For I say through the grace that was given me, to every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith. For even as we have many members in one body, and all the members don’t have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another, having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us: if prophecy, let’s prophesy according to the proportion of our faith; or service, let’s give ourselves to service; or he who teaches, to his teaching; or he who exhorts, to his exhorting; he who gives, let him do it with generosity; he who rules, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
Parallel Translations
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For I say through the grace that was given me, to every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith.
For even as we have many members in one body, and all the members don’t have the same function,
so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another,
having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us: if prophecy, let’s prophesy according to the proportion of our faith;
or service, let’s give ourselves to service; or he who teaches, to his teaching;
or he who exhorts, to his exhorting; he who gives, let him do it with generosity; he who rules, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
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For I saye (thorowe the grace that vnto me geve is) to every man amonge you that noman esteme of him selfe moare then it becometh him to esteme: but that he discretely iudge of him selfe accordynge as God hath dealte to every man the measure of fayth.
As we have many members in one body and all members have not one office:
so we beynge many are one body in Christ and every man (amonge oure selves) one anothers members
Seynge that we have dyvers gyftes accordynge to the grace that is geven vnto vs: yf eny man have the gyft of prophesye let him have it that it be agreynge vnto the fayth.
Let him that hath an office wayte on his office. Let him that teacheth take hede to his doctrine.
Let him that exhorteth geve attendaunce to his exhortacion. Yf eny man geve let him do it with singlenes. Let him that ruleth do it with diligence. Yf eny man shewe mercy let him do it with cherfulnes.
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For I say through the grace that is giuen vnto me, to euery one that is among you, that no man presume to vnderstande aboue that which is meete to vnderstand, but that he vnderstande according to sobrietie, as God hath dealt to euery man the measure of faith.
For as wee haue many members in one body, and all members haue not one office,
So we being many are one body in Christ, and euery one, one anothers members.
Seeing then that we haue gifts that are diuers, according to the grace that is giuen vnto vs, whether we haue prophecie, let vs prophecie according to the portion of faith:
Or an office, let vs waite on the office: or he that teacheth, on teaching:
Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that distributeth, let him doe it with simplicitie: he that ruleth, with diligence: he that sheweth mercie, with cheerefulnesse.
Cross-references (163)
- Galatians 6:3 (v3) For if a man thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
- Philippians 2:3-8 (v3) doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself; each of you not just looking…
- Proverbs 26:12 (v3) Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
- Romans 12:16 (v3) Be of the same mind one toward another. Don’t set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Don’t be wise in your own…
- 1 Peter 5:5 (v3) Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another;…
Show all 100 cross-references
- Ecclesiastes 7:16 (v3) Don’t be overly righteous, neither make yourself overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself?
- 1 Peter 4:10-11 (v6) As each has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good managers of the grace of God in its various forms. If anyone speaks,…
- 1 Peter 5:8 (v3) Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
- 1 Corinthians 7:7 (v6) Yet I wish that all men were like me. However each man has his own gift from God, one of this kind, and another of that kind.
- 1 Corinthians 12:27 (v4) Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.
- James 4:6 (v3) But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 (vv4–5) For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For in one…
- 1 Corinthians 12:28-31 (v6) God has set some in the assembly: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracle workers, then gifts of healings, helps,…
- Proverbs 16:18-19 (v3) Pride goes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor, than to divide the…
- 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (v6) Now there are various kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are various kinds of service, and the same Lord. There are various kinds…
- 1 Peter 4:7 (v3) But the end of all things is near. Therefore be of sound mind, self-controlled, and sober in prayer.
- 1 Peter 4:11 (v3) If anyone speaks, let it be as it were the very words of God. If anyone serves, let it be as of the strength which God supplies, that in…
- Romans 12:3 (v6) For I say through the grace that was given me, to every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think;…
- 1 Corinthians 12:20 (v5) But now they are many members, but one body.
- Ephesians 4:15-16 (v4) but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ, from whom all the body, being fitted and knit…
- Micah 6:8 (v3) He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
- 1 Corinthians 7:17 (v3) Only, as the Lord has distributed to each man, as God has called each, so let him walk. So I command in all the assemblies.
- 1 Corinthians 13:2 (v6) If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t…
- Ephesians 4:7-13 (v3) But to each one of us, the grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high, he…
- Titus 2:12 (v3) instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age;
- Romans 1:11 (v6) For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, to the end that you may be established;
- 1 Corinthians 14:1 (v6) Follow after love and earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.
- 1 Corinthians 14:3-5 (v6) But he who prophesies speaks to men for their edification, exhortation, and consolation. He who speaks in another language edifies himself,…
- 2 Corinthians 9:7 (v8) Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
- Titus 2:2 (v3) that older men should be temperate, sensible, sober minded, sound in faith, in love, and in perseverance:
- Romans 12:6-8 (v3) having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us: if prophecy, let’s prophesy according to the proportion of our faith;…
- 1 Corinthians 12:27-28 (v5) Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. God has set some in the assembly: first apostles, second prophets, third…
- 1 Timothy 5:17 (vv7–8) Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching.
- Matthew 18:1-4 (v3) In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Jesus called a little child to himself,…
- 1 Corinthians 1:5-7 (v6) that in everything you were enriched in him, in all speech and all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: so that…
- Ephesians 4:11 (vv6–7) He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers;
- 1 Corinthians 10:17 (v5) Because there is one loaf of bread, we, who are many, are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf of bread.
- 1 Corinthians 12:4 (v4) Now there are various kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.
- 2 Corinthians 12:7 (v3) By reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted excessively, a thorn in the flesh was given to me: a…
- Ephesians 4:25 (v5) Therefore putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor. For we are members of one another.
- 1 Corinthians 12:28 (vv7–8) God has set some in the assembly: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracle workers, then gifts of healings, helps,…
- Acts 13:1 (v7) Now in the assembly that was at Antioch there were some prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene,…
- Romans 11:20 (v3) True; by their unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by your faith. Don’t be conceited, but fear;
- 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 (v3) But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the profit of all. For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom,…
- 2 Timothy 4:2 (v7) preach the word; be urgent in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all patience and teaching.
- Titus 2:4 (v3) that they may train the young wives to love their husbands, to love their children,
- 1 Peter 1:13 (v3) Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of…
- Acts 15:32 (vv6, 8) Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged the brothers with many words and strengthened them.
- Acts 20:28 (vv7–8) Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the assembly of the…
- 2 Corinthians 8:12 (vv6, 8) For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what you have, not according to what you don’t have.
- Psalms 34:11 (v7) Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of Yahweh.
- Psalms 51:13 (v7) Then I will teach transgressors your ways. Sinners will be converted to you.
- Ezekiel 3:17-21 (v7) “Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore hear the word from my mouth, and warn them from me. When I tell…
- Matthew 24:45-47 (v7) “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord has set over his household, to give them their food in due season? Blessed is…
- Matthew 28:19 (v7) Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
- Luke 12:42-44 (v7) The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at…
- Romans 1:5 (v3) through whom we received grace and apostleship for obedience of faith among all the nations for his name’s sake;
- Galatians 6:6 (v7) But let him who is taught in the word share all good things with him who teaches.
- Ephesians 4:4 (v4) There is one body and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling,
- Ephesians 5:30 (v5) because we are members of his body, of his flesh and bones.
- Colossians 1:28-29 (v7) We proclaim him, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus; for…
- Colossians 4:17 (v7) Tell Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfill it.”
- 1 Timothy 2:7 (v7) to which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am telling the truth in Christ, not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
- 1 Timothy 3:2 (v7) The overseer therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, modest, hospitable, good at teaching;
- 1 Timothy 3:4-5 (v8) one who rules his own house well, having children in subjection with all reverence; (but how could someone who doesn’t know how to rule…
- 1 Timothy 4:16 (v7) Pay attention to yourself and to your teaching. Continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear…
- 2 Timothy 2:2 (v7) The things which you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit the same things to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
- 2 Timothy 2:24 (v7) The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but be gentle toward all, able to teach, patient,
- Deuteronomy 33:10 (v7) They shall teach Jacob your ordinances, and Israel your law. They shall put incense before you, and whole burnt offering on your altar.
- 1 Samuel 12:23 (v7) Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Yahweh in ceasing to pray for you: but I will instruct you in the good and…
- Ecclesiastes 12:9 (v7) Further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered, sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
- Isaiah 21:8 (v7) He cried like a lion: “Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime, and every night I stay at my post.
- Ezekiel 33:7-9 (v7) “So you, son of man: I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore hear the word from my mouth, and give them warnings from…
- John 3:2 (v7) The same came to him by night, and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that…
- John 3:34 (v3) For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure.
- Acts 6:1 (v7) Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, a complaint arose from the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because…
- Acts 13:15 (v8) After the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of…
- Acts 20:2 (v8) When he had gone through those parts, and had encouraged them with many words, he came into Greece.
- Acts 20:20 (v7) how I didn’t shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, teaching you publicly and from house to house,
- 1 Corinthians 4:6-7 (v6) Now these things, brothers, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to think…
- 1 Corinthians 14:31-32 (v6) For you all can prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be exhorted. The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets,
- 1 Corinthians 15:10 (v3) But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was given to me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but…
- Colossians 2:19 (v5) and not holding firmly to the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with…
- 1 Thessalonians 5:12-14 (v8) But we beg you, brothers, to know those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you, and to respect and honor them…
- 1 Thessalonians 5:20 (v6) Don’t despise prophecies.
- Hebrews 13:7 (v8) Remember your leaders, men who spoke to you the word of God, and considering the results of their conduct, imitate their faith.
- Hebrews 13:17 (v8) Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who will give account, that they may do this with…
- Hebrews 13:22 (v8) But I exhort you, brothers, endure the word of exhortation; for I have written to you in few words.
- Acts 11:28-30 (v8) One of them named Agabus stood up, and indicated by the Spirit that there should be a great famine all over the world, which also happened…
- 1 Corinthians 4:7-8 (v3) For who makes you different? And what do you have that you didn’t receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not…
- 1 Corinthians 10:33 (v5) even as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved.
- 1 Corinthians 14:3 (v8) But he who prophesies speaks to men for their edification, exhortation, and consolation.
- 1 Corinthians 14:29 (v6) Let the prophets speak, two or three, and let the others discern.
- Ephesians 3:7-8 (v3) of which I was made a servant according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power. To me,…
- Hebrews 10:25 (v8) not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day…
- Hebrews 13:24 (v8) Greet all of your leaders and all the saints. The Italians greet you.
- 1 Peter 5:1-4 (v7) Therefore I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and who will also share in the glory…
- Psalms 37:21 (v8) The wicked borrow, and don’t pay back, but the righteous give generously.
- Psalms 101:1-8 (v8) I will sing of loving kindness and justice. To you, Yahweh, I will sing praises. I will be careful to live a blameless life. When will you…
- Psalms 112:9 (v8) He has dispersed, he has given to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. His horn will be exalted with honor.
100 distinct cross-references across this passage (163 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (27 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 8 3. For I say, through the grace, etc. If…
3. For I say, through the grace, etc. If you think not the causal particle superfluous, this verse will not be unsuitably connected with the former; for since he wished that our whole study should be employed in investigating the will of God, the next thing to this was, to draw us away from vain curiosity. As however the causal particle is often used redundantly by Paul, you may take the verse as containing a simple affirmation; for thus the sense would also be very appropriate.
But before he specifies his command, he reminds them of the authority which had been given to him, so that they might not otherwise attend to his voice than if it was the voice of God himself; for his words are the same, as though he had said, “I speak not of myself; but, as God’s ambassador, I bring to you the commands which he has entrusted to me.” By “grace” (as before) he means the Apostleship, with respect to which he exalts God’s kindness, and at the same time intimates, that he had not crept in through his own presumption, but, that he was chosen by the calling of God. Having then by this preface secured authority to himself, he laid the Romans under the necessity of obeying, unless they were prepared to despise God in the person of his minister.
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Then the command follows, by which he draws us away from the investigation of those things which can bring nothing but harassment to the mind, and no edification; and he forbids every one to assume more than what his capacity and calling will allow; and at the same time he exhorts us to think and meditate on those things which may render us sober-minded and modest. For so I understand the words, rather than in the sense given by Erasmus, who thus renders them, “Let no one think proudly of himself;” for this sense is somewhat remote from the words, and the other is more accordant with the context. The clause, Beyond what it behooves him to be wise, shows what he meant by the former verb ὑπερφρόνειν, to be above measure wise; that is, that we exceed the measure of wisdom, if we engage in those things concerning which it is not meet that we should be anxious. To be wise unto sobriety is to attend to the study of those things by which you may find that you learn and gain moderation.
To every one as God has distributed, etc. (Unicuique ut divisit Deus.) There is here an inversion of words, instead of — As to every one God has distributed And here a reason is given for that sober-minded wisdom which he had mentioned; for as distribution of graces is various, so every one preserves himself within the due boundaries of wisdom, who keeps within the limits of that grace of faith bestowed on him by the Lord. Hence there is an immoderate affectation of wisdom, not only in empty things and in things useless to be known, but also in the knowledge of those things which are otherwise useful, when we regard not what has been given to us, but through rashness and presumption go beyond the measure of our knowledge; and such outrage God will not suffer to go unpunished. It is often to be seen, with what insane trifles they are led away, who, by foolish ambition, proceed beyond those bounds which are set for them.
The meaning is, that it is a part of our reasonable sacrifice to surrender ourselves, in a meek and teachable spirit, to be ruled and guided by God. And further, by setting up faith in opposition to human judgment, he restrains us from our own opinions, and at the same time specifies the due measure of it, that is, when the faithful humbly keep themselves within the limits allotted to them.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 7, 8 I charge.
I charge.
Thirdly he admonisheth us very earnestly, that every man keep himself within the bounds of his vocation, and that every man be wise according to the measure of grace that God hath given him.
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That he please not himself too much, as they do, which persuade themselves they know more than indeed they do.
We will be sober if we take not that upon us, which we have not, and if we brag not of that we have.
By faith he meaneth the knowledge of God in Christ, and the gifts which the holy Ghost poureth upon the faithful.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3–8 3 For I say, through the grace given unto…
3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Ver. 3. But to think soberly] Gr. φρονειν εις το σωφρονειν, to be wise to sobriety. Socrates made no distinction between wisdom and sobriety, σοφιαν και σωφροσυνην non distinguebat. (Xenoph.) We shall be sober, if we take not that upon us that we have not, nor brag of that which we have. There is an elegancy in the original that cannot be rendered.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 7, 8 Before he exhorted to a holy life in general,…
Before he exhorted to a holy life in general, now he comes to more particular exhortations.
I say; i.e. I enjoin and command; see Gal 5:16. I do not only beseech you, as Rom 12:1, but I also require you, as one that hath authority.
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Through the grace given unto me:. {see Rom 1:5} See Poole on "Rom 1:5".
To every man that is among you; more particularly, to him that hath any particular gift or office in the church.
Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; i.e. not to be drunk with a proud and overweening conceit of himself, his own wisdom, ability, &c.
But to think soberly, or modestly; let him contain himself within bounds, and not take upon him what doth not belong to him; let him not contemn others, and pretend to more than he hath. There is an elegant paronomasia in the Greek, which our language cannot reach.
