Treasures New and Old

Romans: Church Body Members

As we continue this series don’t forget who you are: a child of the King, engrafted into the vine who is Jesus Christ. From Him we get our spiritual nutrients just as a grape branch gets its nutrients from the grape vine or trunk. Stay connected to the Master and draw strength and direction from Him.

This month we look at Paul’s description regarding our place within the Body of Christ, specifically the church. We are not all the same (thank goodness!), and we are all important to each other.

Let’s let Paul share his thoughts on the subject:

Romans: 12:3-8:

For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

• Paul lets the Roman readers know that what he is sharing is by God’s grace. This is not dictatorial, but gracious encouragement. Paul knows that to make this step will literally transform your life into a more dynamic follower of Christ.
  

Verse 3 Notes: “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

• He also warns that if you think yourself above the need to submit yourself to God in this way that maybe you’re too proud. Too proud to be willing to submit to the Lord of Glory. Too proud to do as Christ demonstrated and wash the feet of the other disciples in the room if God asks it of you.

• We are to do this with sober mindedness, a present active verb (Gilbrant). We are not dumb robots or Roman slaves who have no mind of their own, but only do and think as they are given leave to do. But rather as one who has trained their mind to be exercised with carefulness and a focus on what God wants us to do.

• And Paul is not saying we are all to do the same thing. According to the measure of faith, the portion that God has given to you. Be faithful in the portion God has called you to, not your brother’s or sister’s, but your own.

• This dealing out of a measure of faith is a great segway into what Paul has shared about our spiritual gifts. These gifts are given by God in measure as He wills to all of us and motivates (or should) to serve in the areas that He has chosen for us.

• We will get into those subjects in the following weeks but, for now, consider, do you present yourself to the master as a living sacrifice – daily? Weekly? Monthly? At all? Or do you wake each day and ask yourself, “Let’s see, what would I like to do today?” Of course we have responsibilities, jobs, homes, and children (and parents) to care for, but do we ask God what He wants and what are His priorities, or do we move through our lives as one sitting on the throne of our life?

Verse 4 Notes: “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:”

• Every member has its proper place in the body, and its proper function to perform, and every member is valuable according as it is useful in the body. But no member is useless. For the smallest and least seen is useful.

• Office: Strong’s G4234: praxis: deed, function, work, assignment, act or action, position.

• We all have functions, some more obvious and front-and-center, but all important and all useful.

• Consider the appendix. Standard surgical procedure was to cut it out if a doctor was in the abdomen for other purposes. They believed it a vestigial organ, an organ needed in our evolutionary past that we have outgrown. Then about fifteen or so years ago it was found that the appendix did indeed have an important role of providing a secretion to line the colon and make material pass through easier and nutrients more absorbable. Additionally, there is evidence that it plays a role in the immune system by storing and releasing good bacteria that the body uses to flush disease-causing organisms from the intestine. So, maintains gut flora to boost immune system and helps with digestion.
  

Verse 5 Notes: “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.”

• Being many: Strong’s G4183: polus polos: many, plural, and implied, different as opposed to pollos (singular). Although we are many, we are one. Consider the cellular level of the body. Your eye cells are totally different than your skin. In fact, the eye has several different cell types with very different functions. Lose one or more and you are either blind, color blind, can’t focus, can’t interpret vision properly, can’t see in the dark, etc.
  

• Consider the wonder of stem cells, especially those early cells in a newly conceived baby. At first, all the same (like babes in Christ – sort of). But over time, through DNA coding, the cells specialize and become the wonderful and complex human body that we each possess. There are over two hundred different cell types in the body.

Motivational Gift List

• In the next three verses, Paul introduces seven gifts of the Spirit that are not sign gifts in the sense of tongues, or miracles or healing. Nor are they the specific administration nor operational gifts (1 Corinthians 12:3-6) such as that of a pastor, deacon, teacher, or evangelist. But rather they are that which motivates us to serve in some position in the church our master, you know, the one to whom we presented our bodies a living sacrifice.

Verse 6 Notes: “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;“

• Gifts: Strong’s G5486: charisma: gratuity, deliverance, endowment, qualification, miraculous faculty, gift. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6: “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.”

• Differing: Strong’s G1313: diaphoros: more excellent, differing, diverse, varying, surpassing.

• The functions that we have within the body of Christ are being compared to the different cells and organs of the body. Each of them is different in form, cell makeup, and function. The Greek word here doesn’t just mean different, but excellently different. A more excellent way to function together. Just to form a scar after getting a cut, there are eighteen to twenty-six steps the blood and cut area goes through called the coagulation cascade.

• Grace: Strong’s G5485: charis: accept, accepted, acceptable, benefit, benefactor, favor, favored, grace, liberal, liberality, liberally, thank, thanks, thankful, thankfulness, thanksgiving, thankworthy; “figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude) :- acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace (-ious), joy, liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy).”

