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Romans 12:3-8
Now that Paul has shown the brethren in Rome their equality through the gospel, he is beginning to exhort
them, as a unified whole. This exhortation pertains to their obedience to the Lord.
Based on the love that God has shown to them, in Christ, Paul is encouraging the brethren to love God, in
return. They must recognize that from the eternal perspective, they have indeed died to the sin, and are
now alive to God in Christ Jesus, their Lord. So in the temporal realm, their bodies are to be lovingly
presented to God a living sacrifice their lives, a consecrated offering to their Lord.
And that is, of course, true for all believers. Our lives have been offered up to God; our bodies presented to
Him in sanctification, holy and acceptable to Him. And the Lord has accepted our offering, so our lives are
now His; our bodies belong to Him. This means that He has the say over what is done, in our bodies; they
are no longer to be used to do what we please.
Thats how we used to live, as a son of Adam; we used our bodies to do what we please; to carry out our
own will, serving our own selfish purposes. We conformed to this present evil age, which promotes the
serving of self, feeding the lusts of our minds and of our flesh.
But now we are in the process of having our thinking changed. The Lord has given us His Spirit, who
enlightens us to Gods perspective on things; on His will, for our lives.
What is Gods will for our lives? Paul told the believers in Thessalonica, This is the will of God, your
sanctification (1 Th 4:3a). God desires us to live our righteousness, so that we become what we already
are, in His eyes His righteous sons. And the Spirit is the One who teaches us how to do that.
Turn to Second Corinthians chapter 3. Paul had been sharing with the believers in Corinth of his role as
minister of the new covenant, for Life everlasting through faith in Christ. He called this the ministry of
righteousness, ministered by the Lords Spirit, in each believer. Were just looking at what Paul said about
the Spirit.
[Second Corinthians 3:17-18]
v. 17 Paul is speaking of the freedom from the bondage of the Law, for the Jews, but especially of the
freedom from death, for all believers.
v. 18 Paul uses the term, unveiled face to play off of the OT account of the Moses and the children of
Israel. When Moses came down from the mountain where he communed with the LORD, his face shone
with the glory of God, that he had taken in. This caused the children of Israel to be afraid, so that Moses
had to cover his face when he was with them. Paul uses this as a powerful picture of their unbelief; they
would not look at the glory of God.
Paul speaks of believers as those with unveiled face. We have taken in the glory of the Lord, having
believed into Jesus. And as we continue to behold His glory, shown to us by the Spirit; as we continue to
take it in, we are being transformed.
Into what? Into the same image the image of Christ, the glorified Son. As we take the glory into our
thinking, and it become our thinking, righteousness is being worked in sanctification which will
eventually lead to our glorification, in a body of glory conformed to the image of the Son. Thats what
Paul means when he says, from glory, to glory glory within, leading to glory without.

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[Return to Romans 12]

The will of God, for His creation of mankind, is to accept His invitation, to become His sons. Thats the
purpose for which God has created them. Those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ have accepted
Gods invitation.
Gods will for believers is their sanctification that they present their bodies a living sacrifice, and be
transformed through the renewal of their minds. And as believers do that, they prove they demonstrate
that Gods will is indeed good, and acceptable and perfect.
That which is good, is useful to God for the believer has now been justified; he has become righteous.
That which is acceptable is pleasing to God thats the believer, in his sanctification.
And that which is perfect, has been made complete thats the believer, in his glorification.
Good, acceptable, perfect justified, sanctified, glorified the believer has accepted Gods invitation, is
being transformed, and Gods purpose for that life will be realized.
But under time, believers are in the process of being sanctified; they are learning to live their righteousness,
as they are having their thinking changed. And as Paul now continues in his address of the assemblies in
Rome, his focus is on how a Christ One is to think which will give him the right perspective on himself,
and on his fellow believers.
[Read Romans 12:3-8]
So Paul begins with an encouragement for believers to have the right thinking about themselves, and about
other believers (v. 3). He then brings in the concept of both unity and diversity among believers, using the
metaphor of a human body (v. 4-5). And he speaks of God having given to believers different gifts, or
spiritual graces, to be used by the Lord to accomplish His purposes, with the implication that believers
should exercise them, in submission to the Lord (v. 6-8).
