Romans is divided into chapters 1 to 11 and from chapter 12 to the end of the book. Chapters 1 to 11 teach that a person is saved by believing in Jesus Christ. There is no other way that we can be saved. It is only by believing in the atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross that we are saved. This is the Gospel. From chapter 12 on Paul tells us how those who believed should live. Last week we looked at a premise, self-sacrifice. “Present your bodies to God as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.” (1) Paul is saying that self-sacrifice is the foundation upon which we build our concrete lifestyle. In today’s passage Paul is teaching us one concrete thing that should be a part of our life style. Please look at verse 3.
In other words Christians “by the grace given” (3) within the, body of Christ, the church should not think of themselves more highly than they should, but “with the measure of faith God has given” (3) them; soberly walk according to their gifts. Today let’s look at 3 aspects of serving in the church.
Ｉ． Think with sober judgment First let’s look at what it means to think with sober judgment. Look again at verse 3. Paul is insists that all Christians who believe in Jesus Christ should not think of themselves more highly than they should, but rather think of themselves “with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given” (3) them. The word “think” (3) was originally related with the heart and expresses not just a mental thinking, but thinking deeply from your heart. Therefore, to think with “sober judgment” is to have healthy thinking, not negative or avoiding involvement. This is exactly the opposite of thinking “more highly than you ought.” (3) To think more highly is to think of yourself as higher than you really are, being arrogant. This is unhealthy thinking too. Healthy Christian thinking isn’t just being humble, but thinking spiritually. This is a little different from what the norm of society thinks of a humble attitude. The norm of society also teaches humility, but humility in the Bible is not just thinking humbly about yourself. It includes the element of faith. “In accordance with the measure of faith” (3) we must think “with sober judgment”. (3)
“In accordance with the measure of faith” (3) is the degree of faith that each person has received. We all have received different gifts and to different degrees. Therefore, we need to serve according to the degree that we have received. That does not mean that a person who has received more is greater than a person that has received less. Those who have received more and those who have received less both must be thankful for the grace that they have been given by God and faithfully use their gifts to build up the body of Christ, the church.
Matt. 25:14-30
The problem with the servant that had received only one talent was that he was not faithful. He took the 1 talent that he received and hid it in the ground and didn’t use it. God’s interest is not in how much talent a person has received, but how the talent is used. Therefore, both the servant that received 5 talents and the servant that received 2 talents were faithful in the use of their talents. God blessed them both with the same words of blessing. The problem lies in not how much we have been given, but how it was used. This is what it means by “think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” (3) This is a healthy Christian heart, and thinking.
In other words, real humility is to use the spiritual gifts that you have been given to serve God and man. Therefore, “think of yourself with sober judgment” definitely does not mean to think of yourself as no good or that you can’t do anything. It means to think that the spiritual gifts that you have been given are all from God and be thankful and use them.
Outside of God’s grace, without the cross and resurrection, we are small, weak, and wretched. However, God loves us, chose us, cleansed us, and made us holy. And then “in accordance with the measure of faith God has given” (3) us, He has given us spiritual gifts. We are not to think that we above others and want to control them, nor are we to take the attitude of feeling content about being above others, but according to our gifts, “in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you,” (3) we must serve each other.
That is why Paul says here, “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you:” (3) When Paul thought of the fact that he is a Christian and has now been given life, while being conscious that this is only by the grace of God’s salvation, he was aware that he was a leader, and a teacher only by the authority which was given to him by the grace of God. In the church there is no one who is qualified to demand something from others. All of us are nothing but forgiven sinners. However, even such a person, if he can preach, he can do so only by the one way grace of God. While realizing this, we should use the gifts we are given and serve each other. That is thinking “with sober judgment” and is real Christian humility.
We must not forget this. If we forget this, we become conceited. We aren’t able to have “sober judgment” (3), and healthy thinking. We become proud, lack faith, judge others, and become troublemakers. When we think that our gifts are all by the grace of God, we are thinking with “sober judgment” (3). This is how our Christian thinking and life should be.
II. One body in Christ (vs. 4,5)
Secondly, let’s look at why Christians should think this way. That is because we are one body in Christ, and we are each organs that are needed for the health of the body. Let’s look at verses 4 and 5.
Here Paul describes the church as “one body”. The church is the body of Christ. What does it mean that the church is the body of Christ?
1. Christ and the church are one body. In other words, the church by the life of Christ is born. Therefore, without Christ, the church can’t be given birth.
2. There are many organs, but the organs are all connected together into one body. In one body there are many organs, but the organs do not all do the same job. In the same way, in the church there are many members, but we each have our own jobs to do. In the body there are eyes, ears, mouth, nose, hands, feet, etc. When each of these body parts come together, then we have a healthy body. The eyes are seeing not just for themselves, but for the whole body. The feet walk not just for themselves, but they walk for the whole body. In the same way, we Christians also are there to serve the other people in the Church.
