How does God decide where each believer is placed in the body?
Scripture teaches that God Himself sets each member in the body as it has pleased Him. Every believer is placed exactly where God chooses, regardless of visible or hidden role. No one can claim superiority, because God assigns each function according to His sovereign pleasure, and every role is equally important.
Les explains that Paul is teaching the Corinthians that the physical body has many members, and no member can claim it is not part of the body just because it differs from another. The foot is still part of the body even if it is not a hand, and the ear is still part of the body even if it is not an eye. Paul says no one in the body of Christ can say, 'I'm at the top of the heap,' because regardless of whether a role is visible or invisible, every believer is equally important in function. Then in verse 18 Paul writes that God has set the members, every one of them, in the body as it has pleased Him. Les emphasizes that every believer is in a place where God puts them, and our response should be, 'All right Lord, here I am, use me.' He cautions that saying this may lead to unexpected service, but that is part and parcel of how the body works, and the body is comprised of all believers.
But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.