June 9, 2020
Old Testament Reading: Lamentations 1-5
New Testament Reading: Romans 12

Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts. Romans 12:4-6a

Paul was writing to Christians who were members of the local church at Rome.  He described their relationship to each other in terms of the members of a body.  The basic idea is that each Believer is a living part of Christ’s Body, and just like each part of a human body has a special function to preform to have a healthy working body, every Christian has a Spiritual function to preform in order to have a healthy working church. 

God has equipped His church with the ability to carry out His will in our communities. He has done this by giving each Believer a Spiritual Gift to be used for the building up of the body of Christ.  This allows the church to minister to the community, assisting and supporting the work of other Christians around the world, as well as discipling and encouraging the other members of the body.

There are three main lists of Spiritual Gifts in the New Testament, here in Romans 12 and 1 Cor. 12&14. These lists differ and are to be seen as representative.  There is no authoritative, or complete list of Spiritual Gifts.  But rather God gives to each community of Believers the gifts they need to do His will in their situation.

There is no superiority or ranking of gifts. The gifts that we have are because of God’s grace.  They must be accepted and exercised by faith.  We were saved by grace through faith, and we must live and serve by grace through faith.  Since our gifts are from God, we cannot take the credit for them.  All we can do is accept them and use them to honor His name.

Each Christian must know what their Spiritual Gift is and what ministry they are to preform in the local church. It is not wrong for a Christian to recognize gifts in their own life and in the lives of others.  But honest evaluations must be made.  Nothing causes more damage in a local church than a Believer who overrates himself and tries to preform a ministry that God has not equipped him to do.  Or the opposite, they underrate themselves and sit on the sidelines not preforming the ministry they are called to and God has given them the gifts to perform.  For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one. v3

Each Believer has a different Spiritual Gift and God has bestowed these gifts so that the local church can grow in a balanced manner.  But each Christian must exercise their gift by faith, or the church will suffer. Whatever gift we have must be dedicated to God and used for the good of the whole church. We must always be willing to work in our church utilizing the gift God has given us and respect the different gifts that other members bring to the body.