The fact that Paul begins verse 3 with the word for shows that what he is now saying has some relation to
what was said before; like a for instance. We can see that Paul is now talking about thinking, and in just
the previous verse, he had spoken of having a transformed mind. Lets read the two verses together.
v. 2-3 So Paul is bring up an instance in which Christ Ones need to have their minds made new; their
thinking transformed. It is in regard to themselves, in relation to other believers.
Notice exactly how Paul begins to introduce this instance, where believers need to change their thinking:
For I say, through the grace given to me. Now, Paul is not giving his opinion here. What he is saying is
through the grace given to him. Who gave Paul that grace? God did.
The fact that Paul speaks of the grace given to him suggests that he is not thinking just of Gods unmerited
favor upon all who believe, but to a specific element of grace that was imparted personally to Paul, by God.
Well see that this idea is reinforced by the subject that Paul introduces next: the spiritual gifts, or graces.
We find that in verse 6, translated gifts. In the Greek, the word is charismata, spiritual graces. The
charismata are the product or result of charis, the grace of God thats the word Paul uses in verse 3.
So when Paul speaks of the grace given to him, he is thinking specifically of the spiritual grace that God
has imparted to him through which he is commanding these assemblies in Rome.

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What grace would that be? Being an apostle of Jesus Christ. Paul is speaking as an eye-witness of the
risen Jesus, who was specifically called by Jesus, and commissioned to be His messenger sent out into the
world, operating under the authority of his Lord and Master.
It is from that position of authority, as an apostle of Jesus Christ, that Paul is speaking to the believers in
Rome every one of them. And that apostolic authority rings down through the entire church age, to all
who believe.
As an apostle of Jesus Christ, what is Pauls exhortation to believers? Not to think of themselves more
highly than they ought to think. And remember, this is an instance of having their thinking changed.
What does that imply? That people do tend to think of themselves more highly than they ought!
People do that all the time, dont they? The pride of life is a universal affliction of the sons of Adam. But
what about believers? After all, believers did have to humble themselves, in order to receive Life
everlasting, through faith in Christ they bowed the knee to that truth. But being humble is something the
believer has to learn, in submission to Jesus: Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek
and lowly in heart (Mt 11:29).
Paul recognized that all believers are on that learning curve. All have come out of the world system, where
they viewed themselves by their status and title; by their wealth and education; by their talents and
achievements.
And they likewise viewed others, through that same lens, of the world system. They compared; they
competed; they aspired. The world system is designed for the promotion of selfish ambition, and it isolates
men through the pursuit of their own selfish desires.
But the world system is only a virtual reality. Its not real. The world is passing away (1 Jn 2:17a). So all
of those qualities of the world system, by which men view themselves, are artificial; it gives men a false
estimation of themselves.
Paul is exhorting believers to have a new mind on who they really are; to let go of this false estimation, and
get a true one. Paul says believers are to think soberly that is, to think with sound judgment, concerning
themselves and others.
Where will believers get this sound judgment from? The Holy Spirit will reveal it to them He guides
them into all truth (Jn 16:13). The Spirit will share with them the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16b), so they can
have a true estimation of themselves.
What is the true estimation of a Christ One? A Christ One is a member of Gods creation of humanity; a
clay vessel. He has purified his soul by obeying the truth (1 Pet 1:22a), to become a vessel for honor.
Now he is sanctified set apart and genuinely useful for the Master his Creator, who is now his Lord.
Now he is prepared for every good work, that the Master wishes to do through him (2 Tim 2:21).
The true estimation of a Christ One, then, is that of a prepared vessel; a useful tool; an instrument, in the
Masters hand. And that is how he ought to think of himself.
And that true estimate continues beyond the individual Christ One, to all other believers. They are all
vessels of honor, sanctified, useful to their Lord. And as Paul says, God has dealt to each one a measure of
faith.