When our right hand is itchy, we can’t scratch it with our right hand. We scratch it with our left hand. We scratch it without even realizing that we are doing it. It is amazing. The left hand never says that the itch is no concern to him and refuse to scratch the right hand. Our hand never goes on strike saying that it refuses to work only when it is bringing food to the mouth. We need each other. We work for each other. We are all connected together to form the body of Christ. Someone is the arm. Someone is the leg. Someone is the mouth. Someone is the finger nail which seems like something that you don’t have to have. However, if you tried to pull a sticker off and it won’t come off and you tried to scrape it off with just your finger, it would hurt. It would be difficult without finger nails. Every part of the body is necessary.
There is no organ that is not necessary. No matter how small an organ, it is necessary. That means that in the church we are to serve other people with the spiritual gifts that we have been given. If we really understand this, the joy of serving in the church would greatly increase and the church will become unified and move forward.
III. Different gifts (vs. 6-8)
Last let’s look at the list of gifts that we are given. Look at verses 6 to 8.
“We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.” (6) This means that these are special gifts of grace given by God which is different than abilities that we are born with. Of course, there are times that the Holy Spirit uses our natural abilities too, but spiritual gifts are gifts of grace given by God. A person who is completely changed by the Holy Spirit is given spiritual gifts in order to perform unbelievable works. God has given each of us different spiritual gifts. In this passage mainly 7 spiritual gifts are mentioned. .
1. prophecy Here it says, ”If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.” (6) This gift is used to proclaim the word of God. It maybe a prediction, but in most cases it is in today’s words, “the spiritual gift of preaching”. It is receiving a message from God and imparting it to believers by the Holy Spirit in a way that they can understand.
2. serving This is doing any kind of service needed by the body of Christ or any of its members. One example of this is serving those who are suffering financially or the sick. However, this spiritual gift is used to help those who are leading the work of evangelism. People who have this gift in many cases can’t use their spiritual gift well when told to do so by themselves. By working under a leader they are able to exercise the gift they have received with greater power. Church staff, assistants, and co-workers often have this gift. However, laymen too who serve in the church doing many tasks that free the pastor so he can attend to the work of preaching the Word of God also have this gift.
Aaron and Hur who appear in Exodus 17 had this gift. At that time Israel was fighting with the Amalekites. When Moses held his hands up and prayed, the Israelites were winning, but when he put his hands down, the Amalekites were winning. Therefore, Moses had to hold up both hands up all the time, but as you probably have experienced, it is painful to hold up hands for a long time. This was very trying for Moses too. “When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up-one on one side, one on the other-so that his hands remained steady till sunset.” (Exodus 17:12) Therefore, the Israelites were able to win. This is the gift of serving.
3. teaching This spiritual gift of teaching is the gift of explaining what the Bible is saying. It is somewhat like the gift of prophecy, but to say the difference strongly the gift of prophet uses spiritual authority and speaks boldly the message of the Bible that God has given. The gift of teaching is the ability to make the Bible understand. It is the ability to explain the Bible in easily understood terms and make the Bible understandable.
4. encouraging Here it says, “If it is encouraging, let him encourage.” (8) If a person who is having trials or hardships and is depressed meets a person with this spiritual gift, he will be encouraged. If a person has lost all hope and he talks with a person with this gift and is prayed for, his spirits will soon be lifted. Most importantly a person with the gift of encouragement encourages people in their walk with Christ. They encourage people to use their gifts to the fullest and accomplish great things. They encourage people to grow to be more Christ like.
5. contributing The gift of contributing is the ability to enjoy giving what is one’s own to the Lord and the Lord’s church. This does not mean that you have to have money to do this. This is a spiritual gift. It doesn’t matter if you have money or not. You can give whenever God gives the grace to do so. A person with this gift no matter how much he gives, he can enjoy giving.
6. leadership Here it says, “If it is leadership, let him govern diligently.” (8) The spiritual gift of leadership is the ability to spiritually watch over the church flock. When a person with the spiritual gift of leadership leads, an ordinary vessel is changed into a capable worker. Even though you may not have any special skills or any special strengths, but if this kind of leader leads, you are able to exercise unbelievable strength.
David had such a spiritual gift. If you look at I Samuel 22, when David escaped to the cave of Adullam, about 400 men “who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him.” (I Samuel 22:2) These people would be considered the scum of the earth. However, David trained them and used them to unify Israel. David had the spiritual gift of leadership.
7. mercy When another person is struggling, a person with the gift of mercy thinks of that person’s struggle as his own. He has the heart of carrying other people’s burdens, of caring for struggling people.
Today we looked at 7 spiritual gifts. However this is not all of them. In the Bible including this 7 at least 27 more are mentioned. These spiritual gifts are definitely not abilities that we are born with. The Lord has given them to the church because they are necessary for building up the church and for its growth. They are given by the grace of the Lord so we need to ascertain what spiritual gift we have been given, and desire spiritual gifts, and humbly, use them to serve our brothers and sisters in the church. “Think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” (3) When you use the gifts of grace that you have received for Christ’s body, the brothers and sisters in the church, this is really thinking “with sober judgment”, (3) and is a healthy Christian heart. That type of person will be further blessed, and will be used more and more by the Lord.