According as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith: faith here is put for the knowledge of God and Christ, and all other spiritual gifts and graces bestowed upon the faithful; these are called faith, because they are given with faith, and exercised by faith: of these, God deals to every man his measure or portion; not all gifts to one, nor the same gift to every one in the same measure or proportion: see Rom 12:6; Eph 4:7.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6 The apostle having exhorted to an holy life in…
The apostle having exhorted to an holy life in general, ver. 1 and to a spiritual renovation of mind, in order to it, ver. 2 comes now to a close exhortation to more particular duties; the first of which is modesty and true humility of mind.
This he recommends especially to such who bear any public office in the church, and had received some peculiar and special gifts to fit and furnish them for the discharge of that office.
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St. Paul here particularly enjoins them, by virtue of his apostolic office, to watch against pride, and haughtiness of mind, not to think themselves, according to the truth, and to the degree of faith and wisdom given unto them of God; plainly intimating, that such as are exalted to a degree of eminence in the church above others, are in great danger of the sin of pride, which it is their duty to watch and pray against, and to be found in the exercise of that humility and lowliness of mind, which is so greatly ornamental to their persons and profession: Let not any man think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but let him think soberly.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv3–8 For I say, through the grace given unto me,....…
For I say, through the grace given unto me,.... The Ethiopic version reads, the grace of God: and so two of Stephens's copies. By which the apostle intends, not that internal grace which was wrought in his soul; nor the Gospel of the grace of God, which he preached; nor the gifts of grace, which qualified him for that service; but the grace of apostleship, or that authoritative power, which he, as the apostle, received from Christ to say, command, give orders and instructions to churches, and particular persons:
to every man that is among you: every member of the church, in whatsoever state or condition, whether in office or not; of whatsoever abilities or capacity, having gifts, whether more or less; the manifestation of the Spirit being given to everyone to profit with, for his own and the good of others:
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not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; that is, either not to arrogate to himself what does not belong to him, and detract from others, who may have equal, if not superior, abilities to him; or not to glory in what he has, as if he had not received it, and as if it was altogether owing to his own sagacity, penetration, diligence, and industry; or not to search into things too high for him that are out of his reach, and beyond his capacity; though this is not to be understood as discouraging a search into the Scriptures of truth, the more difficult parts of it, and the more knotty points of controversy; but as forbidding inquiry into things not lawful to be searched into, or, if lawful, as requiring such a scrutiny to be made with modesty, and an humble dependence on superior light and assistance, and a discovery of it with humility and lowliness of mind;
but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith: such ought to consider that what gifts, abilities, light, and knowledge they have, they have then, not of themselves, but from God; that they have not all faith, and all knowledge, or do not know the whole of the faith of the Gospel only a measure of it, which is dealt out, divided, and parted to every man, some having a greater degree of evangelical light than others; and that all have some, but none all. The Syriac version renders it, "faith in measure"; one of Stephens's copies reads, "the measure of grace"; see Eph 4:7.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 6, 7, 8 And I say - He now proceeds to show…
And I say - He now proceeds to show what that will of God is. Through the grace which is given to me - He modestly adds this, lest he should seem to forget his own direction. To every one that is among you - Believers at Rome. Happy, had they always remembered this! The measure of faith - Treated of in the first and following chapters, from which all other gifts and graces flow.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv3–8 Verse 3. Through the grace given unto me] By…
Verse 3. Through the grace given unto me] By the grace given St. Paul most certainly means his apostolical office, by which he had the authority, not only to preach the Gospel, but also to rule the Church of Christ. This is the meaning of the word, η χαρις, in Eph 3:8: Unto me who am less than the least of all saints is this grace given - is conceded this office or employment immediately by God himself; that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
Not to think - more highly] μη υπερφρονειν, Not to act proudly; to arrogate nothing to himself on account of any grace he had received, or of any office committed to him.
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But to think soberly] αλλα φρονειν εις το σωφρονειν. The reader will perceive here a sort of paronomasia, or play upon words: φρονειν, from φρην, the mind, signifies to think, mind, relish, to be of opinion, c. and σωφρονειν from σοος, sound, and φρην, the mind, signifies to be of a sound mind; to think discreetly, modestly, humbly. Let no man think himself more or greater than God has made him; and let him know that what ever he is or has of good or excellence, he has it from God; and that the glory belongs to the giver, and not to him who has received the gift.
Measure of faith.] μετρον πιστεως. It is very likely, as Dr. Moore has conjectured, that the πιστις, faith, here used, means the Christian religion; and the measure, the degree of knowledge and experience which each had received in it, and the power this gave him of being useful in the Church of God. See Ro 12:6.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv3–4 Rom 12:3. For I say — As if he…
Rom 12:3. For I say — As if he had said, You must be renewed, in order that you may walk as it is your indispensable duty and great privilege to do. He proceeds to show what that will of God is, which he had just spoken of: through the grace which is given to me — He chiefly means, given him as an inspired apostle, whereby he was qualified and authorized to direct the believers at Rome, in their duty in general, and in the exercise of their gifts, and the execution of their offices in particular. And he modestly mentions the grace of God as the source of his authority and qualifications for this office, lest he should seem to forget his own direction; to every one that is among you — To all and each of you, who profess Christianity at Rome: well would it have been if the Christians there had always remembered his advice! Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think — On account of any special gift conferred on him, or any public office assigned him in the church; not to be lifted up with pride on account of it, or of his own wisdom or understanding, so as to arrogate to himself, or take upon him, more authority than he ought. But to think soberly — To think of himself, of his gifts or office, with modesty and humility; according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith — From which all other gifts and graces flow. And surely, as if he had said, When you consider it is God who hath given all, there will appear little reason to magnify yourselves on any distinguishing share of his bounty, which any one may have received; especially when you remember that this distribution is made not only, or chiefly, for your own sakes, but out of regard to the good of the whole. From the apostolic caution and advice here given, we may infer that “irregularities in the exercise of spiritual gifts had taken place, or were likely to take place, at Rome as at Corinth, 1Co 12:14, at Philippi, Php 2:3, and Thessalonica, 1Th 5:19-20. These the apostle endeavoured to correct, or prevent, by the excellent rules prescribed in this passage.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv3–8 For I say - The word “for” shows that…
For I say - The word “for” shows that the apostle is about to introduce some additional considerations to enforce what he had just said, or to show how we may evince a mind that is not conformed to the world.
Through the grace - Through the favor, or in virtue of the favor of the apostolic office. By the authority that is conferred on me to declare the will of God as an apostle; see the note at Rom 1:5; see also Gal 1:6, Gal 1:15; Gal 2:9; Eph 3:8; 1Ti 1:14.
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Not to think ... - Not to over-estimate himself, or to think more of himself than he ought to. What is the true standard by which we ought to estimate ourselves he immediately adds. This is a caution against pride; and an exhortation not to judge of ourselves by our talents, wealth, or function, but to form another standard of judging of ourselves, by our Christian character. The Romans would probably be in much danger from this quarter. The prevailing habit of judging among them was according to rank, or wealth, or eloquence, or function. While this habit of judging prevailed in the world around them, there was danger that it might also prevail in the church. And the exhortation was that they should not judge of their own characters by the usual modes among people, but by their Christian attainments. There is no sin to which people are more prone than an inordinate self-valuation and pride. Instead of judging by what constitutes true excellence of character, they pride themselves on that which is of no intrinsic value; on rank, and titles, and external accomplishments; or on talents, learning, or wealth. The only true standard of character pertains to the principles of action, or to that which constitutes the moral nature of the man; and to that the apostle calls the Roman people.
But to think soberly - Literally, “to think so as to act soberly or wisely.” So to estimate ourselves as to act or demean ourselves wisely, prudently, modestly. Those who over-estimate themselves are proud, haughty, foolish in their deportment. Those who think of themselves as they ought, are modest, sober, prudent. There is no way to maintain a wise and proper conduct so certain, as to form a humble and modest estimate of our own character.
According as God hath dealt - As God has measured to each one, or apportioned to each one. In this place the faith which Christians have, is traced to God as its giver. This act, that God has given it, will be itself one of the most effectual promoters of humility and right feeling. People commonly regard the objects on which they pride themselves as things of their own creation, or as depending on themselves. But let an object be regarded as the gift of God, and it ceases to excite pride, and the feeling is at once changed into gratitude. He, therefore, who regards God as the source of all blessings, and he only, will be an humble man.
The measure of faith - The word “faith” here is evidently put for religion, or Christianity. Faith is a main thing in religion. It constitutes its first demand, and the Christian religion, therefore, is characterized by its faith, or its confidence, in God; see Mar 16:17; compare Heb. 11; Rom. 4. We are not, therefore, to be elated in our view of ourselves; we are not to judge of our own characters by wealth, or talent, or learning, but by our attachment to God, and by the influence of faith on our minds. The meaning is, judge yourselves, or estimate yourselves, by your piety. The propriety of this rule is apparent:
(1) Because no other standard is a correct one, or one of value. Our talent, learning, rank, or wealth, is a very improper rule by which to estimate ourselves. All may be wholly unconnected with moral worth; and the worst as well as the best people may possess them.
(2) God will judge us in the day of judgment by our attachment to Christ and his cause Matt. 25; and that is the true standard by which to estimate ourselves here.
(3) Nothing else will secure and promote humility but this. All other things may produce or promote pride, but this will effectually secure humility. The fact that God has given all that we have; the fact that the poor and obscure may have as true an elevation of character as ourselves; the consciousness of our own imperfections and short-comings in the Christian faith; and the certainty that we are soon to be arraigned to try this great question, whether we have evidence that we are the friends of God; will all tend to promote humbleness of mind and to bring down our usual inordinate self-estimation. If all Christians judged themselves in this way, it would remove at once no small part of the pride of station and of life from the world, and would produce deep attachment for those who are blessed with the faith of the gospel, though they may be unadorned by any of the wealth or trappings which now promote pride and distinctions among men.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v3 To be wise unto sobriety. Not pretending to be…
To be wise unto sobriety. Not pretending to be more wise, or more knowing than you are. --- As God hath divided to every one the measure of faith. The sense by what follows is, that every one make the best use, for the glory of God, and the good of his neighbour, of the gifts and graces which he hath received together with the faith of Christ; i.e. of prophecy, or the gift of interpreting past prophecies, or of foretelling things to come, of exhorting, of ministering as to those functions which belong to the ministers of the gospel, &c. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 7, 8 For I say--authoritatively
For I say--authoritatively
through the grace given unto me--as an apostle of Jesus Christ; thus exemplifying his own precept by modestly falling back on that office which both warranted and required such plainness towards all classes.
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to every man that is among you, not to think, &c.--It is impossible to convey in good English the emphatic play, so to speak, which each word here has upon another: "not to be high-minded above what he ought to be minded, but so to be minded as to be sober-minded" [CALVIN, ALFORD]. This is merely a strong way of characterizing all undue self-elevation.
according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith--Faith is here viewed as the inlet to all the other graces, and so, as the receptive faculty of the renewed soul--that is, "as God hath given to each his particular capacity to take in the gifts and graces which He designs for the general good."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv3–8 1. Duties as to the unity of the Church…
II. THE CYCLE OF CHRISTIAN DUTIES, SPRINGING FROM THIS FAITH.
1. Duties as to the unity of the Church are the following two, Rom_12:3-16 :
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1. A Tempered Filling each one’s Official or Charismatic Place in the Church Unity, Rom_12:3-8.
3. I say—The apostle’s frequent phrase of apostolic authority in this epistle.
Through the grace—Of inspired apostleship, the highest position, both official and charismatic, in the young Church.
Every man—Official or unofficial. He considers the official first, and the both classes together in 9-21.
More highly—To the peace and unity of every Church nothing is more hostile than the over self-esteem by which individuals become arrogant, assuming, and contentions for personal opinions and rank. The special charisms or gifts of the apostolic age did not secure the very possessors of them from these disturbing qualities. Hence the apostle’s striking comparison of even the charismatic Church to a living body where every limb spontaneously and contentedly performs its own part for the corporate interest. The apostle’s play upon the Greek words φρονειν and σωφρονειν can perhaps be no better rendered into English than by Alford, as follows: “Not to be high minded above that which he ought to be minded, but to be so minded as to be sober minded.” Doubtless the unique word methods of Paul were adopted for the purpose of arresting the attention and impressing the memory.
Measure of faith—The measure of endowing and qualifying faith.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv3–8 3. the grace given unto me] His qualifications as…
3. the grace given unto me] His qualifications as an Apostle; inspired authority as the Lord’s messenger and interpreter. See Rom_1:5, Rom_15:15-16. Cp. also 1Co_3:10; 1Co_15:10; Gal_2:9; Eph_3:2; Eph_3:7-8; for parallels more or less exact to this phrase in this connexion.
not to think—think soberly] In the Gr. there is a forcible “play on words” here, making an almost epigram. The verbs are, the simple verb “to think,” and two of its compounds meaning respectively “to overween” and “to be sober-thoughted.” Lit. not to over-think beyond what it behoves him to think, but to think so as to come to sober-thinking. The special direction to be taken by this “sober-thinking” was the recognition by each Christian of the limits of his own gifts, the reality of the gifts of others, and the position of the individual as only a part of the great community; as well as the ever-important fact that “gifts,” whether many or few, are the sovereign bounty of God.
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hath dealt] Lit. did deal, or distribute; on the admission of each soul to His grace and service. Same word as 1Co_7:17; 2Co_10:13.
the measure of faith] Cp. Eph_4:7, where (see Rom_12:11) the context is similar to this. There, however, the word “grace” is used where “faith” is used here; and “faith” here is not quite easy of explanation. In this Epistle the special aspect of faith (trust in God and His word) as justifying has been consistently in view, rather than its aspect (Heb_11:1) as laying hold upon invisible realities in general. Here, therefore, it seems best to seek for a reference as consistent as possible with that of the rest of the Epistle, and one also which shall harmonize with the phrase in Rom_12:6 below; q.v. We explain the present passage then as follows:—“Faith” here means specially acceptance of Christ, revealed as the Propitiation: but that acceptance is also, ipso facto, the entrance on bondservice to God, (see e.g. Rom_6:18 :) therefore the gift of faith is here mentioned as involving the idea of the allotment of consequent duties and functions also to the various believers with their various capacities. Faith, in the Divine plan, is the grand qualification for service, (because it is the appointed instrument of reconciliation;) and it is therefore the sphere, so to speak, in which all true service is to be done.
In this view, we may paraphrase the passage before us: “even as God distributed the sovereign gift of faith, (Eph_2:7-8,) the gift of the power to ‘believe unto justification,’ to each of you, with a view in each case to the various tasks and services of the life of faith.”
See further on Rom_12:6.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv3–8 (3) Having thus stated the broad principle which is…
(3) Having thus stated the broad principle which is to govern the conduct of the Christian, the Apostle now goes on to apply it to certain details, and, first, his object is to secure that temper in the members of the Roman Church which will best enable them to act with union and efficiency.
Through the grace given unto me—i.e., in virtue of his apostolic authority.
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To every man that is among you.—A rather more pointed expression than simply “to you all,” “to each one of you severally and individually.”
