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.
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good. In love of the brothers be tenderly affectionate to one another; in honor preferring one another; not lagging in diligence; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope; enduring in troubles; continuing steadfastly in prayer; contributing to the needs of the saints; given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless, and don’t curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. 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 conceits. Repay no one evil for evil. Respect what is honorable in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men. Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.”
Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 6. Having gifts, etc. Paul speaks not now simply…
6. Having gifts, etc. Paul speaks not now simply of cherishing among ourselves brotherly love, but commends humility, which is the best moderator of our whole life. Every one desires to have so much himself, so as not to need any help from others; but the bond of mutual communication is this, that no one has sufficient for himself, but is constrained to borrow from others. I admit, then that the society of the godly cannot exist, except when each one is content with his own measure, and imparts to others the gifts which he has received, and allows himself by turns to be assisted by the gifts of others.
But Paul especially intended to beat down the pride which he knew to be innate in men; and that no one might be dissatisfied that all things have not been bestowed on him, he reminds us that according to the wise counsel of God every one has his own portion given to him; for it is necessary to the common benefit of the body that no one should be furnished with fullness of gifts, lest he should heedlessly despise his brethren. Here then we have the main design which the Apostle had in view, that all things do not meet in all, but that the gifts of God are so distributed that each has a limited portion, and that each ought to be so attentive in imparting his own gifts to the edification of the Church, that no one, by leaving his own function, may trespass on that of another. By this most beautiful order, and as it were symmetry, is the safety of the Church indeed preserved; that is, when every one imparts to all in common what he has received from the Lord, in such a way as not to impede others. He who inverts this order fights with God, by whose ordinance it is appointed; for the difference of gifts proceeds not from the will of man, but because it has pleased the Lord to distribute his grace in this manner.
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Whether prophecy, etc. By now bringing forward some examples, he shows how every one in his place, or as it were in occupying his station, ought to be engaged. For all gifts have their own defined limits, and to depart from them is to mar the gifts themselves. But the passage appears somewhat confused; we may yet arrange it in this manner, “Let him who has prophecy, test it by the analogy of faith; let him in the ministry discharge it in teaching,” etc. They who will keep this end in view, will rightly preserve themselves within their own limits.
But this passage is variously understood. There are those who consider that by prophecy is meant the gift of predicting, which prevailed at the commencement of the gospel in the Church; as the Lord then designed in every way to commend the dignity and excellency of his Church; and they think that what is added, according to the analogy of faith, is to be applied to all the clauses. But I prefer to follow those who extend this word wider, even to the peculiar gift of revelation, by which any one skillfully and wisely performed the office of an interpreter in explaining the will of God. Hence prophecy at this day in the Christian Church is hardly anything else than the right understanding of the Scripture, and the peculiar faculty of explaining it, inasmuch as all the ancient prophecies and all the oracles of God have been completed in Christ and in his gospel. For in this sense it is taken by Paul when he says,
“I wish that you spoke in tongues, but rather that ye prophesy,” (1 Corinthians 14:5;)
“In part we know and in part we prophesy,” (1 Corinthians 13:9.)
And it does not appear that Paul intended here to mention those miraculous graces by which Christ at first rendered illustrious his gospel; but, on the contrary, we find that he refers only to ordinary gifts, such as were to continue perpetually in the Church.
Nor does it seem to me a solid objection, that the Apostle to no purpose laid this injunction on those who, having the Spirit of God, could not call Christ an anathema; for he testifies in another place that the spirit of the Prophets is subject to the Prophets; and he bids the first speaker to be silent, if anything were revealed to him who was sitting down, (1 Corinthians 14:32;) and it was for the same reason it may be that he gave this admonition to those who prophesied in the Church, that is, that they were to conform their prophecies to the rule of faith, lest in anything they should deviate from the right line. By faith he means the first principles of religion, and whatever doctrine is not found to correspond with these is here condemned as false.
As to the other clauses there is less difficulty. Let him who is ordained a minister, he says, execute his office in ministering; nor let him think, that he has been admitted into that degree for himself, but for others; as though he had said, “Let him fulfill his office by ministering faithfully, that he may answer to his name.” So also he immediately adds with regard to teachers; for by the word teaching, he recommends sound edification, according to this import, — “Let him who excels in teaching know what the end is, that the Church may be really instructed; and let him study this one thing, that he may render the Church more informed by his teaching:” for a teacher is he who forms and builds the Church by the word of truth. Let him also who excels in the gift of exhorting, have this in view, to render his exhortation effectual.
But these offices have much affinity and even connection; not however that they were not different. No one indeed could exhort, except by doctrine: yet he who teaches is not therefore endued with the qualification to exhort. But no one prophesies or teaches or exhorts, without at the same time ministering. But it is enough if we preserve that distinction which we find to be in God’s gifts, and which we know to be adapted to produce order in the Church.
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 vv6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 16, 20 That every man observe the measure of that which…
That every man observe the measure of that which is revealed unto him.
That which he spake before in general, he applieth particularly to the holy functions, wherein men offend with greater danger. And he divideth them into two sorts, to wit, into Prophets, and Deacons, and again he divideth the Prophets into doctors, and Pastors. And of Deacons he maketh three sorts: to wit, the one to be such as are (as it were) treasurers of the Church coffers, whom he calleth properly Deacons: the other to be the governors of discipline, who are called Seniors or Elders: the third to be such as properly served in the help of the poor, of which sort the company of widows were.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv6–21 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace…
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;
Ver. 6. According to the proportion] That form of sound words, 2Ti 1:13, those principles of the doctrine of Christ, Heb 6:1, with which all interpretations of Scripture must bear due proportion.
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 vv6–21 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that…
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us; or, seeing we have different gifts and offices, according as the grace of God hath bestowed them upon us, let us use them aright. This is added to prevent pride and envy: none should be proud of that he hath himself or envy what another hath, seeing all is of grace.
Whether prophecy, let us prophesy; the words, let us prophesy, are not in the text; but they are put in by our translators, to fill up the sense. There is an ellipsis in the words, and something must be inserted. Some make the supply from the last words in the foregoing verse: Let us be one another’s members in prophesying, teaching, exhorting, &c. Others think it ought to be supplied out of Rom 12:3; q.d. Whether we have prophecy, let us be wise unto sobriety in prophesying; and so in all the rest that follow: in all the several gifts and offices, he showeth how they should behave themselves. The Greek scholiast will have supplied in them all, let us persevere. By prophesying, in this place, you may understand an extraordinary gift that some had in understanding Divine mysteries and Old Testament prophecies, with a wonderful dexterity in applying the same; to which was joined sometimes the revelation of secret and future things: see Act 11:27; 21:9.
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According to the proportion of faith; i.e. they that have this gift of prophesying, must exercise it according to the measure of knowledge, in heavenly mysteries, that God hath given them; or else, in their prophesying they must have regard to the articles of Christian faith, and see that they regulate themselves according thereunto. Some think he calls the Holy Scripture in general, an analogy or proportion of faith; by these, the false prophets of old were discerned, if they delivered anything contrary thereunto, Deu 13:1, &c. Others think he speaks of certain principles, or heads of Christian religion, see Heb 6:1 from which the prophets and others were not to swerve; yea, some think he aims at the symbol and creed, called the Apostles’, which, from the beginning, was called the analogy of faith.
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 vv6, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 As if our apostle had said, "Seeing it has…
As if our apostle had said, "Seeing it has pleased God to appoint distinct officers in his church, and to furnish those officers with various degrees of gifts, and not to make all equal either in gifts or office, let every one in general faithfully execute his office, and keep within the limits of his calling, neither neglecting his own duty, nor invading another’s; in particular let him that prophesieth, that is, expoundeth the scriptures in the church, do it according to the proportion of faith, or according to what is taught plainly and uniformly in the whole scriptures of the Old and New Testament, as the rule of our faith."
We must not rack nor wrest the scriptures, to make them speak what we please, but what the prophets and the apostles taught, whom we interpret; otherwise we do not expound according to the analogy and proportion of faith.
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"Let him that ministereth, teacheth, or exhorteth, and attend upon that work with all diligence; and he that performs the office of a deacon, (who are called helps, 1Co 12:28) and is employed to relieve the poor out of the church’s stock, and to care of strangers, orphans, aged, sick, and impotent persons; let him so it with simplicity, that is, without partiality and respect of persons; and with cheerfulness, that is, with alacrity of heart, with gentleness in words, with pleasantness of countenance, bearing with the infirmities of the aged, with the loathsomeness of the sick and diseased, and administering with delight to the necessities of all that want."
Now from the whole note, 1. That God of his free bounty has beautified his church with divers officers and gifts.
Note, 2. That those whom God has bestowed ministerial gifts upon, ought humbly and faithfully to improve them to the church’s benefit and edification.
