Okay, this is Romans lecture number 25 Romans lecture number 25 and we're on Romans chapter 12 Romans chapter 12 is one of the biggest Starting at verse 1 is one of the biggest transitions in the in the book of Romans because the first 11 chapters Paul talks about the right beliefs. He talks about Christian theology But now starting in chapter 12 and verse 1, Paul begins to talk about the application of the right beliefs to our lives. So he switches from right beliefs or right theology to right practice. In chapters 1 to 8, Paul gave his version of the gospel. He spoke about how all are condemned and how salvation comes only through Jesus. In chapters 9 to 11, Paul spoke about God's dealings with Israel. And now chapters 12 to 16, how the Christians should live. Now chapter 12, I divide this chapter into three different sections. Verses 1 to 2, that of consecration. Paul tells us to consecrate ourselves, devote ourselves to the Lord. In verses 3 to 8 of Romans chapter 12, Paul speaks about humility and service. As we serve the Lord, we should humbly serve the Lord and not think of ourselves as being greater than we are. And then in verses 9 to the end of the chapter, to verse 21, Paul tells us to live a life of love. So now we need to look at the section on consecration, verses 1 and 2. Now, these two verses in Romans chapter 12, verses 1 and 2, verse 1 speaks about consecration. We are to consecrate ourselves to the Lord. and devote our lives to Him and to His service. And then verse 2 talks about transformation. We are to be transformed by the renewing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. So let's take a look first at consecration, verse 1. So Romans chapter 12 verse 1 Paul says, I urge you therefore brethren by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship. So consecration. Paul uses the word urge. Parakaleo. Parakaleo in the Greek, it means to call to one side or aid. It's used in this context to mean to beseech or exhort others. As an apostle, Paul could have commanded us, or could have commanded his readers, the Christians in Rome, he could have commanded them to live a consecrated life with the apostolic authority that he held. Instead, he exhorted them as his brothers in Christ. Now look at John chapter 14 and verse 15. John 14 and verse 15. And Jesus says here, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. And so Paul, just as Jesus, did recognize that for true obedience it takes more than a to hold a heavy rod or a hammer over somebody's head and to use your authority, but it takes the inward motivation of love to be obedient. So Paul exhorts us as his brothers rather than commanding us when he beseeches us to live a consecrated life, a life devoted to the Lord. The word for brethren there is Adelphoi. It would be a Delphos in the singular, but a Delphoi in the plural. And so we know he's speaking only to professing believers. He's not telling non-believers to devote your lives to the Lord. That would be a waste of time. He's talking to those who profess faith in Christ. But he urges than to consecrate their lives to the Lord due to the mercies of God, by the mercies of God. Oiktermone in the Greek is the word. It means pity or compassion for the misfortunes of others. Mercy is kind of the other side of the coin. from grace. Grace, God gives us the eternal life that we don't deserve. Mercy, God spares us the punishment we do deserve. So out of compassion, God spares us the punishment we do deserve. That's what mercy is. So Paul appeals to God's compassion and his mercy to motivate us to serve God rather than appealing to God's wrath. Now I think this is really, when we really think about it, it only makes sense if we understand Paul's teaching about eternal security, that a believer, once a person is saved, that person will not be lost, the Lord will cause them to persevere in the faith. The reason being is that Paul would have said here, if he was an Arminian who believed you could lose your salvation, he would have said, I urge you therefore brethren by the wrath of God, to present your bodies, in other words, to obey God. In other words, I'm urging you to obey God because I don't want to see you guys go to hell. So it's because of God's wrath that you need to obey. But he doesn't say that. Instead he says, because God has had mercy on you, because you've already been spared the judgment, and now you need to obey him. So this really only makes sense that he's not appealing to God's wrath. It only makes sense in the context of eternal security, the fact that Paul believes that a believer cannot lose his salvation because God causes him to persevere in the faith. Now Paul tells believers to present their bodies as a living and holy sacrifice to the Lord We said present your bodies, so mada in the Greek, soma would be the singular, the word for body. Present, the word, you could also say to offer your bodies. It's sacrificial language. If you present an offering, you offer a sacrifice. Paul was saying that we are to present or offer our own bodies. So, rather than dead, the bodies of dead animals, we are to offer our own bodies as living sacrifices to the Lord. And so, no longer is the temple standing, no longer, in Paul's time, of course, the temple was still standing, but Christ had fulfilled the types that were found in the temple, and So, rather than present a dead animal sacrifice, believers are to present their own living bodies as an offering to the Lord, and to present, offer their bodies to God as instruments for God's use. Paul spoke about this using the same word for present, or yield, or offer, in Romans 6, verses 12 and 13. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lust, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members, the members of your body, as instruments of righteousness to God." So Paul is saying the same thing in different words here. So we are to present our bodies, and Paul says that we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. Zozon is the word for living, comes from the Greek word zoe, for life. Thuzion is the word for sacrifice. So we are to present our bodies as living sacrifices, not dead animal sacrifices, but living human sacrifices. Christ fulfilled the Old Testament sacrifices. The book of Hebrews tells us real clear that no one could be forgiven or saved through the bloodshed of animals, but then in Hebrews 10.14 it says, for by one offering, He, that's Christ, has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And so Christ fulfilled all the Old Testament sacrifices, all the dead animal sacrifices pointed forward to Jesus Christ. who would die on the cross for our sins. So Christ fulfilled the dead animal sacrifices, now the sacrifices that we need to offer to God, the sacrifice of our own body. 2 Corinthians 5.15 says, and He died for all that they who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. So Jesus died for us and now we are to live for Him. Sacrifice is that which is offered to God at baseball. You would have somebody either sacrifice bun or sacrifice fly. The idea would be for the person to make an out. So they themselves would be out, but in the process a runner would advance. So they would lay down their own opportunity to get a base hit to further the goals of the team. And it's the same way here. We are to lay down our lives for the Lord and allow Him to use our bodies as an instrument for His service. So we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, but also as a holy sacrifice. Hagion is the word for holy, from the Greek word hagios. It means to be set apart for God. set apart from sin and for God's holy purposes. Our bodies cannot be set apart both for God and Satan or both for God and self. In Matthew 6, 24, Jesus tells us very clearly that you cannot serve two masters. You can't serve both God and mammon, both God and wealth. And the fact of the matter is, we can't serve both God and Satan, we can't serve both God and self, and Paul is telling us that our bodies should be set apart for God alone, and that we should serve Him alone. Now this living and holy sacrifice of our bodies to the Lord, allowing the Lord, using our energy and all the strength that we have, but using our bodies for the Lord's purposes rather than for our own, this living and holy sacrifice is to be acceptable to God. The word in the Greek, Eureston, means well-pleasing. Now in Matthew 3, 16 and 17, at the baptism of Christ, when John the Baptist baptizes him, We read in Matthew 3, 16 and 17, And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and coming upon him. And behold, a voice out of the heavens saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. The idea there is that, you know, only Romans 8 tells us that in the flesh we cannot please God. Only through Jesus can we please the Father. Only Jesus himself is well pleasing to the Father. I believe, by the way, the Catholic Eucharist, the Lord's Supper, they turned it into an offering, a re-offering and a non-bloody offering of the body and blood of Christ, which is definitely not scriptural. But the word Eucharist, I believe they derive from this Greek word. I believe that's correct. But that is the kind of sacrifice that is acceptable to God. at this point in the history of God's redemption is not offering a dead animal sacrifice in a temple, but offering our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice to the Lord and offering our bodies to Him so that he can work through us for his service and that is the sacrifice which is acceptable to God and then Paul says that it is our spiritual service of worship. Now the word spiritual in the Greek is Logikon comes from the word Logos and basically we get our word logical or reasonable from that word. So some translations will read it is our reasonable service of worship and you know 2 Corinthians 5.15 that Christ died for us and therefore we should live for him. It's only reasonable that if he died for us and gave us the free gift of eternal life, it's only reasonable that we should therefore live for Him. Service of worship, the word for service is Latrean, and it is one of the common words for worship, but it was used Prostuneo is the word for worship that means to prostrate oneself before another, to bow before, to worship and adore. But Latruo, which is what Latreon comes from, it means to worship in some type of service, temple service or offering sacrifices and that type of thing and so it's kind of a worship where you're doing more than just kneeling down, you're going through the temple or tabernacle traditions or whatever acts of service you may be called upon. The same word is used in Romans 9-4 and it's a word that