Not to think of himself . . .—There is a play upon words in this phrase, and those which follow, which is not preserved, and can hardly be preserved, in the English. “Not to be high-minded beyond that which he ought to be minded, but to be minded unto sober-mindedness.” Our words, “to be minded,” “high-minded,” &c., very nearly express the sense of the Greek, which is to have the thoughts and feelings habitually turned in a certain direction. This is brought out with emphatic repetition in the phrase “to be minded unto the being sober-minded,” i.e., to keep sobriety of mind constantly in view as the object or ideal towards which all the thoughts and feelings converge.
According as God hath dealt to every man.—The standard of action which each Christian ought to propose to himself should be in proportion to the amount of his faith as given to him by God. He who has the strongest faith may assume the highest standard, and offer himself for the highest offices, and so on down the scale. It is, however, essential that the estimate which each man puts upon the strength of his own faith, should be thoroughly single-minded and sincere, nor biased by self-love. The Apostle assumes that this will be the case.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6 For I say, through the grace given unto me…
For I say, through the grace given unto me (the grace of apostleship to the Gentiles. (cf. Rom_1:5 Rom_15:15) He is about to warn against either neglecting or exceeding the special graces given to each person; and he may, perhaps, mean to imply here that he himself, in giving these admonitions, is exercising, without exceeding, his own special grace) to every man that is among you (this is emphatic. The pretensions to superiority of some at Corinth who possessed more showy gifts than others had shown how the admonition might need to be pressed on all; and in a community like that of the Romans there might well be a special tendency to assumption on the part of some), not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly (rather, as in the Revised Version so to think as to think soberly, or, more literally, to be minded so as to be sober-minded), according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. Why of faith? One might have expected the expression to be, "of grace," as in ver. 6, "according to the grace that is given to us;" or as in Eph_4:7, "according to the measure metron , as here of the gift of Christ." It seems to be because by faith we become receptive of the grace given to each of us. Hence the faith assigned by God to each is regarded as "the regulative standard; the subjective condition" (Meyer) of the several gifts or graces. Cf. also Mat_17:20 and 1Co_13:2, where miraculous powers are spoken of as dependent on the amount of faith. Tholuck explains thus: "Faith in an unseen Christ brings man into connection with a world unseen, in which he moves without distinctly apprehending it; and in proportion as he learns to look with faith to that world, the more is the measure of his spiritual powers elevated.
Vers. 3-5. Membership in Christ.
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The great principles laid down at the outset of this chapter have to be followed out into practice. Paul shows how consecration and renewal are to manifest themselves in actual life, and how the will of God is to be practically proved. In so doing perhaps because he is writing to a Church, and not to an individual he first treats of the obligations of social Christianity, and shows how members of a brotherhood ought to act in their association with one another, in their Church-life. Yet he does not lose sight of the fact that a congregation, a community, is composed of individuals; accordingly, the message he delivers he delivers expressly to "every man that is among you." His first caution is against self-exaltation and self-praise; his first counsel is to unity and mutual consideration. This is very natural; for the early Christians were but few in number, and, being so decidedly distinguished from the world around, they were thrown very much into one another"s society, and their Christian life had both the advantages and dangers attaching to its social character.
I PRIDE IS CONDEMNED AND SOBRIETY OF JUDGMENT ENJOINED.
1. This was a necessary caution and admonition. It is a besetting temptation of human nature to think too highly of ourselves. Men are prone to exaggerate their own abilities and merits, and to extenuate their own faults; and, at the same time, alas! to depreciate the gifts and deserts of their neighbours, and to magnify their failings. It is the infirmity of selfishness, of self-importance, of self-glorification. In old times, the Christian moralists reckoned pride among the seven deadly sins. There was an additional reason for this apostolic caution in the case of the early Christians. There were imparted to many of them very remarkable and striking gifts, in some instances of a miraculous character. Within the boundary of these societies, these gifts were held in high esteem, and were often unduly prized and even coveted. The possessors of supernatural powers, gifts of tongues or of healing, may have been persons of no more than average Christian character, and may have been specially in danger of being puffed up by spiritual pride. Let it be remembered that there is scarcely any possession or endowment which may not furnish occasion for sinful pride.
2. There is a special propriety in modesty, in sobriety of judgment concerning ourselves. What we have we received from the Giver of every good gift, and every perfect boon. Our "measure of faith" he bestowed. Who, then, made us to differ? In fact, what are we, the best of us, but poor helpless sinners, saved by sovereign grace? The more we reflect, the more we shall see how unreasonable, indefensible, and absurd it is to indulge sentiments of self-importance and self-esteem. Humiliation and contrition are far more appropriate to all.
3. This is an admonition easy to misconstrue. Insincere professions of humility are repugnant to the Searcher of hearts; yet there is reason to believe that they are frequent. There is a "pride that apes humility" And there are those who need to be put upon their guard against undue depreciation of themselves and their abilities; such persons do little good, because they have a rooted conviction that they have no power for service. It is desirable, neither to neglect the one talent, nor to beast of the five.
4. We have an example of the virtue of sobriety in Paul"s own case. Even here, instead of commanding or dictating, he words his counsel modestly: "I say, through the grace given to me" Not that he doubted his apostolic authority, but that he disclaimed any personal merit or claim. For he could sincerely speak of himself as "the least of the apostles;" "not worthy to be called an apostle;" "less than the least of all saints." He, therefore, may justly be said to have enforced his precepts by his own personal, living example.
II MEMBERSHIP IN CHRIST IS SHOWN TO BE THE ROOT OF HUMILITY AND MUTUAL CONSIDERATION. How can we enough admire in the apostle his habit of laying the foundation of every duty and virtue in Christ? In order to think modestly of ourselves, and kindly and respectfully of our Christian brethren, we should bear in mind our common dependence upon the same Saviour, and our mutual relation one to another. The principle here stated was one very familiar to Paul"s mind; for it is propounded in several of his Epistles, and enforced with great beauty, and at some length, in the First Epistle to the Corinthians.
1. Christians are in common members of the Lord Christ. He is the Head; the Divine Personality, revealing himself through the body. He himself had taught this great and precious doctrine. "Abide in me," said Christ, "and I in you." He dwells in and inspires his body, the Church, by his own gracious and mighty Spirit. It is his presence that gives life and guidance, energy and blessing, to the body. Now, if this be so, surely it is obvious that to exalt ourselves and to despise others is inconsistent with such a relation. Can we regard with neglect, or with scorn, those whom the Lord terms members of his own mystical body?
2. There is diversity among the members of the spiritual body. As in the human frame, so in the Church, every member has its own office. In subsequent verses Paul explains what some of these offices are. It is an instructive thought, impressing lessons of modesty and mutual esteem, that Christ has a use for every one of us. Instead of fretting that you have not your neighbour"s gift, rather rejoice that he has it. Instead of thinking so much of your own work as to fill up the whole horizon of your vision with what is yours, turn an interested and kindly eye upon the ministry of your neighbour. Almost all men are prone to be one-sided. Receive inspired counsel: "Look every man also upon the things of others." There is room in the Church for the Christian scholar, the Christian philosopher, the Christian preacher, the Christian man of business, the Christian man of science, the Christian workman; for those who give themselves to healing, to education, to domestic life, to civil government, to social amelioration; in fact, there is room for all whom Christ has called and qualified for his own service. The great Maker has fashioned no two alike; let each be content to be himself to be just what the Lord of the body intended him to be.
3. There is unity and harmony among the members of Christ"s body. The inspired view is this: We cannot be all Christ"s without coming into relation with one another, very close and vital. Common dependence upon the Head creates mutual affections, and calls for mutual services. How destructive is this teaching of that pride, from which the apostle dissuades! The health of each member, and his efficiency for service, depends upon the condition of the other members of the spiritual organism and structure. It is not uniformity which is to be cultivated and expected; it is organic unity, which implies unity in diversity. Subordination to the one Head, the indwelling of the one Spirit, will produce this happy result. Thus are secured the growth of the body and the glory of Christ.
Vers. 3-8. Diversity and unity in the Church of Christ.
The subject of union among the various branches of the Church of Christ is one to which much attention has of late years been turned. The efforts of the Evangelical Alliance have been largely directed to secure a more brotherly relationship and more hearty co-operation between the different denominations of Christians. Some Christians desire an organic union of all sections of the Church, but the passage before us indicates that there may be outward diversity along with inward and real unity.
I DIVERSITY AND UNITY IN THE BODY. "We have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office" (ver. 4). There we have diversity. What diversity there is between the organs of hearing and seeing, tasting and touching, speaking and smelling! What a complex organism is that of heart and brain, and veins and arteries, and nerves and sinews! Yet there too we have unity. There is one body. One life throbs in all the parts.
II DIVERSITY AND UNITY IN THE CHURCH. "So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another" (ver. 5). There we have diversity. There is room for diversity in the Church of Christ for varied forms of worship, for varied views of doctrine, for varied methods of Church government. A dull uniformity is undesirable. "Acts of Uniformity" only made more diversity, and produced discord instead of unity. When the Church of England had no room for John Wesley, she only prepared the way for a larger secession from the ranks of her membership. So, too, in individual congregations, there is room for varied gifts and activities. There, also, we have unity. "One body, and every one members one of another." There is the unity of the Spirit, the unity that arises from the common bond of faith in Christ and love to him, of obedience to the same Divine law, and of the inspiring hope of the same heaven.
III TWO PRACTICAL LESSONS.
1. A lesson of humility. "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly" (ver. 3). The recognition of the fact that there are varied gifts in the Church of Christ will prevent any one from being unduly proud of any gifts he may possess, or any work he may have done. All the members of the body have need of one another. There is a place for the humble and unlearned workers in the Church of Christ, just as much as for the wealthy and the cultured and the learned.
2. A lesson of concentration. Division of labour and concentration of individuals upon particular branches is one of the great principles of modern manufacturing and commerce. St. Paul applies the same principle to Christian work. "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering; or he that teacheth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation; he that giveth, let him do it with liberality; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness." There are three special spheres of Christian work.
(1) Teaching. Under this head may be comprised what the apostle speaks of as "prophecy," "teaching," "exhortation." This is the work of ministers of the gospel, of professors in colleges, of teachers in daily schools and in Sunday schools. There could be no more important work than that of instructing others, moulding immortal souls, inspiring old and young with the power of great principles. When Socrates was asked why he did not commit to writing his philosophic opinions and teachings, his answer was,
"I write upon human souls. That writing will last eternally." How important that all who engage in any department of teaching should realize the abiding consequences of their work, and should devote their best energies to it!
(2) Ruling. There must of necessity be authority and discipline in the Christian Church. Impenitent offenders against Christian morality need to be excluded. Differences of opinion or quarrels between brethren need to be wisely considered, and breaches healed. How necessary that those who are placed in positions of authority should rule "with diligence," realizing their high responsibility to preserve the peace and maintain the purity of the Church of Christ!
(3) Giving. Under this head may be included not only what is here called "giving," but also those branches spoken of as "ministering" and "showing mercy." Christians who are not teachers or rulers ought at least to be givers. If they have money to give for Christ"s cause, let them give it, and give it, too, with liberality, in no selfish and in no niggard spirit. Every Christian can give something for the building up of the Church of Christ. We can give our time. We can give our attention to the poor, to the sick, to the stranger. Let Christians remember that in the natural body there are no useless or idle members. Each member has its own distinct function. So is it in the Christian Church. There is some special work for every one to do. C.H.I
Vers. 9-21 (omitting vers. 11 and 12, for which see below). The Christian"s duty to his fellow-men.
In these closing verses of this chapter the apostle sets before us the duty of a Christian man. It is a picture of what the Christian ought to be. What a world it would be if these precepts were carried out, if even every Christian was careful to observe them! Six features the apostle mentions which should characterize our dealings with others.
I SINCERITY. "Let love be without dissimulation" (ver. 9). Unreality, falsehood, insincerity, untruthfulness, these are prevalent evils in our day. They weaken all confidence between man and man. They destroy domestic peace, social intercourse, and commercial morality. Truthfulness and sincerity are much needed.
II DISCRIMINATION. "Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good" (ver. 9). The spirit of indifference is another prevalent evil of our time. "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil." Dr. Arnold at Rugby, trying to elevate the standard of character there, found this difficulty indifference about evil. He said, "What I want to see in the school, and what I cannot find, is an abhorrence of evil; I always think of the psalm, "Neither doth he abhor that which is evil. We want more discrimination. The young especially need to discriminate in their friendships, and to choose the society of good men and good women.
III GENEROSITY. "Distributing to the necessity of saints" (ver. 13). In exercising generosity, God"s people, our brethren in Christ, should have the first claim upon us. But we are not to limit our attentions to them. "Given to hospitality," we shall show kindness to strangers, just because they are strangers and are away from home and friends. How truly the Christian religion teaches men consideration for others!
IV SYMPATHY. "Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep" (ver. 15). Sympathy is a Christ-like quality. Sympathy for the perishing brought Jesus Christ to earth. Sympathy sent Henry Martyn to Persia, Adoniram Judson to Burmah, David Brainerd to the Red Indians, David Livingstone and Bishop Hannington to Africa. Sympathy led Mr. E. J. Mather to brave the dangers of the deep in order to do something for the temporal and spiritual welfare of the deep-sea fishermen of the North Sea. We want more sympathy for those near us for the poor, the sick, the suffering, the careless, at our own doors. We need to learn also how to sympathize with innocent enjoyment. The mission of the Christian Church is not a mission of amusement, but it can show that it does not frown upon, and can thoroughly enter into, the innocent pleasures and recreations of life. We are not only to "weep with them that weep," but also "rejoice with them that do rejoice.
V HUMILITY. "Mind not high things, but condescend to man of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits." There is too mush pride even in the Church of Christ pride of rank, pride of wealth, pride of learning. The condition of things so severely satirized and rebuked in the second chapter of James is still too common in the Christian Church. The Church of Christ needs to condescend a little more than it does "to men of low estate." Christian ministers need to think more of the humbler members of their congregations, while they do not neglect the spiritual welfare of the rich. A little more of the humility of Christ would make the Church of Christ and. the ministers of religion more respected among the working classes and the poor.
VI PEACEFULNESS. "If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men" (ver. 18). This peaceful relation may be secured:
1. By not cherishing a vindictive spirit. "Recompense to no man evil for evil" (ver. 17). "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves" (ver. 19). Offenders against peace would do little harm if they did not find others only too ready to take offence. What an example is that of Cranmer!"To do him any wrong was to beget A kindness from him; for his heart was rich, Of such fine mould, that if you sowed therein The seed of hate, it blossomed charity.
2. By meeting enmity with kindness. "Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not" (ver. 14). "Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head." Your kindness will be like coals of fire to melt his hardened heart, just as Jacob"s prudent act of kindness, following on his prayer, turned away the anger of his injured brother Esau. So we may destroy our enemies, as the Chinese emperor is said to have done, by making them our friends. Thus we shall "overcome evil with good. C.H.I
Vers. 3-8. Christian humility.
