Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
Paul's four questions expect the answer no: not all are apostles, not all are prophets, not all are teachers, not all are workers of miracles. God has not given every member the same place and work, the same office and appointment, the same gift and operation. Setting gifts in the church does not mean every individual exercises them, for all do not hold the same office and are not appointed to the same work.
Believers are the body of Christ and members in particular, with God setting some as apostles, some as prophets, some as teachers, and others with miracles and other gifts. The different gifts are needed and are to be actively used together in one body whose head is Jesus Christ. Each part is adapted to the other part, growing into a holy temple in the Lord, and no member is self-sufficient.
The gifts are divided among the members as God pleases. If a gift is bestowed upon even one member it is in the church and the church has it. Therefore the last generation can have the testimony of Jesus, the gift of prophecy, without every believer being a prophet.
The chapter is a formal declaration that certain gifts of the Spirit have been placed in the church for its edification and instruction to the end of time. This fulfills Christ's promise to send the Holy Spirit as comforter and guide to lead into all truth. It is evidence of God's care and love, with the Spirit present as comforter, teacher, and guide in both ordinary and extraordinary operation, needed by the church in the perils of the last days more than in any other part of its experience.
God gives gifts to the church. When these gifts are neglected the church loses their help. When they are revived they encourage those who are faint and correct and reprove those who are erring.
The verse belongs to the simple organization and church order set forth in the New Testament Scriptures and ordained for the unity and perfection of the church. The figure of the members composing the body represents the church of God and the relation its members should sustain to one another. The one who holds office stands as a leader, adviser, counselor, helper in carrying the burdens of the work, and leader in offering thanksgiving to God, but is not appointed to order and command the Lord's laborers because the Lord is over His heritage and will lead His people, so those carrying responsibilities must treat fellow laborers with the same consideration they would wish to receive, for position gives no kingly authority and all are brethren, which requires learning the meekness of Christ and becoming Christlike.
Because two members do not act the same part, no member is to say to another that he is not needed. No member is to treat another gift as unnecessary, compare gifts, measure one gift by another, judge another member for serving differently, or crowd another out. Though many gifts are called for, all are members of one body, so members are to respect one another's gifts.
The verse belongs to the subjects in 1 Corinthians 12 and 13 that should be committed to memory, written in the mind and heart, and studied and applied by church members. It teaches those brought together in church capacity to be united understandingly and intelligently, and calls for walking humbly with God in the path of obedience. It calls for the continuous humbling of individual self beginning with self-examination and taking self critically in hand. It calls for revealing the same unceasing tenderness shown by the Lord by uniting with one another in service instead of standing apart in self-confidence, speaking good words that help and strengthen brethren instead of watching for opportunity to criticize and condemn, and as genuine Christians true to faith and duty jealously guarding one another's interests even though mistakes are made.
Paul's four questions expect the answer no: not all are apostles, not all are prophets, not all are teachers, not all are workers of miracles. God has not given every member the same place and work, the same office and appointment, the same gift and operation. Setting gifts in the church does not mean every individual exercises them, for all do not hold the same office and are not appointed to the same work.
Believers are the body of Christ and members in particular, with God setting some as apostles, some as prophets, some as teachers, and others with miracles and other gifts. The different gifts are needed and are to be actively used together in one body whose head is Jesus Christ. Each part is adapted to the other part, growing into a holy temple in the Lord, and no member is self-sufficient.
The gifts are divided among the members as God pleases. If a gift is bestowed upon even one member it is in the church and the church has it. Therefore the last generation can have the testimony of Jesus, the gift of prophecy, without every believer being a prophet.
The chapter is a formal declaration that certain gifts of the Spirit have been placed in the church for its edification and instruction to the end of time. This fulfills Christ's promise to send the Holy Spirit as comforter and guide to lead into all truth. It is evidence of God's care and love, with the Spirit present as comforter, teacher, and guide in both ordinary and extraordinary operation, needed by the church in the perils of the last days more than in any other part of its experience.
God gives gifts to the church. When these gifts are neglected the church loses their help. When they are revived they encourage those who are faint and correct and reprove those who are erring.
The verse belongs to the simple organization and church order set forth in the New Testament Scriptures and ordained for the unity and perfection of the church. The figure of the members composing the body represents the church of God and the relation its members should sustain to one another. The one who holds office stands as a leader, adviser, counselor, helper in carrying the burdens of the work, and leader in offering thanksgiving to God, but is not appointed to order and command the Lord's laborers because the Lord is over His heritage and will lead His people, so those carrying responsibilities must treat fellow laborers with the same consideration they would wish to receive, for position gives no kingly authority and all are brethren, which requires learning the meekness of Christ and becoming Christlike.
Because two members do not act the same part, no member is to say to another that he is not needed. No member is to treat another gift as unnecessary, compare gifts, measure one gift by another, judge another member for serving differently, or crowd another out. Though many gifts are called for, all are members of one body, so members are to respect one another's gifts.
The verse belongs to the subjects in 1 Corinthians 12 and 13 that should be committed to memory, written in the mind and heart, and studied and applied by church members. It teaches those brought together in church capacity to be united understandingly and intelligently, and calls for walking humbly with God in the path of obedience. It calls for the continuous humbling of individual self beginning with self-examination and taking self critically in hand. It calls for revealing the same unceasing tenderness shown by the Lord by uniting with one another in service instead of standing apart in self-confidence, speaking good words that help and strengthen brethren instead of watching for opportunity to criticize and condemn, and as genuine Christians true to faith and duty jealously guarding one another's interests even though mistakes are made.