 12:20.—So that no one member can say to another, I have no need of thee, 1 Corinthians 12:21.—Nay, the members which seem to be more feeble, are more necessary to the preservation of the body than even those that are more strong and active, 1 Corinthians 12:22.—The same may be said of those members which we think feeble and less honourable; on which account we are at the greatest pains to protect and adorn them, 1 Corinthians 12:23.—But our comely members, being strong, have no need of protection and ornament.—Besides, God hath knit the body together, by means of these weak and uncomely members on which he hath bestowed more abundant honour, through their greater efficacy in nourishing and preserving the body, 1 Corinthians 12:24.—That there may be no mutiny in the body, but that all the members may anxiously care for one another, 1 Corinthians 12:25.—So that when any member is diseased or disabled, the rest suffer with it. Or if any member is properly cloathed, defended, and gratified, the rest partake of its joy, 1 Corinthians 12:26.
The application of this beautiful allegory the Apostle made in a few words, by telling the believers among the Corinthians, that, in their collective capacity, they, with the other believers, were the body of Christ; and that each of them was a particular member of that body, 1 Corinthians 12:27.—Wherefore, from what he had said concerning the human body and its members, three things followed, though he has not mentioned them:—First, that such of the Corinthians as were destitute of the spiritual gifts, or whose gifts were of the inferior sort, were not on that account to fancy themselves no members of the church, nor peevishly to decline the offices of their station. Neither were they to envy those who were placed in higher stations, or who possessed the best gifts, but were to be contented with their own place and office in the church, however humble it might be.—Secondly, that, such of them as possessed the more excellent gifts, and were placed in superior stations, or who were in the vigour of life, were not to despise those whose gifts were less excellent, and whose stations were inferior. Neither were they to think those useless, who, being incapacitated by disease, or debilitated by age, could not discharge active offices in the church as formerly. By their passive virtues of patience and resignation, and willingness to leave the world, they were still necessary to the perfection of the body or church, as examples and directors to the younger members of the church.-Thirdly, that real Christians being all members of one another, ought to have the greatest love for and care of each other, especially when in distress, through poverty, sickness, or age. In a word, they were all bound to promote each other's welfare on every occasion
With respect to the precedence claimed by the spiritual men, on account of the comparative excellence of their gifts, the apostle told the Corinthians, that God had placed the spiritual men in the church in the following order: First, apostles; secondly, prophets; thirdly, teachers; after them, those who communicated spiritual powers to others; then those who possessed the gifts of healing diseases; helpers; directors; last of all, those who spake foreign languages, and who interpreted what was spoken by others in foreign languages. And by thus ranking the spiritual men in their proper order, he settled the precedency of each, 1 Corinthians 12:28.—At the same time, to extinguish in the minds of the spiritual men all envy, and to put an end to their strifes, he told them, it was no more possible to make all the members of the church apostles, or prophets, or teachers, &c. than to make all the members of the human body an eye, or an ear, &c. 1 Corinthians 12:29-30.—because in either case there would be no body.