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Now, what does Paul mean by that? Does he mean that God gives men faith to believe Him? Paul cant
mean that. Since not all men manifest faith, that would mean that God is unjust, giving faith to some and
not others. Faith in this sense is not given by God.
What God gave men was freedom of choice, to enable them to respond to Him, by faith. And it is the
response that they must make, in order to fulfill Gods purpose for them, to be saved. That this response on
the part of man is desired by God can clearly be seen in Jesus commending those who believed into Him
(Mt 8:10, Mt 9:22, Mt 9:29, Mt 15:28, Mk 5:34, 10:52, Lk 7:9, 7:50, 8:48, 17:19, 18:42).
So Paul is not meaning here that God gives all believers faith. But then, what does Paul mean? The key to
understanding is in the context of what Paul is saying.
Paul is exhorting the believers to have the right estimation on themselves; Gods estimation. They are His
instruments; vessels, that have been prepared for His use. And into each one of those cleansed, sanctified
vessels, the Master has poured a measure of faith.
The word dealt in verse 3 means divided, or distributed. A portion has been distributed to each believer
particular grace, given to him by God with which the believer is to exercise faithful stewardship; thats
his measure of faith.
The apostle Peter wrote of this stewardship. Turn to First Peter chapter 4.
[First Peter 4:10] Gift here is one of the charismata, the spiritual graces. Manifold means manycolored, or diverse. The diverse spiritual graces of God are what Paul calls in Romans the measure of faith
that God has distributed to each believer.
A good steward is one who rightly manages the possessions of the masters household; who is faithful with
what has been entrusted to him. To be a good steward of the spiritual graces entrusted by God, the believer
must minister them to the other believers, as the Lord directs.
Paul expressed this in a slightly different manner to the church in Corinth. Turn to First Corinthians
chapter 12.
The church in Corinth was actually struggling with the very thing that Paul is now cautioning the church in
Rome about: the tendency to be high-minded. The Corinthians had taken the worlds thinking into the
church, and viewed the spiritual graces that God had bestowed on believers as personal gifts; they became
sources of pride, and of envy, creating contention and division.
So Paul was admonishing them to stop being ignorant, and have a change of thinking to have Gods
thinking concerning the spiritual graces.
Were looking at where Paul begins to consider how these graces were given, in verse 4.
[1Corinthians 12:4-7] Verses 4-6 each pertain to a particular person of the Godhead, and His unique part
concerning the spiritual graces bestowed on believers. In these three verses, diversities and differences
are the same Greek word, a synonym of the noun form of the word translated dealt in Romans 12:3.
Both of these synonyms communicate the idea of distribution.

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In verse 4, we learn that it is the Holy Spirit who actually distributes the spiritual graces as it says down
in verse 11, distributing to each one individually as He wills. He determines which grace or graces are
given to a particular believer. Different graces may be manifest at different times, in a believers life. The
Spirit, then, determines what grace is given.
In verse 5, Paul tells us that it is the Lord speaking of Jesus who determines the different ministries; that
is, the capacities in which the spiritual graces are to be exercised. The Lord Jesus, then, determines where
the grace is to be employed; the actual ministry.
In verse 6, Paul is speaking of the Father God (definite article). The word activities in the Greek is
work. It is the Father who determines how and when the different spiritual graces are actually used, in
the ministry, to fulfill His purposes; the works are all done according to His will. So the Father determines
the how and the when, of the spiritual graces being exercised.
Finally, in verse 7, Paul lays out the why, of the spiritual graces why they are distributed, to believers.
Paul writes, for the profit; the words of all, in italics, are not in the original.
Who do the graces profit? Clearly, Paul doesnt mean the graces are for the profit of the individuals; his
whole point is thats how the Corinthians are wrongly viewing the graces, as if they are their own personal
gifts.
The spiritual graces are for the profit of God; by the Spirit manifesting His graces through believers, the
Lord was adding to the church daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:47) adding, to the Fathers
profit, sons of glory.
[Return to Romans 12]
Pauls point is that each and every believer has been dealt a measure of faith, by God; there is no believer
who is without his measure of grace benefits, with which he is to exercise faithful stewardship.
