Without taking a peek at what we’ve been going through so far here in Romans 12, I’ll just say that, first of all, it’s been fun. We’ve unearthed a couple of key concepts or perspectives that I believe we’re needing to propagate to our fellow brothers and sisters in the body of Christ, at least for their consideration, and for all of us to learn.
I’m personally learning that, in studying Scripture and ‘digging’ for precious gems in forms of revelations and perspectives, we should never really be content with the holes we’ve dug. That one meme/illustration comes to mind, the one where a miner gives up and walks away, not knowing he is just one swipe of the pickaxe left before being flooded by gems.
In this case, if we think we’re content with the gem of transformation by the renewing of our mind / metanoia / repentance, we should probably take one more swipe… and find the key, true foundational concept – more of a reinforcement, really, of what we’ve been saying all along: that beneath the repentance, beneath the metanoia or changing the way we think, is the infinite, eternal, unfathomable mercy of God.
Just as we’ve been saying that we’ve flipped from working FOR, to working FROM God’s grace/love/blessings, so we see here, that we’re repenting, renewing our mind, and therefore being transformed, not FOR, but FROM God’s great mercy.
While we were yet sinners, Christ loved us and gave His life for us – through His finished work, God’s grace, love, blessings and mercy were unleashed, to be received by all who believe.
We sing ‘Jesus Paid It All’, but I guess we also ought to sing ‘Jesus Paid It First’.
Anyway, another perspective we’ve brought to light is concerning the Will of God, as mentioned in Romans 12:2. And I won’t go through too much of it, avoiding the risk of complicating things further – I’ll just say that even discerning the Will of God, and that which is good, acceptable, and perfect; even all this is FROM the grace, love, and mercy of God.
And since we’ve established that Christ is the epitome of said divine grace, love, and mercy… I’ll just go ahead and say something we should keep considering and meditating on – that Christ HIMSELF is the Will of God.
No, I’m not going to append ‘in every situation and circumstance’ as I find myself writing and speaking in the past… because, see, we aren’t to reduce God’s Will to situational response and based on our circumstance. I’ll just say, rather repeat what we unearthed yesterday: Through Christ, nothing can ever separate us from God, and we are ALWAYS in God’s Will, just as Christ is always with us.
And with all this in mind… Let’s keep going.
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
I’m remembering what Paul talked about in Romans 11, where he speaks to us Gentiles, reminding us that if the original branches (Jews) were so easily cut off, cutting wild branches (Gentiles) off would certainly be so much easier.
We shouldn’t be thinking of ourselves more highly than our Jewish brothers, and we especially shouldn’t be thinking of ourselves more than we ought to think. The faith that Christ authored into us, the measure of faith God has assigned to us – Yes, the same faith so lovingly given to each and every one of us by the Creator of the Universe and all that is seen and unseen, through the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world – this wonderful faith has us naturally doing the opposite.
Through the faith we have in Christ, we aren’t so quick to think of ourselves highly, or higher than anyone else… Paul suggests that what comes naturally to us is the opposite: We think with humility, and we judge soberly.
By grace we grow, by faith we stay humble. How wonderful.
For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them:
Here I see I guess I missed a point – by the faith we have we are humble, and we judge soberly; here, it brings us to recognize how we are part of the body. Paul elaborates on it so beautifully:
We all have a function, and a purpose – but it is emphasized that we do not all have the same function. This means that there should be no cause for us to be so focused on our own function, nor should we be so arrogant towards others because (1) they do not have our function, and/or (2) they have another function different from ours.
First off, we ought to see these ‘functions’ and ‘purposes’ we do have as Paul puts it: They are gifts. Doesn’t it humble us even more if we see it that way? Or, rather, wouldn’t we be happy with each other, or wouldn’t we be more humble in our dealing with one another in the body, if we realize that we received our own gifts, and our brethren likewise have their own gifts?
We shouldn’t be so quick to judge what differences we think we may have. No, Paul emphasizes that not only does the measure of faith God assigned to us (1) humble us, but it also (2) reminds us we are one body in Christ, and therefore ‘members one of another’;
And lest we forget, and lest we stay fixated on said ‘gifts’ and ‘blessings’ and ‘purpose’, we’re again brought to remember that it’s through Christ that ALL of us have it in the first place. Paul mentions we are one body in Christ to emphasize that before said ‘gifts’, we ALL have the Gift of Christ, first.
We all have our gifts, our functions, and purposes.
We all have the Gift of gifts, that is, Jesus Christ.
Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Around 10 years ago, I assisted some youth (now part of my team today) in taking a ‘Spiritual Gifts Test’, where they are presented with questions which would have them determine what their ‘gifts’ are, based on their responses.
Between that time to even today, I’ve also caught myself getting giddy over how other people would encourage me by saying that I have so and so gift – granted, I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of a reaction on my part, but I would be lying if I said it didn’t make me feel the least bit better about who I was.
But seeing as we’ve been talking about our being in the body of Christ, and not a mere body of ‘gifts’ we have in common… I’m being led to change our approach to determining the ‘gifts’ that we have. Do we determine them for ourselves and/or let others affirm them in us?
No, now I think our gifts are dependent of how we receive the Gift of gifts. We’re following a sort of pattern here in this entire Chapter of Romans, so far, where we notice that we renew our minds by the mercy of God, first, and Christ was the first to move so that we would be reconciled with God, and that we would always be in God’s will.
With that said, I’m saying that the gifts that we have are dependent on how we appreciate God’s gift of Christ, to us. After all, they are ‘gifts that differ according to the grace given to us‘.
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. We love because he first loved us.
1 John 4:10, 19
Consider that we aren’t to look at the ‘gifts’ that we have individually as talents and specializations; but, rather, they are our responses to the gift of Christ.
We love, as God loves us by sending us Christ.
We give grace, as grace has been given to us through Christ.
We contribute in generosity, as Christ has been freely given to us.
We do acts of mercy with cheerfulness, just as Christ did acts of mercy to us.
We serve as God served us, as Christ served the disciples, as He served the multitudes, so we have been served, and so we serve.
We prophesy and teach, as God prophesies to us and teaches us, by way of the Holy Spirit convicting us, sent to us through Christ.
We lead with zeal, as God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) leads us in glory, grace, and everlasting love.
As we reflect on Paul’s words in Romans 12:3-8, may we be filled with gratitude for the gift of Christ and the grace that empowers all our service. May we embrace the humility that comes from faith, recognizing that all we have and all we are is a response to God’s great love. Finally, may we celebrate the beautiful diversity of gifts within the body of Christ, knowing that each one is a unique expression of the mercy and grace we’ve received.
Consider: How can you use your gifts, not as a source of pride, but as a joyful response to the love of Christ? How can you honor and encourage the diverse gifts of those around you, remembering that we are all members of one body in Christ?
May we, as the body of Christ, be known by our humble, grateful service, reflecting the grace and mercy that first transformed us.
Until the next post, God bless us all.
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#Romans #GraceBehindWorks #DivineMercy #DivineGifts #Repentance #Metanoia #Bible #BibleStudy #Encouragement #HolySpirit #JesusChrist #Truth #Reflections #Revelations #PracticalChristianity #BenefitsOfSalvation
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