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(4) There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. (5) There are different ways of serving, but the same Lord is served. (6) There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service. (7) The Spirit's presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all. (8) The Spirit gives one person a message full of wisdom, while to another person the same Spirit gives a message full of knowledge. (9) One and the same Spirit gives faith to one person, while to another person he gives the power to heal. (10) The Spirit gives one person the power to work miracles; to another, the gift of speaking God's message; and to yet another, the ability to tell the difference between gifts that come from the Spirit and those that do not. To one person he gives the ability to speak in strange tongues, and to another he gives the ability to explain what is said. (11) But it is one and the same Spirit who does all this; as he wishes, he gives a different gift to each person. (12) Christ is like a single body, which has many parts; it is still one body, even though it is made up of different parts. (13) In the same way, all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether slaves or free, have been baptized into the one body by the same Spirit, and we have all been given the one Spirit to drink. (14) For the body itself is not made up of only one part, but of many parts. (15) If the foot were to say, "Because I am not a hand, I don't belong to the body," that would not keep it from being a part of the body. (16) And if the ear were to say, "Because I am not an eye, I don't belong to the body," that would not keep it from being a part of the body. (17) If the whole body were just an eye, how could it hear? And if it were only an ear, how could it smell? (18) As it is, however, God put every different part in the body just as he wanted it to be. (19) There would not be a body if it were all only one part! (20) As it is, there are many parts but one body. (21) So then, the eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" Nor can the head say to the feet, "Well, I don't need you!" (22) On the contrary, we cannot do without the parts of the body that seem to be weaker; (23) and those parts that we think aren't worth very much are the ones which we treat with greater care; while the parts of the body which don't look very nice are treated with special modesty, (24) which the more beautiful parts do not need. God himself has put the body together in such a way as to give greater honor to those parts that need it. (25) And so there is no division in the body, but all its different parts have the same concern for one another. (26) If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it; if one part is praised, all the other parts share its happiness.
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In verses 4-11, Paul shows that each person God places in the body receives gifts for the benefit of the entire body. In verses 14-20, he explains that diversity in the body is necessary because, if the entire body was just one part, it could not function. The diversity in this context is in terms of gifts, not doctrine, nationality, sex, or race. Diversity enables the body to be much more effective, efficient, and versatile in performing its intended purpose. Each person has a specific function necessary to the whole.
In verses 21-25, Paul makes a veiled warning that we need to guard against both pride in our abilities and its opposite—equally vain—that we have nothing to give. We become useful members when we choose to set aside these vanities and begin doing what we should.
Verse 18, combined with verses 22-26, teaches us that God Himself has organized the body. We need to understand that the greatest Authority in all of creation has specifically placed us within it and given us gifts. If the body is to function as He has purposed, each part must recognize his individual dependence upon and concern for the whole. In addition, each must understand what the body is designed to accomplish. It is the responsibility of each part to subordinate himself to God to produce the unity that will enable the whole body to do its work.
God expresses these concerns for the body because He wants it to function efficiently and effectively in unity. Therefore, what happens to one part, or what one part does, affects the whole. What we do does indeed make a difference because we are individual parts of a living, spiritual organism. Our actions will produce an increase of good or evil, efficiency or inefficiency in the use of spiritual resources, effectiveness or ineffectiveness of our witness, and growth or backsliding in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
— John W. Ritenbaugh