As members of Christ produced out of Him to be His parts, we are composed and tempered together by God to be Christ’s Body (1 Cor. 12:24-27; Rom. 12:5). In 1 Corinthians 12:27 Paul declares, “You are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” In verse 24 he says, “God has tempered the body together, giving more abundant honor to the member that lacked.” Literally, the Greek word translated “tempered” here means blended; hence, mixed, compounded, adjusted. God has blended all the different members of Christ together into one Body. For this we need much transformation (Rom. 12:2) by the Spirit.
It is not easy to be blended together in the Body. Nevertheless, in the Body we are blended, tempered, with many others. Furthermore, the Body is both local and universal. If we think that we have been tempered quite well with the saints in our locality, the Lord may bring someone from another part of the world to test how much we have been tempered. In the church believers of many races and nationalities meet together and experience the blending, the mixing, the compounding. Such a tempering of all the different members of Christ together in the Body requires a great deal of transformation. For the practical Body life we need to be transformed by the Spirit from the natural life to the spiritual life.
In writing chapter twelve of 1 Corinthians Paul was wise. After speaking of the indispensability of each member (vv. 14-22), he speaks of the tempering of the members (vv. 23-27). After speaking of those members who despise themselves (vv. 15-16), he says, “The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you; or again the head to the feet, I have no need of you” (v. 21). For the eye to say that it does not need the hand is pride. For the foot to say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body” (v. 15), is self-made humility. First, Paul deals with those who are humble, then with those who are proud. Both are wrong, and both need tempering. Thus, God has tempered the Body, uplifting the low ones and lowering the high ones. He causes the humble to be proud and the proud to be humble. As the Body is tempered together, eventually the lower ones will be tempered to be somewhat higher, and the higher ones will be tempered to be somewhat lower. Those who are higher need to come down to the level of the low ones, and the low ones need to learn to be uplifted. This is the tempering of the Body, the real practice of the Body life. In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul was tempering the Body. This tempering is the secret of the practical Body life. When this takes place, we all shall function, and the Body will come into existence in a practical way.
For the practical Body life we all need to be tempered. Those who do not function must learn to function, and those who function more than they should must learn not to function too much. All the members need to function. Instead of being either proud or humble, we need to be tempered so that we may have the actuality and practicality of the Body seen in the functioning of all the members.
Romans 12:4 and 5 say, “As in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and severally members one of another.” The many members of the one Body have different functions. If we realize this, we shall not think too highly of ourselves but will respect others.
Romans 12:5 reveals that though we are many, yet we are one Body. We are many members, not many separate units. As members we need to coordinate with each other so that we may be a living, functioning Body. If we do not cooperate with each other, we are detached members, and the Body life cannot be realized in a practical way.
Romans 12:5 tells us that we are “severally members one of another.” The word “severally” does not mean separately; it means differently. It means that you are one kind of member and that I am another kind. Severally we are members one of another, composed and tempered together by God to be the Body of Christ.
The divine life within us has the inclination to be joined with other members of the Body, the more the better, and to be tempered together with them. This life, the life of Christ, which is the divine life, is the life of the Body of Christ. This life connects us to all the believers and causes us to love them, no matter what their race or nationality may be. Not to love the other members of the Body is contrary to the law of the life of the Body. Because of the inclination of the divine life within us to be joined and tempered, in Christ we, who are of many races and nationalities, are composed together by God to be the Body of Christ.
This tempering took place during Paul’s time. In the church at Corinth there were Jews, Greeks, and Romans, all of whom were tempered together to be the one Body. Furthermore, when Paul wrote to the Colossians, he said that in the new man “there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, freeman, but Christ is all and in all” (3:11). In the new man there is room only for Christ. He is all the members and is in all the members. Actually He is the new man, His Body (1 Cor. 12:12). For this to be expressed in a practical way, all the members need God’s tempering. As members of Christ, we have been produced out of Him, and we are being composed and tempered together by God to be the Body.
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