Last week we began looking at where Paul makes the transition from teaching about what to believe…to…how to behave…what God expects from His people.
I shared with you the single verse in Scripture that I think provides the theological framework for what it means to follow Jesus…along with the consequential change it demands in response to that decision. [Romans 12:1]
I urge you… to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy
and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship
That sums up how we as Christians are to approach our relationship with Jesus …here Paul makes an urgent plea and presents God’s strongest argument for giving ourselves to God…he says. “I urge you,” to present your bodies…not just to make a cursory attempt…but to be sincere in your intentions.
This verse can be broken down into four elements of what is needed to have the victory in the Christian life.
The SOUL must be given to God
The BODY must be given to God
The MIND must be given to God
The WILL must be given to God
Being a Christian is not just going to church occasionally or simply believing in God…it’s a total commitment of…soul…body…mind…and will…that makes you a Christian.
After sharing the four elements we need to give to God for us to be successful in our Christian life, Paul continues this line of thought by reminding us of what our role within the body of Christ is.
The mistaken idea is that after I become a Christian I just hang out until I die then I go to be with Jesus in Paradise…nowhere is that suggested in Scripture …what is mandated is that we become interdependent with other Christians.
Goes back to the need to be in Church… ‘all you want is for people to come to church so you can have more people to preach at’ …well yes…but spiritually it’s more involved than that…consider what not attending church indicates:
…it brings into the question regarding do you love the Lord
…do you love other Christians or is being with other believers not your preference.
…it says I don’t need the teaching of the Bible
…I don’t need the corporate worship of God
In verses [4-8] Paul begins to explain the importance of being in corporate worship…it’s not for your sake…it’s for the sake of those who are there with you.
Paul goes into an explanation on the importance of why that is…it has everything to do with what God has given each member in the Church…Paul is revealing a mystery never before known until then…spiritual gifts.
But before talking about them he makes what seems to be an out-of-context-statement.
God has allotted to each a measure of faith [3]
When mentioning faith…Paul is not talking about saving faith…as believers you already have that…so what does he mean by a ‘measure of faith?’
This is in reference to God equipping every believer with the kind of faith needed for you to function in the body of Christ…it can be thought of as all the resources that you provide and God provides so together we can successfully carry out our unique roles.
Have you ever thought that God is calling you to do what you cannot do with the ability you do not have…that hints at maybe you’re not supposed to succeed… ever think that God wants it that way…why would God desire that?
God calling you to do what you cannot do and not having the ability to do it… that is why many times people don’t accept jobs in the church, because they feel they lack the ability to do the job.
That is exactly what God wants…God wants people to feel they lack the ability to do them…because it then forces you to rely on Him rather than on yourself.
God wants to bring you to a place where you cannot function on your own.
Let me share with you a couple areas that need to be further defined with respect to how God works in giving you the ability to succeed in your individual calling.
Ever heard the statement “If God calls you He will equip you” …that far too often gets misquoted…I put that right along other statements that people claim are in the Bible…statements like:
—God helps those who help themselves
—Cleanliness is next to godliness
—God works in mysterious ways
—God loves the sinner but hates the sin
—God causes all things to work together for good.
As nice as they all sound…and as reassuring as they can be…none of those saying are in the Bible…and neither is ‘If God calls you He will equip you.’
Hebrews 13:20-21 seems to suggest that…Now the God of peace…equip you in every good thing to do His will…isn’t that saying God will equip you? …NO it’s not.
Let me share something with you regarding interpreting the Bible…one of the first principles of sound biblical interpretation is that scripture is its own interpreter …in other words, the Bible is not subject to our own personal opinions or private interpretations.
Before we can assign a meaning to any passage, we must first search both the context of the passage in question, as well as the whole Bible to see how the word is used throughout scripture.
When two or more passages are similar but not exactly alike…the clearer one explains the other.
The word ‘equip’ in Hebrews 13 seems to imply that God is going to magically give you all the resources needed to perfect your spiritual gift…WRONG.
