First Corinthians 12:11 and 12 say, “But the one and the same Spirit operates all these things, distributing to each one individually as He purposes. For even as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of the body being many are one body, so also is Christ.” “For” indicates that verse 12 is an explanation of verse 11. Verse 11 says that one Spirit operates all the various aspects of His manifestation, distributing them to many believers individually. This is just like our physical body being one and having many members.
In verse 12 Christ is “the Christ” in Greek. This refers to the corporate Christ, composed of Christ Himself as the Head and the church as His Body with all the believers as its members. All the believers of Christ are organically united with Him and constituted of His life and element to become His Body, an organism, to express Him. Hence, He is not only the Head, but also the Body. As our physical body has many members yet is one, so is this Christ.
In 12:13 Paul goes on to say, “For also in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and were all given to drink one Spirit.” As the Spirit is the sphere and element of our spiritual baptism and in such a Spirit we were all baptized into one organic entity, the Body of Christ, so we should all, regardless of our races, nationalities, and social ranks, be this one Body. Christ is the life and constituent of this Body, and the Spirit is the reality of Christ. It is in this one Spirit that we were all baptized into this one living Body to express Christ.
The believers of Christ are baptized through water and in the Spirit into Christ, the death of Christ (Rom. 6:3), the name—the Person—of the Triune God (Matt. 28:19), and the Body of Christ. Baptism ushers the believers into an organic union with Christ and the Triune God, making them living members of the Body of Christ. All the gifts, as the manifestation of the Spirit distributed to the individual believers by the Spirit, are for the profit, the building up, of this Body. Paul is very conscious of this. He is very Body-conscious, Body-centered, unlike the Corinthians and so many other believers through the centuries who are very much self-centered concerning spiritual gifts. Hence, following this verse, he gives the Corinthians a long discourse concerning the Body. His intention is to rescue them from their self-seeking back to a concern for the Body so that they may be no longer for their individual profit but for the building of the Body.
In 12:13 “Jews or Greeks” refers to races and nationalities. “Slaves or free” refers to social ranks.
To be baptized in the Spirit is to get into the Spirit and be lost in Him. To drink the Spirit is to take the Spirit in and have our being saturated with Him. By these two procedures we are mingled with the Spirit. To be baptized in the Spirit is the initiation of the mingling and is once for all. To drink the Spirit is the continuation and accomplishment of the mingling and is perpetual, forever.
In verses 14 through 22 we see the indispensability of each member of the Body. In verse 18 Paul says, “But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, even as He willed.”
First Corinthians 12:24 says, “God has tempered the body together, giving more abundant honor to the member that lacked.” Literally, the Greek word rendered “tempered” means blended; hence, mixed, compounded, adjusted. God has blended all the different members of Christ together into one Body. We need much transformation (Rom. 12:2), from the natural life to the spiritual, by the same Spirit, for the practical Body life.
To be tempered together in the Body is to be blended, mingled. By this blending we have coordination, balance, and adjustment.
In the church life we have those of all colors, races, nationalities, and social rank. Nevertheless, we are one Body. How is this possible? It is possible through God’s tempering of the members of the Body. Do you know how God tempers us together? He tempers us by the inner life and through His indwelling.
The placing of the gifts in the church and the tempering of the Body are matters of the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity. The more God tempers us, the more He adjusts us and balances us, and the more He dispenses Himself into us. Balancing, adjusting, coordinating, tempering—all are related to the divine dispensing.
Whatever the Lord does in the Body is a matter of His dispensing. As we have strongly emphasized, this dispensing involves the Trinity, and it takes place through our cooperation. In particular we cooperate with the Triune God by our speaking in the meetings of the church. The more we speak, the more the divine dispensing takes place.