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 vv6–21 Having then gifts, differing,.... As in a natural body,…
Having then gifts, differing,.... As in a natural body, the various members of it have not the same office, and do not perform the same actions, thus they have not the same, but different faculties; one has one faculty, another another; the eye has the faculty of seeing, the ear of hearing, &c. thus in the spiritual body the church, as there are different members, these members have not the same work and business assigned them; some are employed one way, and some another; also they have diversities of gifts for their different administrations and operations, and all from Christ their head, by the same Spirit, and for the service of the whole body,
according to the grace that is given unto us; for all these gifts are not the effects of nature, the fruits of human power, diligence, and industry, but flow from the grace of God, who dispenses them when, where, and to whom he pleases in a free and sovereign manner; and therefore to be acknowledged as such, and used to his glory, and for the good of his church and people. Wherefore
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whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith. The offices here, and hereafter mentioned, are not of an extraordinary, but ordinary kind, such as are lasting, and will continue in the church unto the end of time: and are divided into two parts, which are after subdivided into other branches. The division is into "prophesying" and "ministering". By "prophesying" is meant, not foretelling things to come, thought this gift was bestowed upon some, as Agabus, and others in the Christian church; but this, as it is of an extraordinary nature, so it is not stinted and limited according to the proportion of faith; but preaching the Gospel is here designed, which is the sense of the word in many places of Scripture, particularly in Co1 13:2. Now such who have this gift of prophecy, or of opening and explaining the Scriptures, ought to make use of it, and constantly attend toil: "let us prophesy"; diligently prepare for it by prayer, reading and meditation, and continually exercise it as opportunity offers; nor should any difficulty and discouragement deter from it: or whereas this last clause is not in the original text, it may be supplied from Rom 12:3; thus, "let us think soberly", who have this gift, and not be elated with it, or carry it haughtily to those who attend on the exercise of it: but behave with sobriety, modesty, and humility, in the discharge thereof: "according to the proportion of faith". There must be faith, or no prophesying; a man must believe, and therefore speak, or speak not at all; a Gospel minister ought not to be a sceptic, or in doubt about the main principles of religion; such as concern the three divine persons, the office, grace, and righteousness of Christ, and the way of salvation by him: he should be at a point in these things, should firmly believe, and with assurance assert them, nor fear to be called dogmatical on that account: he is to preach according to his faith, the proportion of it: which may be the same with the measure of it, Rom 12:3. And so the Syriac version reads it, , "according to the measure of his faith"; to which the Arabic version agrees; that is, according to the measure of the gift of Christ he has received; according to the abilities bestowed on him; according to that light, knowledge, faith, and experience he has; he ought to preach up unto it, and not in the least come short of it; or by "the proportion", or "analogy of faith", may be meant a scheme of Gospel truths, a form of sound words, a set of principles upon the plan of the Scriptures, deduced from them, and agreeably to them; and which are all of a piece, and consistent with themselves, from which the prophesier or preacher should never swerve: or the Scriptures themselves, the sure word of prophecy, the rule and standard of faith and practice: the scope of the text is to be attended to, its connection with the preceding or following verses, or both; and it is to be compared with other passages of Scripture, and accordingly to be explained: and this is to follow the rule directed to.
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 vv6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21 Having then gifts differing according to the grace which…
Having then gifts differing according to the grace which is given us - Gifts are various: grace is one. Whether it be prophecy - This, considered as an extraordinary gift, is that whereby heavenly mysteries are declared to men, or things to come foretold. But it seems here to mean the ordinary gift of expounding scripture. Let us prophesy according to the analogy of faith - St. Peter expresses it, "as the oracles of God;" according to the general tenor of them; according to that grand scheme of doctrine which is delivered therein, touching original sin, justification by faith, and present, inward salvation. There is a wonderful analogy between all these; and a close and intimate connection between the chief heads of that faith "which was once delivered to the saints." Every article therefore concerning which there is any question should be determined by this rule; every doubtful scripture interpreted according to the grand truths which run through the whole.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv6–21 Verse 6. Having then gifts differing, c.] As the…
Verse 6. Having then gifts differing, c.] As the goodness of God, with this view of our mutual subserviency and usefulness, has endowed us with different gifts and qualifications, let each apply himself to the diligent improvement of his particular office and talent, and modestly keep within the bounds of it, not exalting himself or despising others.
Whether prophecy] That prophecy, in the New Testament, often means the gift of exhorting, preaching, or of expounding the Scriptures, is evident from many places in the Gospels, Acts, and St. Paul's Epistles, see 1Co 11:4, 1Co 11:5; and especially 1Co 14:3 : He that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. This was the proper office of a preacher; and it is to the exercise of this office that the apostle refers in the whole of the chapter from which the above quotations are made. See also Lu 1:76; Lu 7:28; Ac 15:32; 1Co 14:29. I think the apostle uses the term in the same sense here-Let every man who has the gift of preaching and interpreting the Scriptures do it in proportion to the grace and light he has received from God, and in no case arrogate to himself knowledge which he has not received; let him not esteem himself more highly on account of this gift, or affect to be wise above what is written, or indulge himself in fanciful interpretations of the word of God.
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Dr. Taylor observes that the measure of faith, Ro 12:3, and the proportion of faith, Ro 12:6, seem not to relate to the degree of any gift considered in itself, but rather in the relation and proportion which it bore to the gifts of others; for it is plain that he is here exhorting every man to keep soberly within his own sphere. It is natural to suppose that the new converts might be puffed up with the several gifts that were bestowed upon them; and every one might be forward to magnify his own to the disparagement of others: therefore the apostle advises them to keep each within his proper sphere; to know and observe the just measure and proportion of the gift intrusted to him, not to gratify his pride but to edify the Church.
The αναλογια της πιστεως, which we here translate the proportion of faith, and which some render the analogy of faith, signifies in grammar "the similar declension of similar words;" but in Scriptural matters it has been understood to mean the general and consistent plan or scheme of doctrines delivered in the Scriptures; where every thing bears its due relation and proportion to another. Thus the death of Christ is commensurate in its merits to the evils produced by the fall of Adam. The doctrine of justification by faith bears the strictest analogy or proportion to the grace of Christ and the helpless, guilty, condemned state of man: whereas the doctrine of justification by WORKS is out of all analogy to the demerit of sin, the perfection of the law, the holiness of God, and the miserable, helpless state of man. This may be a good general view of the subject; but when we come to inquire what those mean by the analogy of faith who are most frequent in the use of the term, we shall find that it means neither more nor less than their own creed; and though they tell you that their doctrines are to be examined by the Scriptures, yet they give you roundly to know that you are to understand these Scriptures in precisely the same way as they have interpreted them. "To the law and to the testimony," says Dr. Campbell, "is the common cry; only every one, the better to secure the decision on the side he has espoused, would have you previously resolve to put no sense whatever on the law and the testimony but what his favourite doctrine will admit. Thus they run on in a shuffling, circular sort of argument, which, though they studiously avoid exposing, is, when dragged into the open light, neither more nor less than this; 'you are to try our doctrine by the Scriptures only; but then you are to be very careful that you explain the Scripture solely by our doctrine.' A wonderful plan of trial, which begins with giving judgment, and ends with examining the proof, wherein the whole skill and ingenuity of the judges are to be exerted in wresting the evidence so as to give it the appearance of supporting the sentence pronounced before hand." See Dr. Campbell's Dissertations on the Gospels, Diss. iv. sect. 14, vol. i, page 146, 8vo. edit., where several other sensible remarks may be found.
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 vv9, 12, 19, 21 Rom 12:9-11. Having spoken of faith and its fruits,…
Rom 12:9-11. Having spoken of faith and its fruits, Rom 12:3, he comes now to speak of love. Let love be without dissimulation — Not in pretence, but in reality; not in word and tongue only, but in deed and in truth, 1Jn 3:18. In consequence of loving God because he hath first loved you, sincerely love and desire the temporal and eternal welfare of all mankind; and let all your expressions of mutual friendship be as free as possible from base flattery and vain compliment. Abhor that which is evil — In every instance; and cleave to that which is good — Both inwardly and outwardly, whatever ill-will or danger may follow: practise benevolence and every other virtue with the greatest determination and perseverance of mind. Be kindly affectioned one to another — Or, as the very expressive words of the original, τη φιλαδελφια, εις αλληλους φιλοστοργοι, may be rendered, In love to one another, as brethren in Christ, show that kindness of affection which near relations bear to one another. So Macknight, who justly observes, “the force of the word φιλοστοργοι, can hardly be reached in any translation.” It is compounded of a word signifying that affection which animals, by instinct, bear to their young; and so teaches us, that Christian charity must be warm and strong, like that, and joined with delight, which the word also implies. In honour preferring one another — That is, let each, in his turn, be ready to think better of his brethren than of himself, which he will do, if he habitually consider what is good and excellent in others, and what is evil or weak in himself. It may imply also the preventing others in every office of respect and kindness; and, out of regard to their advantage, giving up, with as good a grace as possible, any thing in which our own honour or personal interest may be concerned. The original words, however, τη τιμη αλληλους προηγουμενοι, are interpreted by some, In every honourable action going before, and leading on one another. Not slothful in business — That is, being diligent and industrious in your particular callings; or in your endeavours to advance the glory of God, and the good, especially the spiritual good, of one another, as the singular phraseology of the original, τη σπουδη μη οκνηροι, is thought by many to imply: “not slothful in the concerns of God and one another,” says Dr. Whitby; — “in care for each other be not slothful,” Macknight; — “perform not your duty slothfully, unwillingly, and heavily, but diligently,” Baxter; — “whatsoever you do, do it with your might,” Wesley. Although it is proper that Christians should attend to, and be diligent in prosecuting their temporal business, yet it does not appear that was the chief thing the apostle had in view in this passage. Fervent in spirit — Zealous and earnest, especially in all the duties of religion, and in every business diligently and fervently serving the Lord; doing all to God, and not to man; making God’s will your rule, and his glory your end, in all your actions.