Earlier I said that the ‘measure of faith’ can be thought of as all the resources that YOU provide and GOD provides so together we can successfully carry out our unique roles in this life.
That includes every spiritual…intellectual …physical…and emotional resource needed to achieve that…that’s not something God magically gives you.
Here’s where good biblical interpretation of Scripture is necessary…in Luke 6:40 Jesus uses the same exact word as in Hebrews 13…‘equip’, but context indicates a different meaning:
A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone after he has been fully trained (equipped) will be like his teacher.
Here the word ‘equip’ means trained…Jesus is suggesting that you have to do something…being fully trained means being taught…God doesn’t mysteriously give you the knowledge you need to fulfill your purpose…at times it is painfully learned.
God knows exactly WHERE you need to be and WHAT you need to do in order for you to be equipped for your life assignment…may mean going to seminary …learning a second language…knowing how people function in a different culture…whatever you need to do to be equipped for your life’s assignment.
God will use every aspect of who you are…where you came from…your past successes and failures…your background…your level of education…everything you’ve accumulated from your life experiences…even sending you back to school at age 58…all to perfect you and bring about His will in your life.
Then God gives you the spiritual gift that will best suit His purpose based on all those factors…God does not give us gifts for which He doesn’t provide every spiritual …intellectual…physical…and emotional resource we need to successfully exercise them.
KEY – Every believer receives the exact gift and resources best suited to fulfill his role in the body of Christ.
That’s why every person’s gift is hand-picked by God based on your life experiences to effectively fulfill your role in the body of Christ.
Again…‘measure of faith’ is all the resources that YOU provide…what you learned…and what God provides so we can carry out our unique roles.
These gifts are given to each believer through the Holy Spirit for us to serve in the church.
Another area that needs to be further defined with respect to gifts …again …here’s where things begin to get a little confusing…everyone is born with inherent abilities and talents…but spiritual gifts are different than talents and abilities.
Natural talents are abilities we are born with…a special natural ability that you possess…it isn’t something you learned…you just have them…for example, someone might be a naturally fast runner.
Abilities or skills are something that you acquire…through experience…by being taught…by your own personal observations…by trial and error…they are capabilities acquired.
Spiritual gifts are God-given manifestations for a spiritual purpose.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:7).
Before listing some of the gifts, Paul explains the what…why and reason for gifts so we might have a better understanding of yet another aspect of how the Holy Spirit works in the life of a believer.
The Holy Spirit in a believer’s life regenerates us…transforms us…sanctifies us …seals us…and comforts us…but it’s through His spiritual gifts that He helps us to continue the work of Jesus on earth as well as building up the body of Christ in love.
Hence the importance of varying gifts within the church…without these different gifts the church would be as useless as a body made up entirely of hands or legs…that is why every believer is perfectly gifted…as a result no gift should be sought after and no gift should be neglected.
Another burden I have is in regard to gifts…as Christians we will be held accountable for how we used our gifts…[Matthew 25] The Parable of the Talents represents that reality.
Again…being a Christian is not just going to church occasionally or simply believing in God…God will personally evaluate each of us on how effective we were with the gift we were given…what we did with them…how we used them …that also includes talents…abilities and any other resources God gives…we will be held responsible for how we used those.
Christians who are unaware of their spiritual gift…and even more serious…who are aware of them but don’t use them…are facing serious consequences for that neglect.
Here’s what’s important…on the surface some gifts…speaking gifts…seem to be more glamorous than the service gifts…unfortunately as a result people with the gift of serving might think that since they can do nothing else in the church, they must have the gift of Serving.
That attitude belittles the gift of service and the person who has that gift…it’s an insult to the person who has the gift of Serving…because there are no menial gifts.
That’s why God will evaluate every Christian’s performance…not based on the importance of the gift…but how we used what we were given.
In Romans 12:6-8 Paul describes seven gifts and uses the analogy of the human body to demonstrate how they are to be used.
