1 Corinthians 12:25

That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. NO SCHISM - (cf. ) - no disunion, referring to the "divisions," . CARE ONE FOR ANOTHER - in behalf of one another....

12-26 Christ and his church form one body, as Head and members. Christians become members of this body by baptism. The outward rite is of Divine institution; it is a sign of the new birth, and is called therefore the washing of regeneration, Titus 3:5. But it is by the Spirit, only by the renewing of the Holy Ghost, that we are made members of Christ's body. And by communion with Christ at the Lord's supper, we are strengthened, not by drinking the wine, but by drinking into one Spirit. Each member has its form, place, and use. The meanest makes a part of the body. There must be a distinction of members in the body. So Christ's members have different powers and different places. We should do the duties of our own place, and not murmur, or quarrel with others. All the members of the body are useful and necessary to each other. Nor is there a member of the body of Christ, but may and ough...

Verse 25. _THAT THERE SHOULD BE NO SCHISM IN THE BODY_] That there should be no unnecessary and independent part in the whole human machine, and that every part should contribute something to the general proportion, symmetry, and beauty of the body. So completely has God tempered the whole together, that not the smallest visible part can be removed from the body without not only injuring its proportions, but producing deformity. Hence the members have the same care one for another. The _eyes_ and _ears_ watch for the general safety of the whole; and they are placed in the _head_, like sentinels in a tower, that they may perceive the first approach of a foe, and give warning. The _hands_ immediately on an attack exert themselves to defend the _head_ and the _body_; and the _limbs_ are swift to carry off the body from _dangers_ against which _resistance_ would be _vain_. Even the _heart_...

THAT THERE SHOULD BE NO SCHISM - Margin, “Division;” see note on 1 Corinthians 11:18. The sense here is, that the body might be united, and be one harmonious whole; that there should be no separate interests; and that all the parts should be equally necessary, and truly dependent on each other; and that no member should be regarded as separated from the others, or as needless to the welfare of all. The sense to be illustrated by this is, that no member of the church, however feeble, or illiterate, or obscure, should be despised or regarded as unnecessary or valueless; that all are needful in their places; and that it should not be supposed that they belonged to different bodies, or that they could not associate together, any more than the less honorable and comely parts of the body should be regarded as unworthy or unfit to be united to the parts t

EXPOSITION 1 Corinthians 12:1.—1 Corinthians 14:1.—ON SPIRITUAL GIFTS, AND THE DANGER WHICH AROSE FROM THE ABUSE OF THE "GIFT OF TONGUES." 1 CORINTHIANS 12:1 _On spiritual gifts in general._ 1 CORINTHIANS 12:1 Now concerning spirit

THAT THERE SHOULD BE NO SCHISM IN THE BODY..... No complaint of one member against another, as useless and unnecessary; no murmuring on that account; no tumults and rioting; no rebellion and insurrection of one against another; no dissension, no division. The use Menenius e Agrippa made of this simile, applying it to the body politic, as the apostle here does to the spiritual body, for the appeasing of a sedition among the people; is well known, and usually mentioned by interpreters on this place: BUT THAT THE MEMBERS SHOULD HAVE THE SAME CARE ONE FOR ANOTHER; that is, they are so tempered and mixed together, are in such close union with, and have such a dependence on each other, that they are necessarily obliged to take care of each other's good and welfare, because they cannot do one without another; and so God has ordered it in the church, that persons should be so placed in it, and...

1 Corinthians 12:1. _Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led._ Although the members of the church at Corinth were highly favored with spiritual gifts, they do not seem to have known how to use them. Paul points out to them, in this chapter, how ignorant they were concerning the very gifts which they possessed. They did not know how to put them to proper' use in the service of God. The apostle therefore reminds these gift-exalted Corinthians that, only a little while before, they were heathens, carried away by falsehood and superstition, and worshipping dumb idols. They had nothing, therefore, to boast of; and it is probable that, if we also look back to the hole of the pit whence we were dug, we shall find no more occasion for boasting than they had.

2. THE BODY AND THE MEMBERS OF THE BODY CHAPTER 12 _ 1. Concerning spiritual manifestations and diversities of gifts. (1 Corinthians 12:1 .)_ 2. The Body and its members. (1 Corinthians 12:12 .) In this interesting, important chapter, spiritual manifestations are first mentioned. The church is the body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in the church. And first the distinctive mark of the Spirit is stated. As heathen they had been under the control of evil spirits, who had deluded them with idolatrous worship. And these evil spirits were still active, creeping in among Christians, pretending to be the Spirit of God and counterfeiting His manifestations. It was so then and it is so now. Seducing spirits and d

Paul now elaborates an illustration from the body and its members. Here we have organic unity with diversity of function and interdependence of the whole and its parts, interdependence also of the parts themselves. All are essential to the welfare of every other part and of the whole; none, however important or beautiful, can affect to despise the humbler or unseemlier; all sympathetically respond to the pain or honour of the other. The illustration does not call for detailed exposition. In 1 Corinthians 12:12 Christ is not regarded as the head of the body, but as the body itself of which Christians form part. The Spirit in whom all received baptism is not many but one, so its effect is to constitute them all one body, thus cancelling distinctions of race and social condition even in their extreme forms ...

THE CONFESSION OF THE SPIRIT (1 Corinthians 12:1-3)...