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 vv6–21 Having then gifts - All the endowments which Christians…
Having then gifts - All the endowments which Christians have are regarded by the apostle as gifts. God has conferred them; and this fact, when properly felt, tends much to prevent our thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, Rom 12:3. For the use of the word rendered “gifts,” see Rom 1:11; Rom 5:15-16; Rom 6:23; Rom 11:29; 1Co 7:7; 1Co 12:4, 1Co 12:9,1Co 12:28, etc. It may refer to natural endowments as well as to the favors of grace; though in this place it refers doubtless to the distinctions conferred on Christians in the churches.
Differing - It was never designed that all Christians should be equal. God designed that people should have different endowments. The very nature of society supposes this. There never was a state of perfect equality in any thing; and it would be impossible that there should be, and yet preserve society. In this, God exercises a sovereignty, and bestows his favors as he pleases, injuring no one by conferring favors on others; and holding me responsible for the right use of what I have, and not for what may be conferred on my neighbor.
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According to the grace - That is, the favor, the mercy that is bestowed on us. As all that we have is a matter of grace, it should keep us from pride; and it should make us willing to occupy our appropriate place in the church. True honor consists not in splendid endowments, or great wealth and function. It consists in rightly discharging the duties which God requires of us in our appropriate sphere. If all people held their talents as the gift of God; if all would find and occupy in society the place for which God designed them, it would prevent no small part of the uneasiness, the restlessness, the ambition, and misery of the world.
Whether prophecy - The apostle now proceeds to specify the different classes of gifts or endowments which Christians have, and to exhort them to discharge aright the duty which results from the rank or function which they held in the church. “The first is prophecy.” This word properly means to predict future events, but it also means to declare the divine will; to interpret the purposes of God; or to make known in any way the truth of God, which is designed to influence people. Its first meaning is to predict or foretell future events; but as those who did this were messengers of God, and as they commonly connected with such predictions, instructions, and exhortations in regard to the sins, and dangers, and duties of people, the word came to denote any who warned, or threatened, or in any way communicated the will of God; and even those who uttered devotional sentiments or praise. The name in the New Testament is commonly connected with teachers; Act 13:1, “There were in the church at Antioch certain prophets, and teachers, as Barnabas, etc.;” Act 15:32, “and Judas and Silas, being prophets themselves, etc.;” Act 21:10, “a certain prophet named Agabus.” In 1Co 12:28-29, prophets are mentioned as a class of teachers immediately after apostles, “And God hath set some in the church; first apostles, secondly prophets; thirdly teachers, etc.”
The same class of persons is again mentioned in 1Co 14:29-32, 1Co 14:39. In this place they are spoken of as being under the influence of revelation, “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. If anything be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets;” 1Co 14:39, “Covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.” In this place endowments are mentioned under the name of prophecy evidently in advance even of the power of speaking with tongues. Yet all these were to be subject to the authority of the apostle. 1Co 14:37. In Eph 4:11, they are mentioned again in the same order; “And he gave some apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors, and teachers, etc.” From these passages the following things seem clear in relation to this class of persons:
(1) They were an order of teachers distinct from the apostles, and next to them in authority and rank.
(2) They were under the influence of revelation, or inspiration in a certain sense.
(3) They had power of controlling themselves, and of speaking or keeping silence as they chose. They had the power of using their prophetic gifts as we have the ordinary faculties of our minds, and of course of abusing them also. This abuse was apparent also in the case of those who had the power of speaking with tongues, 1Co 14:2, 1Co 14:4,1Co 14:6, 1Co 14:11, etc.
(4) They were subject to the apostles.
(5) They were superior to the other teachers and pastors in the church.
(6) The office or the endowment was temporary, designed for the settlement and establishment of the church; and then, like the apostolic office, having accomplished its purpose, to be disused, and to cease. From these remarks, also, will be seen the propriety of regulating this function by apostolic authority; or stating, as the apostle does here, the manner or rule by which this gift was to be exercised.
According to the proportion - This word ἀναλογίαν analogian is no where else used in the New Testament. The word properly applies to mathematics (Scheusner), and means the ratio or proportion which results from comparison of one number or magnitude with another. In a large sense, therefore, as applied to other subjects, it denotes the measure of any thing. With us it means analogy, or the congruity or resemblance discovered between one thing and another, as we say there is an analogy or resemblance between the truths taught by reason and revelation. (See Butler’s Analogy.) But this is not its meaning here. It means the measure, the amount of faith bestowed on them, for he was exhorting them to Rom 12:3. “Think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” The word “faith” here means evidently, not the truths of the Bible revealed elsewhere; nor their confidence in God; nor their personal piety; but the extraordinary endowment bestowed on them by the gifts of prophecy.
They were to confine themselves strictly to that; they were not to usurp the apostolic authority, or to attempt to exercise their special function; but they were to confine themselves strictly to the functions of their office according to the measure of their faith, that is, the extraordinary endowment conferred on them. The word “faith” is thus used often to denote that extraordinary confidence in God which attended the working of miracles, etc., Mat 17:26; Mat 21:21; Luk 17:6. If this be the fair interpretation of the passage, then it is clear that the interpretation which applies it to systems of theology, and which demands that we should interpret the Bible so as to accord with the system, is one that is wholly unwarranted. It is to be referred solely to this class of religious teachers, without reference to any system of doctrine, or to any thing which had been revealed to any other class of people; or without affirming that there is any resemblance between one truth and another. All that may be true, but it is not the truth taught in this passage. And it is equally clear that the passage is not to be applied to teachers now, except as an illustration of the general principle that even those endowed with great and splendid talents are not to over-estimate them, but to regard them as the gift of God; to exercise them in subordination to his appointment and to seek to employ them in the manner, the place, and to the purpose that shall be according to his will. They are to employ them in the purpose for which God gave them; and for no other.
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 vv9, 13, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21 The apostle does not here prohibit that defence, by…
The apostle does not here prohibit that defence, by which a person, either by word or action, preserves himself from injury. This he could not condemn, since he had so often recourse to it himself, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles: and in the second [epistle] to Timothy, he writes: "In my first defence no one was with me." Be he only forbids that revenge which a person takes of his neighbour, by private means, without having recourse to legal authority. (Estius)
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).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v9 Second Section.—The proper conduct of Christians in all their…
Second Section.—The proper conduct of Christians in all their personal relations: to the brethren; in their own life; to the needy; to guests; to every body, even toward enemies.
Rom_12:9-21
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9Let love be without dissimulation [your love be unfeigned]. Abhor26 that 10which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love [In brotherly love27 be affectionate one to another, literally, be as blood relatives]; in honour preferring one another; 11Not slothful in business [In diligence, not slothful]; fervent in spirit [in spirit, fervent]; serving the Lord [or, the time];28 12Rejoicing in hope [in hope, rejoicing]; patient in tribulation [in tribulation, patient]; continuing instant in prayer [in prayer, 13persevering]; Distributing [Communicating] to the necessity [necessities]29 of saints; given to hospitality. 14Bless them which [those who] persecute you:bless, and curse not. 15Rejoice with them that do [those who] rejoice, and weep 16with them that [those who] weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate [or, lowly things].30 Be not wise in your own conceits. 17Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide [Have a care for] things honest [honorable] in the sight of all men.31 18If it be possible, as much as lieth in [dependeth on] you, live peaceably [be at peace] with all men. 19Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves [Avenge not yourselves, dearly beloved], but rather give place unto wrath [to the wrath, sc., of God]: for it is written,32 Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20Therefore33
If thine enemy hunger, feed him;
If he thirst, give him drink:
For in [by] so doing
Thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
21Be not overcome of [by] evil, but overcome evil with good.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Summary.—The remark, that the expression ἡ ἀγάπη ἀνυπόκριτος serves as an inscription to all the following participles, has induced us, after the example of Meyer, and others, to begin the new section with Rom_12:9.34 It may be doubted whether the Apostle has mentally supplied ἔστε or ἐστί. The latter view is favored by the idea of Christian love, not merely “toward others,” but in a universal relation; see Rom_12:11. The first construction is favored by the hortatory form appearing more strongly toward the end. Our earlier division was based on the fact that Rom_12:9-10 treat of conduct toward companions in faith within the Church. The Apostle, however, makes use of a long series of participles, as if he would urge not so much a Christian course of conduct, as to set up a typical rule of conduct for believers, according to unfeigned love.
