Working For God

Romans – A Treatise
Chapter Twelve
WORKING TOGETHER FOR GOD

Scripture Reading: verses 4-8 (Darby translation)

FOR, AS IN ONE BODY WE HAVE MANY MEMBERS, BUT ALL THE MEMBERS HAVE NOT THE SOME OFFICE; THUS WE, [BEING] MANY, ARE ONE BODY IN CHRIST, AND EACH ONE MEMBERS ONE OF THE OTHER. BUT HAVING DIFFERENT GIFTS, ACCORDING TO THE GRACE WHICH HAS BEEN GIVEN TO US, WHETHER [IT BE] PROPHECY, [LET US PROPHESY] ACCORDING TO THE PROPORTION OF FAITH; OR SERVICE, [LET US OCCUPY OURSELVES] IN SERVICE; OR HE THAT TEACHES, IN TEACHING; OR HE THAT EXHORTS, IN EXHORTATION; HE THAT GIVES, IN SIMPLICITY.

Every item of exhortation in this passage is weighted with the pure gold of excellent divine truth. Keep in mind this is all part of Paul’s appeal as he stands in the great courtroom addressing the forgiven, pardoned sinner, who has been justified and brought into the family of the One who was formerly his Judge. Because of the compassion of God, Paul makes an appeal that the sinner who has been forgiven might return to give thanks, to show what great things God has done for him.

In other words, thanksgiving should not be merely lip service, but rather in Christian conduct befitting the One who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.

As Paul looks upon the pardoned sinner, his vision enlarges byound one individual who has been saved from judgment and eternal death, to a vast host of Christians spreading over the earth, composed of all true believers in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The hosts of the redeemed merge themselves into one vast unity called the “one body in Christ.” They are not merely large numbers of forgiven sinners; they are an organism pulsating together in unison with the life and nature of their risen Lord. He is now anxious that there should be coordinated function among all members so they might realize they are part of a living body, and each individual member is gifted by the Lord Himself according to the measure of the gift of faith. Thus, in verse 6 he says, “But having different gifts, according to the grace that has been given to us, according to the proportion of faith.” Faith and grace are closely linked as the principles upon which the redeemed people of God function together. Grace is the love of God in action toward us; faith is the hand that lays hold upon God, believing and obeying what He says.

Like a giant organism, we see this vast number of God’s people, instinct with divine life; the finger, toe, foot, hand, arm, eye, nose – each functioning according to its own appointed office in relationship to the whole. So, the one who prophesies, i.e., the one who is gifted in the matter of teaching with emphasis upon the prophetic truths contained in the Word of God, shall prophesy not according to his own speculative mind or according to his own opinions about the trend of world events, but he shall prophesy according to the proportion of faith. In other words, the prophet shall be dependent on the Word of God, accepting it as from God, laying hold on it by faith. Service should be done in the same fashion.¹

Paul says, “as to service, let us occupy ourselves in service.” Let us remember that this is regarded not simply as service for the Lord, but as service for His people, each one a member of the body serving the other. However, it is the Head of the Church who gives direction and if He has appointed one of us in some particular sphere of service, let us occupy ourselves in that service. It is a great matter for all of us to find out just what the Lord wants us to do in relation to others. One of us might not be a teacher or evengelist. If so, that simply means our Lord has not gifted us along that line. Each function must be performed according to the gift of grace. The gift of grace in this passage means whatever functional gift God has given by grace. No matter what our gift might be, it is undeserved and unmerited. Each one of us must find out what function the Lord would have us perform and occupy ourselves in that service.

Then Paul says, “he that teaches, in teaching.” The world is overrun today by teachers and unfortunately many of them know little about the Word of God. All teaching should be circumscribed by the Holy Scriptures. Paul tells Timothy,

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto every good work.

The teacher from God must first be gifted according to the grace of God. He has accepted his gift from God, recognizing his responsibility and his teaching must be circumscribed by the Holy Scriptures. He will not launch forth into the speculative arena of human imagination, or into the entertainment field of telling funny stories, or presenting human personality. He who teaches is here enjoined to occupy himself in teaching.

Paul then says “he that exhorts, in exhortation.” There is a vast work of exhortation to be done. The true meaning of the word “ex hort” is “encourage.” It literally means “to call out” to one another, just as we might watch an athlete run a race, and as he passes by, we call out to encourage him to endurance and speed, so that he might win the race. That is the thought in exhortation.

Then Paul says, “he that gives, in simplicity.” This covers a vast field. As we touch upon this subject, let us remember Paul is appealing on the ground of the compassion of God, that Christian people should give, and their giving should be in simplicity. The word “simplicity” means we have no double motive in giving. We are not buying prestige or seeking recognition of any kind by what we donate. The Christian should be a normal “giver.” “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” It is a great privilege to give of our funds in any way needed. The first claim upon our giving is without a doubt on behalf of the poor and needy. Then we can also give to help the work of the Lord; support His faithful ministers; and the spreading of His truth – the ingathering of sinners by the Gospel. The grace of giving is a sadly neglected art among too many Christian people today. Unbelievers often put us to shame because of their liberality to cults and false religions. If God has been compasionate to any of us, then we are responsible to be a giver.

Footnote:
¹ In these verses, Paul enumerated, with appropriate admonitions, some of the various gifts of Christians, the overriding sentiment being that whatever one does in Christ’s service, it should be discharged with true faith in God who provided the ability to do it, and with the intention of doing it as perfectly as possible, and especially without reference to odious comparisons, rankings, and preferments which appear so generally in the patterns of human behavior. “Prophecy” ... Although in New Testament times there were prophets, in the usual present-day sense of the word such as Agabus (Acts 21:10), the meaning of the word here has a wider application. Exodus 4:16 and 7:1 shows that Aaron was Moses’ prophet, or spokesman; and, in that view, every preacher and teacher of God’s Word is a prophet. This view is consistent with 1 Corinthians 14:3: “He that prophesieth speaking unto men unto edification, and exhortation, and consolation.” However, just what shade of meaning Paul had in mind is not the important consideration, because the admonition attached is applicable to every kind of prophesying. The important consideration is that it should be done in proportion to the faith of them doing it. Thus any preaching or teaching that does not flow out of the vibrant, living faith of the teacher or preacher himself is hollow, hypocritical, and ineffectual. “Ministry” ... technically means the service of a deacon in the church; but the word is used more generally to include even the work of the apostles themselves, as indicated by Paul’s word “our” in this verse. It refers to any kind of service undertaken for God’s glory in the church; and the instruction is that whatever is done should be done enthusiastically and faithfully. “He that teacheth” ... refers to teachers as distinguished from prophets, some of the latter, at least, being inspired, whereas teachers, in the sense here, are not; although they must be understood as being faithful students and expositors of the sacred Word. 1 Corinthians 12:28 gives the proper ranking of “apostles, prophets, teachers, gifts of healings, miracles, helps, governments, and divers kinds of tongues.” It is of surpassing interest that “governments” which receive such inordinate rankings among people are actually near the bottom. And as for “various kinds of tongues,” that was the lowest thing in the church. That Paul intended in that passage to rank these things consciously, is proved by the repeated use of such words as first, second, third, etc. The Christian teacher is third in this echelon, being outranked only by the inspired apostles and prophets. “Exhortation, liberality, showing mercy” ... are reference to various Christian duties of a private and personal nature, the exhortation being that grace, humility, faith, simplicity, and consideration for others should always mark the services of them that have in mind to please the Lord. The suggestion of “cheerfulness” as an accompaniment of showing mercy is most appropriate, since many a merciful or charitable deed has been nullified by the grudging and censorious manner that accompanied it.