When I look at what a lot of other preachers and teachers and commentators have said about this chapter before us, I think in some respects that many of them are guilty of dealing with these passages out in a piecemeal sort of way. What I mean by that is, they take them completely out of context with one another.
For instance, they look at vs1 and 2 separately from the rest of the chapter and see it as some sort of post conversion consecration of the individual believer. Then in vs 3-8 they tend to disregard the previous verses and combine these with other passages about spiritual gifts and just focus on what are spiritual gifts. And the rest of the chapter kind of follows that type of exegesis without the benefit of contextualism.
Now I don’t want to pretend that I am more knowledgeable than most of these other commentators. But perhaps my ignorance is a benefit in this case. Because in my ignorance I read through the chapter and I see a principle that ties everything together. And the principle that provides the cohesiveness of the chapter is the essentiality of life in the church.
If you were here last week you may remember that I tied verses 1 and 2 to the essentiality of the church in the life of a Christian. Paul says we are to present our bodies to God. And I think that he means physically presenting yourself in church to God. Notice he says, present your bodies as a living sacrifice. I think we need to see that as literally presenting our bodies to God in the assembly. In the OT, the Jews on numerous occasions had to bodily present themselves to the temple. In many instances they had to literally present a sacrifice to the priests. In their festivals they were required to physically present themselves to the temple at the appointed time. And so there were many requirements for the Jew to physically present themselves to God by means of the temple.
And I think Paul uses that language purposefully to draw that correlation to our worship. Notice that he says this physical, bodily presentation will culminate in our spiritual service of worship. That is one of the primary things we claim to do in church, isn’t it? Now corporate worship doesn’t preclude us worshipping God the other six days of the week as we go about our daily lives, and in fact I think it includes that, but our worship of God on the Lord’s Day, physically in the church serves as a first fruit, or a tithe if you will, of the rest of my time during the week.
So I think that this chapter is really about the church and it’s essentiality to our spiritual life now that we are Christians. In chapter 12 Paul is no longer concerned with telling us how to be saved. He is now dealing with how we are to live now that we are saved. And how we are to live spiritually is to be connected with the church which is the body of Christ. It’s to be in communion with other believers as the church of God. In Acts 2 the first church was doing that literally, day by day in Solomons’ Portico in the temple, listening to the word of God which was being taught by the apostles and having their meals together and having all things in common with one another. And that continued until the persecution started in Jerusalem which either drove out or drove them underground. But the church was not a one hour addendum to the weekend such as we have today, but a communion with other believers which orchestrated the rest of their lives.
That’s part of the problem with the whole public perception of the church’s viability in the midst of this pandemic. The government for the most part has historically recognized something the contemporary society seems to have forgotten. And even the church seems to have lost sight of. And that is the essentiality of the church. In the plan of God, spiritual life has precedence over physical life. Spiritual well being has precedence over physical well being. And historically, I think that the founding fathers realized that and so they incorporated certain laws into our Constitution which guaranteed that our religious exercise should not be limited or infringed upon, regardless of whatever situation or even crisis should fall upon us. Because they recognized that the church was essential to life.
But it’s ironic that the US government, and most state governments said on their closings and restrictions regulations that the church was an essential business, yet in practice they restricted their operations to the point of virtually shutting down any physical presence at the church. Now my intent today is not to deal with that issue, per se, but to merely point out that in the view of the scriptures, the physical, bodily presence of the individuals together in communion is what constitutes the church and it’s not a debatable quotient, nor a disposable quotient, and in fact the bodily attendance of the believers in assembly together is non negotiable. You cannot have an assembly without an assembly of bodies.
Dr. John MacArthur released a statement last week regarding this issue which I would urge you to find online and read or you can contact me later and I will send it to you. But he said this concerning the assembly and I quote; “The church by definition is an assembly. That is the literal meaning of the Greek word for “church”— ekklesia—the assembly of the called-out ones. A non-assembling assembly is a contradiction in terms. Christians are therefore commanded not to forsake the practice of meeting together (Hebrews 10:25)— and no earthly state has a right to restrict, delimit, or forbid the assembling of believers.”
Ephesians 4:12 says the church is the body of Christ. And in Col.2:19 Paul says that Christ is the head of the body, “from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.” So the church is Christ’s church, Christ’s body, and together we constitute that body. And a body is by definition physical. Together we are physically the body of Christ on the earth.
Then in vs2, Paul says as the church we are not to be conformed to the mold of the world. The world is not to regulate our conduct, set the standards for our lives. We do not yield to the authority of the world view, but we are transformed by the renewing of our mind. This is how we are the church, how we are to live according to God’s standards. And that happens by renewing our mind which is done primarily through the preaching and hearing of the word of God. As we physically present ourselves to God, the Spirit works through the preaching of the word of God to transform our minds so that we have the mind of Christ. All activity begins in the mind. And having the mind of Christ enables us to do the will of God, that which is good, and acceptable and complete.