[De Wette, Olshausen, and others, supply ἐστί, thus making these verses descriptive, not hortatory. They urge that the use of the participle for the imperative is very rare. That is true; but in Rom_12:14 we have the imperative, followed by an infinitive in Rom_12:15, and then by participles, Rom_12:16-19; all of these latter clauses being of a hortatory character. With most commentators (so E. V.), we prefer to supply ἐστω with the first clause of Rom_12:9, and ἐστέ with the following participles, since Rom_12:8 is of a hortatory character. Meyer, Philippi, Tischendorf, Lachmann, larger edition, declare for this; the editors by their punctuation, which is the same in the main as that of the E. V. Lachmann also favors (smaller edition) joining the participles with the imperative in Rom_12:14, and thus obtaining the hortatory force; this, however, is not only singular, but contrary to the thought, which will not permit these participles to modify the imperative, bless. Fritzsche takes the participles as corresponding to the personal subjects of “love unfeigned,” as 2Co_1:7; but this is unnecessary.—R.]
Rom_12:9. Let your love be unfeigned] ἡ ἀγάπη ἀνυπόκριτος. We are justified in strengthening ἡ ἀγάπη into your love, in English. But the Apostle means love absolutely, not merely love to the brethren (which is spoken of afterwards), nor love to God. The adjective need not be paraphrased, as in E. V.—R.] See 2Co_6:6; 1Pe_1:22. Meyer well says: “As love, so also must faith, its root, be;” 1Ti_1:5; 2Ti_1:8. Undissembled love is therefore the inscription for the whole series of prescriptions which the Apostle lays down in parallelisms of two and of three members.
Abhor that which is evil. ἀποστυγοῦντες. Strictly, repelling with repugnance. This first grand antithesis says, that believers should turn away with utter abhorrence from that which is evil, in order to cleave to the good with inseparable attachment, as with bridal affection. This antithesis constitutes the practice of heaven and heavenly life, and its realization is the life of our Lord. Its breaking off and turning away, as well as its connecting and uniting, constitute the fundamental moral law of God’s kingdom. The second antithesis unites with this.
Rom_12:10. In brotherly love. φιλαδελφία. [The dative is that of reference: as respects brotherly love.—R.] Specific brotherly love for fellow-Christians; 1Th_4:9; Heb_13:1; 1Pe_1:22; 2Pe_1:7.—[Be affectionate one to another, εἰς ἀλλήους] φιλόστοργοι. Be lovers as toward those related in blood.
In honour. Τιμή, esteem. The antithesis here is the equalization in confiding brotherly love, and the subordination of our own personality to our esteem for others.
Preferring one another. Προηγούμενοι. The explanations: excelling (Chrysostom, and others), obliging (Theophylact, Luther, and others), and esteeming higher (Theodoret, Grotius; see Tholuck), are intimately connected therewith. [Stuart: “In giving honor, anticipating one another.” Meyer: “Going before as guides; i. e., with conduct inciting others to follow.” These explanations, however, do not seem to suit τιμή; hence Alford, and most, prefer the meaning given in the Vulgate: invicem prœvenientes. Hodge: “Instead of waiting for others to honor us, we should be beforehand with them in the manifestation of respect.”—R.]
Rom_12:11. In diligence, not slothful, &c. [τῆ σπουδῇ μὴ ὀχνηροί, κ.τ.λ] This clause, which has three members, defines proper activity in reference to temporal affairs, just as the following clause, which also has three members, defines proper passivity in these affairs. Both verses define the personal conduct of the Christian in relation to himself, according to his situation in time.35 The principal rule of the first clause is: not to shrink halfheartedly from the whole work of time, but to work with persevering enthusiasm. To this belongs the polar conduct of remaining warm in spirit (seething and boiling like a hot spring), and overcoming the time (see Act_18:25), while in one’s daily task adapting one’s self to the moment, to the will of the χύριος in the χαιρός, so that He is served by observing its full meaning. Δουλ. τῷ χαιρῷ, tempori servire (Cicero), and similar expressions; see Meyer, p. 463. The expression was usual in the bad sense (of unprincipled accommodation), as in the good (to accommodate one’s self to the time). But here it reads: controlling the time by serving the Lord; Eph_5:16; see Tholuck, pp. 669 ff., who gives the reference to the reading κυρίῳ.
[Serving the Lord, τῶ χυρίῳ δουλεύοντες. On the readings, see Textual Note3. The adoption of the reading καιρῷ, which is not so well sustained as that of the Rec., has influenced the exegesis of Dr. Lange throughout the verse. Philippi urges against καιρῷ its equivocal meaning, and the fact that Paul always represents the Christian as free, a servant only to God, or Christ, or righteousness—never of the time. In fact, the injunction seems scarcely to differ from one of worldly wisdom, if that reading be accepted. Eph_5:16; Col_4:5, will not justify the expression. Fritzsche in loco admits an interchange of κυρίος and καιρός in other places.—Dr. Hodge explains: “Influenced in our activity and zeal by a desire to serve Christ. This member of the sentence, thus understood, describes the motive from which zeal and diligence should proceed.” The common interpretation, derived from the E. V., is: not slothful in temporal affairs, yet of an earnest religious spirit, because all is done in the service of the Lord. If the first clause be extended so as to include “whatever our hand finds to do,” this is sufficiently correct. The second member derives its appropriateness from the fact—never more noticeable than in these bustling days, when even religious duty partakes somewhat of the spirit of the age—that zeal and diligence may become a habit and passion, a mere activity, lacking the genuine fervor of the spirit. The last term does not, indeed, refer to the Holy Spirit, but, in an exhortation to Christians, may well be taken as meaning the human spirit under the influence of the Holy Spirit.—R.] This is followed by a trichotomy as the proper passivity in temporal relations.
Rom_12:12. In hope, rejoicing [τῆ ἐλπίδι χαίροντες. Stuart thinks the datives in this verse also are datives of reference: as respects hope, rejoicing, &c. But the regularity has been broken in upon by the τῶ κυρίῳ of the preceding verse; we are therefore warranted in adopting a different view here, especially as the datives in this verse seem not to be parallel to each other. The verb χαίρειν may indeed govern the dative, but the hope is rather the ground than the object of rejoicing, (so Meyer, Alford). De Wette, Philippi: vermöge der Hoffnung; Hodge: on account of hope. The hope is objective, and to be taken more generally than Dr. Lange suggests. His view results from reading καιρῷ above.—R.] The antithesis shows that here the ἐλπίς, as formerly the σπουͅδή, must be regarded as prevalently objective. In the time bestowing hope. It is in harmony with the childlike character of faith to rejoice gratefully over every good token; but it is also in harmony with manliness to be patient in tribulation.
In tribulation, patient; in prayer, persevering [τῇ θλίφει ῦπομένοντες τῇ προσευχῇ προζκαρτεροῦντες. Alford: τῇ θλίφει, the state in which the ὑπομονή is found. Philippi, De Wette, Meyer, &c., think ἐν was omitted on account of the parallelism of construction, though the verb governs the dative (more usually the accusative, however). On the second clause, comp. Col_4:2; Act_1:14.—R.] The harmonization of the great contrasts of life lies in the persevering life of prayer. Similar harmonizations, see Jam_1:9-10 Rom_5:13. Bengel: Gaudium non modo est affectus, sed etiam officium christianorum. Tholuck and Meyer would regard the hope here quite universally, as the foundation of Christian joy. This is not favored by the antithesis τῇ θλίψει. Meyer here reads the dative: standing out against tribulation. But Paul will not consider tribulation as an adversary. We also prefer being patient to being steadfast, as continued steadfastness is placed here finally in the life of prayer.36
Rom_12:13. Communicating to the necessities of saints [ταῖς χρείαις τῶν ἁγίων χοινωνοῦντες. See Textual Note4.—R.] The believer naturally comes from his own necessity to the necessity of his brethren. Ταῖς χρείαις. The meaning of the verb κοιν.: distributing to, is opposed by Meyer and Tholuck. It is sufficient here that holding fellowship with is the fuller and stronger expression, yet not fellowship “in the necessities” of fellow-Christians, but with them; or, in other words: to participate in their necessities (Chrysostom, Theodoret).37—Given to hospitality [τὴν φιλοξενίαν διώκοντες, literally, pursuing hospitality.—R.] In ancient times, hospitality was also a highly important work of love, for the relief of necessity; Heb_13:2; 1Pe_4:9.
Rom_12:14. Bless those who persecute you, &c. [εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς διώχοντας ὑμᾶς χ.τ.λ.] Here the hortatory form becomes distinct; see Mat_5:44. Probably the expression of Jesus has reached Paul by the tradition of the Church. Tholuck: “It is just from the Sermon on the Mount that we find the most reminiscences; 1Co_7:10; Jam_4:9; Jam_5:12; 1Pe_3:9; 1Pe_4:14.” Tholuck, very strangely, supposes here a so-called lexical connection—i. e., that Rom_12:14 is accidentally called forth by the word διώκοντες.38 But it is incorrect to suppose that the exhortation of Rom_12:14 interrupts such exhortations as Rom_12:13; Rom_12:15, which relate to the mutual conduct of Christians; Rom_12:15 has been too generally regarded as favoring this view.
