Finding our Unity in Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-26; LD 25
Introduction
As we continue through the catechism and consider the work of the Holy Spirit, we are reminded of an important question: how does the gospel advance? Often, when we think about the gospel going forward, we think about churches being planted. This is what we see in Acts. The gospel moves out, people come to faith, and a church is planted. We might think this is the only way that the church grows.
But the gospel also advances in another way. It advances as the Lord continues his work within his people. It advances as the church grows together in Christ, becoming more rooted in him and more faithful to him.
Paul reminds the Corinthian church about the reality of our call to conform to Christ. Paul writes to a church that had become very concerned with status and significance. It is a church that boasts about its significance, and not about Christ. When Paul comes to chapter 12 in his first letter to Corinth, he reminds them of their call to be unified as one body. How does thinking about the church as Christ’s body exhort the church to grow?
Joined as One Body
Paul reminds us that there is one body with many members. There is diversity within the church, but there is also unity. The body has hands, feet, eyes, ears, and many different parts. Each serves its particular purpose.
The hand and the foot serve their created purpose for the body. The foot is not more significant because it performs a different task. The whole body cannot be a hand, a foot, an eye, an ear, or a toe. The list continues. Each part of the body serves its purpose.
So it is with the church. The Corinthian believers were tempted to compare themselves with one another. Some were Jews and some Greeks. Some were slaves, and some were free. Some possessed gifts that others desired. But Paul brings them all back to the same reality: they have all partaken of the one Spirit and belong to the one body. The hand should not boast, and the foot should not be jealous. They need to work in unison for the body’s good.
Christ is the great equalizer of the Christian faith. It does not matter how prestigious we are, how wealthy we are, what family lineage we come from. It really does not matter what we have accomplished. We all need Christ. All find their worthiness to draw near to God in Christ.
And because we all need the same Savior, we belong to one another. The Lord does not call us into his church so that we can compete for significance. He calls us to serve one another. He brings together different people with different gifts and different abilities, joining them together as one body under one head: Christ.
The gospel advances as the Lord's people discern what is pleasing to Christ. We grow not by competing with one another, but by serving one another. How can we compete when our worthiness comes in Christ rather than our contribution to the body? This is where Paul uses the sacrament of baptism to remind the body of their unity.
A Sacramental Exhortation
The catechism reminds us that the Holy Spirit ordinarily works faith in our hearts through the preaching of the gospel. The Lord certainly has the power to work in whatever way he desires, but he ordinarily uses means.
We see this illustrated in Acts with Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. The Lord could have sent an angel. He could have immediately given the eunuch complete understanding by the Holy Spirit. Instead, he sent Philip to explain the Scriptures and proclaim Christ. The Lord used a means of the preacher.
The preached word is one of those means the Lord uses to call his people and build his people. The sacraments accompany that word as visible signs and seals of the gospel. They present to us the visible truth that the Word of God is true. His gospel is real. Our righteousness, worthiness, and power to conform are all in Christ. So, Baptism and the Lord's Supper visibly communicate the promises of God. They testify to the reality of the gospel and call us to look to Christ.
When Scripture speaks of the sacraments as signs and seals, we should think of the seal of a king. The king places his seal upon a message, testifying to its authority and authenticity. The sacraments testify that Christ’s work is certain, it is real, and as we take hold of Christ by faith, death has no hold on us. We really are alive. Christ’s one-time work is enough. Baptism testifies that the Spirit is with the community who passed through the waters of death.
Paul's reference to Baptism in 1 Corinthians 12:13 exhorts us to be one community. The Corinthian church was designated as one body in their Baptism. They had received the sign identifying them with Christ and his people. Paul is exhorting them to see their unity by using the sacrament setting them apart.
So, we learn from Paul’s exhortation. We can paraphrase Paul by saying, “You have been baptized into the community of Christ. You have been set apart as his people. Yet you are competing with one another. Yet you are fighting over significance. Are you using the gifts of God as reasons to boast rather than opportunities to serve? Where is Christ in all of this? How are you spiritually mature and living out of the Spirit?”
The point is that the sacraments point us beyond themselves. Baptism is not the power. The Spirit is the power. The sacrament is the visible sign pointing to the work and promises of God. The Lord’s Supper is not power in itself. It is power as it communicates Christ’s life. So, the sacraments nourish us in the gospel, but Christ is the power working through the Holy Spirit.
And so we are continually called to examine ourselves. Not to wonder whether we can make ourselves worthy, but to ask whether we are living as those who have been set apart in Christ. Are we living consistently with our Baptism? Are we living in our Redeemer or for ourselves?
Focused on Christ
The Christian life is not about winning theological arguments so that we can feel superior to others. It is not about possessing impressive gifts that enable us to boast. It is not about becoming more significant than the people around us.
The Christian life is about Christ. It is about our life being found in him. He secured us. He gives us continual life to conform to him. We are redeemed in Christ once and for all. His work and accomplishments make us righteous and worthy to draw near in him.
Faith does not save because faith itself is somehow powerful. It is faith in Christ. Our hands reach out and take hold of him.
The preached gospel and the sacraments continually direct our attention back to our Redeemer. They strengthen our faith so that when we encounter trials and begin to wrestle with difficult questions, we are reminded of the one in whom we trust.
And through the ministry of the word and the visible testimony of the sacraments, we are strengthened to say: Yes. I believe in Christ. He is my Savior. He is my Redeemer. He is my defender. I am part of his body. I am called to grow into my role as Christ’s body.
This is also what changes the way we think about growth in the Christian life.
The church is not simply a self-help movement. Sanctification is not merely becoming a better version of ourselves because we think it would be beneficial for us.
We grow because we belong to Christ. We want to bring more glory to him today than we did yesterday. We want to respond to trials with greater confidence because we belong to our Savior. We want our affections and desires to be increasingly directed toward him.
The goal is not simply that we become more self-aware or more impressive people. The goal is that we grow in our love for Christ and increasingly live for his honor and glory. It is in our growth that we will conform to Christ.
Paul is teaching us to rehearse that we are joined to Christ. He is our head. We are part of his body. We walk by his Spirit.
Conclusion
So how does the gospel advance?
There is no doubt that the gospel advances when people come to faith. The gospel also advances when the Lord’s church grows as the body of Christ.
It advances as believers learn to serve rather than compete. It advances as we use our particular gifts for the good of the body rather than for our own significance. And it advances as we are increasingly conformed to Christ.
This is not an attempt to earn God's favor. We have already been made worthy in Christ. Rather, as the catechism so beautifully reminds us, we live in obedience out of gratitude. We are the Lord’s redeemed.
He has brought us together as one body. He has given us his Spirit. He has marked us as his people. He has united us to the head of the church, Jesus Christ.
Therefore, let us fix our eyes upon our Redeemer.
Let us learn to be content serving in the place where he has called us. Let us not seek to be the hand when we are the foot. Instead, let us seek wisdom and discernment as we ask how we can best serve the body of Christ for his glory.
And because we have been made alive in Christ and joined together as his people, let us live in gratitude, serving one another and seeking in all things to bring glory to our Redeemer.