The life of Christian consecration is now set forth in its practical bearings. We have life in the Church, including its attitude towards those that are without, (Ro 12) and life in the state (Ro 13). The life of members of the Church, as such, is set forth as controlled by two great vital principles: humility, as regards one"s self; love, as regards others. Here the grace of humility is insisted on, as regulating each one"s thoughts and work.
I First, we are to have a sober and proper estimate of ourselves and our aptitudes.
1. The tendency amongst men is to exalt themselves in their own thoughts as compared with others. An unholy rivalry of heart is easily possible even in the Christian brotherhood. We magnify our own importance out of all proportion to the actual place we fill. How contrary to the very initial requisite of the kingdom of heaven: "Blessed are the poor in spirit"! We must, on the contrary, think soberly. We must in all seriousness know ourselves and our place. We must indeed gauge and estimate our sanctified powers, but only that we may know to what holy purpose we shall put there "according to the capacity, in the realm of faith, which God has given us" (see Godet).
2. And so we must think of our various gifts, not as in rivalry, but as supplementing one another. The figure of the many members, and their diverse offices: so the body of Christ. Variety in unity: this the lesson taught us by God"s works, and by his constitution of human society in general; we Christians must learn the lesson, as teaching us that we all are "members one of another.
II Secondly, we are to give ourselves with all diligence to the fulfilment of our several works. We trench here upon the second principle. If humility teaches us to confine ourselves soberly to our own God-appointed labour, love teaches us to throw ourselves with holy zeal into such labour that the several members may all profit by our diligence. And the great truth brought out prominently here is that the cause of Christ is best advanced when each one does earnestly what he can do best. The apostle says, "Use your own sanctified gifts to the best of your ability, so will God be well-pleased, and your brethren and the world be blessed.
1. Prophecy: the spiritual insight that apprehends with increasing clearness God"s purposes of saving grace. Ministry: the official attention to financial and business matters of the Church, in which the "deacon" wins his good degree. Teaching: the assiduous inculcation of received truth, that the people of God may be built up in the faith. Exhorting: the earnest pleading with men, that their hearts may be won, or more fully won, to that which is Divine and good. Such the more official duties.
2. The more private and spontaneous duties are to be similarly performed. Giving: for some who are so favoured have it as their special work to hold in trust for others, and to bestow as they have opportunity, the good things of this world. Let this be with all liberality of heart. Ruling: there will be committees for such philanthropic work, and men of enterprise will have it as their special business to lead the way. Let this be with diligence, for success or failure will follow according to their devotion or halfheartedness. Showing mercy: some will have it for their work personally to dispense the help which perhaps the liberality of others affords. Let it be with a cheerfulness that shall make the blessing doubly blessed; let their presence be hailed everywhere as it were sunshine in the gloom.
Such is the principle of a true Christian humility, merging into love. The old Greek wisdom urged upon its students, "Know thyself." Our Christian faith inculcates the same lesson upon us. Not by our seeking to do others" work, but by our fulfilling, as best we may, our own, will the common weal be advanced. Yes, know thyself, and know thy Saviour; so shalt thou save thyself, and promote the salvation of the world. T.F.L.
A proper estimate of self.
The fount of knowledge and utterance is the "grace" of God. The apostle claims to be beard as one who, has received a message, not excogitated a thought, which it is his business to deliver and enforce. This is ever the prophet"s function, to announce the mind of God, and he needs continual "grace" to be faithful to the truth, not to hide nor to alter nor to add.
I IT IS NOT SELF-DEPRECIATION WHICH IS HERE COMMANDED. Aristotle"s dictum of right action is that virtuous behaviour lies in a mean between two extremes. And whilst not a sufficient account, this often serves as a ready criterion. Proper humility is not to be confounded with mock modesty and diffidence on the one hand, nor on the other hand with arrogance and pride. He acts injuriously to himself who, comparing himself with others, despises what he is and can do, because higher and larger gifts have been bestowed on his fellows. Such self-despising is ingratitude to God, and casts a slur on the Divine equity. We dare not make light of any post he enables us to fill, or of the simplest service he permits us to render. He who has dignified humanity, first by creating it "in his own image after his likeness," and then by the incarnation of his beloved Son, may expect in every man a certain reasonable degree of self-respect. And the apostle implies that there is a way in which each "ought think" of himself, ought to honour his position and abilities. Shall the lark refuse to trill forth melody in his upward flight because he cannot pour forth the luscious changeful notes of the nightingale? or the robin refuse to chirp merrily in the winter because he cannot undertake the long flight of the swallow? Shall the violet withhold its delicious fragrance because the sunflower is so conspicuously gorgeous? or the lofty elm not clap its hands in praise of God because of its nearness to the wide-spreading beech? That is not true humility, but scornful indolence, which buries its talent in the earth. Of a lowly beast of burden it was said, "The Lord hath need of him.
II IT IS UNDUE SELF-ESTEEM WHICH IS REPROVED. An immoderate estimate of our personal worth is unmindful of obvious facts. It forgets that God regards quality rather than quantity, and that all we possess we have received, even the ability to use our gifts, and by use to augment and perfect our capacity. We gain a humble estimate of our powers by coming into the society of truly great men. As we measure little hills by the sky-piercing mountains, so we may profitably turn our thoughts to the almighty and all-wise, the ever-living and holy God. And, to assist us in our judgments, his grace has sent a pattern of merit in the character and life of his Son, attempering the glory of the Most High to our weak vision, and allowing us to see Divine greatness humbling itself to the form of a servant and the death of a criminal. We have to own our imperfect rectitude when we place it side by side with the obedience and righteousness of Christ. As with a douche of cold water, is the most intoxicated with his own grandeur sobered into due modesty. Through pride the angels "kept not their first estate," and it is a favourite device of the tempter to allure men into a sense of self-sufficiency and importance. "Look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged." Wounded vanity prevents many a member of the Church from seeking to glorify a lowly position; the foot wants to be where the eye is, and the hand objects to serve the head. The elder brother loses the joy of the prodigal"s return. Remember that in the Saviours reckoning the widow"s offering far outweighed the costly contributions of the wealthy.
III THE RULE IS TO BE UNIVERSALLY APPLIED. I say to every man that is among you." Every man needs this regulation. The precepts and promises of Scripture addressed to all are only effective as each severally appropriates them. We are individualized in God"s sight, not lumped together in the mass. The danger lies at the door of each, and each must calculate his proper worth and position. We cannot do this for one another; to his own Master does each stand or fall Every Christian obtained some amount of faith. There are gradations in spiritual as in temporal life, and the rank of honour is according to the service rendered to the body to which we belong. But none is entirely destitute; let none, therefore, be despised or downhearted. All Christians are landed proprietors; an estate large or small is allotted to them to occupy and cultivate. The Spirit distributeth as he will. Our business is not to quarrel with the distribution, but to be diligent stewards of the deposit entrusted to our care. He that is faithful in little or in much shall be rewarded. Such a consideration abates envy and discontent, abolishes boasting and self-complacency. S.R.A.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6 For I say … to every man.
Rom_12:3
For I say … to every man.
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., not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.
Needful counsel
I. We must not think too highly of ourselves, especially of--
1. Our knowledge (Jer_9:23; 1Co_8:1). We know little either in--
(1) Naturals, of which we know but few, and then largely by conjectures.
(2) Spirituals. We know but little of God (Hos_4:1; Jer_9:3); of Christ (1Co_2:2); of our souls; of our estate as to God (2Co_13:5); as to the world to come, and all knowledge we owe to God (Mat_11:25).
2. Our gifts.
(1) None can perform their duty aright (Ecc_7:20; 2Co_3:5).
(2) What gifts we have we are bound to God for (1Co_4:7).
(3) We can do no good with it without God (Joh_15:5; 1Co_3:6).
3. Our graces.
(1) Few have all.
(2) Those we have are imperfect (Php_3:11-13).
(a) Love to God (Mat_22:37).
(b) Faith in Christ (Luk_17:5).
(c) Repentance of sin (2Co_7:10).
(d) Justice to our neighbour (Mat_7:12).
(e) Charity to the poor (1Co_16:2; 2Co_9:6).
(3) If we think too highly of them, they are no true graces (Mat_11:29; 1Ti_1:15; Eph_3:8).
II. What cause, then, is there not to be proud--
1. Of strength (Jer_9:23),
(1) Wherein the beasts excel us.
(2) Whereof we may any moment be deprived (Isa_2:22).
2. Of riches.
(1) Which cannot make us happy.
(2) But keep us from happiness (Mat_19:23; Mat_19:26).
(3) Which we must part with before we can be eternally happy.
3. Honours.
(1) Which depend on the thoughts of others.
(2) May deprive us of true honours (Joh_12:43).
III. Study humility.
1. Towards God (Mic_6:8; Isa_57:17; Isa_66:2). Considering--
(1) How many sins you are guilty of (Psa_19:12).
(2) How many you are defiled with (Isa_1:5-6).
2. Towards men. Consider--
(1) You know not but they are better and more dear to God than yourselves (Rom_14:3-4; Php_2:3).
(2) If you excel them in some things, they may excel you in others (Rom_12:4).
(3) The more proud you are, the less cause have you to be proud; pride causing--
(a) Division among men (Pro_13:10).
(b) Separation from God (1Pe_5:5). (Bp. Beveridge.)
Church membership and ministry
I. In the work of mutual ministry within the Church there is something:for every member to perform. The appeal is to every man that is among you. The Church is one body in Christ, every one being a member of some kind, and having his proper office. Every member, organ, nerve, vein, bone, ligament has its proper function in the natural body; and as soon as any one fails, there ensues that disturbance of the harmonic activity which we call disease. In the Church, Christ is the Head, the Centre of life, intelligence, and authority, and His Holy Spirit the organic principle. But every individual believer has his own proper sphere of influence and activity for the general good (Eph_4:15-16). If he neglects that ministry, not only will he himself suffer damage or excision, but the body also will suffer loss thereby.
II. In order that every man may do his own proper work, he must form a sober, practical estimate of his own ability. The work must be thoughtfully done. But the thought, to be productive, must be sober. The worker is admonished not to be high-minded above that which he ought to he minded, but to be so minded as to be sober-minded. For--
1. If a man thinks more highly of himself than he ought to think, he will probably despise the service to which the Master has called him, and seek to undertake work for which be has not the adequate powers. This will, in all likelihood, be marred, and himself humiliated, while that will fall to more worthy hands. All such aspiring persons world do well to ponder the warning words (Mar_10:43-45). In Christs Church the surest way towards honourable promotion is that of prompt, earnest, humble service in that which is close at hand.
2. If a man under-estimates his ability, and thinks that he can do nothing, or nothing of profit to the Master, then he will do nothing, and the Church will lose his service and he will lose his reward (Mat_25:14-30; Luk_19:12-27). Therefore--
3. The apostle supplies a standard for the measurement of thought in the work of self-estimation. Let every man think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith--i.e., the confidence which a man has in Christ, and in himself by the grace of Christ, that he has competent ability for service. The man who has faith in himself generally succeeds; while a better man, if full of doubt and hesitation, fails. I must not so under-estimate my gifts as to decline any service; for some power has most certainly been imparted. But I must not attempt service for which I am unfit in the fanatical confidence that I shall obtain supernatural aid. Nor need I stand in doubt as to whether or not I have a Divine call to the work; the ability and opportunity ought to be sufficient.
III. The service, and the spirit and manner in which it should be discharged (Rom_12:6-8).
1. The ministry of the Word: he that prophesieth, teacheth, exhorteth. The New Testament prophet was pre-eminently the preacher: and he must preach or prophesy according to the proportion of faith. But there are those who are not called to this ministry, who can nevertheless speak words of warning, exhortation, or comfort, either in the intercourse of daily life, the prayermeeting, or the village sanctuary; and any Church which does not encourage these gifted ones is sadly defective. There are others again who, though neither apt to exhort, nor able to preach, have, notwithstanding, the gift of teaching. They can instruct in the Sabbath school. Let none of these neglect the gift that is in him. Let none ambitiously aspire to an office for which he is not equal; and, on the other hand, let none refuse to employ his one talent because he has not more and higher gifts.
2. There is also the ministry of finance and benevolence. That the apostle here speaks of the official diaconate is morally certain, because that it is mentioned in the midst of other offices which are expressly specified as such (1Co_12:28-30). To them, therefore, would fall the work of superintending and directing the active charities of the Church. He who gave would be, not the disburser of, but the contributor to, the relief fund; and he who showed mercy might be either a person appointed to the special work of relieving the sick and poor, or one who engaged in the good work out of his own impulse. These ministries; though not confined to official persons, were sanctioned by the properly appointed officers. Conclusion: Warning may be here given against two evils.
1. That of those who render very small, if any, service to the cause of Christ, but who criticise those who do. This is a crying evil, and a Christian ought to be ashamed of it.
2. That of over-estimating some particular department of service. (W. Tyson.)
Measurements of manhood
When persons are under the influence of wine, they often entertain the most extravagant notions of themselves, of which they are heartily ashamed when they come to their sober reason. And it is this figure latent that the apostle employs. Think not extravagantly well of yourselves. Form an estimate that is reasonable and in accordance with fact.
I. These words assume that men should have some opinion of their own character and worth, but that they are liable to faulty estimates. It is impossible not to have some opinion of ones self. And the only question is, whether it shall be an idea shaped according to good rules and through right influences, or whether it shall be casually left to chance feeling.
1. There be those who say that the best way to think of yourself is not to think at all; and there is a sense in which this is true. Men may think too much of themselves, on the one hand, and too little on the other. But these dangers do not take away the wisdom of attempting a correct judgment of ourselves. There is a duty of self-knowledge, for otherwise how shall one know whether he be following the commands of his Master, or simply the impulses of his own selfish nature? How shall there be aspiration? Is it needful for the husbandman to know the extent of his territory, and which part is rich and which part is poor, and is spiritual husbandry to be founded in pretentious ignorance? You are commanded to think in conformity with facts and things as they exist. Not that we should carry self-consciousness with us every hour, and attempt to keep our hand upon the pulse of the heart or of the life. Yet one may come to a general estimate that shall be the foundation of all the processes of moral culture which he is to follow out.
2. The measurements of feeling are to be avoided; and yet those are, in many instances, the only estimates which men make. If one be constitutionally proud, he thinks a hundred times better of himself than anybody else thinks of him. It is said that greatness of mind is inconsistent with vanity; but many men of eminent genius have been men of pre-eminent vanity.
3. The estimate of those qualities which suit our circle, and which reflect from it upon ourselves, is a false way of measuring. This is not having any knowledge of yourselves, but is simply knowing when you are pleased, without any regard to moral condition.
4. The measurement of ourselves simply in executive functions furnishes a very imperfect knowledge of what we really are. Men may have the most exaggerated ideas of their excellence or weakness who simply think of themselves as factors in society, as business men, etc. Skill is certainly a matter which a man ought not to be ashamed of, and which a man may sometimes well be proud of; but judging simply from this view is not enough. It is not wrong for a man to know whether he is a good lawyer or not. It is not necessary to humility that a man who stands second to none at the bar should say of himself, I always feel myself to be a very poor lawyer! A man has a right, and it is his duty, to think of himself as he is. This estimate is not incompatible with true humility. Indeed, it is indispensable to true humility. If God has given a man great power, must he make believe that he does not carry power? Must Milton, in order to be modest, believe that he did not speak in immortal numbers?