Now this transformation results then in a new way of living, because we have a new way of thinking. Three times in vs 3, Paul says think. There is a new way to think once you have renewed your mind. And that new way of thinking is going to be patterned after Christ. Phl 2:5-8 says in NKJK, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, [and] coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to [the point of] death, even the death of the cross.” Notice that the humility of Christ is emphasized as the mind of Christ.
And that humility is what Paul emphasized in vs 3 as well. That as we have been transformed by the renewing of our mind through the word of God, we have a new way of thinking that will be characterized by humility. Paul says in vs 3, “For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.”
Humility is not thinking more highly of oneself than you ought to think. The mindset of the world is to love themselves first. So then everything is decided according to how it will affect me. What is best for me. What makes me feel good. How it will benefit me. But the renewed mind puts Christ at the center of my thinking. How I may serve Him, how I may please Him. I sacrifice my priorities for His sake. That attitude of humility is going to be the foundational in how we are to act in the church and our attitude towards others. As Christ came to serve, so we are to serve, and the people we are to serve is the church which is Christ’s body. All the gifts, all the offices, and ministries of the church are effective only when the participants are humbly and sacrificially serving the church and not themselves.
There is a present preoccupation in the church today which is unhealthy; and that is the mindset that the church exists to serve me. It’s almost a perversion of God’s love and grace towards us to make it all about ourselves. It’s how the church meets my needs. It’s whether or not I feel like I am getting any thing out of the church. Or whether or not the church fits my schedule or my priorities right now. It’s all about how much God loves me, but very little about how much I love God. But that’s why Paul started off with this admonition to present your body as a living sacrifice. The church is not just about you. When you are immature in your faith, then maybe like a baby has no capacity to help others but must be helped, then so in the church at first it may be all about you being fed and learning and growing. But maturity is the goal, and when we are mature our focus should be on benefiting the other members of the body, not just ourselves. So the first thing changed in our thinking should be that we think of others more than we think of ourselves. We have a love for Christ and a love for others, rather than consumed with loving ourselves.
So out of this new way of thinking comes a new way of functioning. Vs4, “For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” Here is the point: we don’t operate like free agents any more. When our thinking gets right, our independence is exchanged for interdependence.
Notice in these verses Paul repeats the phrase one body, one body, and then one another. Paul uses repetition to help us learn. The emphasis is on the body, not the individual members of the body. Individual parts of the body contribute to the overall effectiveness of the body when they are working together. Paul wants to emphasize not the independence of the believer, but their interdependence upon one another.
The human anatomy is a frequent illustration used in scripture to show how many different members working together make the body whole and complete and functional. In the human body none of the members of our body can work independently of one another. They depend upon each other, and the body depends upon the individual members. And each of the individual members of the body is essential to the well being of the body. In our human body we cannot survive without a heart, without lungs, and we are severely handicapped when we are missing legs or hands. And so it is with the church.
In 1Co 12:12, 14 Paul using the same analogy says, “For even as the body is one and [yet] has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.” 14 “For the body is not one member, but many.” So the church, Christ’s body, is made up of many members, but they must work together to constitute the body.
It’s noteworthy that both in 1 Cor. 12 and Romans 12, Paul uses the analogy of the body with many members to illustrate the diversity of spiritual gifts which are given to the church. Spiritual gifts are a tool box not a toy box so that the work of the body might be carried out.
Gifts are to be exercised for the good of the body. And in vs 6 that application is clear. It says in vs 6, “Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, [each of us is to exercise them accordingly:] if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”
Now as Paul gives instruction concerning spiritual gifts we must make sure first of all that we keep it in context with what he has been saying so far. And in that regard I think the point should be made that the gifts are given for the building up of the church, not the building up of the individual believer. In the parallel passage about spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians, Paul says in chapter 14:12 “So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual [gifts,] seek to abound for the edification of the church.” And in chapter 12:7 “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
So spiritual gifts are given not for the edification of the believer, but for the edification of the church. Spiritual gifts are given to build up other members of the body, not to build your own ego or self esteem, or even as evidence of your spirituality. And we are to exercise them or use them for the benefit of the church.
Another thing that must be realized is that this list in Romans 12 is not meant to be exhaustive. It is generally agreed that there are four lists given in the New Testament of spiritual gifts. One is here in Romans 12 which shows seven gifts, one in 1 Cor. 12:8-10 which shows nine gifts, then in 1 Cor. 12: 28,29 it gives eight, and finally Ephesians 4:11 it lists four. And as there is no set number or order, it indicates that there may be more gifts, and Paul said that some gifts will cease from operation which means that there may be less gifts operational today than there were then.