Rom_12:15. Rejoice with those who rejoice, &c. [χαίρειν μετὰ χαιρόντων, κ.τ.λ. On the infinitive as imperative, see Winer, p. 296. Meyer fills out the sentence thus: χαίρειν ὑμᾶς δεῖ.—R.] Χαίρειν, the infinitive as an imperative, to be supplemented mentally by a corresponding verb; see Sir_7:33-34. Rom_12:14 defines the proper conduct in relation to personal antipathy; Rom_12:15, the proper conduct in relation to personal sympathy.
Rom_12:16. Be of the same mind one toward another [τὸ αὐτὸ εἰς ἀλλήλους φρονοῦντες]. The participles in Rom_12:16 have been variously construed; now with the preceding imperative χαίρειν, κλαίειν, Rom_12:16, and now with the following μὴ γίνεσθε; see Philippi. Because of the great difficulties of such connections, commentators prefer to supply ἔστε (Philippi, Meyer).39 The attempt at the proper construction would be best favored by returning to Rom_12:15, and reading this injunction as a fundamental thought, controlling what follows, clothed in figurative expression and made explicit by the beginning of Rom_12:16. On this wise:
First trichotomy: Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them, that weep: being of the same mind one toward another.
Second trichotomy: Mind not high things, but condescend to the lowly. Addition: Be not wise in your own conceits (in seclusion).
Third trichotomy: Recompense to no man evil for evil; provide things honest in the sight of all men; if it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
Fourth trichotomy: Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, &c. All this follows from the conduct of Christians toward each other. But then the whole glory of this reciprocal feeling is elaborated in the Christian love of enemies, which conquers evil by good; Rom_12:20-21.
The same. Τὸ αὐτό; see Rom_15:5; Php_2:2; Php_4:2; 2Co_13:7. They should adhere to the same, what is equal, what is common, in their intercourse with each other, or in the intercourse of one toward others; reminder of the Golden Rule. According to Php_2:4, τὸ αὺτὸ φρονεῖν proceeds from the τὸ ἓ φρονεῖν. Adherence to one results in adhering to the same; then, this results in unity, which, however, is only a special fruit of that general conduct. Likewise Tholuck. [Dr. Hodge thinks concord of feeling is the prominent thought.] Chrysostom’s view is different: not to regard one’s self better than others, and similarly.
Mind not high things [μὴ τὰ ὑφηλὰ φρονοῦντες]. Not merely “high-aspiring selfishness,” but also self-complacent fancies; for example, Novatian, puritanic, aristocratic, or humanistic fancies injure, or even tear asunder, the bond of communion, of Christian fellowship with the Church, and of humane fellowship with the world.
But condescend to men of low estate. Τοῖς ταπεινοῖς. Construed as masculine by Chrysostom, Erasmus, Luther [Alford, Wordsworth], and others. (Various definitions: Christians should count themselves among the lowly; should suffer with the oppressed; should remain in fellowship with the lowly, with publicans and sinners.) But Fritzsche, Reiche, De Wette [Stuart], and many others, have declared in favor of the neuter. Meyer: Subjecting yourselves to the lower situations and occupations of life. The antithesis τὰ ὑφηλά is urged. But the antithesis is modified by the change of the verb into συναπαγόμενοι. The latter verb denotes, to be carried off, to be taken along with, or, to allow one’s self to be carried off, to be misled, to be taken along with (see Tholuck, p. 673). This may apply as a duty toward the brethren in low estate, who, in opposition to high things, represent the real essence of humanity in the form of a servant; but it cannot apply to trivial and low things. We should take small things into consideration in the light of duties, but not to permit ourselves to be carried off by them. But of small men, who are great in God’s eyes, it is said with propriety: that we should devote ourselves to them through suffering to glory. Imprisoned and hung with the lowly, but not with the bad!
The neuter construction is thus explained by Calvin, and others: humilibus rebus obsecundantes (about: to be true in small things); while Grotius, and others, thus explain the masculine construction: modestissimorum exempla sectantes.
[On the whole, the masculine is preferable; for in no other case in the New Testament is the adjective ταπεινός used of things. Nor does the Apostle’s antithesis require the neuter meaning. Alford: “In τὰ ὑφηλὰ φρονοῦντες, the ὑφηλὰ are necessarily subjective—the lofty thoughts of the man. But in τοῖς ταπεινοῖς συναπ. the adjective is necessarily objective—some outward objects, with which the persons exhorted are συναπάγεσθαι. And those outward objects are defined, if I mistake not, by the εἰς ἀλλήλους.” Dr. Hodge, and many others, do not decide between the two views.—R.]
Be not wise, &c. Μὴ γίνεσθε, χ.τ.λ. See Rom_11:25. But there the conceit of one’s own wisdom constitutes an antithesis to God’s revelation, while here it constitutes an antithesis to the fellowship of men (not merely of Christians in a good sense).
Rom_12:17. Recompense to no man evil for evil [μηδενὶ κακὸν ἀντὶ χαχοῦ ἀποδιδόντες. Alford: “The Apostle now proceeds to exhort respecting conduct to those without.” There is, however, no warrant for this limitation in the language, and certainly the temptation to render evil for evil to Christians is frequent enough.—R.] Meyer: “The principle itself, and how it stood opposed to heathendom and pharisaism!”
[Have a care for things honourable, προνοούμενοι καλά. Lange: Seid auf das Edle bedacht. Have careful regard to what is noble, &c. Dr. Hodge finds here a motive for the injunction which precedes, and objects to the period after “evil” in the E. V., as well as to the translation “honest,” which undoubtedly conveys to the ordinary reader the thought that we are bidden to provide for ourselves and families in an honest way. The clause much resembles Pro_3:4 (LXX.), hence the variations.—R.]
In the sight of all men [ἐνώπιον πάντων ἀνθρώπων. See Textual Note6.] Meyer: Before the eyes of all men. We regard the term as an expression of the relation to the most diverse men. However, the other construction also makes good sense; for Christians could often expose individuals to danger, by giving them cause for offence; Pro_3:4; 2Co_8:21.
Rom_12:18. If it be possible, &c. Εἰ δυνατόν is referred by Erasmus, Bengel, and others, to what precedes [but this is objectionable]. The clause: as much as dependeth on you, explains the εἰ δυνατόν. It may be outwardly impossible to us to live at peace with every body; but inwardly we should be peaceably disposed, prepared for peace, toward every body. [The εἰ δυνατόν is objective (Tholuck, De Wette, Meyer, Alford), not, “if you can,” but, if it be possible, if others will allow it. “All your part is to be peace: whether you actually live peaceably or not, will depend, then, solely on how others behave toward you” (Alford). That this is often impossible, the Apostle’s life plainly shows.—R.]
Rom_12:19. Avenge not yourselves, dearly beloved. The additional ἀγαπητοί, loving pressure. [The address becomes more affectionate as the duty becomes more difficult (so Tholuck).—R.]
Give place unto the wrath [δύτε τόπον τῆ ὀργῆ]. Make way for Divine wrath; do not anticipate it; do not get in its way; let it rule. This is the explanation of most commentators, from Chrysostom and Augustine down to Tholuck, De Wette, Meyer, and Philippi. [So Hodge.]—Second explanation: Let not your own wrath break forth (Du Dieu, Semler [Stuart], and others). Meyer, on the contrary: The Latin usage of non irœ spatium dare harmonizes very well with this, but the Greek usage of τόπον διδόναι does not. [Jowett says this explanation “is equally indefensible on grounds of language and sense. It is only as a translation of a Latinism we can suppose the phrase to have any meaning at all; and the meaning thus obtained, ‘defer your wrath,’ is out of place.” See his remarks in defence of the next explanation.—R.]—Third explanation: To give place to the wrath of your enemy (Schöttgen, Morus, and others). Meyer: This would be only a prudential measure.40 The first explanation is raised above all doubt by the addition: Vengeance is mine.41
For it is written, Deu_32:35.—Addition: λέηει χύριος; see Heb_10:30.
Rom_12:20. Therefore if thine enemy, &c. [ἐὰς οὖν πεινᾷ, κ.τ.λ. See Textual Note8.] The οὖν, which is omitted by most Codd., probably on account of difficulty, follows from the antithesis. One cannot conform to the negative: not to hate an enemy, without obeying the affirmative, [Hodge: “The expressions are obviously not to be confined to their literal meaning, nor even to the discharge of the common offices of humanity; they are figurative expressions for all the duties of benevolence. It is not enough, therefore, that we preserve an enemy from perishing; we must treat him with all affection and kindness.”—R.] The words are from the LXX. of Pro_25:21.
Thou shalt heap coals of fire, &c. [ἄνθρακας πυρὸς σωρεύσεις, κ.τ.λ.] The burning of fiery coals is an Oriental figure of constantly burning pain. Explanations:
1. Thou wilt draw down upon him severe Divine wrath (with reference to 4 Ezra 16:54: Chrysostom, Theodoret, &c., Zwingli, Beza, &c., Stolz, Hengstenberg, &c.).
