Spiritual Gifts: one body many parts
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
By comparing the local assembly to the human body Paul stresses that unity does not mean uniformity but interrelatedness and interdependence. “The unity that the Spirit brings is the unity of a living organism. It retains its variety. It is able to adjust to new situations and meet new opportunities and challenges.” The statement “So it is with Christ” then draws attention to the fact that our union is with Christ, so that we belong to Him—and only then to His Church.
The unity of the Body is emphasized further by the fact that there is only one Spirit and only one Body. All believers (cf. Eph. 4:16), whatever their background, race, or social status, have a part in it because the Spirit baptizes every one of them into that one Body. Some would translate verse 13, “For in one Spirit also we were baptized so as to form one body,” saying the Greek en must mean “in.” However, en often means “by” (see Luke 2:27, “moved by the Spirit”; Luke 4:1, “led by the Spirit”; Rom. 2:29, “circumcision … by the Spirit”; 1 Cor. 12:3 and 14:2, “speaking by the Spirit”; Eph. 3:5, “revealed by the Spirit”).
Thus, “by one Spirit” is the correct translation here and is in fact found in most English versions, including the King James Version, the New International Version, the New American Standard Version, Today’s English Version, and the versions by Moffatt, Phillips, Williams, and Beck. “Clearly, it is not just Pentecostal hermeneutical bias that makes a distinction between the baptism by the Spirit, which incorporates believers into the body of Christ, and the baptism in the Holy Spirit, in which Christ is the Baptizer”
The preceding passage of the biblical text draws attention to the unity of the Body, with gifts given by the one Holy Spirit. Consequently the baptism in 12:13 is by the Spirit into the Body “and is therefore distinct from the baptism by Christ into the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.”
However, that is not all. Those baptized into the one Body are then “given the one Spirit to drink,” or “made to drink with the same Spirit” (author’s translation). This is a new fact and can mean we are watered, imbued, or saturated with the one Spirit, and can thus refer to an experience of the outpouring of the Spirit like that on the Day of Pentecost (cf. Isa. 29:10, where the Septuagint translates the Hebrew nasakh, “pour out,” with pepotiken, “made to drink”; see also Isa. 32:15; 44:3). This implies not only the initial baptism in the Spirit but a continuing experience with the Spirit, “which nourishes the eschatological community.” As Ephesians 5:18 commands us, we need to “ever be filled with the Spirit” (Williams translation).
14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
After drawing attention to the one Holy Spirit and the unity of the Body, Paul draws attention again to the variety needed and to the importance of every member. This diversity is the real emphasis of the passage, for it was what the believers in Corinth needed.
The foot cannot say it is not a part of the body because it is not the hand, nor can the ear say it is not a part of the body because it is not an eye. “If every part of the body had the same function, if it were all a big eye or a big ear, it would not be a body and would not be able to function. Thus a church where everyone had the same gift or ministry would be a monstrosity, not a functioning body of Christ.”39 God has arranged for variety in the local assembly so that it will function in ways to please and glorify Him. We need to appreciate and value differences in ministries and gifts.
Horton, S. M. (1999). I & II Corinthians: A Logion Press Commentary (pp. 118–120). Springfield, MO: Logion Press.
The preceding passage of the biblical text draws attention to the unity of the Body, with gifts given by the one Holy Spirit. Consequently the baptism in 12:13 is by the Spirit into the Body “and is therefore distinct from the baptism by Christ into the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.”
However, that is not all. Those baptized into the one Body are then “given the one Spirit to drink,” or “made to drink with the same Spirit” (author’s translation). This is a new fact and can mean we are watered, imbued, or saturated with the one Spirit, and can thus refer to an experience of the outpouring of the Spirit like that on the Day of Pentecost (cf. Isa. 29:10, where the Septuagint translates the Hebrew nasakh, “pour out,” with pepotiken, “made to drink”; see also Isa. 32:15; 44:3). This implies not only the initial baptism in the Spirit but a continuing experience with the Spirit, “which nourishes the eschatological community.” As Ephesians 5:18 commands us, we need to “ever be filled with the Spirit” (Williams translation).
14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
After drawing attention to the one Holy Spirit and the unity of the Body, Paul draws attention again to the variety needed and to the importance of every member. This diversity is the real emphasis of the passage, for it was what the believers in Corinth needed.
The foot cannot say it is not a part of the body because it is not the hand, nor can the ear say it is not a part of the body because it is not an eye. “If every part of the body had the same function, if it were all a big eye or a big ear, it would not be a body and would not be able to function. Thus a church where everyone had the same gift or ministry would be a monstrosity, not a functioning body of Christ.”39 God has arranged for variety in the local assembly so that it will function in ways to please and glorify Him. We need to appreciate and value differences in ministries and gifts.
Horton, S. M. (1999). I & II Corinthians: A Logion Press Commentary (pp. 118–120). Springfield, MO: Logion Press.