• Prophesy according to the proportion of faith: a prophet is a (Strong’s G4253) pro (Strong’s G5346) phemi – (Strong’s G4396) a pro/fore – speaker/teller; can be one who makes prediction, but more often in Scripture it is someone who takes God’s message and shares it with man. To prophesy is to speak God’s Word, His utterances.

• Prophets had and still have proportions of faith. Another way to explain this is the difference between Billy Graham and myself. He had a much greater influence, a different calling, a greater ministry. Both are important, and both are useful in the kingdom.

• Parable of the talents illustrates that God gives differing amounts of talents/power/capability/strength to each. The talent in the parable was the same unit of measurement for money. One got five, one got two, and one received one. Preachers always use it to express our differing skills as talents; but read carefully. The talents described in the parable were all money pieces: Matthew 25:15: “And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.“

• God is saying two things to me here: (1) Are you a prophet? Then speak according to your best ability and (2) Don’t worry about Bro. So-and-so, if he has a greater influence, more converts, etc. – be faithful in what I have given you.

Verse 7 Notes: “Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;”

• Ministry: Strong’s G1248: diakonia: ministering, ministration, ministry, relief, service, serving. Attending others or attending tasks, service, giving relief, to give aid, the base of a deacon or deasoness.

• The whole Greek phrase says: “or service, in the service.” The Greek word (Strong’s G1722) en referenced as in can also be at, by means of , with, so this phrase could say “or service, with service”. In other words, if your gift is ministry/service, then do ministry/service. Wait in the King James is like a waitress or waiter coming to the table and asking, “What can I do for you?” Darby’s Translation says, “or service, [let us occupy ourselves] in service.”

• Teaching: Strong’s G1321: didasko: a prolonged form of dao which means to learn, so didasko means to facilitate learning: therefore to teach. With the first teach Paul used the verb form, and it is singular masculine present active (Gilbrant). In other words, it is pointing to the individual who is doing the teaching. The second teaching is a noun, and it is dative singular feminine (Gilbrant), and it means that Paul is pointing out that the object of the teaching (verb) is to be to the one being taught. I interpret that as an encouragement to consider your audience when you teach if you are a teacher. Work to provide material they can understand, and in a way they can understand so that they can actually learn something. I’ve had college professors who simply didn’t understand that principle!

Verse 8 Notes: “Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.”

• Exhorteth: Strong’s G3870: parakaleo: beseech, comfort, comforter, comfortless, exhort, exhortation, intreat, intreaty; compound Greek word (Strong’s G3844) para and (Strong’s G2564) kaleo, which means to come along side. To do what? To comfort, to beseech, to entreat, to encourage. If you are an exhorter, then exhort!

• Again, masculine verb that is present active (Gilbrant) – exhorting right now, acting on a dative case singular noun (Gilbrant). He/she who exhorts must concentrate on exhorting in accordance to the need of the one who requires exhortation. Sometimes it is to simply encourage, sometimes it is to beseech, to entreat, sometimes to comfort, and frankly – sometimes it is to say, “Ok, get past this and move on.”

• Giveth: Strong’s G3330: metadidomi: to give, to share, to import something. In sharing, do in simplicity. No fanfare like the Pharisees, but quietly and humbly like the window woman.

• Ruleth: Strong’s G4291: proistemi: maintain, oversight, rule; to preside, oversee, practice, maintain.

• Diligently: Strong’s G4710: spoude: carefully, earnestly, diligently. If you are the boss, be sure to plan your work and work your plan. Don’t slack off and let things go. The Greek word means to take the lead . . . with diligence.

• Sheweth mercy: Strong’s G1653: eleeo: compassion, compassionate, merciful, mercy.

• Cheerfulness: “Strong’s G2432: hilarotes: which is connected to the English word hilarious. But it doesn’t mean what we mean today when we say hilarious. It means with a cheerful heart. Don’t be afraid to engage those who need you to show them mercy. Mercies tend to be highly emotional and are prone to empathize (be an empath) with those around them and often pick up the hurts and joys that others are feeling.

• Those who have this gift must approach the glad and the sad with the same cheerfulness and to extend mercy to that person regardless of how it makes them personally feel.

Beloved, remember that we all have spiritual gifts given to us the moment we are saved by the Holy Spirit. Find out what your gift is and ask God how best to use that gift for the sake of the church and in service to Him.

May God Bless you!

Maranatha!

Bro. Joe

References

Darby Translation. Bible Gateway. Retrieved from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans%2012%3A7&version=DARBY

Strong, J. Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries. Meyers, R. (2005). e-Sword. [computer software] . Franklin, TN: Equipping Ministries Foundation. (Original work published 1539)

Gilbrant, T. The Complete Biblical Library Interlinear Bible. World Library Press. (2020). Wordsearch Bible. [computer software]. Nashville, TN: LifeWay Christian Resources. (Original work published 1990)

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