2. Thou wilt prepare him for the pain of penitence (Augustine, Jerome [Tholuck, De Wette, Meyer], Luther, and many others). Origen has opposed the former view, which was continually under the necessity of being established in the Church, because of the propensity to wrath. On Hengstenberg’s explanation of Pro_24:18, see Tholuck, p. 675 ff. Rom_12:21, as well as the spirit of the passage, pronounces in favor of explanation (2). No one could gladly requite evil with good, if he knew of a certainty that he would thereby be exposed to Divine wrath. Finally, this explanation is favored by the whole spirit of Christianity. Yet it must be observed, that penitence cannot be designated as an infallible effect of the love of enemies, and of its expressions. The most immediate effect of such expressions is burning shame, a religious and moral crisis. He will bend his head as if fiery coals lay on it. The rule, as well as the purpose, of this crisis, is penitence and conversion; but there are frequent instances of false adversaries, like Judas, becoming hardened by kindness.
[3. Slightly different from (2) is that adopted by Hodge: “You will take the most effectual means of subduing him.” Kindness is as effectual as coals of fire. So Alford: “You will be taking the most effectual vengeance.” Similarly Jowett. This view, which excludes even the pain of penitence, is favored by the connection with Rom_12:21.—R.] For other unimportant explanations, see the Note in Meyer, p. 468.42 On the figure of fiery coals, see Tholuck, p. 675.
Rom_12:21. [Be not overcome, &c. μὴ νιχῶ, κ.τ.λ. “A comprehensive summary of Rom_12:19-20. Be not overcome (led to revenge) by evil (which is done to you), but overcome by the good (which you show to your enemy) evil (by causing your enemy, ashamed by your noble spirit, to cease doing evil to you, and to become your friend);” Meyer. Seneca, De Benef., 7, Rom 31: Vincit malos pertinax bonitas.—R.] The purpose of all these manifestations of love is that of Christ on the cross: to overcome evil with good.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. The proper conduct in personal intercourse, particularly with the brethren, is love without dissimulation; as the proper conduct toward the Church, previously described, is love without self-boasting. The conduct toward civil authorities (which follows in chap. 13) is love without fear; and, finally, the proper conduct toward the world is love without despising the rights of the world, and without mingling with the immorality of the world.
2. The root of brotherly love is reverence for the appearing image of Christ; and its development and consummation are types of the most inward consanguinity.
3. The proper conduct toward different individuals begins with proper conduct toward ourselves; portrayed in Rom_12:11. To this there belongs, first of all, fresh spiritual life; zealous and enthusiastic work, embracing eternity as the blessing of the Spirit; calm ardor in communion with God, and in the consciousness of its being sent by God; but regarding the moment of time as the moment of eternity in time. In this place belongs Solomon’s Ecclesiastes, this much-mistaken pearl of the Old Testament—a writing whose fundamental thought is, that every thing is regarded vain in consequence of despising eternity in time.
4. The Apostle’s pen gives a festive expression even to Christian ethics; as is proved by the beautiful parallelisms, mostly in the form of trilogies, in this chapter, together with 1 Corinthians 13. [Comp. Erasmus on this chapter: “Comparibus membris et incisis, similiter cadentibus ac desinentibus sic totus sermo modulatus est, ut nulla cautio possit esse jucundior.”—R.] Christian life should also be a worship. But the worship is festive, free from common weariness.
5. All Christianity is a conquest of evil by good, which Christ has established, and already decided in principle, on His cross. All the single rules of conduct toward individuals concentrate in this last and highest one.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Rom_12:9-21. The sincerity of love. It is manifested in: 1. Our abhorring that which is evil; and, 2. In cleaving to that which is good (Rom_12:9)—Let not love be false. 1. What is it to love in this way? 2. How is it possible? (Rom_12:9.)—What belongs to true brotherly love? 1. Sincere heartiness; 2. Obliging respect (Rom_12:10).—Universal love and brotherly love. 1. How far related? 2. How far different? Comp. 2Pe_1:7 (Rom_12:9-10).—Christian joy in labor. 1. Its nature; 2. Its origin; 3. Its limit (Rom_12:11).—Be not indolent in doing what you should! (Rom_12:11).—Be fervent in spirit! A pentecostal sentiment (Rom_12:11).—Adapt yourselves to the time! A word of comfort in times of need and tribulation (Rom_12:11).—Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, continue instant in prayer—an inexhaustible text, and one that can be always applied afresh on marriage occasions, in harvest sermons in years of failure, or in New Years’ sermons in troublous times (Rom_12:12).—Distribute to the necessity of saints! 1. Description of it (with special references similar to those in Rom_12:11). 2. A summons to energetic assistance (Rom_12:13).—The forgiving Christian spirit. 1. A beautiful virtue; but, 2. One very difficult to exercise; and therefore, 3. Proper to be implored from God (Rom_12:14).—Christian sympathy: 1. In joy; 2. In sorrow (Rom_12:15).—Christian unanimity (Rom_12:16).—Christian humility (Rom_12:16).—Christian honesty (Rom_12:17).—Christian peacefulness (Rom_12:18).—Christian love of enemies. 1. It desists from revenge; 2. It overcomes evil with good (Rom_12:19-21).—Fiery coals on the head of an enemy: 1. They cause pain; but, 2. Healing pain, because it is the pain of shame Rom_12:19-21).
Luther: To heap coals of fire on the head is, that, by kindness, our enemy grows angry with himself for having acted so wickedly toward us.
Starke: True Christianity does not make lazy people and sluggards, but industrious ones; for the more pious the Christian is, the more industrious laborer he is (Rom_12:11).—Dear Christian, you present a gift to strange beggars, though you do not know whether they are holy or not—indeed, the most are without holiness; should you not rather do good to the poor who live among us, who prove by their deeds that they are holy and God’s children? (Rom_12:13.)—He who rises high, falls all the lower; such conduct is always dangerous. High trees are shaken most violently by the winds; high towers are most frequently struck by the thunder-storm; what is high is easily moved, and likely to fall. Rather remain low, and then you will not fall, Sir_3:19 (Rom_12:16).—If you have wisdom, it is not your own, but God’s; let it not be observed that you know your wisdom. There are others also who are not fools; and there are many superior to you (Rom_12:16).—Every one should be ruler of his own spirit, Pro_16:32 (Rom_12:21).—It is most glorious to show good for evil, and to make a friend out of an enemy, Pro_16:6 (Rom_12:21).—As fire is not quenched by fire, so is evil not quenched by evil, not invective by invective.—Hedinger: Christianity is not absurd selfishness and incivility. Love and patience teach quite different things toward our neighbor (Rom_12:10).—Müller: The richer and higher in God, the poorer and more like nothing in our own eyes, 2Sa_7:18 (Rom_12:10).—God sends His cross to us that it may press from our hearts many fervent sighs, from our mouth many a glorious little prayer, and from our eyes many hot tears (Rom_12:12).—Christian souls are one soul in Christ, and therefore one feels the sorrow and joy of another (Rom_12:15).—To do good is natural; to do evil is carnal; to do evil for good is devilish; to do good for evil is divine (Rom_12:17).
Spener: Love is the principal virtue required by Christ of His disciples (Rom_12:9).—Brotherly love should be as hearty as natural love between parents, children, and brethren (the στοργή), and should not be lukewarm, but zealous (Rom_12:10).—The Spirit of God is a holy fire, which inflames hearts wherever it is. Where things go very sleepily, we may well apprehend that, because there is no fire, there is no zeal, and that there is also no work of the Spirit, but only of nature. Yet there should be a fervency and zeal of the spirit. For the flesh has also its blind zeal, which is the more dangerous the greater it is (Rom_12:11).—Accommodate yourselves to the time. But this must not be in such a way as to join in with the world, as every period brings with it that which the Apostle (Rom_12:2) has already forbidden—conformity to this world. But Christians should not lose the opportunity of doing good which God constantly presents to them; and they should always give due care to all circumstances—to what is best now to be done according to the Divine rule. Moreover, they should always give due attention to the condition in which they are situated, so that they may act just as God now requires of them (Rom_12:11).—In prosperity and adversity, prayer is the best means for our support (Rom_12:12).
Roos: Christians should be refined and polite people (Rom_12:17).
Gerlach: The most glowing love should not lose sobriety and discretion, by virtue of which it chooses and performs just what the circumstances require; comp. Mat_10:16 (Rom_12:11).—“It is well,’ says one, ‘that he has very properly commanded weeping with those who weep; but for what end did he command us to do the other part, that which is not great?’ And yet, rejoicing with them that rejoice is a far more self-denying state of mind than weeping with those who weep;” Chrysostom (Rom_12:15).—By fiery coals we must understand that we lead the one who injures us to repentance of his deed, by doing good to him (Rom_12:20).
