At the LCMS Bible study today, the topic was I Corinthians 12:12-31, which describes the church as one body.
Here are some items:
A. The pastor drew a contrast between the United States and Norway.
In the U.S., people normally go to college to get a good job and provide
for themselves and their family financially. In Norway, people go to
college to take their place in society and contribute to the well-being
of society. That is Paul’s focus in I Corinthians 12:12-31: the
well-being of the whole. That does not sacrifice the well-being of
individual members but enhances it.
B. Greek philosophy, influenced by Plato, had a very spiritual
conception of connection with the divine. According to Plato, the
earthly realm points to a spiritual realm, where there is the ideal of
humanity and life. God is spirit, so one gets close to God through one’s
mind. Some of the Corinthian Christians were claiming that what was
important was a spiritual connection with God so what they did in the
body did not matter: they could commit fornication and that was fine,
since what was important was their mind. The pastor drew a contrast
between Lutherans and Calvinists. Calvinists see the Lord’s supper as
something that lifts believers to the heavenly realm. Lutherans, by
contrast, see it as God coming down to meet believers in the material,
as Christ is inside the bread and the wine.
C. Some of the Corinthian Christians were claiming that they had a
special revelation from God, and those with flashier gifts (i.e.,
tongues, healings) acted as if God liked them better than others. There
was also division among classes. House churches would gather together
for a potluck followed by the Lord’s supper. The richer Christians would
bring fancy food and wine and would not share it with others. Some of
the poorer Christians would stay at home due to embarrassment about
their lack, depriving themselves of the Lord’s supper. Paul seeks to
encourage Christians who feel inferior and bear resentment because they
feel as if their gifts are not as good as those of other Christians,
while exhorting those who are proud on account of their flashier gifts
to put things into perspective.
D. Part of Paul’s exhortation was to remind the Corinthians that they
received their gifts from one Spirit. There is not one spirit giving
the gift of healing, and another spirit giving the gift of prophecy. All
of the spiritual gifts come from one Spirit for the edification of
those in the body. The Corinthians drink from the same Spirit. John
7:38-39 calls the Spirit rivers of living water that flow from the
believer, so Paul, when he says in I Corinthians 12:13 that all
believers have been made to drink of the same Spirit, is likely
referring to living in and drawing from the Spirit.
E. The Christians are members of Christ’s body. Christ is the one who
gives the body life; as someone in the class said, a body may lack an
arm, but the body itself is still alive. The analogy of the body existed
in Greco-Roman writings, which likened the body politic to the human
body. Society is healthy, they said, when people respect one another’s
rights and contribute. Paul claims that the body is Christ rather than
saying it is the institutional church, for, if he said church, it would
be a matter of us trying to figure things out. But Christ is the one who
builds his body. He brings people to where the body is, even if they
may think they are making the decision on their own, and the people he
brings are gifts to the rest of the body. We may not know how some
people are gifts, but they are. Paul refers to a part of the body that
is covered up, yet it is that part that propagates the human race. Even
by being in church, we are an encouragement to others in church, as God
brings us through another week. The pastor referred also to Ezekiel 37,
in which God’s Spirit brings together dry, lifeless bones to create a
body.
F. The pastor commented on some of the spiritual gifts. Apostles are
eyewitnesses to Jesus, so there are no more apostles; the New Testament
contains the repository of apostolic testimony. Prophecy, according to
the pastor, was the speaking of divine revelation for the fledgling
early church, before there was a New Testament. Tongues are listed last
to humble those who were proud because they spoke in them; the pastor
said tongues were primarily for the edification of the individual
believer.