THE GOAL AND OBJECTIVE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
1 Corinthians 12:12-31
“Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.”
Paul makes it clear that it is the work of the Holy Spirit to establish the body of Christ. This is clear from v13, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”
The body expresses the glory of Jesus Christ and bears witness to who he is. Jesus, in his prayer in John 17:10 says “All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.” In John 17:22-23, Jesus says, “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
The unity of the body of Christ is therefore a witness to who Jesus is and the Holy Spirit works to foster that unity. Thus we are told, “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” The objective of the manifestation of the Spirit is for the common good.
Paul goes on to assert that each one of us is a part of the body of Christ, in consideration of the body, rather than as individuals, contributing our part rather than eyeing other people’s parts, and rejoicing (or suffering) over the outcomes to the body as a whole and to individuals within the body. If each of us is a part, then when we withhold ourselves from the good of the body, or we do not allow the body to minister to our needs, then we harm the body. But if we apply ourselves to the good of the body, and we allow the body to bless us as individuals, then the body prospers.
“If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”