Lisco: How the love of the believer, arising from humility, is manifested toward other belieRomans Rom_12:1. Its peculiarity (Rom_12:9-12); 2. Its manifestations amid very different external circumstances (Rom_12:13-16).—Relation of the believer to the unbelieving world. He is even animated with love toward it (Rom_12:17-21).
Heubner: Love should be tender and delicate; it should avoid every thing that can offend another’s sense of modesty or honor. Indelicacy is always a want of respect (Rom_12:10).—Christianity teaches the real art of being always happy.—The Christian must keep in a good humor. Hope is the source of the Christian’s cheerfulness; the condition of it is patience. Prayer strengthens both faith and hope (Rom_12:12).
Besser: The works of Christians in love (Rom_12:9-21).—Paul calls upon us to oppose two special enemies of unity: 1. Pride; 2. Self-conceits of wisdom (Rom_12:16).—Saul felt most painfully the burning coals from David’s hand, 1Sa_24:17 ff.
Schleiermacher: The Apostle’s injunction: Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. 1. What is the scope of it—what are the limits which he has assigned to it? 2. Its connection with our spiritual life in God’s kingdom (Rom_12:15).—Perseverance against the evil sorely afflicting us. It consists in: 1. Our taking care lest evil prostrate our spirit; 2. In being careful not to lose our sobriety, when engaged in work, by surprise; 3. And in being on our guard lest our pleasure in life be destroyed by the pressure of evil (Rom_12:21).
Rom_12:7-16. The Pericope for the Second Sunday after Epiphany.—Heubner: The fruits of Christian faith in human life.—The connection of the Christian virtues.—The real life as a practical school of Christianity.—Harless: True fidelity to calling. 1. Good Christian deportment is always likewise fidelity to calling; 2. The discharge of one’s calling is true when it is done with simplicity, with care, and with pleasure; 3. This fidelity to calling arises alone from true love; 4. But true love arises alone from the humility of Christian faith.—Jaspis: True Christians are also the most faithful laborers. 1. They regard their lifetime as a very gracious gift; 2. They act continually from holy motives; 3. They feel inwardly united with their fellow-men; 4. They have too serious a reverence for their Eternal Judge to discharge their calling unconscientiously.—Krehl: Strengthening of patience in tribulation by: 1. Wise hope; 2. Pious reflection; 3. Steadfast prayer; 4. Joyous hope.
Rom_12:17-21. The Pericope for the Third Sunday after Epiphany.—Heubner: The Christian amid the afflicting relations of the world. 1. He uses them for opposing his own self-love; 2. He uses them for greater severity toward himself; 3. For the practice of a peaceful disposition; 4. For the exhibition of love toward enemies; 5. For increasing his stability and steadfastness.—The dignity of Christian peacefulness: 1. Its source; 2. Its limits; 3. Its strength.—Beck: Direction for the art of genuine Christian peacefulness. 1. Stop up the fountain of disquietude in your own heart; 2. Give place to the external occasion to disquietude by conscientious and blameless deportment toward every body; 3. Amid external temptations, direct your heart to the highest Requiter; 4. Strive to overcome the hatred of enemies by good deeds, and to turn away the punishment impending over them.—F. A. Wolf: Avenge not yourselves! 1. The meaning of this declaration of the Apostle; 2. How it should be observed.
Kapff: What belongs to true culture: 1. Modesty and humility; 2. Universal philanthropy; 3. Truth and purity of heart.—Brandt: Christianity is the way to a peaceful and blessed life; for it: 1. Opposes our own conceits; 2. Forbids all revenge; 3. Recommends honesty; 4. Loves peace fulness; 5. Enjoins magnanimity; 6. And always desires the conquest of all evil.
[Hopkins: On revenge (Rom_12:15). Revenge is a wild, untamed passion, that knows no bounds nor measures. And if we were permitted to carve it out for ourselves, we should certainly exceed all limits and moderation; for self-love, which is an immoderate affection, would be made the whole rule of our vengeance: and because we love ourselves abundantly too well, we should revenge every imaginary wrong done us with too much bitterness and severity: and, therefore, God would not trust the righting of ourselves in our own hands, knowing we would be too partial to our own interests and concerns, but hath assumed it to himself as the prerogative of His crown.—On Rom_12:20 : On kindness toward enemies. This is all the revenge which the gospel permits; this is that excellent doctrine which our Saviour came to preach, which He hath given us commission to declare and publish to the world, to guide our feet into the way of peace; that we might all be united, as by faith and obedience unto God, so in love and charity one to another.
[Bishop Atterbury: Sermon on the duty of living peaceably (Rom_12:18). I. In what the duty consists, in relation to public and private men, opinions and practice. II. The extent of it—to all men. III. The difficulty of practising it. IV. The best helps to the practice of this duty: (1) To regulate our passions; (2) To moderate our desires, and shorten our designs, with regard to the good things of life; (3) To have a watchful eye upon ourselves in our first entrance upon any contest; (4) Always to guard against the intemperance of our tongue, especially in relation to that natural proneness it has toward publishing the faults of others; (5) To keep ourselves from embarking in parties and factions; (6) To study to be quiet, by doing our own business in our proper profession or calling; (7) Add prayer to the Author of peace and Lover of concord, for the fruits of His Spirit.
[Burkitt: What it is to be overcome of evil. 1. When we dwell in our thoughts too much, too often, and too long, upon the injuries and unkindness we have met with; this is as if a man that was to take down a bitter pill, should be continually champing of it, and rolling it under his tongue. 2. We are overcome of evil when we are brought over to commit the same evil, by studying to make spiteful returns, in a way of revenge, for the injuries we have received.—Wherein consists the duty and excellency of overcoming evil with good? 1. It renders us like God, who does good to us daily, though we do evil against Him continually; 2. We imitate God in one of the choicest perfections of His divine nature; 3. We overcome ourselves; 4. We overcome our enemies, and make them become our friends.
[Henry: Bless them who persecute you: 1. Speak well of them. If there be any thing in them commendable and praiseworthy, take notice of it, and mention it to their honor; 2. Speak respectfully to them, according as their place Isaiah 3. Wish well to them, and desire their good, so far from seeking any revenge; 4. Offer up that desire to God, by prayer for them.
[Clarke, on Rom_12:16 : There have not been wanting, in all ages of the Church, persons who, losing the savor of divine things from their own souls by drinking into a worldly spirit, have endeavored to shun the reproach of the cross, by renouncing the company of the godly, speaking evil of the way of life, and, perhaps, sitting down in the chair of the scorner with apostates like themselves. And yet, strange to tell, these men will keep up a form of godliness! for a decent outside is often necessary to enable them to secure the ends of their ambition.
[Hodge, on Rom_12:20-21 : Nothing is so powerful as goodness; it is the most efficacious means to subdue enemies and put down opposition. Men whose minds can withstand argument, and whose hearts rebel against threats, are not proof against the persuasive influence of unfeigned love; there is, therefore, no more important collateral reason for being good, than that it increases our power to do good.
[Barnes, on Rom_12:11 : The tendency of the Christian religion is to promote industry. 1. It teaches the value of time; 2. Presents numerous and important things to be done; 3. It inclines men to be conscientious in the improvement of each moment; 4. And it takes away the mind from those pleasures and pursuits which generate and promote indolence.—J. F. H.]
Footnotes:
[26]Rom_12:9.—[The imperatives of the E. V. are retained, since we accept the hortatory view of the participles. It is true, the E. V. itself occasionally retains the participial form (Rom_12:10-13), but only in such a way as not to disturb the hortatory meaning. See the Exeg. Notes on the construction.
[27]Rom_12:10.—[The E. V. has inverted the Greek order in these brief clauses. The datives stand first, and their equivalents should occupy the same position in English So Five Ang. Clergymen, Amer. Bible Union, &c.
[28]Rom_12:11.—[The Rec., with א. A. B. D2 3. L., most fathers, reads: κυρίω; adopted by Beza, Lachmann, Scholz, Tischendorf, De Wette, Philippi, Alford, Tregelles. Dr. Lange, however, follows Griesbach, Mill, Fritzsche, and Meyer, who adopt καιπῷ, on the authority of D1. F. G., Latin fathers (so Luther). Yet Meyer himself acknowledges that the other reading is better supported; he rejects it on account of the critical difficulty of accounting for the variation, were κυρίω genuine, especially as the phrase: serve the Lord, is so common with Paul. Dr. Lange says: “Such a general summons to serve the Lord, looks like an interruption in the midst of general directions. The reading, as Meyer observes, is readily explained by the fact that a prejudiced moral feeling would easily stumble at the principle: τῷ καιρῷ δουλεύειν.” It would seem that Dr. Lange is governed rather by a desire to preserve certain exegetical correspondences, than by the results of critical investigation. See Alford in favor of the received reading. He contends that, besides the weight of external authorities, the internal probabilities sustain it. “The present subject is, the character of our zeal for God.” “The command, τῷ καιρῷ δουλ., would surely come in very inopportunely in the midst of exhortations to the zealous service of God.” De Wette, indeed, doubts the propriety of the expression, remarking that Christians may employ τὸν καιρόν, but not serve it. On the whole, I feel constrained to differ from Dr. Lange, and to retain the reading of the Rec. See further in the Exeg. Notes.
