Romans 12:4-5 - Exposition

For as in one body we have many members, but all the members have not the same office; so we, the many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another . The illustration of the body with its members to set forth the mutual dependence on each other of the several members of the Church with their several gifts and functions, and the importance of all for the well-being of the whole, is further carried out in 1 Corinthians 12:12 , seq. In Ephesians 1:22 and Ephesians 4:15 , Ephesians 4:16 , Christ is regarded, somewhat differently, as the exalted Head over the Church which is his body. Here and in 1 Corinthians 12:1-31 ., the head is not thus distinguished from the rest of the body (see 1 Corinthians 12:21 ); the whole is "one body in Christ," who is the living Person who unites and animates it.