5. Men make a false estimate in judging of themselves also by selecting the best things in the best moods, and slurring over the rest. We select those excellencies which are apparent, and we usually exaggerate them. And we are inclined to omit co-ordinate qualities. If a man be strong, there are a thousand inflections of feeling which are not taken account of. He may be strong, but not gentle. A man has a blunt lip, and calls it honesty, fidelity to the truth. But where are the co-ordinate qualities of meekness, gentleness and love? The virtues which we have not we do not usually require of ourselves. We leave out of view, too, the great evil tendencies which exist in us. Our characters are dressed for inspection, as apples are when they are sent to market. There are all sorts in the middle of the barrel, and the best ones are put on the top to face off with. We deceive ourselves, not only by arranging our good qualities in the most favourable manner, but by heightening their colour a little. You have seen apple-women take a cloth and rub their apples until every one of them shines, and put them in the most tempting aspects. And do not men do the same thing with their good qualities? If there is a speck, that is turned round inside; but you will find it out after you have bought the apple and cut it. I do not say that a man should make everything put on its worst face. I say simply this: Let every man think of himself as he ought to think. A man may think himself to be far better than he is by judicious selection. I have seen my garden when the season was empty of flowers, and yet, by a skilful garnering from this nook and that, I could gather a handful of flowers that would lead to the supposition that the garden was in its summer glory. A man may select good qualities in himself and make up a bouquet of his fancy, which shall make it seem as though it were a paradise there, by a judicious picking and arranging. But the great mistake which men make is that of selecting only the secondary elements of their character, and leaving out the primary ones. A symmetrical whole is very seldom thought of in self-estimation.
II. No man knows how to measure himself who has failed to understand where true manhood is--where the diameter is--where the equator is. And this is what the apostle gives us: I say to every man … to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
1. It is where the spiritual elements dwell in man, at that point where he understands and touches the divine, that you must measure him. You must measure, not your animal-hood, but your manhood. Now, if we over-reach our fellow-men, if we use them for our own purposes, we think ourselves strong and great men. But the feeling is malign and satanic. That only is Divine which seeks others happiness, if need be at ones own expense. He who knows what conscience, faith, love, patience, and gentleness are, knows something about himself. And everybody is ignorant of himself who has not an estimate which is founded upon the gauge of these qualities.
2. Nor should we leave out the relation of man to the world to come. For a man may be very strong as regards this life, and very weak as regards the other life. And as we are here to prepare for the life to come, he misses his manhood and the significance of it who only lives for a time and is unfit to live for the spiritual and eternal. It is painful to think how much the grave strains out of that which men do and earn in this life. It is the work of mens hands that they are proud of mostly. But you shall take through the shadowy door nothing but what is spiritual; and how much of that have you to take through? If you were to efface from many men that which makes them great in influence in the day in which they live, then millionaires might come out paupers. And only he can measure himself aright who knows how much of himself he can carry through and beyond. The last shall be first, and the first last.
3. Let every man, then, measure himself, not according to his vanity, but as under the eye of God. Let one think of himself as an heir of immortality; let him believe himself to be a son of God; and then let him apply to himself the measures which belong to this transcendent conception of life and of character. Measuring yourselves thus, you will not think of yourselves, more highly than you ought to. This is true humility. It is humility to think, not that you are less than somebody else, but that you are less than you ought to be. (H. W. Beecher.)
The notion of pride stated, and the pretensions to it examined
1. It is a common observation that however forward men may be to repine at the unequal portion which God has allotted them of worldly blessings, yet they are generally well satisfied with their share of inward endowments: it being as hard to meet with a person who humbly thinks he has too little sense and merit, as it is to find one who fancies he has too great riches and honours. What makes men uneasy in their circumstances is that they are continually setting to view the bright side of themselves and the dark side of their condition in life; the first to find out their own grievances, and the last to discern their own faults and follies. Whereas if they took a contrary method they would perceive that God had been kinder to the worst of men than the very best of men could deserve.
2. Among the many imputations which we are willing to fasten upon these whom we have an aversion to, that of pride is, I think, one of the most common. Now, if we would examine the innermost recesses of the mind, I doubt we should often find that our own pride is the cause why we tax others with it. Men elate with the thoughts of their own sufficiency are ever imagining that others are wanting in their regard to them, and therefore very apt to conclude that pride must be the cause why they withhold from them that respect which they have an unquestioned right to in their own opinion.
I. The notion of pride. Our happiness, as well as knowledge, arises from sensation and reflection, and may be reduced to these two articles, viz., that of pleasing sensations, and that of agreeable thoughts. Now as to a desire of indulging the former without check or control, are owing lust, drunkenness, and intemperance; so from a desire of indulging the latter beyond measure, pride takes its original. It does not consist, in the bare consciousness that we have some accomplishments, as, for instance, good sense, beauty, great abilities; but in that exultation of mind which is frequent upon that consciousness, unallayed by self-dissatisfaction arising from a survey of our sins and frailties. The difference between humility and pride consists in this, that the humble man, whatever talents he is possessed of, considers them as so many trusts reposed in him by God, which are so far from raising his pride that they excite his caution; as knowing that to whom much is given, of him much will be required; whereas the proud values himself as if he were not only the subject but the author of the good qualities, and so makes an idol of himself, instead of adoring and thanking God for them. Pride, then, is the thinking too highly of ourselves. To obviate mistakes it will be necessary to observe that pride is not merely to think favourably of ourselves; for then indeed pride, as some late authors have maintained, would be an universal vice, everybody being more or less biassed in his own favour. But pride is to think so favourably of ourselves as to exclude a modest diffidence of ourselves, and a salutary sense of the number of human frailties, the imperfection of our virtues, the malignity of our crimes, and our dependence on God for everything good in us and for us.
II. The unreasonableness of this vice. Are we proud of riches? Riches cannot alter the nature of things, they cannot make a man worthy that is worthless in himself; they may command an insipid complaisance, a formal homage, and ceremonious professions of respect, and teach a servile world to speak a language foreign to their hearts; but where a largeness of soul is wanting they can never procure grateful sentiments and an undissembled love, the willing tribute of a generous heart to merit only. Do we value ourselves upon our power? No; what is remarked by somebody or other is a great truth, viz., that there is no good in power, but merely the power of doing good. Upon our worldly prudence? Those who are acquainted with history know how often the best-laid designs have proved abortive. Are you proud of your distinguished virtue? He who is proud of distinguished abilities, learning, and wealth, is not the less able, learned, and wealthy, because he is proud of them. But he who is proud of distinguished virtue ceaseth to be virtuous by his being so. For the man that is pleased with any degree of virtue, merely because it is uncommon, would be sorry if what he values himself upon as a singular mark of distinction should become common, and all mankind should rise to the same eminence as himself in morality. Now this temper argues a want of benevolence, and consequently of virtue. But if human virtue affords no just grounds for pride, much less does human knowledge, which bears no proportion to our ignorance. The greatest and the least objects equally baffle bur inquiries. True knowledge is one of the strongest fences against pride. When good sense and reason speak, they come like their great Author, God, in the still small voice, without any empty voice or loquacity, or overbearing pretensions. And those who keep the best sense within seldom hang out the sign of knowledge. Men of this stamp will own their entire ignorance in many things and their imperfect knowledge in all the rest. Whereas the ignorant are sometimes positive in matters quite above their sphere, and, like some creatures, are the bolder for being blind. In a word, the ingenuous will confess the weakness of their reason, and the presumptuous betray it by their being so. After all, what signifies all the learning in the world without a just discernment and penetration? And what is the result of our penetration but that we see through the littleness of almost everything, and our own especially? That we discern, and are disgusted with, several follies and absurdities which are hid from persons of a slower apprehension? So that our superior sagacity resembles the pretended second-sightedness of some people, by which they are said to see several uncomfortable and dismal objects which escape the rest of the world. Some may perhaps value themselves upon the strength of their genius, the largeness of their heart, even as the sand upon the seashore, and the brightness of their parts. Alas! the strength of the passions, and the quickness of the appetites, generally keep pace with the brightness of the imagination. And hence it comes to pass that those who have, with an uncommon compass of thought, inculcated excellent rules of morality in their writings have sometimes broke through them all in their practice: the brightness of their parts enabling them to lay down fine precepts, and the strength of their passions tempting them to transgress them. To a man of strong sensations every delight that is gentle seems dull, and everything but what is high seasoned flat and tasteless. The consequence of which is, that, disdaining common blessings, and not able to enjoy himself without something out of the usual road, he overleaps these bounds which confine meaner mortals, and precipitates himself into an endless train of inconveniences. But let us suppose, what is not a very common case, that a brightness of imagination and a well-poised judgment are happily united in the same person; yet the brightest genius, the greatest man that ever lived may say, O my God! that I live, and that I please, if ever I please, is owing to Thee. May it be, then, my uppermost view to do Thy pleasure, from whom I have the ability to please. Dost thou value thyself upon popular applause and a great name? Think how many that have made a distinguished figure in the world are dead and unregarded as if they never had been, their deaths unlamented, their vacancy filled up, their persons missed no more than a drop of water when taken from the whole ocean. And is it worth our while to strive to please a vain fantastic world which will soon disregard us and think itself full as well without us, instead of laying out our endeavours to please that Almighty Being whose inexhaustible power and goodness will make His servants happy to all eternity? (J. Seed, M.A.)
Self-appreciation
1. Whatever is important is difficult. And it is exceedingly important and difficult to every man to take a right estimate of himself.
2. The cause of this difficulty is--
(1) That a mans mind is too near a mans mind for a mans mind to see it clearly:
(2) That in this court the judge, the witness, and the person examined are all one and the same. Note--
I. Two great dangers.
1. Of over-estimating ourselves.
(1) A man lives so much with himself and in himself.
(2) Or is so fond of comparing himself with certain persons whom he likes to select for that purpose.
(3) Or is so apt to compare himself with what he used to be.
(4) Or is always seeing himself so entirely as a certain little loving circle sees him.
(5) Or takes himself at the measure of what he is always hoping and intending to be.
(6) Or has unworthy standards of what a man ought to be.
(7) Or is always so fixing his eyes on his good parts, and intentionally turning away from his bad ones.
2. Of depreciating ourselves. Many, no doubt, do this simply in affectation. They think proudly, while they speak humbly. But besides these, there are others who think of themselves in a way that--
(1) Is not true.
(2) Brings with it much depression and distress.
(3) Often incapacitates them for the very work which God sets them to do.
(4) This darkens the grace of God in them, and His purposes are frustrated.
II. The text steers us between these two rocks.
1. Before God we are, all of us, utterly bad. There is nothing in us that comes up to His standard. The memory of the past is one great humiliation; the sense of the present is all conscious weakness; the anticipation of the future is overwhelming every man who sees only himself.
2. But we should come to a false conclusion if we rested here. In every one who is born of God there are now two natures. The old one is there to abase and confound all, to drive all to Jesus Christ. In this new nature there are numberless degrees. Either God has been pleased by His sovereignty to give to one man more than He has seen fit to give to another; or some have cultivated them more than others have; and so it comes to pass that there are real distinctions between man and man.
(1) Now, with these distinctions God tells us that it is so far from being a proud or wrong thing that one man should be conscious that he has more than another, that no man can take a true view of himself, or be prepared for his duties in life, unless he takes it; because every man is to think soberly--i.e., accurately--of himself, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. We have all different degrees of everything in life. We have different degrees of stature, beauty, wealth, and intellectual gifts; and it would be utterly silly if a clever or rich man pretended to be ignorant of his superiority in these respects. Why then should it be less so with a mans spiritual possessions? Is not one man greater in his spiritual possessions than another? And are they not all equally the gifts of God?
(2) And here I must put in a caution. We are never told to gauge other mens states, or to gauge ourselves in comparison to other mens states; but to gauge ourselves. Of course, it is impossible to do this altogether without reference to our fellow-creatures, for every man in this world is what he is comparatively to another; but we must not do it for the sake of comparison with a fellow-creature.
(3) Every mans view of himself, then, is to be according to the facts of the case, neither degrading himself too low nor vaunting himself too high; but thinking of himself what he really is, and just as God has been pleased to make him.
E.g.
(1) Your mind, perhaps, has been raising the question whether you are a child of God. Now you must not think there is any virtue in saying, Oh! I am so bad! I cannot be a child of God! You should examine the matter with a calm judgment. When you find some proofs in favour of one view, and some in favour of the other, then prayerfully, and with the Bible in your hand, set the one over against the other, and make your decision just as you would deal with any matter of business.
(2) Or you want to know whether you are entitled to a particular promise, as, e.g., Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Does that mean a person absolutely without any evil thoughts or passions? Or does it mean one who is under the purifying influence of grace, who strives after purity, who is pure in Christ. Then how is it with me in this? Can I appropriate it?
(3) Or supposing you have a distinct opportunity now opening to you. You must not at once put it away and say, Oh, no! I am not called to that work. You must consider with yourself, Is this a providential opening? What degree of knowledge and what degree of spiritual strength will it take? Have I so much? If not, can I obtain it? Has God been preparing me for this work, and this work for me?
(4) To guide you in such-like investigations, the apostle gives one rule--to think according to the measure of faith. It is not, Judge of yourselves according to your attainments, but the measure of faith; because everything that is good in a mans heart is faith, and every other good thing, being proportioned to the faith we have, is the measure of everything that a man has or can attain, and so becomes the measure of the man--i.e., is the man. (J. Vaughan, M.A.)
Presumption and ambition
I. The spirit of presumption consists in thinking ourselves adorned with accomplishments which we have not, in magnifying those which we have, and in preferring ourselves to others on account of these qualities, real or imaginary.
1. The first character of presumption is to imagine ourselves endued with virtues and good qualities, of which we have not the substance, but only the shadow and the false appearance. Of all the blessings which are bestowed upon the good, there is none perhaps more expedient, or more to be requested of God, than a spirit of impartiality with respect to ourselves, together with that accurate discernment, that care to distinguish between real probity and the false appearance of it, and that caution not to be imposed upon by hypocrisy and dissimulation, which we usually exert when we scan the actions and the pretensions of other people.
2. The second character of presumption is the magnifying those good qualities which we have. And here presumption is the more dangerous, because it is not the mere effect of extravagant fancy, but hath some foundation, something real, to trust to and to build upon. It is a common observation in the learned world, that a mans genius and skill can only be estimated when his thoughts and his inventions are laid before the public; and that many a person who hath been cried up beyond measure by his friends and dependents, or by party zeal, hath fallen short of expectation. The same remark holds true in the moral qualities of the heart and mind. Hath a man resolutely exposed himself to dangers in a just cause? He is, then, a man of courage. Hath he rejected the tempting opportunities of growing great and rich by dishonest methods? He is a man of integrity. Is he uniformly just, equitable, charitable, modest, and temperate? and doth he behave himself to others as his relation to them, his station and situation require? Then may it be truly said that his virtues are real.
3. A third character of presumption is to ascribe to the qualities which we possess an eminence and an excellence that belong not to them. In general, all the qualities of mind and body, and all the external advantages which are commonly called gifts of fortune, all these are so far valuable as they are useful to ourselves and others, and no farther; so that, by being misapplied, they become pernicious.