means the service of God within the tabernacle. But the point that's real And what really comes out in this passage is that an obedient life is an essential part of worship. An obedient life is an essential part of worship. Look at Matthew 5, verses 23 and 24. Matthew 5, verses 23 and 24. Jesus is speaking and He says here, If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. And so the Lord is real quick to let us know that we need to live that obedient life and be reconciled to others. That is an essential part of our worship. You just can't go out there and get drunk and live a sinful life and then show up in church on Sunday and act like you're going to be able to worship the Lord, you're not really worshiping His Word and Truth. And so that's consecration. We are to consecrate our lives to the Lord. Now let me say, if you consecrate your life to the Lord, if you devote your life to the Lord, that will result in transformation. These two are are very interconnected. So consecration leads to transformation. So look at verse 2 of Romans chapter 12. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. So transformation. Paul says don't be conformed to this world. The word conform, the root word for conformed is schema and it means outward. It emphasizes outward change. So don't be outwardly conformed to this world. The world, the word is aione. It comes from... it's... Aonios, this age, this present evil age is what's being spoken about. So what Paul's saying is don't be outwardly molded into the sinful mindset of this evil world system. Don't be outwardly molded into the sinful mindset of this evil world system. But instead, be transformed. Now, where Schema, the emphasis was on outward change, transformation, the word is metamorph, let me see, metamorphous, metamorphous, the pronunciation is probably weak there, but we get our word metamorphosis from it, and it speaks of transformation, it speaks of the inward change that does eventually bring outward results, but Paul's saying don't be outwardly conformed to this world, to the pattern of the sinful evil age, but instead be inwardly transformed, be inwardly changed by the inner workings of the Holy Spirit. Morphe always emphasizes that inward change. And if you look at Matthew 23, there Jesus speaks about the importance of being changed inwardly, which was something that the Pharisees were not doing. Matthew 23, verses 25 to 28, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so, you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. And so there needs to be inward transformation, not just outwardly conforming to some supposed standard of righteousness. We need the inner work of the Holy Spirit to transform, to change us from within, and definitely we need not to conform to the sinful pattern of this world. Paul tells us that this transformation occurs by the renewing of our minds. Look at Romans 7 and verse 25. Romans 7 and verse 25. Paul is speaking here. And he says, "...thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord, so that on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other with my flesh the law of sin." So a believer with his mind is serving God's laws. Mind is set on serving God's laws. Look at Romans 8, verses 5 to 9. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so. And those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. But in this passage, the emphasis there is on the fact that non-believers, their mind is set on the flesh and worshiping self, living for self. But the mind that is set on the Spirit, the believer, his mind is set on the things of God. Now, one of the key points, now it almost seems like a contradiction that Paul would say, well then believers need their minds renewed. What Paul is saying is that the believers have a new mindset. If a person is a true believer, they have a new mindset, or using philosophical language, they have a new world view. this new mindset or new world view is the main goal in life is to please God. Still, as a believer we must replace the wrong beliefs from our old world view with right beliefs from the new world view. Okay? So even though once Phil Fernandes gets saved, he now has a new mindset, he desires to please God from the heart, He still has a lot of wrong beliefs from his old worldview before he was saved and he needs his mind to be renewed and those wrong beliefs replaced by right beliefs which are found in God's Word. So we need our minds to be renewed by the Word of God. Another way of saying this is that believers must put on the mind of Christ, which Paul says throughout his writings. So we need to replace our own sinful selfish minds with the mind of Christ found in His Word and through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit who changes us from within. And so we must begin to view things from Christ's perspective and view things as Christ does. Paul says, that we need to be transformed by renewing our mind that we may prove what the will of God is. Prove means to test with the expectation of approving. So we need to prove what the will of God is, God's will for our lives. Now, let me say this, God's will for our lives can be broken down into two categories. There is God's general will, which is God's will for all believers, okay? That is found in God's Word, okay? God's Word says, Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, and love God with everything you've got, love your neighbor as yourself. God's general will for all believers is found in His Word. But then God has a specific will for each believer, okay? And that is found only in a consecrated life. If you consecrate your life to the Lord, you devote your life to the Lord, then you will begin to see God's specific will for your life. And so we will be able to prove and to find God's will for our lives, God's specific will, if we consecrate our lives to the Lord, obey God's general will, then God will begin to give us insight into what His specific will for our lives is. So if we obey God's general will, we'll find His specific will. Now, David words this a little bit differently in Psalm 37. Look at Psalm 37, verses 4 to 6. the Old Testament Book of Psalms 37 verses 4 to 6 David says, delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday. So he's saying, commit your way to the Lord, obey God's general will and He'll bring that about in your life. He'll bring about in your life that which He's called you to. But the verse 4 is really key. Delight yourself in the Lord. If you make the Lord your greatest joy, then He'll give you the desires of your heart. But if you make the Lord, if the Lord is truly your greatest joy, God will change your desires so that you will desire for your life what God desires for your life. In other words, if a guy is obeying God's general will, and giving strong evidence that he is living a life of consecration, and then he asks me, he says he doesn't know God's specific will, my question to that guy is going to be, what do you desire? When I was, you know, living a godly life, but, you know, wasn't perfect, but living a godly life and trying to find God's specific will, I couldn't understand why I didn't like any kind of work. All I desired to do was to study the Word and to preach and to teach. And I couldn't figure out, you know, well what does God want me to do? And then all of a sudden it hit me one day, God wants me to preach. that the desire wasn't a sinful, self-glorifying desire, but instead it was a desire that God put there. But if you are delighting yourself in the Lord and are obeying God's general will, and the Lord is your greatest joy, God will change your desires, so you will begin to desire exactly what God desires for you, and you will be able to prove what the will of God is, the specific will of God is for your life. Now, God's will for our lives, Paul says, is good and acceptable and perfect. The word for good is agathon, the Greek word derived from agathos, means good in both character and actions. It's like Matthew 7, verse 17, that only a good tree bears good fruit. God's will for our lives is good right from the motivation, right from the... it's good in character as well as the actions that result from it. God's will for our lives is also acceptable. Not only good, but it's acceptable. Again, that word, urston, well-pleasing. Just as Abel's sacrifice was well-pleasing to God, whereas Cain's was not. When we present our bodies as a living sacrifice to the Lord, it is well-pleasing to God. And when our minds are renewed and we begin to put on the mind of Christ, and then find God's specific will for our lives and do God's specific will for our lives, then our lives, presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice to the Lord is well-pleasing to the Lord. It's an acceptable sacrifice to the Lord. And not only is this God's will for our lives good and acceptable, but is also perfect to lay on in the Greek to lay on means complete Means having reached his desired goal false testimony. We see that he did exactly this he Laid down his life for the Lord and he recognized the Lord died for me and now I'm going to live for him. He presented his body to the Lord as a living sacrifice and allowed the Holy Spirit to work through him and to guide him. And so that at the close of his life, Paul could say in 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 7, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course and I have kept the faith. Paul had found God's good and acceptable and perfect will for his life, and Paul finished his course. A conclusion from these first two verses, because God spared us the punishment that we deserve, because God poured his mercy out on us, we should therefore dedicate our lives to him. We should not follow the world's sinfulness, but instead we should let the Holy Spirit change us from within, We should immerse ourselves in God's Word and meditate on God's Word and put on the mind of Christ. And we should seek God's specific will for our lives. 