Romans 12:3-5
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. 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.
I was reading an article recently that asked the question, “What is the most controversial Christian teaching?” The article listed a number of things that we might think would be the most controversial: human sexuality, the doctrine of Hell, the exclusivity of the Gospel… those sorts of things. Those things do get a lot of press, but there's something that's perhaps even more controversial today, and has been for a very long time. The necessity of the church.
Look at any of the trends regarding Church engagement, not just attendance but engagement, and it's been in decline for decades. As our lives get busier, we can ask the question: is being part of a church really necessary? Some of us ask that question every morning, right — particularly on Sunday mornings. We ask, “Why are we doing this? I've got stuff to do.”
Is getting together on Sunday mornings, getting involved in relationships and Ministry, getting connected to a local body of Believers where they know me, and I know them, and we're both learning to follow Jesus more closely together - do we really need that? Is it really necessary when I can get great teaching online and I can worship alone or just with my family. Do I really need to be connected to a local body?
Yes. Yes, you do. And here's one of the reasons why. You don't have all the gifts. To assume you don't need to live connected with a body of believers isn't sensible.
Romans 12:3
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.
All throughout the letter, Paul is reminding them that Jewish believers and Gentile believers all stand guilty. Without excuse, Jew or Gentile all are made right with God the same way — by faith. Jew or Gentile, you're all part of the same. You stand on the same level ground at the foot of the cross. And you all come by Mercy.
If you think that through, and if you're sensible about it, you'll realize you can't live separately anymore. Each individual part in the body contributes something that the other members need to function. That's how he puts it in Romans. And this is how he puts it in 1 Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 12: 13 - 22
For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body— whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free— and we all were all given one Spirit to drink. Indeed, the body is not one part but many. If the foot should say, “because I'm not a hand, I don't belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I'm not an eye, I don't belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted. And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don't need you!” Or again the head cannot say to the feet, “I don't need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that are weaker are indispensable.
Paul is calling us to be sober-minded, to think sensibly, and to not think of ourselves too highly. The ditch he saw believers in Rome falling into is the same one he saw the believers in Corinth falling into. And it’s the same ditch we can fall into today. It's the insanity of Independence.
Independence says, “I don't need anybody else.” The I don't need anybody else mentality is not sensible, it’s arrogant. And there's another ditch. Independence also says, “no one else needs me.” Both are nonsense.
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. 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.
A couple of takeaways from Romans 12:3-5. One, everyone has gifts. And two, no one has all the gifts.
God has distributed gifts to each one of us. Each part of the body has a function and not every part has the same function. To those who question the necessity of the church, who don’t feel like they really need to live in close relationship with a body of believers, submitting to one another, serving together, all under Christ as part of his body— Paul says you think too highly of yourself and are out of touch with reality.
So, we’ve answered the gospel's call, and we’ve trusted Christ, but now what? Well, it's time to think about yourself differently and to think about the believers around you differently. You need to realize that you are a part of a body and you've been given a part to play. And we must remember that all gifts are given through grace. We have different gifts, yes. But it is through God in his grace that He gives gifts. His grace is the root, and His gifts are the fruit. A gift you have is the fruit of the tree of Grace.
Why is that important? Because when we forget that, our gifts can become a source of pride. If we think what we bring to the table is a measure of how valuable we are it becomes a source of pride, and it becomes a problem.
Pride is what someone once called cosmic plagiarism. It's taking credit for what God has done. And Harry Truman said, “You know, it's amazing what you could accomplish if you don't care about who gets the credit.”
The key to functioning as the body of Christ is when everyone is concerned that it is God who gets the credit.
If what you have, your skills, your abilities, your wealth and your beauty, your charisma in the world, when your value is measured by what you offer, it's assumed that you and others too are going to use those things for personal advantage. It’s assumed that it is for your own benefit. But in the body of Christ, transformed by the gospel, it's the exact opposite. Somebody put the gospel this way: You are so bad that nothing but the death of the Son of God could save you. But you are so loved, so valued by Him, that He was willing to do it.
What you bring to the table isn't what makes you valuable. It's what God was willing to give for you that makes you valuable. He was willing to give the life of his Son in the body of Christ. Jesus, what He was willing to do for you, that's how you know you're valuable. What He gives to you to bring to the table isn't for you. It's for building up the body.
1 Corinthians 12:7
A demonstration of the spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial for the common good.
That’s why the gifts are given. It's for the body, and a sensible believer never forgets that is by God's grace you have anything at all, including every gift or ability you have. It is all a product of God's grace. Turn it over, stamped on the bottom of the product of God's grace is the maker’s mark — made by Jesus Christ.
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. 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.
