<p>12:24- see on Eph. 5:31.</p><p><i>Whereas our more attractive parts have no need of this. But God tempered the body together, giving more abundant honour to that part which lacked it- </i>God has &quot;tempered&quot; the whole body together, mingling together the weak and strong. That is exactly why Paul didn't seek to resolve the problems at Corinth by disfellowshipping the weak majority. He is likely writing here with an eye to comforting and explaining things for the 'strong' minority who would have wondered how they could ever retain membership in this church. The allusion is to the way in which the unleavened cakes of flour were &quot;mingled&quot; or &quot;tempered&quot; with the oil (cp. the Spirit) in order to be an acceptable offering (Lev. 2:4,5; 7:10; 9:4 etc.). Paul has already likened his Corinthian ecclesia to a lump of unleavened flour (1 Cor. 5:7); he is now saying that they have been &quot;tempered&quot; together by the oil of God's Spirit. If we break apart from our brethren, we are breaking apart, or denying, that &ldquo;tempering&quot; of the body which God has made. It's like a husband and wife breaking apart their marriage, which God has joined together. It isn't only that we are missing out on the patience etc. which we could develop if we stayed in contact with our brethren. Our indifference and shunning of our brethren is actively doing despite to the Spirit of grace and unity which in prospect God has enabled His people to experience. The body &ldquo;maketh increase of itself... unto the edifying of itself in love&rdquo;. By remaining in the body, we are built up from what every part of it contributes to the growth of the whole. To quit from our brethren is to quit from that source of nutrition and upbuilding. The earth in the sower parable represents various types of believers; and the Lord went on to say that the earth brings forth fruit &ldquo;of itself&rdquo;. The community of itself brings forth spirituality in its members. Some of the most Spirit-filled brethren and sisters you can meet are those who have stuck at ecclesial life all their days, really struggled with personality clashes, with endless ecclesial storms and wrangles- but they've stuck it out. And thereby they have remained in touch with, and been moulded by, that Spirit of tempering together which is so fundamental to the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.</p><p>&ldquo;God has... <i>given</i> more abundant <i>honour</i> unto that part which <i>lacked</i>&quot; (1 Cor. 12:24), as the husband should &quot;(<i>give</i>) <i>honour</i> unto the wife, as unto the <i>weaker</i> vessel&quot; (1 Pet. 3:7). God's dealings with the ecclesia are replicated both within marriage, and within the ecclesia- for we too should give special respect and sensitivity to the weaker parts of the ecclesial body (Rom. 14:1; 15:1).&nbsp;</p>