1 Corinthians 12:12-13 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. 13 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.
Paul now applies the spiritual gifts to the church. The gifts from the Spirit are meant to be used together. The Corinthian church had problems with division. It does not appear that they were already split apart and left one another but they were forming sides. They missed the fundamental idea that all believers are united together as one with Jesus Christ. Each person is a vital part of the whole. In the following verses, Paul draws upon the illustration of a body that has many parts. This was an illustration used in other contexts in the ancient world. It makes perfect sense and is self-explanatory. The body has many parts to it and each is important. When one part hurts, the whole body reacts. The reason for this is clearly that we are one being. Each part of the body relies on the other parts for its survival.
The body is compared to how believers are united in Christ. The jump to this application is actually quite difficult in real life. The reason is that it seems united is something we strive for but rarely seem to find because of our selfishness and pride. It is difficult to take a lot of individuals with free will and form one cohesive unit out of it without destroying that free will. Something must be given up. This might include control or one’s own desires. One must submit to others in order for there to be unity.
The Holy Spirit is the one who makes all this possible. All believers, from whatever background, are united in their confession that Jesus Christ is Lord. In the early church, this confession was made at baptism. Baptism is the outward act that symbolizes that a person has identified with the way of Jesus and becomes part of the church. The one major division of people Paul had to deal with in his travels were Jews and non-Jews also called the Gentiles or literally, “the nations.” Another division in that culture was between slave and free. Both of these divisions could cause difficult feelings and conflict of interest. Jews were proud of their religious history of righteousness and the law (see Romans 2). The Gentiles enjoyed their fleshly living and idolatry (see Romans 1). Free people had the power in society. Slaves were only property and were often the people who had been conquered by the Romans. These walls of separation are removed when we come to Jesus Christ. A new people is formed with a new identity that is found in Jesus Christ and not anything of culture or economic status.
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