2 Corinthians 5.15 told us that since Christ died for us, we should live for Him. And then Mark 8.34 is also a good passage. that speaks on the same subject as Paul is speaking on here in Romans 12, 1 and 2. Mark 8, 30, 40. Some of the multitude were the disciples and said to them, if anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. And so Christ tells us to deny our own desires and instead to live for God. To take up our cross, whatever God's The cross was Christ's mission. He was born to die. And whatever mission God has given for us, we should take up our cross, accept that mission, accept God's mission for our lives, and then follow Christ's example by obeying the Father and fulfilling that mission. whatever that specific will for our lives is, we should find it, take up the cross and follow Christ, but we must deny ourselves and present our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice to the Lord. And so we are to live a life of consecration. Then in verses 3 to 8 of Romans 12, Paul speaks about humility and service. We are to humbly serve the Lord. Again, in the first 11 chapters, Paul explained what a Christian should believe. Now, in chapter 12, he's explaining how a Christian should live. Verses 1 and 2, he talked about a life of consecration. Verses 3 to 8, he's going to talk about a life of humble service. And then verses 9 to 21, a life of love. And Paul's going to continue this thought, how a Christian should live, throughout this book. Paul speaks about humility in verse 3, living a life of humble service. Look at verse 3. For through the grace given to me, I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. And Paul here talks about the grace given to me. In verse 6, he talks about that we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us. Okay? So the whole context, Paul is probably speaking here of his own spiritual gift of leadership. Okay? the grace given to me, so Paul saying, through the grace, the spiritual gift given to me, I now say this to you. Okay? And that spiritual gift of leadership that he had was essential to his apostolic office. Caritas is the word in the Greek. It comes from the word charis, for grace. Caritas is the word for spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are undeserved free gifts. God gives us these gifts to empower us to serve Him. They're not something that we earned or deserve ourselves. Paul says that we should not think more highly of ourselves than we ought. We should be humble and put others first. If you look at Philippians chapter 2, Philippians chapter 2, Paul brings the same message out, starting in verse 3 going down to verse 8. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit But with humility of mind, let each of you regard one another more important than himself. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others." Then Paul tells us that Christ set the example for us. Verse 5, "...have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men." being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. So Paul tells us that we should humble ourselves and consider others more important than our own, and look out for the interest of others, not just our own interest, and follow Christ's example. Even though he was God, he was willing to humble himself and become a man, and to die on a cross for our sins, to meet our needs. He didn't need to become a man, but he did it because he wanted to meet our needs. So we also should be humble and follow Christ's example, and rather than thinking highly of ourselves, we should be humble and put others' needs before our own. Paul is emphasizing here the idea that no such thing as one man shows in the church. Christianity is not a one-man show. Christianity deals with teamwork. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verses 4 to 7 also speaks about spiritual gifts and the idea of the church working together as a team comes out as well as a one body. Many members Different roles, but one body. 1 Corinthians 12 verses 4 to 7. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. And then verse 7. But each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. And so Christianity is not a one-man show. It takes a whole team. Everyone is important, whether it's the preacher or someone who has the gift of service. God has given us all spiritual gifts, and therefore we should not think more highly of ourselves than we ought. We should be humble, put others first, and be satisfied with the role that God has given to us, and recognizing that just because God's given us a particular gift, that we shouldn't look down on others, but we should recognize that everyone plays a vital role in the church of Jesus Christ. Paul tells us to have sound judgment. This means to be sober. In other words, don't be intoxicated with your own greatness. And again, he's speaking on the fact that don't think more highly of yourself. than you are. Paul says here in verse 3 that God has allotted to each man a measure of faith. This is the faith that God gives each believer. This is serving faith, not saving faith. Faith for Christian service. Faith for Christian service is the faith needed to perform the ministry that God has given to you. therefore we should not be proud this faith God has given us. You know, you might say, well, I have the ability to have an effective ministry in this area, therefore I should be proud. Well, the fact of the matter is you shouldn't be proud because the faith, the ability that you have to fulfill that ministry was given to you as a gift from God. God, all God wants is people who are willing to serve Him. And if they are willing, God will give us the ability. Sometimes, you know, if it's preaching, sometimes That willingness is going to entail a willingness to study for years to prepare for the ministry. But whatever it is, the faith that God gives us, the ability, is a gift from Him. And so every believer has a measure of faith, Paul tells us. In other words, every believer has a ministry from the Lord that we should partake in. Paul speaks about the body of Christ in verses 4 and 5 of Romans 12. Look at verse 4. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, It's talking about here the human body has many members, eyes, ears, nose, you know, the list goes on and on. Yet it's just one body, soma in the Greek. But this one body has many functions and that's why it has the many members. The eyes see, the ears hear, the nose smells. And then verse 5, Paul compares this with the body of Christ. The church. So we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members one of another. So the body of Christ, there are many. There's many believers, yet we are one body in Christ. Christ is our unity. The universal church, all true believers, are Christ's visible representatives on earth. We are the body of Christ. And the church functions as a body. Many different ministries united in serving Christ. Christ is our unity, but we have many different ministries, many different roles to play. And so the body of Christ, we are individually members of it, this speaks of teamwork, we work together like the parts of a body. for one purpose, to serve the Lord. There should be no one-man shows. We're working together. And Billy Graham has a large team of servants of Christ that enable him, his ministry, to succeed. And we should recognize that teamwork is needed. Just as the body needs a brain, needs eyes, needs a nose, needs ears, even the parts of the body as 1 Corinthians 12 tells us that don't seem to be quite as important as other parts are vitally important to the proper functioning of the body. Paul speaks about using our gifts in verse 6. Look at Romans 12 in verse 6, and since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly. The prophecy according to the proportion of his faith, and then he goes on with the other gifts. Paul says that we have gifts that differ, charismata, we get the word, you know, the charismatic gifts from it. Our gifts and ministries are our diversity. Gifts that differ. Christ is our unity. So we all have different yet vital roles to play in the body of Christ. Again, this speaks of teamwork. Paul brings this out very clearly again in 1 Corinthians 12. He speaks on the same subject of the spiritual gifts. Though in 1 Corinthians 12 he's speaking about the manifestation gifts, whereas in Romans 12 he is speaking about the ministry gifts, gifts for Christian service. But in 1 Corinthians 12, verses 12 to 21, he says, For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body, it is not for this reason any less a part of the body. But if the ear should say, but I am, because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body, it is not for this reason any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body just as He desired. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members but one body, and the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, or again, the head to the feet, I have no need of you. And so again, we all have different roles to play in the body of Christ, but each one has a vital role to play, and we need each other, and we must work together with our gifts to perform that ministry from the Lord. Paul says that we should Use our gifts according to the grace given us. Charis is the word for grace, God's unmerited favor. And we should use the spiritual gifts according to the spiritual gifts given us. In other words, don't be out trying to teach all the time if God hasn't given you the spiritual gift for teaching. Use your gifts according to the grace given you. If God gave you the gift of service, then serve others. Don't try to use some gift that God hasn't given you. Paul says, let each exercise their gifts accordingly. Use your gifts. Christianity, there's no spectators in Christianity. It's not a spectator sport. God calls us all to serve. We must use our gifts. Yet we are not to abuse our gifts. no one man shows, and no looking down on others because they don't have the gifts that we have. Now starting in verse 6, Paul talks about the gift of prophecy there, that if prophecy that we should exercise that according to the proportion of our faith, and according to the proportion of his faith, This phrase applies to all the gifts that are going to be mentioned here. Prophecy, service, teaching, exhorting, giving, leading, and showing mercy. Whatever gift we have, we should exercise it according to the proportion of the faith that God has given us. Now, the gift of prophecy for ministry is the proclaiming of God's truth. In a sense, preachers proclaim God's truth, but often prophecy predicts the future, But the important thing to know about any prophecy given to us now, it would be for direction, for specific direction, but it would not be for doctrines for the entire Church. Because the canon of Scriptures is closed, God has completed His Bible, and we're not going to get newer doctrines, newer teachings, but we may need a prophecy for a specific direction. but we are to practice this gift of prophecy if we have it according to the proportion of the faith that God has given us for this ministry. In other words, do not lag behind God. At the same time, don't outrun God. Use your gifts in accordance to the proportion of the faith God has given to you, and that applies to all the gifts, not just the gifts of the prophecy.