Since this grace is God-given, it is perfect for that believer; and since its appropriate use must be
determined by the Lord, the only part the believer can have is to submit to the Lord, in its use.
With Gods perspective on things, the believer will rightly view himself and his fellow believers,
understanding that they are all vessels of honor, filled with the graces of God; and that they are all
instruments for use in the hand of the Master. That leaves no room for high-mindedness, does it?
Having once again brought out the equality of believers, in having all received spiritual graces from God,
Paul now explores believers dynamic relationship with the Lord and with one another.
v. 4-5 For the first time in this letter, Paul is introducing the idea of believers being like a body, with Christ
as the Head of that body. The Body of Christ is a key theme in several of Pauls letters (First Corinthians,
Ephesians, Colossians), but Paul simply uses the illustration briefly here, to express the unity of believers
by virtue of being in Christ, yet their retained diversity as individuals, and with their manifold, diverse
graces of the Spirit.
The human body has many parts, and each of those parts has a different and significant role, in the body.
Who designed the human body? God did. And its design is brilliant; each of its parts performs the most
amazing function. A hand. An eye. A foot. Each part is perfectly designed, to carry out its work (1 Cor
12:18).

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But does each part just do its own thing, so to speak? Do the parts of the body decide to do whatever
they want? Of course not; the body is under the control of the head; the mind must instruct the different
parts of the body as to what to do, when to do it, how to do it. And each part of the body must receive the
instruction, and obey the instruction of the head or the body cannot operate properly (1 Cor 12:15-17, 1921).
Thats how God designed the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ has many members; the individual
believers, who have united themselves to Christ by faith. By the Spirit, they have been baptized into one
Body (1 Cor 12:13) Christs which makes them one.
But the oneness, the unity of the Body in Christ, does not mean that all the members are the same. Each is
a unique person, and each has been graced with differing abilities by the Spirit their measure of faith so
that they are empowered to carry out their particular role, within the body of believers.
But believers must do this in submission to Christ. Without the mind of Christ directing the Body, the
Body would be dysfunctional; it would not operate as it was intended to do.
Now, the parts of the human body dont work in a vacuum, so to speak; each part is not only connected to
the head, but connected to the other body parts. What one part does or doesnt do affects the other
parts.
For instance, if the eyes did not see properly, the feet might trip. And the parts of our bodies that we cant
see, that are hidden within us, working behind the scenes, can be the most vital of all, to the other parts (1
Cor 12:22-24).
So too the Body of Christ. We are not only united to Christ; we are joined with one another, skillfully
wrought out of the death of Christ (Ps 139:15), like a variegated tapestry unity, but also diversity. As Paul
says here, were one body in Christ, and individually, members of one another.
Were one body so what one believer does affects all of the other members of the Body. We depend on
the Lord to direct us, and we depend on each other, to follow the direction given. And sometimes, its those
members who are behind the scenes and usually the least recognized who are so very essential, in the
work. All are essential; every part is needed.
When a human body is working properly, what does it do? It thrives; it grows. And that is true for the
Body of Christ. In submission to the Head, Christ, the Body flourishes in its work the work of
reconciling men to God and the Body is edified (Eph 4:16b) it grows, as believers are added to the
church.
But in order for the Body of Christ to flourish, its members must carry out their ministry, in obedience to
the Head, Christ; they must minister, with the ability that God supplied, to them (1 Pet 4:11). And this is
Pauls encouragement to them.
v. 6-8 Verse 6 begins with a statement that parallels what Paul said in verse 3, with slightly different
language. God has dealt to each believer a measure of faith; believers all have spiritual graces, but they
differ according to what God has given each one.

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You can see that the translators of the NKJV added quite number of words to these verses. This was done
in order to complete the thoughts in the English, and smooth out the language, but in this case, I think they
have unintentionally changed what Paul is meaning, here. I have included on your word sheet the way Jay
Green translates this in the Interlinear, which is an almost literal translation, and I will read it to you.