II. Ambition is the natural effect of presumption, and may be called a desire to obtain the rewards, which we think to be due to us.
1. The first object of ambition is glory, esteem, reputation; and, in the desire of these things, there seems to be nothing irregular and vicious. To despise them may be a kind of stupid brutality. But there are excellent rules to be observed on this occasion.
(1) We must never prefer the esteem of men to the approbation of God.
(2) Nothing is truly glorious unless it be truly good and conformable to the will of God. Then, though men condemn us, our conscience supports us. But if God condemns us, human applause can make us no amends.
(3) When virtue is attended with disgrace, we must despise such contempt, and not be deterred by it from our duty.
(4) We must not love virtue for the bare sake of reputation and human esteem: Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
2. The second object of ambition is an honourable rank and station, and places of power, trust, and profit.
(1) No man should set his heart overmuch upon rising and bettering his condition, because it is ten times more probable that he shall be disappointed than that he shall succeed.
(2) No man should highly value any temporal advantages, because they are temporal, and because there are higher objects which demand our more serious attention.
(3) No man should desire eminent stations without comparing his strength with the burden, and having reason to hope that he shall be able to acquit himself as the laws of God and man require.
(4) No man should be puffed up with power and prosperity, because it is a dangerous state and an envied state. (J. Jortin, D.D.)
A true ideal
A man who looks up all the time is never a great man to himself. Are you a poet? Then do not get poetasters to read and say, I write better poems than they do, and therefore I am a better poet. Read Milton, read Shakespeare, read Homer. Go to the old Englishmen of immortal thought, whose drums and trumpets have sounded clear down through the ages to this day. Go to the grandest and noblest of our thinkers and writers, sit in council with them, and then see if you are not a dwarf, a pigmy. It will make you humble to have high ideals. But a man who for ever measures himself by pigmies and dwarfs, and thinks he is better than they--what is he but a mountebank among pigmies and dwarfs? A true ideal tends to cure the conceit of men, and to rank them. Says the apostle, Let every man think of himself as he ought to think, soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. The measure of faith? What is faith? It is the sight of invisible excellence. It is the sight of noble qualities unseen. It is the sight of ideal grandeur. Let every man measure himself by that conception, and then think of himself as he ought to think; let him think of himself as lowly, and poor, and needy; and he may well call out for help and for grace. (H. W. Beecher.)
Odiousness of conceit
Conceit is a very odious quality. It loses a man more friends and gains him more enemies than any other foible, perhaps vice, in the world. It makes him harsh to his inferiors and disrespectful to his betters. It causes him to live at right angles with the world. It makes him believe that he alone is in the right; it warps his opinions in all things, makes him viciously sceptical, and robs him of the most glorious inheritance of faith, while it distorts his hope and totally destroys his charity. (Gentle Life.)
Conceit, ignorance of
A certain worthy of our acquaintance, being out of a situation, made application to a friend to recommend him to a place, and remarked that he would prefer a somewhat superior position, for you know, Tomkins, said he, I am not a fool, and I aint ignorant. We would not insinuate that the brother was mistaken in his own estimate, but the remark might possibly excite suspicion, for the case is similar to that of a timid pedestrian at night alone, hurrying along a lonesome lane, when a gentleman comes out of the hedge just at the turning by Deadmans Corner, and accosts him in the following reassuring language, I aint a garrotter, and I never crack a fellows head with this here life-preserver. The outspoken self-assertion of the brother quoted above is but the expression of the thought of the most, if not all of us. I am not a fool, and I aint ignorant, is the almost universal self-compliment, which is never out of season; and this is the great barrier to our benefiting by good advice, which we suppose to be directed to the foolish and ignorant world in general, but not to our elevated selves. The poet did not say, but we will say it for him, All men think all men faulty but themselves. It would be a great gain to us all if we had those elegant quizzing glasses of ours silvered at the back so that the next time we stick them in our eyes, in all the foppery of our conceit, we may be edified and, let us hope, humbled, by seeing ourselves. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Self-knowledge
1. Destroys pride.
2. Encourages humility.
3. Promotes the glory of God.
4. Is only acquired through grace. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Self-knowledge, importance of
He (Socrates) did occupy himself with physics early in his career. In after life he regarded such speculations as trivial. I have not leisure for such things, he is made to say by Plato; and I will tell you the reason: I am not yet able, according to the Delphic inscription, to know myself, and it appears to me very ridiculous, while ignorant of myself, to inquire into what I am not concerned in.
Self-knowledge, value of
To know ones self to be foolish is to stand upon the doorstep of the temple of wisdom: to understand the wrongness of any position is half-way towards amending it; to be quite sure that our self-confidence is a heinous sin and folly, and an offence against God, and to have that thought burned into us by Gods Holy Spirit, is going a great length towards the absolute casting our self-confidence away, and the bringing of our souls in practice, as well as in theory, to rely wholly upon the power of Gods Holy Spirit. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Pride, the result of ignorance
The prouder a man is, the more he thinks he deserves; and the more he thinks he deserves, the less he really does deserve. A proud man--the whole world is not big enough to serve him. The little he gets he looks upon with contempt because it is little. The much that he does not get he regards as evidence of the marvellous inequality of things in human life. He walks a perpetual self-adulator, expecting until experience has taught him not to expect, and then he goes for ever murmuring at what he looks upon as partiality in Gods dealings with men. Such men are like old hulks that make no voyages, and leak at every seam. They are diseased with pride. They have the craving appetite of dyspepsia in their disposition. (H. W. Beecher.)
But to think soberly.--
Humility, Christian
I. Its nature includes--
1. A just estimate of ourselves.
2. A due esteem for others.
3. A constant recognition of Divine grace.
II. Its source. Consciousness--
1. Of dependence upon others.
2. That our gifts are but a small part of the fulness of the body of Christ.
III. Its evidence. In the--
1. Ready.
2. Patient.
3. Faithful consecration of our ability to the service of the Church. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Humility and knowledge
I believe the first test of a truly great man is his humility. I do not mean by humility doubt of his own power or hesitation of speaking his opinions, but a right understanding of the relation between what he can do and say and the rest of the worlds sayings and doings. All great men not only know their business, but usually know that they know it, and are not only right in their main opinions, but they usually know that they are right in them, only they do not think much of themselves on that account. Arnolfo knows he can build a good dome at Florence; Albert Durer writes calmly to one who has found fault with his work, It cannot be better done; Sir Isaac Newton knows that he has worked out a problem or two that would have puzzled anybody else; only they do not expect their fellow-men, therefore, to fall down and worship them. They have a curious under-sense of powerlessness, feeling that the greatness is not in them, but through them; that they could not do or be anything else than God made them; and they see something Divine and God-made in every other man they meet, and are endlessly, foolishly, incredibly merciful. (J. Ruskin.)
According as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.--
The measure of faith
The water we draw from a well depends upon the size of the bucket; God provides us with the bucket as well as the water in the well of salvation. Or, again, gifts may be compared to the air we breathe, and faith to the lungs, by which we inhale and exhale; then the strength of the lungs would be represented by the measure of faith. (C. Neil, M.A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v8 Chapter 26
Chapter 26
CHRISTIAN DUTY: DETAILS OF PERSONAL CONDUCT
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Rom_12:8-21
ST. PAUL has set before us the life of surrender, of the "giving over" of faculty to God, in one great preliminary aspect. The fair ideal (meant always for a watchful and hopeful realisation) has been held aloft. It is a life whose motive is the Lords "compassions"; whose law of freedom is His will; whose inmost aim is, without envy or interference towards our fellow servants, to "finish the work He hath given us to do." Now into this noble outline are to be poured the details of personal conduct which, in any and every line and field are to make the characteristics of the Christian.
As we listen again, we will again remember that the words are levelled not at a few, but at all who are in Christ. The beings indicated here are not the chosen names of a Church Calendar, nor are they the passionless inhabitants of a Utopia. They are all who, in Rome of old, in England now, "have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," "have the Spirit of God dwelling in them," and are living out this wonderful but most practical life in the straight line of their Fathers will.
As if he could not heap the golden words too thickly together, St. Paul dictates here with even unusual abruptness and terseness of expression. He leaves syntax very much alone; gives us noun and adjective, and lets them speak for themselves. We will venture to render as nearly verbatim as possible. The English will inevitably seem more rough and crude than the Greek, but the impression given will be truer on the whole to the original than a fuller rendering would be.
Your love, unaffected. Abominating the ill, wedded to the good. For your brotherly kindness, full of mutual home affection. For your honour, your code of precedence, deferring to one another. For your earnestness, not slothful. For the Spirit, as regards your possession and use of the divine Indweller, glowing. For the Lord, bond serving. For your hope, that is to say, as to the hope of the Lords Return, rejoicing. For your affliction, enduring. For your prayer, persevering. For the wants of the saints, for the poverty of fellow Christians, communicating; "sharing," a yet nobler thing than the mere "giving" which may ignore the sacred fellowship of the provider and the receiver. Hospitality-prosecuting as with a studious cultivation. Bless those who persecute you; bless, and do not curse. This was a solemnly appropriate precept, for the community over which, eight years later, the first great Persecution was to break in "blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke." And no doubt there was abundant present occasion for it, even while the scene was comparatively tranquil. Every modern mission field can illustrate the possibilities of a "persecution" which may be altogether private, or which at most may touch only a narrow neighbourhood; which may never reach the point of technical outrage, yet may apply a truly "fiery trial" to the faithful convert. Even in circles of our decorous English society is no such thing known as the "persecution" of a life "not conformed to this world," though the assault or torture may take forms almost invisible and impalpable, except to the sensibilities of the object of it? For all such cases, as well as for the confessor on the rack, and the martyr in the fire, this precept holds expressly: "Bless, do not curse." In Christ find possible the impossible; let the resentment of nature die, at His feet, in the breath of His love.
To rejoice with the rejoicing, and to weep with the weeping; holy duties of the surrendered life, too easily forgotten. Alas, there is such a phenomenon, not altogether rare, as a life whose self-surrender, in some main aspects, cannot be doubted, but which utterly fails in sympathy. A certain spiritual exaltation is allowed actually to harden, or at least to seem to harden, the consecrated heart; and the man who perhaps witnesses for God with a prophets ardour is yet not one to whom the mourner would go for tears and prayer in his bereavement, or the child for a perfectly human smile in its play. But this is not as the Lord would have it be. If indeed the Christian has "given his body over," it is that his eyes, and lips, and hands, may be ready to give loving tokens of fellowship in sorrow, and (what is less obvious) in gladness too, to the human hearts around him.
Feeling the same thing towards one another; animated by a happy identity of sympathy and brotherhood. Not haughty in feeling, but full of lowly sympathies; accessible, in an unaffected fellowship, to the poor, the social inferior, the weak and the defeated, and again to the smallest and homeliest interests of all. It was the Lords example; the little child, the wistful parent, the widow with her mite, the poor fallen woman of the street, could "lead away" His blessed sympathies with a touch, while He responded with an unbroken majesty of gracious power, but with a kindness for which condescension seems a word far too cold and distant.
Do not get to be wise in your own opinion; be ready always to learn; dread the attitude of mind, too possible even for the man of earnest spiritual purpose, which assumes that you have nothing to learn and everything to teach; which makes it easy to criticise and to discredit; and which can prove an altogether repellent thing to the observer from outside, who is trying to estimate the Gospel by its adherent and advocate. Requiting no one evil for evil; safe from the spirit of retaliation, in your surrender to Him "who when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, threatened not." Taking forethought for good in the sight of all men; not letting habits, talk, expenses, drift into inconsistency; watching with open and considerate eyes against what others may fairly think to be unchristian in you. Here is no counsel of cowardice, no recommendation of slavery to a public opinion which may be altogether wrong. It is a precept of loyal jealousy for the heavenly Masters honour. His servant is to be nobly indifferent to the worlds thought and word, where he is sure that God and the world antagonise. But he is to be sensitively attentive to the worlds observation where the world, more or less acquainted with the Christian precept or principle, and more or less conscious of its truth and right, is watching, maliciously or it may be wistfully, to see if it governs the Christians practice. In view of this the man will never be content even with the satisfaction of his own conscience; he will set himself not only to do right, but to be seen to do it. He will not only be true to a monetary trust, for example; he will take care that the proofs of his fidelity shall be open. He will not only mean well towards others; he will take care that his manner and bearing, his dealings and intercourse, shall unmistakably breathe the Christian air.
If possible, as regards your side (the "your" is as emphatic as possible in position and in meaning), living at peace with all men; yes, even in pagan and hostile Rome. A peculiarly Christian principle speaks here. The men who had "given over their bodies a living sacrifice" might think, imaginably, that their duty was to court the worlds enmity, to tilt as it were against its spears, as if the one supreme call was to collide, to fall, and to be glorified. But this would be fanaticism; and the Gospel is never fanatical, for it is the law of love. The surrendered Christian is not, as such, an aspirant for even a martyrs fame, but the servant of God and man. If martyrdom crosses his path, it is met as duty; but he does not court it as eclat. And what is true of martyrdom is of course true of every lower and milder form of the conflict of the Church, and of the Christian, in the world.
Nothing more nobly evidences the divine origin of the Gospel than this essential precept; "as far as it lies with you, live peaceably with all men." Such wise and kind forbearance and neighbourliness would never have been bound up with the belief of supernatural powers and hopes, if those powers and hopes had been the mere issue of human exaltation, of natural enthusiasm. The supernatural of the Gospel leads to nothing but rectitude and considerateness, in short to nothing but love, between man and man. And why? Because it is indeed divine; it is the message and gift of the living Son of God, in all the truth and majesty of His rightfulness. All too early in the history of the Church "the crown of martyrdom" became an object of enthusiastic ambition. But that was not because of the teaching of the Crucified, nor of His suffering Apostles.
Not avenging yourselves, beloved; no, give place to the wrath; let the angry opponent, the dread persecutor, have his way, so far as your resistance or retaliation is concerned. "Beloved, let us love"; {1Jn_4:7} with that strong and conquering love which wins by suffering. And do not fear lest eternal justice should go by default; there is One who will take care of that matter; you may leave it with Him. For it stands written, {Deu_32:35} "To Me belongs vengeance; I will recompense, saith the Lord." "But if" (and again he quotes the older Scriptures, finding in the Pro_25:21-22 -the same oracular authority as in the Pentateuch), "but if thy enemy is hungry, give him food; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for so doing thou wilt heap coals of fire on his head"; taking the best way to the only "vengeance" which a saint can wish, namely, your "enemys" conviction of his wrong, the rising of a burning shame in his soul, and the melting of his spirit in the fire of love. Be not thou conquered by the evil, but conquer, in the good, the evil.
"In the good"; as if surrounded by it, moving invulnerable, in its magic circle, through "the contradiction of sinners," "the provoking of all men." The thought is just that of Psa_31:18-19 : "How great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee, which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before the sons of men! Thou shalt hide them in the secret of Thy presence from the pride of man; Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues." "The good" of this sentence of St. Pauls is no vague and abstract thing; it is "the gift of God"; {Rom_6:23} it is the life eternal found and possessed in union with Christ, our Righteousness, our Sanctification, our Redemption. Practically, it is "not It but He." The Roman convert who should find it more than possible to meet his enemy with love, to do him positive good in his need, with a conquering simplicity of intention, was to do so not so much by an internal conflict between his "better self" and his worse, as by the living power of Christ received in his whole being; by "abiding in Him."
