ROMANS: RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH FROM START TO FINISH

X. Righteousness Applied To Life And Service, Romans 12:1-15:13

B. Righteousness Applied To Using Our Spiritual Gifts

(Romans 12:6-8)

I. Introduction

A. The theme of the epistle to the Romans is that God’s righteousness is available to man by faith from start to finish (Romans 1:16-17; Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 441).

B. This belief is often not accepted in Christendom: Some claim that one must have faith plus works to be justified, and others say that though we are justified by faith, we cannot righteously live a godly life by faith.

C. Having explained the theology of God’s righteousness applied to justifying believers in Christ, Paul showed how that righteousness applies to one’s life and service as a Christian in Romans 12:1-15:13.

D. Romans 12:6-8 teaches how God’s righteousness is applied to using our spiritual gifts from Him that fit us into the local church and its ministries, so we view it for our application and edification (as follows):

II. Righteousness Applied To Using Our Spiritual Gifts, Romans 12:6-8.

A. To use our gifts aright, we must realize that the gifts in the body have all been handed out by God’s unmerited favor, His grace, and they differ from one another by God’s will, Romans 12:6a with 1 Corinthians 12:11.

B. Thus, we each must both accept the gift that God has given us and use it the way that God wants us to use it, and the ways God wants the differing gifts to be used are generally described in Romans 12:6b-8 (as follows):

1. The gift of prophecy, the ability to predict the future, a gift that existed in the Early Church, was to be used in accord with the “analogy” (analogia, Wm. D. Mounce, The Analy. Lex. To The Grk. N. T.; 1993, p. 70) of “the faith” (tes pisteos; U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 564). The “analogy of the faith” means that “the revelations that come through the prophet must be given in agreement with the body of truth already revealed.” (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Rom. 12:6) Also, 1 John 4:6 claims that such prophecies had to align with apostolic teaching. So, in today’s era [when we no longer have the gift of prophecy], all ministries of God’s Word must expound the Old and New Testament 66-book canon of Scripture.

2. Following the gift of prophecy, Paul mentioned three gifts that those who possessed them were to use by focusing on their divine duty to use those gifts without being distracted from them, Romans 12:7-8a:

a. Those with the gift of serving were to meet the needs of others with needs, Romans 12:7a with Acts 1-3. The word “ministry” (KJV) is diakonia in the Greek New Testament (Ibid., U. B. S. Grk. N. T.; The Analy. Grk. Lex. (Zon.), 1972, p. 91), used of the first “deacons” in Acts 6:1-3 (Ibid., p. 92), so those spiritually gifted to meet the needs of others were to focus on doing just that – meeting the needs of others.

b. Those with the gift of teaching were to focus on teaching (Romans 12:7b), and in light of 2 Timothy 4:1-2 with 1 John 4:6, they were to focus on teaching Biblical truth, not detracting from that truth or that calling!

c. Those with the gift of “exhortation” or “encouraging” (parakaleo, Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 622-623) generally by preaching (2 Timothy 4:1-2) in using Scripture truth were to focus on exhortation and encouraging without detracting from that use of Scripture truth, Romans 12:8a.

3. Finally, Paul named three more gifts that did not spread Scripture content, but that were to be used with special attitudes because they involved believers needing to relate to one another, Romans 12:8b,c,d:

a. Those with the gift of “giving, donating” (metadidomi, Ibid., Mounce, p. 316) were to function with “simplicity, sincerity” (aplotes, Ibid., p. 87) in their giving, Romans 12:8b.

b. Those with the gift of “directing, managing” (proistemi, Ibid., Arndt & Gingrich, p. 713-714) were to function “attentively, diligently” (spoude, Ibid., p. 771) in directing and managing, Romans 12:8c.

c. Those with the gift of showing “acts of mercy” (eleeo, Ibid., p. 249) were to function with “cheerfulness, graciousness” (hilarotes, Ibid., p. 376) in expressing their acts of mercy to other believers, Romans 12:8d.

Lesson: To use our spiritual gifts for spiritual service correctly, we must realize that God has given different believers different gifts so that we need to accept what God has assigned to us and use it how He wants us to use it. Specifically, those with gifts of handling and presenting Scripture truth must focus on that ministry versus getting sidetracked from it, being careful to present exactly God’s Word. Those with gifts of relating to fellow believers must do so with the right attitude appropriate for that gift’s use where givers donate with simplicity and sincerity, managers direct attentively and diligently and those who show mercy do so with cheerfulness and graciousness.

Application: May we accept God’s personal gifting of us and use that gift in the way that He wants us to use it.