“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
The Basket Case Chronicles #150
“And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular” (1 Cor. 12:26–27).
Not only do we adjust for one another, so that the more presentable parts of the body are presented, and the less presentable parts are covered, but we also share the same spiritual nervous system. If one member of the body is in pain, then the entire body experiences the pain. If one part is glorified, then the entire body rejoices.
So Paul then gathers up all the illustrations from the body he has been using, and says that the Corinthians together are the body of Christ, and he says that each one of them is a particular member. They are therefore interconnected, and should function with that interconnectedness in the way he has been describing.
“…we also share the same spiritual nervous system.”
Which makes our tendency to bite and devour one another all the crazier. “My leg hurts. I know what’ll help…gnawing it off! Take that *chomp* and that *chomp* and that *chomp*. Ow! How dare you hurt me, you stupid leg!”
This only works if a “New Covenant member” is also born again. Divorcing Covenant membership from regeneration, like the New Testament never does, means that a considerable percentage of your “members” are still dead in their sins but stitched on by sprinkling. It’s extremely unsanitary.