Interlinear
But having different gifts according to the grace given to us, whether prophecy, according to the proportion
of faith; or ministry, in the ministry; or the one teaching, in the teaching; or the one exhorting, in the
encouragement; the one sharing, in simplicity; the one taking the lead, in diligence; the one showing mercy,
in cheerfulness.
Even in the Interlinear, the word one is added; its not in the original.
You notice that the most significant difference is that this literal translation removes the phrases let us use
them, let us prophecy, and let us use it none of which are in the Greek.
The translators inserted these phrases because they assumed that Paul was encouraging the assemblies in
Rome to fulfill their ministry and that was indeed Pauls intent. But Paul was not encouraging them by
telling them to do these things.
For one thing, notice how spotty this list is, which Paul gives; there are so many spiritual graces that go
unmentioned; gaping areas of ministry. Not that Paul ever attempts to give some kind of comprehensive list
of graces, in any of his letters, for as Paul wrote, the Spirit distributes as He wills whatever ability He
intends to manifest. No list could be complete.
But why does Paul mention just these particular things? And the latter part of the list, in verse 8, speaks of
specific qualities of a given spiritual grace; for instance, a prophet exhorts. It is a very strange list, if Paul
meant to instruct the members in the use of their various spiritual graces.
Lets look at the list more closely. Paul begins with prophecy. Within the Body of Christ, prophecy
involved not as much foretelling, but more forth telling of Gods word, as revealed to the prophet by the
Holy Spirit. Prophets, then, were preachers of the word of God. Prophets might be associated with local
assemblies, or travel as missionaries. They edified, exhorted and comforted the Body of Christ,
encouraging the local assemblies in the faith.
When Paul writes that prophecy was to be in proportion to the faith (definite article is present; its not just
faith, Interlinear, nor our faith, NKJV), the idea is that what the prophet says must measure up to the
revealed body of truth the Scriptures, and the teaching of the apostles; that is, the doctrine of Jesus. The
prophet must not add to, nor take away from the word of God.
Next in the list is ministry, which can simply mean serving. But positioned as it is between prophecy and
teaching, we can be certain that Paul is using the term with a special connotation common in his letters he
is referring to ministering the word of God to a specific group of people probably with the evangelist in
mind, here (Eph 4:11).
Paul then speaks of the one teaching. The teacher explains Gods word clearly, with systematic
instruction in the truth of the faith. A teacher builds, precept upon precept. A pastor must be graced by the
Spirit with the ability to teach.

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The one exhorting refers to the ability to effectively call others to obey the truth; it can be either
encouragement, as Paul is doing here, or admonishment a warning.
The one sharing is a general term, for one who gives, or imparts, or communicates, to meet the needs of
others. Paul indicates that the one sharing should do so in simplicity; the word actually means with
sincerity of heart; without expectation of a return, or of recognition.
The one taking the lead also has a general meaning, but here refers to the one who has been placed over
others, in the Lord (1 Th 5:12), especially in a teaching capacity. The leader must be diligent, in his efforts
to instruct others.
Finally, the one showing mercy speaks of that one who has the resources to help others; to supply what is
lacking in others, that they might be complete. That one should serve with joy.
Notice the concentration of Pauls list, here. Prophet, evangelist, teacher, the one exhorting, the one leading
these all speak of the one who ministers the word of God to others. It almost sounds like Paul is
describing an individual person, and the graces that God has given to him. And I think thats exactly what
Paul is doing. I think Paul is simply using himself his own life as an example, here.
Paul was called as an apostle by the Lord Jesus, and separated to the gospel of God (Rm 1:1). At the time
of Pauls conversion, the Lord informed His disciple Ananias that Paul would be His chosen vessel to bear
His name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel (Acts 9:15).
Paul quickly launched himself into the ministry, preaching Christ in the synagogues of Damascus all to
no effect (Acts 9:20-21). That was Pauls ministry, but he had gotten ahead of the Lord; Paul wasnt yet
ready.
