Troublesome Topic: Precepts about Tongues from I Corinthians 12:21-26

Lesson 4 of 20

1 Corinthians 12:21

Translation

Now the eye

is not able to say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

Paraphrase

(the same as the translation – Now the eye is not able to say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”)

1 Corinthians 12:22

Translation

But much rather, those members of the body which seem to be without strength, are necessary;

Paraphrase

But quite to the contrary, those members of the body which seem to be feeble, are necessary;

WHAT FEEBLE PARTS IS PAUL REFERRING TO?

Paul’s purpose was to correct several problems and the context is that of spiritual gifts, so the feeble thing Paul was referring to was probably the spiritual gift he focused most of his comments on – tongues. So, as you read through the rest of this section, remember that Paul was probably talking about tongues as that feeble, less honorable gift of the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:23

Translation

and those parts of the body we suppose to be without honor, these we bestow all-around

honor, and the shapeless part of us have all-around elegance of figure;

Paraphrase

and on those parts of the body that we think of as having no dignity we bestow exaggerated dignity, and our unattractive parts actually have exaggerated beauty.

1 Corinthians 12:24

Translation

and the well-formed parts of us have no need. But God has mixed the body together,

the deficient

having been given more abundant honor,

Paraphrase

while our respectable parts have no need of assistance. But God has assembled the body so that the parts that are lacking in some way, have actually been given extra honor,

THE PURPOSE OF THIS ILLUSTRATION

This illustration teaches a general concept about how to view spiritual gifts that are not in the spotlight (such as helping, administering and private tongues), compared to those that are in the spotlight, such as prophesying (think preaching) and public tongues; 2) it serves as a visual depiction of the reality that, just because something is kept private does not mean it is not special; on the contrary, we keep certain things private specifically because they are special; 3) it stayed in the readers’ minds, just waiting for the right time later in the letter, when Paul would drop the hammer on those who twisted what God had done by His power alone on certain occasions.

1 Corinthians 12:25

Translation

so that there should not be any schism

in the body, but the members should have the same concern for one another.

Paraphrase

so that there should be no dissention in the body of Christ, but rather, the members of His body should all have the same concern for all the other members of His body.

ANOTHER RULE: SPIRITUAL GIFTS SHOULD PRODUCE UNITY NOT DIVISION

This is the second rule governing all spiritual gifts; it can be summed up in one word, unity. The unity being spoken of here is unity in the body of Christ. If something causes great division in the body of Christ it is not a proper gift of the Holy Spirit, or it is not being properly employed.

1 Corinthians 12:26

Translation

And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

Paraphrase

(the same as the translation – And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.)

The next lesson in the Full Series on Tongues is Precepts about Tongues from I Corinthians 12:27-30

Footnotes

1

“the eye”: We get our English word “Ophthalmologist” from this Greek word for “eye.”

2

This adverb is made from two prepositions, “around” and “out/from.” It denotes something that starts from a single point and spreads out until it encompasses everything around it. It is therefore rendered by translators as “abundantly, exceedingly, greater, etc.”

3

“elegance of figure”: This word is almost the same word used earlier for “shapeless,” the difference being that “shapeless” includes the negative “without,” becoming “without shape,” while this is the basic (positive form) before anything is added. Besides meaning “elegance of form, external beauty, charm” it can also mean “decorum, or embellishment.”

4

This is a compound word made up of “with” and “mix.” It can be rendered “mix together, assemble, combine, assimilate, agree with, commingle, unite.”

5

This word means to “be late, be behind, fall short, be lacking, be inferior.”

6

This is indeed the source of our word “schism”.