COMELY PARTS

“Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold”, sings the Bridegroom in verse 10 of Chapter 1 of the Song of Songs, adoring the comely parts of the bride i.e. her cheeks and neck duly adorned. From the point of view of the Body of Christ, the comely parts are such members as are adorned with the gifts of the Spirit. They are not hidden but visible members of the Body of Christ who through the gifts, gravitate multitudes to Christ. The Church, the Body of Christ needs such gifted members. Dear bride of Christ, you need these gifts to adorn your ministry. Individually speaking, and not from the point of view of the Body of Christ, God is adorning you on your comely and visible parts. This means that God is endowing you individually with one or more of His gifts, which would be operated by the Holy Spirit through your ministry publicly.

If one member of the Body of Christ receives one or more gifts, the whole Body is glorified. Such gifts are not meant for the glorification by the individual members. The gifts given to some individual members adorn the whole Body of Christ.

Materially speaking, a woman looks comely as she adorns her cheeks with rows of gold and her neck with chains of gold. These days, in India, a hue and cry is raised over Christian women wearing gold ornaments, even small gold necklaces insignia of their marital status. These women are condemned in an aggressive and humiliating manner even from the pulpits, and are accused of disobeying God’s commandments. Those who preach as such are presenting another Christ to the people – a Christ who is jealous of a woman wearing a gold necklace either in deference to the wish of her husband/her parents, or on her own just to look comely or a Christ who cannot tolerate a woman adorning her hair with a fragrant rose created by God. Surely, they preach another gospel, which is not of grace but of works as they add up certain dos and don’ts to the existing lists of Old Testament laws and commandments.

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