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Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:1-31

Spiritual gifts. A transition occurs here to a class of topics most important and interesting, since they involve the character and glory of the new dispensation. It was the special economy of the Holy Ghost which St. Paul was now to consider. All along we have had an insight into mistakes and disorders, into disputes and wranglings and, at times, into shameful vices. A quarter of a century had little more than passed since Christ ascended to the throne of the Father as the God Man of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:12-26

The law of order in the human body. For other cases in which this simile is employed, see Romans 12:4 , Romans 12:5 ; Ephesians 4:16 ; Ephesians 5:30 ; Colossians 2:19 . The human body presents a very striking illustration of I. IT IS A WHOLE . Evidently for it there was a plan, an ideal. It is a complete thing. It has its appointed parts; nothing whatever can be added to it, and nothing can be taken from it. Though it may be unrealized as yet, God sees his Church to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:12-27

The body of Christ. A striking figure. Christians are not separate, unrelated units; they are compacted together and form one whole, which is "the body of Christ." Of this body Christ is the Head ( Colossians 2:19 )—the central controlling and directing Power, and each believer is some member of the body. In this passage the apostle is speaking of the members of the body rather than of the Head—of Christians rather than directly of Christ. Note— I. THE NUMBER AND VARIETY OF ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:15

If the foot shall say, etc. So Seneca says, "What if the hands should wish to injure the feet, or the eyes the hands? As all the members agree together because it is the interest of the whole that each should be kept safe, so men spare their fellow men because we are born for heaven, and society cannot be saved except by the love and protection of its elements" ('De Ira,' 2:31). And Marcus Aurelius: "We have been born for mutual help, like the feet, like the hands, like the rows of upper and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:15-16

Contentment is better than envy. Where party spirit is rife, as it was in the Corinthian Church, there is always danger of hatred, envying, and jealousy. The rebuke to these dispositions, administered by the apostle, is founded upon the deepest principles of Christianity. The Church is not a club which each member joins for his own advantage and convenience, but a body in which each member is incorporated for mutual cooperation in common subjection to the Divine Head. I. THERE MUST ... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Corinthians 12:14

For the body ... - The body is made up of many members, which have various offices. So it is in the church. We are to expect the same variety there; and we are not to presume either that all will be alike, or that any member that God has placed there will be useless. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Corinthians 12:15

If the foot shall say ... - The same figure and illustration which Paul here uses occurs also in pagan writers. It occurs in the apologue which was used by Menenius Agrippa, as related by Livy (lib. 2: cap. 32), in which he attempted to repress a rebellion which had been excited against the nobles and senators, as useless and cumbersome to the state. Menenius, in order to show the folly of this, represents the different members of the body as conspiring against the stomach, as being inactive,... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 Corinthians 12:14-20

1 Corinthians 12:14-20. For the body is not one member, but many All of which are necessary, that the various sorts of offices belonging to the body may be all performed: thus there must be different gifts and offices in the church of Christ, which all conduce to the advantage and perfection of the whole. If the foot One of inferior gifts and place; shall say, Because I am not the hand Do not appear in a more honourable place, and have not a more important office; I am not of the body ... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Unity in spite of many gifts (12:12-31)The human body is made up of many parts, all with different functions, yet there is a basic unity throughout the body. So it is in the church which is Christ’s body. All believers, without distinction, are introduced into and united in that body through the baptism of the Spirit. The same Spirit dwells within each one (12-13).Many parts make up the body, and all are necessary for its proper functioning. Those without more obvious gifts should not think... read more

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