Romans 12:6 – Benevolent or Malignant
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;
Truth to Learn
Each Christian is gifted for the benefit of the body of Christ.
Behind the Words
Paul begins the verse with a coordinating conjunction de, which can be translated as “and” or as “but” or several other English words. In each case, however, the purpose is to show the direct connection between the previous phrase and the following one.
The word translated as “gifts” is the Greek word charismata, which refers to “that which has been bestowed gratuitously.” In other words, it wasn’t earned and isn’t deserved; it was simply imparted out of benevolence.
“Prophecy” is translated from the Greek word prophēteia, which is the noun form of prophēteuō. According to The Word Study Dictionary, this word means “to foretell things to come; to declare truths through the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit whether by prediction or otherwise.” In other words, it includes both the “foretelling” of events before they happen and the “forth-telling” of the truths of God’s Word. The primary gift of the prophet in the early church involved both of these.
This list of spiritual gifts is clearly punctuated as a coordinated list as can be seen by the Greek grammatical construction. Each of the gifts in this and the two following verses is preceded with the Greek word eite, which is another kind of coordinating conjunction. It is as if these had been listed as “bullet points” with each occurrence of eite being a bullet. There is no apparent order of importance or hierarchy in this list, it is simply a list.
Meaning Explained
Now that Paul has explained to us that the church is like a body made up of many differing parts, he begins to describe some of the functions that these various parts perform and the special enabling that we have to perform these functions. We, the members of the body of Christ, have gifts. These gifts were given to us according to, or with respect to, or as part of, the grace that was given to us. Paul is telling us that these gifts were given to us at the point in time that the grace of God was bestowed upon us, when we were given the righteousness of Christ. In other words, these gifts were given to us when we were saved. They are not part of a “second blessing” nor are they gifts that we earn as we become mature Christians. They were given to us once, for all time, just as our salvation was given to us once, for all time and eternity.
Remember, as you read through this list of gifts, they were given to us as members of a body and they are to be used to make the body healthy. They are not given for personal profit (not even to the phophet J), but for the good of the body.
Application
Do you know what spiritual gift(s) God has blessed you with? Are you using it (them) for the good of the body?
Keep in mind that there is a kind of cell within the human body that has no regard for the cells around it. Its only purpose is to feed itself so it can grow. It’s called cancer!
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2011 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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