But rather than spend a lot of time discussing the differences in the gifts themselves, I think the context indicates that we should emphasize the fact that the gifts are given on the basis of grace so that we would not be prideful because we think we have some sort of merit or special ability. Notice that to start with Paul says we have different gifts according to the grace given us. Grace means undeserved favor. If you give someone a gift of a car, it would be possible for such a person to think that he is special because you gave him this nice car, but the fact is that if it is s a gift then he did nothing to earn it and so there shouldn’t be any pride in it.
So God gives us gifts not to satisfy our ego, or even to validate our Christianity but to enable us to serve the body’s needs and to equip the body. Notice this list that we are given here; prophesying, rendering practical service, teaching, exhorting, contributing to the needs of people, leadership, and showing mercy. There are no gifts in this list that are intended for selfish purposes. Every gift there depends upon others being benefitted in order to be valid.
And notice that is exactly the point that Paul makes when expressing this list. In each case, he shows how the application towards others must be done in order to be effective. Let’s just look at them briefly. He says if you have the gift of prophesying then let him exercise it in accordance with the standard of faith. To prophesy, if you want the briefest of definitions, means that you say, “thus says the Lord.” It’s to proclaim the word of the Lord. In the early church before the New Testament was complete, the written word was very scarce. 1 Corinthians and Romans were written years before many of the other epistles and there were only a couple of other epistles that had been written by that time. The church mostly depended on the Old Testament scriptures and the verbal traditions of Christ’s teaching handed down through the apostles. And so there was a real need for prophets who were given the word of the Lord to speak to the church.
So the benefit to the church would be obvious if in fact such a prophet was speaking the word of the Lord. Then as now, there were false prophets as well, and so in 1 Cor. 12 Paul lists another gift which is the distinguishing of spirits because there were some false prophets among them. But Paul doesn’t address this here, but what he does say is let the prophets speak in accordance with the standard of faith. The standard of faith would be the accepted standard of faith handed down by the apostles which was the foundation of the church. So their prophecy was to be checked against the standard of faith established by the apostles.
Second on the list was rendering practical service. He says let him serve. It’s a gift to serve others. Then the gift of teaching, let him exercise teaching. You are not given the gift of teaching for your own sake, but for the sake of others whom you are to teach. And that principle is expressed for each of the gifts on this list. Each of the gifts he says let him exercise it. Let him put it to work. It’s not for personal use, it’s for the general good of the church, for others.
Now let me say something else about this list in Romans and that is this is not the popular list. The gift of serving is not a popular gift is it? Neither is the gift of giving. The gift of showing mercy is definitely not on the cool list. When people talk about spiritual gifts they always want to go to the list found in 1 Corinthians 12 because that’s the cool list, the list with the showy gifts. That’s the list with tongues and healing and so forth which are gifts that can easily be misused to ascribe spirituality or giftedness on the one using it, rather than edification towards others.
But if you notice in the 1 Corinthian list, Paul interrupts his discussion on spiritual gifts to say that there is something better. He says, I will show you a more excellent way. And what is this way that he is speaking of? He says it is the way of love. And as I have said previously many times, love would be better translated as it is in the KJV which is charity. The word love, as used in our modern world has become so misused that in the Christian context it is almost a completely inappropriate translation. Charity, on the other hand, always has the context of others in it’s application.
So in 1 Cor.13 then in the KJV Paul says concerning this more excellent way, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become [as] sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have [the gift of] prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed [the poor], and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profits me nothing. Charity suffers long, [and] is kind; charity envies not; charity vaunts not itself, is not puffed up, Does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil; Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
And in our passage here in Romans 12 as well, Paul segues from spiritual gifts in vs 8 to the necessity for love, or charity in vs 9. “Let love be without hypocrisy.” Do you know what hypocrite means? It comes from a Greek word which means an actor on a stage who performs for the applause of men. Paul says let your love, let your charity be without hypocrisy. Jesus said when you give, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. In other words, don’t broadcast your good works to be noticed of men.
The motivation for all the gifts which the individual members of the church are to use for one another should be love. Jesus said they will know that you are my disciples by your love for one another. Love as used in this text is the Greek word agape. Agape is a sacrificial love. It’s the kind of love Christ had for the church. And it’s a love we are to have that sacrifices my best interests for the best interests of others. He says in vs 10 concerning love to “[Be] devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor.” It comes full circle to the humility that Paul started out by saying we must have back in vs 3 if the church is going to be effective and work as God designed it to. Real Christian love seeks for the good of others, even to the point of sacrificing your own needs.
We are going to talk further about what that kind of love looks like next week as we continue this passage. But I must stop here for now. But I hope that you have come to recognize the essentiality of the church and the participation in it which God desires for you. I trust you will seek to employ your spiritual gifts for the mutual benefit of the church, so that the church will be the body of Christ to a watching world. I pray that all that you do will be done in charity for the edification of the other members of the body. And I hope that you will come to know that life in Christ’s body is the real life, the abundant life that He laid down His life to provide for us.
Now [may] the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, [even] Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom [be] the glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20,21)
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