So the Lord took Paul aside for three years, in Nabatean Arabia during which time God revealed His
Son in Paul, through the Holy Spirit (Gal 1:16-18). Now Paul was enlightened to the truth of what the
Scriptures he knew so well actually meant, and he had learned to follow the Lords lead. He was ready to
be the Lords chosen vessel.
And the Lord poured many of His graces, into that vessel. The Spirit equipped Paul with what he needed to
accomplish Gods work of reconciliation. Paul preached the gospel everywhere he went, a true prophet and
an evangelist, telling forth the word of God, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, for
the purpose of presenting every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To that end Paul labored, striving according to
the Lords working, which worked in Paul mightily (Col 1:28-29).
But on some occasions, the Lord had Paul settle down for a time with an assembly. Paul taught for a year
and a half with Barnabas in Antioch, enlightening the new converts there, building them up in their
understanding of the truth line upon line, precept upon precept. And the Spirit equipped Paul for that
ministry of teaching, distributing that grace to him, as well.
Then the Spirit sent Paul out on his first missionary journey and then a second and a third. Paul became
an itinerant preacher of the gospel, sowing the good Seed of the Word of God.
Paul never let the response to the gospel the result of his ministry influence his work. The Jews lack of
response to the gospel did not make Paul bitter. The Gentiles overwhelming response to the gospel did not
go to Pauls head. Paul recognized that it was God who gave the increase (1 Cor 3:6) the results, the
harvest belonged to Him.

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Paul maintained his simplicity; his sincerity, and just kept giving out the Word. Paul had the true estimation
of himself; as a bondservant of the Lord (Rm 1:1); an instrument in the Masters hand.
And the Spirit continued to grace Paul, for the work. Paul pastored the assembly in Corinth for a year and
a half, and in Ephesus for three years, leading with diligence, shepherding the church of God. And through
it all, Paul continued to extend Gods merciful salvation, in Christ, the Spirit giving Paul the resources to
supply what it is that all men are lacking. He held out the word of Life to them, and did so with joy.
A short time from when Paul wrote his letter to the Romans, he would reflect with friends from Ephesus
upon the tribulations which the Spirit revealed were coming upon him. This is what Paul would say: But
none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy,
and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God (Acts
20:24). Paul always found joy in the ministry with which the Lord had graced him.
Turn to First Timothy chapter 1. Paul was encouraging Timothy in his ministry, using himself as an
example for Timothy to follow.
[First Timothy 1:12-17]
v. 12 Paul recognized it was the Lord who enabled him the Spirit having giving him the graces he needed
to fulfill his ministry, the Lord having directed him in the capacity in which he was to minister. And Paul
showed the measure of faith in which he was to be a good steward, in verse 11 the glorious gospel of the
blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
v. 13 Pauls former life, so contrary to what he became, in the Lord. He recognizes the Lords mercy, to
save him out of it.
v. 14-17 By the grace of the Lord, Paul was transformed, becoming a useful tool in the Masters hand. The
one who obtained mercy could now extend that mercy to others. Thats the pattern; those who have been
reconciled are the very ones that the Lord uses in His work of reconciling others. What a trust! Pauls
thanks of the Lord Jesus culminate in this beautiful praise of Him; the only wise God.
As Paul did here for Timothy, he was doing for the Roman assembly; reflecting on his own ministry, and
how the Lord worked in him so mightily, to bring about His purpose of salvation. There is no boasting with
Paul; he has the true estimate of himself, looking at himself from the Lords perspective.
Paul didnt seek out or execute his ministry; he didnt try to figure out his gifts; he didnt compare what
he had to others. He simply followed Jesus, and along the way, he experienced the joy of discovering what
the Lord was doing, in him and through him. Paul was a good steward of the measure of faith that the Lord
had entrusted to him. And Paul is encouraging believers to imitate him; to fulfill their ministry.
Long ago, Paul had presented his body a living sacrifice, when he believed in Jesus. Paul got to see just
what the Lord can do through a willing body.
The Lord will do that through anybody any body your body. And if you are willing to be a useful
instrument in the Masters hand, you will experience what Paul did the joy of discovering just what the
Lord can do through you.
Reading: Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 13.