It is so now, and forever. The open secret of divine peace and love is what it was; as necessary, as versatile, as victorious. And its path of victory is as straight and as sure as of old. And the precept to tread that path, daily and hourly, if occasion calls, is still as divinely binding as it ever was for the Christian, if indeed he has embraced "the mercies of God," and is looking to his Lord to be evermore "transfigured, by the renewing of his mind."
As we review this rich field of the flowers, and of the gold, of holiness, this now completed paragraph of epigrammatic precepts, some leading and pervading principles emerge. We see first that the sanctity of the Gospel is no hushed and cloistered "indifferentism." It is a thing intended for the open field of human life; to be lived out "before the sons of men." A strong positive element is in it. The saint is to "abominate the evil"; not only to deprecate it, and deplore. He is to be energetically "in earnest." He is to "glow" with the Spirit, and to "rejoice" in the hope of glory. He is to take practical, provident pains to live not only aright, but manifestly aright, in ways which "all men" can recognise. Again, his life is to be essentially social. He is contemplated as one who meets other lives at every turn, and he is never to forget or neglect his relation to them. Particularly in the Christian Society, he is to cherish the "family affection" of the Gospel; to defer to fellow Christians in a generous humility; to share his means with the poor among them; to welcome the strangers of them to his house. He is to think it a sacred duty to enter into the joys and the sorrows round him. He is to keep his sympathies open for despised people, and for little matters. Then again, and most prominently after all, he is to be ready to suffer, and to meet suffering with a spirit far greater than that of only resignation. He is to bless his persecutor; he is to serve his enemy in ways most practical and active; he is to conquer him for Christ, in the power of a divine communion.
Thus, meanwhile, the life, so positive, so active in its effects, is to be essentially all the while a passive, bearing, enduring, life. Its strength is to spring not from the energies of nature, which may or may not be vigorous in the man, but from an internal surrender to the claim and government of his Lord. He has "presented himself to God"; {Rom_6:13} he has "presented his body, a living sacrifice". {Rom_12:1} He has recognised, with a penitent wonder and joy, that he is but the limb of a Body, and that his Head is the Lord. His thought is now not for his personal rights, his individual exaltation, but for the glory of his Head, for the fulfilment of the thought of his Head, and for the health and wealth of the Body, as the great vehicle in the world of the gracious will of the Head.
It is among the chief and deepest of the characteristics of Christian ethics, this passive root below a rich growth and harvest of activity. All through the New Testament we find it expressed or suggested. The first Beatitude uttered by the Lord {Mat_5:3} is given to "the poor, the mendicant (πτωχοί) in spirit." The last {Joh_20:29} is for the believer, who trusts without seeing. The radiant portrait of holy Love {1 Cor. 13} produces its effect, full of indescribable life as well as beauty, by the combination of almost none but negative touches; the "total abstinence" of the loving soul from impatience, from envy, from self-display, from self-seeking, from brooding over wrong, from even the faintest pleasure in evil, from the tendency to think ill of others. Everywhere the Gospel bids the Christian take sides against himself. He is to stand ready to forego even his surest rights, if only he is hurt by so doing; while on the other hand he is watchful to respect even the least obvious rights of others, yea, to consider their weaknesses, and their prejudices, to the furthest just limit. He is "not to resist evil"; in the sense of never fighting for self as self. He is rather to "suffer himself to be defrauded" {1Co_6:7} than to bring discredit on his Lord in however due a course of law. The straits and humiliations of his earthly lot, if such things are the will of God for him, are not to be materials for his discontent, or occasions for his envy, or for his secular ambition. They are to be his opportunities for inward triumph; the theme of a "song of the Lord," in which he is to sing of strength perfected in weakness, of a power not his own "overshadowing" him. {2Co_12:9-10}
Such is the passivity of the saints, deep beneath their serviceable activity. The two are in vital connection. The root is not the accident, but the proper antecedent of the product. For the secret and unostentatious surrender of the will, in its Christian sense, is no mere evacuation, leaving the house swept but empty; it is the reception of the Lord of life into the open castle of the City of Mansoul. It is the placing in His hands of all that the walls contain. And placed in His hands, the castle, and the city, will show at once, and continually more and more, that not only order, but life, has taken possession. The surrender of the Moslem is, in its theory, a mere submission. The surrender of the Gospel is a reception also; and thus its nature is to come out in "the fruit of the Spirit."
Once more, let us not forget that the Apostle lays his main emphasis here rather on being than on doing. Nothing is said of great spiritual enterprises; everything has to do with the personal conduct of the men who, if such enterprises are done, must do them. This too is characteristic of the New Testament. Very rarely do the Apostles say anything about their converts duty, for instance, to carry the message of Christ around them in evangelistic aggression. Such aggression was assuredly attempted, and in numberless ways, by the primeval Christians, from those who were "scattered abroad" {Act_8:4} after the death of Stephen onwards. The Philippians {Php_2:15-16} "shone as lights in the world, holding out the word of life." The Ephesians {Eph_5:13} penetrated the surrounding darkness, being themselves "light in the Lord." The Thessalonians {1Th_1:8} made their witness felt "in Macedonia, and Achaia, and in every place." The Romans; encouraged by St. Pauls presence and sufferings, "were bold to speak the word without." {Php_1:14} St. John {3Jn_1:7} alludes to missionaries who, "for the Names sake, went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles."
Yet is it not plain that, when the Apostles thought of the life and zeal of their converts, their first care, by far, was that they should be wholly conformed to the will of God in personal and social matters? This Was the indispensable condition to their being, as a community, what they must be if they were to prove true witnesses and propagandists for their Lord.
God forbid that we should draw from this phenomenon one inference, however faint, to thwart or discredit the missionary zeal now in our day rising like a fresh, pure tide in the believing Church. May our Master continually animate His servants in the Church at home to seek the lost around them, to recall the lapsed with the voice of truth and love. May He multiply a hundredfold the scattered host of His "witnesses in the uttermost parts of the earth," through the dwelling places of those eight hundred millions who are still pagan, not to speak of the lesser yet vast multitudes of misbelievers, Mahometan and Jewish. But neither in missionary enterprise, nor in any sort of activity for God and man, is this deep suggestion of the Epistles to be forgotten. What the Christian does is even more important than what he says. What he is is the all-important antecedent to what he does. He is "nothing yet as he ought to" be if, amidst even innumerable efforts and aggressions, he has not "presented his body a living sacrifice" for his Lords purposes, not his own; if he has not learnt, in his Lord, an unaffected love, a holy family affection, a sympathy with griefs and joys around him, a humble esteem of himself, and the blessed art of giving way to wrath, and of overcoming evil in "the good" of the presence of the Lord.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 7, 8 3–5. For I say, through the grace given unto…
3–5. For I say, through the grace given unto me. The grace given unto him, specially, was that of apostleship. See Rom. 1:5; 15:15; 1 Cor. 3:10. Not to think more highly, etc. A much needed exhortation. To be puffed up in one's own conceits is the end of progress. It is the humble who are exalted; those that hunger are filled. Think soberly. Let each one take a sober judgment of himself, of his powers, and duties. The measure of faith. That measure of faith which would enable one to exercise spiritual gifts. The verses that follow show that this is Paul's meaning. It is not the ordinary faith that saves the soul, but the extraordinary faith, which was accompanied in the first century by supernatural gifts, that is meant.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv3–4 Rom_12:3.—Those who possess special gifts must be humble and…
CRITICAL NOTES
Rom_12:3.—Those who possess special gifts must be humble and seek a sober mind.
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Rom_12:3
Self-glorified and God-dishonoured.—Self-help is a very good book, well written, containing useful information, and inculcating wise lessons; but it is to be read with caution. The very title may mislead. Self-help must not be divorced from divine help. Self-dependence and self-confidence are needful if the battle of modern existence is to be successfully fought, if prizes are to be won and trophies gathered in the closely contested arena of modern days. And yet self-dependence must not override God-dependence; self-confidence must be the wholesome product of confidence in the Creator; self-confidence must not degenerate into presumption. A man must think soberly and justly of himself, and not place an undue estimate on his faculties and his achievements.
I. An undue self-estimate is a source of atheism.—Samosatenus is reported to have put down the hymns which were sung for the glory of God, and caused songs to be sung in the temple to his own honour. Professedly a theist, practically an atheist. We sing “Let the Creator’s praise arise” with our mouths, but in our hearts we sing, Let our own praises be celebrated! While we think of the atheists who do not worship our God, let us also think of the practical atheism of which we are too often guilty. The atheist exalts the creature above the Creator, and continues the process until the Creator is supposed to be non-existent. The creature exalted is really self. Every atheist is indeed one who is given to an exaggerated self-importance. His thoughts run out pleasantly upon the track of his own perfections. The thought of his own greatness minifies the thought of any other greatness; he brings himself to such a pass that he cannot brook the idea of a superior. Self-importance leads to self-deception and to general deception, and he vainly fancies that God will cease to exist if he thinks of Him as non-existent, if he arrays shallow syllogisms to prove that there is no God.
II. An undue self-estimate is a source of scepticism—The sceptic should be one who looks about; but it is to be feared that the sceptic, as we now employ the word, is one whose external looking about is dimmed by the gaze being turned inward. The vision is introspective instead of latospective, if we may coin a word, though we should be as careful of coining words as of coining money. The sceptic is too often a vain-glorious person; latusut in Circo spatiere, that you may stalk proudly along. He professes to examine, but prejudice and self-importance conduct and colour the examination. He is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason. Ajax in Sophocles says: “Others think to overcome with the assistance of the gods, but I hope to gain honour without them.” How many hope to gain honour by boasting of their scepticism, agnosticism, and their difficulty of believing and receiving time-worn creeds! They are wiser than the ancients, and their greater wisdom is shown in their no-knowledge and no certain beliefs. The ancients were constructive; the moderns are destructive. Surely the work of construction is nobler than that of destruction. The moderns destroy, and leave only unsightly ruins to tell of their greatness and their wisdom.
III. An undue self-estimate is a source of bigotry.—The narrow-minded man is in all ages the bigot. And the man must be narrow whose views are bounded by that little circle of which self is both the centre and the circumference. The man who considers only self has no patience with the different views of other people. His doxy is orthodoxy, and all other and different doxy is heterodoxy. We rail against papal infallibility, but there is a pope in every man’s nature. The errors of Roman Catholicism are the outcome of the errors of humanity. The inquisition is not destroyed. Bigotry stalks abroad with disdainful mien and fattens on self-esteem. The Christian bigot denounces the unchristian sceptic, and the latter in turn denounces the former. But bigotry treads the hall of science as well as kneels in the temple of religion. Whenever a man is found who thinks of himself more highly than he ought to think, there is the bigot either in embryo or in full development.
IV. An undue self-estimate is a source of God-dishonouring and of Christ-degrading.—All sin is a dishonour done to God, and an undue estimate of self is sin and is the prolific source of other sins. Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylon are typical. We all have our Babylons. They are just as baneful, though they are only ideal. The material Babylon was harmful because of the ideal Babylon. It was the mind-building which led to the boasting king’s downfall. He was his own architect and mason, and built a house which proclaimed his folly and procured his disaster. Self dishonours God and degrades Christ, at least strives to dishonour and degrade. Whence the offence of the cross? Self is the stumbling-stone and the true rock of offence. Self crucifies Christ afresh. Self must be dethroned before Christ can be enthroned. The dethronement of self is its true enthronement and enrichment.
V. An undue self-estimate is a source of modern display.—We too often desire to excel in order that we may be glorified. Display is our word. Show, pomp, and glitter are our ambitions. Even art, science, and literature are prostituted to the desire of making a sensation. Envy takes possession, if other selves are exalted above our own selves. Impatience is shown if our purposes are crossed and our projects defeated. Let self have its proper place and sphere, but let it not blot all the glory and nobility out of existence. Think soberly and wisely, and then life will flow evenly and sweetly along like some clear stream through a charming landscape.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv4–8 4. “For as we have many members in one…
4. “For as we have many members in one body, and all have not the same office,
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6
Romans
SOBER THINKING
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Rom 12:3.
It is hard to give advice without seeming to assume superiority; it is hard to take it, unless the giver identifies himself with the receiver, and shows that his counsel to others is a law for himself. Paul does so here, led by the delicate perception which comes from a loving heart, compared with which deliberate ‘tact’ is cold and clumsy. He wishes, as the first of the specific duties to which he invites the Roman Christians, an estimate of themselves based upon the recognition of God as the Giver of all capacities and graces, and leading to a faithful use for the general good of the ‘gifts differing according to the grace given to us.’ In the first words of our text, he enforces his counsel by an appeal to his apostolic authority; but he so presents it that, instead of separating himself from the Roman Christians by it, he unites himself with them. He speaks of ‘the grace given to me,’ and in Rom 12:6 of ‘the grace given to us.’ He was made an Apostle by the same giving God who has bestowed varying gifts on each of them. He knows what is the grace which he possesses as he would have them know; and in these counsels he is assuming no superiority, but is simply using the special gift bestowed on him for the good of all. With this delicate turn of what might else have sounded harshly authoritative, putting prominently forward the divine gift and letting the man Paul to whom it was given fall into the background, he counsels as the first of the social duties which Christian men owe to one another, a sober and just estimate of themselves. This sober estimate is here regarded as being important chiefly as an aid to right service. It is immediately followed by counsels to the patient and faithful exercise of differing gifts. For thus we may know what our gifts are; and the acquisition of such knowledge is the aim of our text.
I. What determines our gifts.
Paul here gives a precise standard, or ‘measure’ as he calls it, according to which we are to estimate ourselves. ‘Faith’ is the measure of our gifts, and is itself a gift from God. The strength of a Christian man’s faith determines his whole Christian character. Faith is trust, the attitude of receptivity. There are in it a consciousness of need, a yearning desire and a confidence of expectation. It is the open empty hand held up with the assurance that it will be filled; it is the empty pitcher let down into the well with the assurance that it will be drawn up filled. It is the precise opposite of the self-dependent isolation which shuts us out from God. The law of the Christian life is ever, ‘according to your faith be it unto you’; ‘believe that ye receive and ye have them.’ So then the more faith a man exercises the more of God and Christ he has. It is the measure of our capacity, hence there may be indefinite increase in the gifts which God bestows on faithful souls. Each of us will have as much as he desires and is capable of containing. The walls of the heart are elastic, and desire expands them.