I was reading an article recently that asked the question, “What is the most controversial Christian teaching?” The article listed a number of things that we might think would be the most controversial: human sexuality, the doctrine of Hell, the exclusivity of the Gospel… those sorts of things. Those things do get a lot of press, but there's something that's perhaps even more controversial today, and has been for a very long time. The necessity of the church.
Look at any of the trends regarding Church engagement, not just attendance but engagement, and it's been in decline for decades. As our lives get busier, we can ask the question: is being part of a church really necessary? Some of us ask that question every morning, right — particularly on Sunday mornings. We ask, “Why are we doing this? I've got stuff to do.”
Is getting together on Sunday mornings, getting involved in relationships and Ministry, getting connected to a local body of Believers where they know me, and I know them, and we're both learning to follow Jesus more closely together - do we really need that? Is it really necessary when I can get great teaching online and I can worship alone or just with my family. Do I really need to be connected to a local body?
Yes. Yes, you do. And here's one of the reasons why. You don't have all the gifts. To assume you don't need to live connected with a body of believers isn't sensible.
Romans 12:3
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.
All throughout the letter, Paul is reminding them that Jewish believers and Gentile believers all stand guilty. Without excuse, Jew or Gentile all are made right with God the same way — by faith. Jew or Gentile, you're all part of the same. You stand on the same level ground at the foot of the cross. And you all come by Mercy.
If you think that through, and if you're sensible about it, you'll realize you can't live separately anymore. Each individual part in the body contributes something that the other members need to function. That's how he puts it in Romans. And this is how he puts it in 1 Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 12: 13 - 22
For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body— whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free— and we all were all given one Spirit to drink. Indeed, the body is not one part but many. If the foot should say, “because I'm not a hand, I don't belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I'm not an eye, I don't belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted. And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don't need you!” Or again the head cannot say to the feet, “I don't need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that are weaker are indispensable.
Paul is calling us to be sober-minded, to think sensibly, and to not think of ourselves too highly. The ditch he saw believers in Rome falling into is the same one he saw the believers in Corinth falling into. And it’s the same ditch we can fall into today. It's the insanity of Independence.
Independence says, “I don't need anybody else.” The I don't need anybody else mentality is not sensible, it’s arrogant. And there's another ditch. Independence also says, “no one else needs me.” Both are nonsense.
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. 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.
A couple of takeaways from Romans 12:3-5. One, everyone has gifts. And two, no one has all the gifts.
God has distributed gifts to each one of us. Each part of the body has a function and not every part has the same function. To those who question the necessity of the church, who don’t feel like they really need to live in close relationship with a body of believers, submitting to one another, serving together, all under Christ as part of his body— Paul says you think too highly of yourself and are out of touch with reality.
So, we’ve answered the gospel's call, and we’ve trusted Christ, but now what? Well, it's time to think about yourself differently and to think about the believers around you differently. You need to realize that you are a part of a body and you've been given a part to play. And we must remember that all gifts are given through grace. We have different gifts, yes. But it is through God in his grace that He gives gifts. His grace is the root, and His gifts are the fruit. A gift you have is the fruit of the tree of Grace.
Why is that important? Because when we forget that, our gifts can become a source of pride. If we think what we bring to the table is a measure of how valuable we are it becomes a source of pride, and it becomes a problem.
Pride is what someone once called cosmic plagiarism. It's taking credit for what God has done. And Harry Truman said, “You know, it's amazing what you could accomplish if you don't care about who gets the credit.”
The key to functioning as the body of Christ is when everyone is concerned that it is God who gets the credit.
If what you have, your skills, your abilities, your wealth and your beauty, your charisma in the world, when your value is measured by what you offer, it's assumed that you and others too are going to use those things for personal advantage. It’s assumed that it is for your own benefit. But in the body of Christ, transformed by the gospel, it's the exact opposite. Somebody put the gospel this way: You are so bad that nothing but the death of the Son of God could save you. But you are so loved, so valued by Him, that He was willing to do it.
What you bring to the table isn't what makes you valuable. It's what God was willing to give for you that makes you valuable. He was willing to give the life of his Son in the body of Christ. Jesus, what He was willing to do for you, that's how you know you're valuable. What He gives to you to bring to the table isn't for you. It's for building up the body.
1 Corinthians 12:7
A demonstration of the spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial for the common good.
That’s why the gifts are given. It's for the body, and a sensible believer never forgets that is by God's grace you have anything at all, including every gift or ability you have. It is all a product of God's grace. Turn it over, stamped on the bottom of the product of God's grace is the maker’s mark — made by Jesus Christ.
by Jared Major
Posted in Thoughts on Romans
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