Part 11

012:005 various forms of official service, and yet one and the same Lord;

012:006 diversities in work, and yet one and the same God--He who in each person brings about the whole result.

012:007 But to each of us a manifestation of the Spirit has been granted for the common good.

012:008 To one the utterance of wisdom has been granted through the Spirit; to another the utterance of knowledge in accordance with the will of the same Spirit;

012:009 to a third man, by means of the same Spirit, special faith; to another various gifts of healing, by means of the one Spirit;

012:010 to another the exercise of miraculous powers; to another the gift of prophecy; to another the power of discriminating between prophetic utterances; to another varieties of the gift of `tongues;' to another the interpretation of tongues.

012:011 But these results are all brought about by one and the same Spirit, who bestows His gifts upon each of us in accordance with His own will.

012:012 For just as the human body is one and yet has many parts, and all its parts, many as they are, constitute but one body, so it is with the Church of Christ.

012:013 For, in fact, in one Spirit all of us--whether we are Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free men--were baptized to form but one body; and we were all nourished by that one Spirit.

012:014 For the human body does not consist of one part, but of many.

012:015 Were the foot to say, "Because I am not a hand I am not a part of the body," that would not make it any the less a part of the body.

012:016 Or were the ear to say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body," that would not make it any the less a part of the body.

012:017 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the nostrils be?

012:018 But, as a matter of fact, God has arranged the parts in the body-- every one of them--as He has seen fit.

012:019 If they were all one part, where would the body be?

012:020 But, as a matter of fact, there are many parts and but one body.

012:021 It is also impossible for the eye to say to the hand, "I do not need you;" or again for the head to say to the feet, "I do not need you."

012:022 No, it is quite otherwise. Even those parts of the body which are apparently somewhat feeble are yet indispensable;

012:023 and those which we deem less honorable we clothe with more abundant honor; and so our ungraceful parts come to have a more abundant grace, while our graceful parts have everything they need.

012:024 But it was God who built up the body, and bestowed more abundant honor on the part that felt the need,

012:025 that there might be no disunion in the body, but that all the members might entertain the same anxious care for one another's welfare.

012:026 And if one part is suffering, every other part suffers with it; or if one part is receiving special honor, every other part shares in the joy.

012:027 As for you, you are the body of Christ, and individually you are members of it.

012:028 And by God's appointment there are in the Church-- first Apostles, secondly Prophets, thirdly teachers. Then come miraculous powers, and then ability to cure diseases or render loving service, or powers of organization, or varieties of the gift of `tongues.'

012:029 Are all Apostles? Are all Prophets? Are all teachers?

012:030 Have all miraculous powers? Have all ability to cure diseases? Do all speak in `tongues'? Do all interpret?

012:031 But always seek to excel in the greater gifts. And now I will point out to you a way of life which transcends all others.

013:001 If I can speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but am destitute of Love, I have but become a loud-sounding trumpet or a clanging cymbal.