The grace given by faith works in the line of its possessor’s natural faculties; but these are supernaturally reinforced and strengthened while, at the same time, they are curbed and controlled, by the divine gift, and the natural gifts thus dealt with become what Paul calls charisms. The whole nature of a Christian should be ennobled, elevated, made more delicate and intense, when the ‘Spirit of life that is in Christ Jesus’ abides in and inspires it. Just as a sunless landscape is smitten into sudden beauty by a burst of sunshine which heightens the colouring of the flowers on the river’s bank, and is flashed back from every silvery ripple on the stream, so the faith which brings the life of Christ into the life of the Christian makes him more of a man than he was before. So, there will be infinite variety in the resulting characters. It is the same force in various forms that rolls in the thunder or gleams in the dewdrops, that paints the butterfly’s feathers or flashes in a star. All individual idiosyncrasies should be developed in the Christian Church, and will be when its members yield themselves fully to the indwelling Spirit, and can truly declare that the lives which they live in the flesh they live by the faith of the Son of God.
But Paul here regards the measure of faith as itself ‘dealt to every man’; and however we may construe the grammar of this sentence there is a deep sense in which our faith is God’s gift to us. We have to give equal emphasis to the two conceptions of faith as a human act and as a divine bestowal, which have so often been pitted against each other as contradictory when really they are complementary. The apparent antagonism between them is but one instance of the great antithesis to which we come to at last in reference to all human thought on the relations of man to God. ‘It is He that worketh in us both to will and to do of His own good pleasure’; and all our goodness is God-given goodness, and yet it is our goodness. Every devout heart has a consciousness that the faith which knits it to God is God’s work in it, and that left to itself it would have remained alienated and faithless. The consciousness that his faith was his own act blended in full harmony with the twin consciousness that it was Christ’s gift, in the agonised father’s prayer, ‘Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief.’
II. What is a just estimate of our gifts.
The Apostle tells us, negatively, that we are not to think more highly than we ought to think, and positively that we are to ‘think soberly.’
To arrive at a just estimate of ourselves the estimate must ever be accompanied with a distinct consciousness that all is God’s gift. That will keep us from anything in the nature of pride or over-weening self-importance. It will lead to true humility, which is not ignorance of what we can do, but recognition that we, the doers, are of ourselves but poor creatures. We are less likely to fancy that we are greater than we are when we feel that, whatever we are, God made us so. ‘What hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now, if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?’
Further, it is to be noted that the estimate of gifts which Paul enjoins is an estimate with a view to service. Much self-investigation is morbid, because it is self-absorbed; and much is morbid because it is undertaken only for the purpose of ascertaining one’s ‘spiritual condition.’ Such self-examination is good enough in its way, and may sometimes be very necessary; but a testing of one’s own capacities for the purpose of ascertaining what we are fit for, and what therefore it is our duty to do, is far more wholesome. Gifts are God’s summons to work, and our first response to the summons should be our scrutiny of our gifts with a distinct purpose of using them for the great end for which we received them. It is well to take stock of the loaves that we have, if the result be that we bring our poor provisions to Him, and put them in His hands, that He may give them back to us so multiplied as to be more than adequate to the needs of the thousands. Such just estimate of our gifts is to be attained mainly by noting ourselves at work. Patient self-observation may be important, but is apt to be mistaken; and the true test of what we can do is what we do do.
The just estimate of our gifts which Paul enjoins is needful in order that we may ascertain what God has meant us to be and do, and may neither waste our strength in trying to be some one else, nor hide our talent in the napkin of ignorance or false humility. There is quite as much harm done to Christian character and Christian service by our failure to recognise what is in our power, as by ambitious or ostentatious attempts at what is above our power. We have to be ourselves as God has made us in our natural faculties, and as the new life of Christ operating on these has made us new creatures in Him not by changing but by enlarging our old natures. It matters nothing what the special form of a Christian man’s service may be; the smallest and the greatest are alike to the Lord of all, and He appoints His servants’ work. Whether the servant be a cup-bearer or a counsellor is of little moment. ‘He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much.’
The positive aspect of this right estimate of one’s gifts is, if we fully render the Apostle’s words, as the Revised Version does, ‘so to think as to think soberly.’ There is to be self-knowledge in order to ‘sobriety,’ which includes not only what we mean by sober-mindedness, but self-government; and this aspect of the apostolic exhortation opens out into the thought that the gifts, which a just estimate of ourselves pronounces us to possess, need to be kept bright by the continual suppression of the mind of the flesh, by putting down earthly desires, by guarding against a selfish use of them, by preventing them by rigid control from becoming disproportioned and our masters. All the gifts which Christ bestows upon His people He bestows on condition that they bind them together by the golden chain of self-control.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv3–8 [Having defined the faith-life as sacrificial and sanctified, the…
[Having defined the faith-life as sacrificial and sanctified, the apostle next points out the principal virtues which it must manifest in the several spheres of its activities. The first sphere is the church, and the first virtue enjoined therein is humility.] For I say ["For" is epexigetical; i. e., it introduces matter which further explains or elucidates the nature of the required living sacrifice; viz., that the Christian must humble himself. "I say" is mildly imperative], through [by right or authority of] the grace [the apostleship in Christ-- Rom_1:5 ; Rom_15:15-16 ; Eph_3:7-8 ] that was given me, to every man that is among you [As apostle to the Gentiles, Paul divided his duties into evangelistic and didactic. In discharge of the former he founded churches, and in fulfillment of the latter we find him here instructing a church which he did not found. He addresses his instruction to each member without exception, and though his words in this section are more particularly meant for the more gifted, they also have the man with one talent in mind, and make allowance for no drones in the hive. "Among you" means "in your community"--Meyer], not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but so to think as to think soberly [It is evident that Paul anticipated a spirit of presumption among the Christians at Rome, by reason of their spiritual gifts, like that which he rebuked at Corinth (1 Cor 12 and 14). It is well known that for the guidance, edification, etc., of the church, and for the converting of the world, spiritual gifts abounded among Christians in that age, and many of these were markedly supernatural or miraculous. These latter were well calculated to excite a false pride in the vainglorious pagans, so recently converted to Christ. As such pride is contrary to the spirit of Christ, and prompts the one yielding to it to save his life for the ends of ambition, rather than to offer it as a living sacrifice on the altar of service, Paul first sets himself to correct it, by commanding each to give to himself that sober, fair self-inspection which will correct overestimates of self and underestimates of one's neighbor], according as God hath dealt to each man a measure of faith . [Here was another check to pride. Sober thought would remind the proud and puffed up that the miraculous gifts were not of their own acquiring, but were gifts of God, and were therefore matters for gratitude rather than for vainglory (comp. 1Co_4:6-7 ; 1Co_12:11 ); stewardships to be carefully and conscientiously administered for the benefit of the church and not for selfish display and aggrandizement. "Measure of faith" is an expositor's puzzle. As saving faith is belief in testimony, it is the product of a man's own action, and God does not deal it out, or give it to any one. If he did, how could he consistently condemn men for the lack of it ( Mar_16:16 ), or how could he exhort men to believe ( Joh_20:27 )? But even those whose theological errors permit them to look upon faith as a gift, are still in a quandary, for Paul is evidently talking about measure of gifts, and not measure of saving faith, and the passage parallels 1Co_12:11 ; Eph_4:7 . Barnes says that faith here means religion. Hodge, hitting nearer truth, says that faith is used metonymically for its effects; viz., the various graces or gifts mentioned: "that which is confided to any, and equivalent to gift." Brown declares that it is "the receptive faculty of the renewed soul, the capacity to take gifts." Godet assigns it "the capacity assigned to each man in the domain of faith." These, and many similar passages which might be quoted, show that expositors are forced to recognize that faith here is employed in a very unusual sense, which is near akin to miraculous gifts. Now, as sound exegesis compels us to distinguish between the natural, perpetual gift of the Holy Spirit, bestowed upon every penitent believer at his baptism, and that miraculous gift which descended on the apostles at Pentecost and on the house of Cornelius, which passed away in the apostolic age; so we would here distinguish between natural, saving faith which is the possession of each Christian to this present hour, and miraculous faith, or faith which had power to work miracles, which was unquestionably dealt out as here described, so that different miraculous powers were displayed by different Christians. It was of this faith that Jesus spoke at Mat_17:20 ; Luk_17:6 ; for had he meant the saving faith now possessed by us, it is evident that none of us possess a mustard-seed measure of it. This special, divinely bestowed (comp. Luk_17:5 ), miraculous faith also vanished with the apostolic age.]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v3 Grace (imparted). Rom 12:3; Rom 12:6; Rom 15:15; Rom…
grace
Grace (imparted). Rom 12:3; Rom 12:6; Rom 15:15; Rom 6:1; 2Pe 3:18.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v3 The proper use of God’s gifts of mercy:
The proper use of God’s gifts of mercy:
v. 3. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
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v. 4. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office,
v. 5. so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
v. 6. Having, then, gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
v. 7. or ministry, let us wait on our ministering; or he that teacheth, on teaching;
v. 8. or he that exhorts, on exhortation; he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that rules, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness.
The general exhortation of the first verses St. Paul now carries out in detail by specializing and applying its content to actual situations in the lives of the believers. In this section he speaks of the special gifts of grace which find their application in congregational life. Every Christian having received some such gift, it is the will of God that he apply it, that he give practical proof of it in the business of the Church. Paul makes this admonition through the grace which had been given him, by virtue of his apostleship, chap. 15:15; Eph 3:7-8, which enables him to speak with authority; the ordinary and extraordinary gifts which he had thus received qualified him for his duties and gave authority to his instructions.
And his very first instruction concerns a very grievous nuisance and sin which was often found, and is found today, in such as possess certain gifts in the Church: That he should not think more of himself than he ought to think, but to think with the object of being modest. And this the apostle says to every one of them, to each one as God dealt out the measure of faith. The special gifts of grace which God at all times has given to the members of His Church in some measure, such as executive ability, fitness and skill in teaching, an aptitude for simple and clear exposition of Scriptures, and others, have ever been coveted and exercised by some Christians for purposes of self-exaltation. And therefore Paul says to every one of them, no matter who he is and what position he may hold, that he should not hold an opinion of himself which exceeded the measure of Christian modesty. A Christian may be partly or fully conscious of some gift in the Church which the Lord has given him. But this consciousness must not result in self-glorification. Simple, sane modesty and humility must characterize the Christian’s judgment of his abilities and of his work in the kingdom of God. And this he should do, because, in the first place, his special gift comes from God, is a free present of His grace; and, secondly, this gift is connected with faith, since God has dealt out to every Christian his measure of faith, of firmness, trust, confidence in God, 1Co 12:9. If a Christian is to apply his special gift of grace properly, then a certain measure of confidence is necessary, the conviction that God requires certain work of him, that he must serve God and the congregation of God with his gift, and that he possesses the proper cheerfulness to this end. The apostle, of course, does not speak of the strange self-delusions, according to which people imagine themselves to be called for positions for which they have neither fitness nor ability, and rely entirely upon their own perverted judgment. He expressly warns against such delusions and self-exaltation.
This warning against high-mindedness and his admonition to modest-mindedness the apostle now substantiates with the fact: For just as we in one body have many members, but all the members have not the same function, thus we, being many, have one body in Christ, but every one members of another, vv. 1:4-5; Corinthians 12:12; Eph 4:15-16; Col 1:18. The human organism has many members; but these are not all alike, differing, rather, very decidedly in function or business, and yet serving the body, each in his own sphere and in his own special way. And in the same way we many, all we Christians together, form the body of Christ, the communion of saints, but individually, so far as our individual relation is concerned, we are members one of another, and can therefore serve the body properly only by working in unison, guided by the mind and Spirit of God. The apostle thus, in this figure, intends to show that the diversity of offices and gifts among Christians, far from being inconsistent with their union as one body in Christ, rather is necessary to the perfection and usefulness of the body. In supplementing and serving one another, all the believers are serving Christ.
The apostle now continues his thought by showing that we, who have such varied gifts, should now also use them in accordance with the purpose of God, in a way agreeing with His will. The gifts of grace found in the Christians are many and various, but their end and object is the same, to serve the Lord, not to serve their own advantage. If one has the gift of prophecy, let him use it according to the analogy of faith. If we take prophecy to mean here the special gift of the apostolic age, as an extraordinary exposition of divine truth, then the admonition of the apostle means to say that all such exposition must agree with the inspired Word and bring out the confidence of faith. But since prophecy in this passage probably refers to the explanation of Scripture at all times, with the gifts as they have been given to many members of the New Testament Church, the words could be transcribed: All exposition of Scriptures at all times must follow the analogy of faith, of saving faith. As this faith is based entirely and alone upon the inspired Word of God, and never follows reason or philosophy, so Bible explanation which really merits the name never goes at its task with preconceived notions and ideas, with a system of doctrine to which the Scripture-passages must be fitted by hook or by crook, but it draws the truth out of Scriptures, it rests upon the Bible alone, 1Co 2:13.
The apostle continues: If we have a service or office, let us pay attention to that service. All offices in the Church are tributary to the great service of the preaching of the Word, but there are many forms of this service. No matter, however, what peculiar vocation any person might have in the church, or congregation, no matter for what special work he may have received endowments, he should attend to it gladly, modestly, without intruding into the sphere of others or envying them their superior endowments. This applies first to such as hold the office of teachers in the congregation, no matter in what form: If one is a teacher, let him attend to his teaching. If God has called any person to be a preacher for the public proclamation of the Word, or a teacher for the instruction of the children and youth in the way of salvation, then the work of that office should engage his attention, herein he should be active and accomplish something under the blessing of God, for the benefit of the congregation and of all the members. If anyone is an exhorter, let him attend to his exhorting. If any Christian has received the special gift of applying the Word of God in the various circumstances of life, the meeting of the congregation or that of any body in the service of the congregation will give him plenty of opportunity to make use of this talent and thus to be of service to the Lord. And, in general, the apostle writes: If one gives, imparts, some of his richer blessings to the poorer in this world’s goods or to such as are in need or want, let him do so in sincerity, with the single and undivided purpose to be of service, and not to raise a monument to himself or to get praise and honor from men. If anyone rules, occupies a position of distinction as a leader or superintendent of any church-work, he should perform his work with zeal, never debase it by treating it as a sinecure, and by being given to inertness and carelessness, but always devoting to it full attention. If anyone shows mercy, let him do so with a prompt mind. The sick and afflicted among the brethren and sisters should be given the mercy, the active sympathy of the others, not with grudging uncharitableness, but in the spirit which rejoices in the opportunity of being able to help others, which always shows a compassionate, smiling countenance at the prospect of alleviating suffering of every kind.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 4, 6 because of the grace that was given to me
because of the grace that was given to me
Here "grace" refers to God's choosing Paul to be an apostle and leader of the church. You can make this explicit in your translation. You can also translate this in an active form. AT: "because God freely chose me to be an apostle" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information and Active or Passive)
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that everyone who is among you should not think more highly of themselves than they ought to think
"that no one among you should think they are better than other people"
Instead, they should think in a wise way
"But you should be wise in how you think about yourselves"
just as God has given out to each one a certain amount of faith
Paul implies here that believers have different abilities that correspond to their faith in God. AT: "since God has given each of you different abilities because of your trust in him" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
grace
wise
faith
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 4, 6, 7, 8 12:3 by the faith God has given us: Or…
12:3 by the faith God has given us: Or by the faith God has given you; or by the standard of our God-given faith. Whether Paul is referring to the amount of faith each of us has been given or to the Christian faith that we all hold in common, we need to assess ourselves accurately by this measure and not be vain about the abilities God has given us.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.