He reminds us that even though we have many different parts of our body (the heart, liver, arms, legs, eyes, etc.) it is still one body…and that each of the parts of the body work together to make the entire body healthy.
4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,
5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
When exercised according to the will of God these different gifts do not fracture the body but serve to bring the body together.
Gifts are for the body, the church, and not the individual…hence the importance of using the gift God has given to each member of the church…to bring the body together.
That’s the intent in describing these as parts of the human body…there are many parts and functions but only one body…Paul identifies these gifts:
6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying…prophesy in accordance to your faith;
7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach;
8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
The spiritual gifts mentioned in the New Testament fall into three categories:
Sign…Speaking…Serving
The speaking gifts imply an audience; the sign gifts imply that there are observers; the service gifts imply that there are people being served.
Let me speak to the ‘sign’ gifts…biblical sign gifts refer to the gifts of… speaking in tongues…the interpretation of tongues…healing…working miracles…and prophesying.
The controversy in the church today is do these gifts still exist…some believe that they only existed in the New Testament period and have since ceased.
There are numerous denominations within what is referred to as ‘The Church’ … all known as mainline Christianity…these are the churches that are generally recognized as being in agreement with what is known as basic Christian beliefs.
Basically it is the beliefs as outlined in the Apostle’s Creed:
…that Jesus was born of a virgin
…that he came to die for our sins and then rose again bodily
…acknowledging Jesus Christ as Lord
…that Jesus is in heaven at the right hand of God interceding for His church
…that He sent His Holy Spirit at Pentecost and He is living in each believer
…that we are looking forward to the return of Jesus after which we will spend eternity together.
Now…with regards to spiritual sign gifts… sometimes mainline Christian denominations have different ideas with respect to their usage.
Some believe that the sign gifts were given to distinguish the true apostles from those who were false …as a result…these sign gifts ceased after the apostles died… probably even earlier…that is why none of the sign gifts—healing—miracles—and speaking in tongues—is found in Rom. 12.
The other passages that mentioned spiritual gifts [1 Corinthians 12 / Eph. 4:7, 11 / 1 Peter. 4:10-11], written years after Romans, also make no mention of sign gifts…therefore, the seven gifts mentioned in Romans 12 are all within the categories of speaking / serving.
Regarding the speaking and serving gifts there are several key truths:
FIRST…we are all part of Christ’s body…no single person is the central figure.
No one single person is more important than the other members…just as no one single part of your body is more important that the others…they all work in harmony together.
SECOND…all parts of the body need to work in harmony with each other …in our human bodies if each part decided to work independent of the brain there’s a problem…the body becomes dysfunctional…to be effective, the body has to work in harmony.
In the same way, Christians are called to work together to accomplish the work of God…to be effective we have to work the way we have been designed to work…this is an important feature not only within the individual Church but within the Church as a whole.
Pastors should accept the role of ‘leader’ in the Church…our church for example is a corporation…it has a president—the pastor…an executive secretary—Elaine…and a finance chairman—Richard…those positions are only to fulfill the requirement by the state regarding corporations…they carry no assertive decision making qualities within the church.
No single person within the church has the decision-making authority to determine or designate how the church will function…it is decided by a committee and then generally voted on by church members.
We were joking last Sunday after church regarding who gets a key to the church…normally that is reserved for those who are committee chairpersons or those needing access to the church such, as the janitor…like possessing a key to the front door somehow puts you in a prestigious position within the church.
THIRD…the individual gifts are given to each member within the Church for God’s edification…no single gift within the church is any more important than any other gift within the church.
Here’s the problem in the Church…goes back to the burden I have…lay people fail to earnestly seek out their spiritual gift…they are becoming more like spectators at a baseball game than active players.
Far too often they neglect their spiritual gift and let others who are less gifted do the work they should be accomplishing…but because the work needs to be accomplished…it gets done by others who are already overworked.
It’s important before we even begin talking about the gifts mentioned in [6-8] that we have an understanding of the importance each member of this church possesses…the potential that has been loaned to us by God so we can fulfill the purpose He has set before us all.