[29]Rom_12:13.—[Rec., א. A. B. D3.: χρείαις; D1. F.: μνείαις. The former is adopted by all modern editors. The latter was “a corruption introduced, hardly accidentally, in favor of the honor of martyrs by commemoration” (Alford). So Meyer, and most. Dr. Lange admits that the reading μνείαις, which he rejects here, is supported by the same authorities as the reading καιρῷ (Rom_12:11), which he accepts. “But the connection here pronounces in favor of the Recepta.” He intimates that he finds another meaning than “the worship of martyrs” in the rejected reading, but does not state what it is.
[30]Rom_12:16.—[See Exeg. Notes.
[31]Rom_12:17.—[After καλά, A3., Polycarp, &c., insert ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ; F. G., Vulgate, Gothic, many fathers, insert οὐ μόνον ενώπιον τ. θεοῦ ἀλλἀ καί. These additions are rejected by all modern editors, as taken from Pro_3:4, where the LXX. reads: προνοοῦ καλὰ ἐνώπιον κυρίου καὶ ἀνθρώπων.—Instead of πάντων (Rec., א. B. D3. L., versions and fathers), A2. D1. F. &c., have τῶν, which probably arose from the previous insertion.
[32]Rom_12:19.—[From Deu_32:35, where the LXX. reads: ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐκδικήσεως ἀνταποδώσω. Heb.: לִי נָקָם וְשׁלֵּם, “mine is revenge and requital.” The same thought is found, Jer_28:6. Heb_10:30 quotes precisely as here.
[33]Rom_12:20.—[An exact quotation from the LXX., Pro_25:21-22. There is, however, a variation in the opening words. The Rec., with D3. L., some versions and fathers, reads: ἐὰν οὖν (ἐὰν alone is from the LXX.); adopted by De Wette, Philippi, Wordsworth, and Lange (Hodge and Stuart accept it without remark). D1. F., and other authorities, have ἐὰν alone; so Tischendorf. א. A. B.: ἀλλὰ εάν (Lachmann, Meyer, Alford). Other variations occur in the fathers. It is difficult to decide. Probably οὖν was the original reading, then rejected because the inference was not understood, or to conform to the LXX.; then ἀλλὰ substituted, as a connecting particle was deemed necessary. Certainly ἐὰν οὖν is lectio difficilior. Even Alford seems inclined to adopt it.—R.]
[34][In the first edition, Rom_12:9-10 were added to the previous section. The present division has the support of the best modern commentators, and must be deemed a happy alteration.—R.]
[35][The reading adopted by Dr. Lange in the last clause leads him to this limitation of meaning. While, as Philippi observes, there is no necessity for limiting the diligence to evangelistic efforts, it seems equally uncalled for to refer it exclusively to temporal affairs, as is done by Dr. Lange and the E. V. (“business”). Luther is not literally exact, but gives the correct sense: Seid nicht träge, was ihr thun sollt; Be not slothful in what you ought to do. Thus it is referred to all Christian duty as such (Alford).—R.]
[36][The idea of ὑπομένειν is patient continuance, or steadfastness, although, at times, the idea of patience may be the prominent one. It may be doubted whether the other thought is not equally prominent here. So Philippi; in der Drangsal beständig.—Accepting the wider reference of the verse, Dr. Hodge says: “This hope of salvation is the most effectual means of producing patience under present afflictions.” “Intercourse with God, however, is necessary to the exercise of this, and all other virtues, and therefore the Apostle immediately adds: continuing instant in prayer.” He finds in this expression two attributes of acceptable prayer—perseverance and favor—both implying faith in God.—R.]
[37][Meyer paraphrases: “having fellowship in the necessities of the saints; i. e., conducting yourselves as though the necessities of your fellow-Christians were your own, and thus seeking to meet them.” Stuart: “in respect to the wants of the saints, be sympathetic;” but the dative is hardly a dative of reference. The intransitive meaning of the verb must be insisted upon (Tholuck, Meyer, and most). Even in Gal_6:6, the transitive meaning must be given up. (Comp. Lange’s Comm. in loco, p. 150.)—R.]
[38][Wordsworth finds a happy play upon the words, διώκοντες (Rom_12:13), διώκοντας (Rom_12:14). “It would seem as if the Apostle’s mind, strained by the pressure of the argument with which it had been laboring, now gracefully and playfully relaxes itself in Christian cheerfulness. In his conciliatory courtesy, he would show his readers what he had said severely concerning them in the former parts of his Epistle, had been spoken in love. So he now says, in a tone of lively affection: Even we Christians, whom the world persecutes, ought to be persecutors; we ought to follow with our blessings and our prayers those who pursue us with rancor and disdain.”—On the spirit of this injunction, see Hodge in loco, especially the extract from Calvin which he gives.—R.]
[39][We retain the imperative form of the E. V. It might perhaps be changed to the participial, as is done in the revision by Five Ang. Clergymen; but this would render a change in punctuation necessary.—R.]
[40][Dr. Lange quotes Meyer’s objection to one single phase of this explanation, and that not the one most prominently urged. Ewald, Jowett, Wordsworth, understand by this view, which they defend, not getting out of the way of the wrath of another, but, allowing it to spend itself upon you, “let your enemy have his way.” So far from deeming this a prudential step, Jowett defends it from the objection, that “common prudence requires that we should defend ourselves against our enemies,” by urging that the gospel does not always give “counsels of prudence, but of perfection.” Meyer, however, opposes the real explanation of these authors, by saying that such a meaning has too little positive moral character; and further, that the prohibition of revenge by no means implies that the personal object is an angry one. These objections are valid ones.—R.]
[41][The first explanation is the most natural one; but Alford suggests another, viz.: “Anger, generally; ‘proceed not to execute it hastily, but leave it for its legitimate time, when He whose it is to avenge will execute it: make not the wrath your own, but leave it for God.” Wordsworth, in defending the third explanation, objects to the first: It could hardly be presented as a Christian duty—to make room for the Divine wrath to work against an enemy.” He furthermore defends the ambiguous rendering of the E. V., as excellent from its ambiguity, from not saying too much, and thus inviting study, using this opportunity for opposing a revision. “I ever held it a kind of honest spiritual thrift, when there are two senses given of one place, both agreeable to the analogy of faith and manners, to make use of both” (Bishop Sanderson). Dr. Wordsworth approves this rule for expositors. His own practice of this “spiritual thrift” may load to spiritual wealth, but certainly seems to tend to exegetical poverty.—R.]
[42][Among these, the reference to the softening by burning coals (Glöckler), the inflaming to love (Calovius), the red blush of shame live-glowing coals (Sanctius).—R.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv6–21 Having then gifts differing according to the grace given…
Having then gifts differing according to the grace given to us--Here, let it be observed, all the gifts of believers alike are viewed as communications of mere grace.
whether--we have the gift of
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prophecy--that is, of inspired teaching (as in Act 15:32). Anyone speaking with divine authority--whether with reference to the past, the present, or the future--was termed a prophet (Exo 7:1).
let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith--rather, "of our faith." Many Romish expositors and some Protestant (as CALVIN and BENGEL, and, though, hesitatingly, BEZA and HODGE), render this "the analogy of faith," understanding by it "the general tenor" or "rule of faith," divinely delivered to men for their guidance. But this is against the context, whose object is to show that, as all the gifts of believers are according to their respective capacity for them, they are not to be puffed up on account of them, but to use them purely for their proper ends.
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 vv6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 6. Gifts—Charisms or supernatural endowments; sometimes added to and…
6. Gifts—Charisms or supernatural endowments; sometimes added to and heightening particular natural endowments. The possessors of the gifts who are here mentioned might be divided into those of utterance and those of action. To the former class belong prophets, teachers, and exhorters; to the latter ministers, (servitors, stewards,) distributers, (almoners,) compassionaters. (Note on Rom_12:8.)
Prophecy—Primarily, the inspired prediction of future events; secondly, the inspired utterance of any divine truth; thirdly, the living and powerful preaching of truth contained in God’s inspired word. In fact all Bible truth, being originally inspired and taking hold of the eternal future, is prophecy; and every true preacher is in a true sense a prophet. The New Testament prophet blended and exercised by turn, as grace was given him, these various gifts.
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Proportion of faith—Conceded to each one.
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 vv6–21 6. whether prophecy, &c.] The Gr. construction from hence…
6. whether prophecy, &c.] The Gr. construction from hence to the end of Rom_12:8 is peculiar, because elliptical; but the E. V. well interprets the ellipses.
prophecy] Here probably the charisma, or special miraculous gift, of preaching; of utterance in the Christian assemblies under immediate Divine impulse and guidance. It is now no longer possible to analyze minutely this sacred phenomenon; but we gather (from the great passage on the subject, 1 Corinthians 14) that up to a certain point the utterances were under the conscious will of the utterer, and (as we see in the present passage) might be, by negligence or extravagance of will, distorted and otherwise misused. See next note.
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according to the proportion of faith] Lit. according to the proportion of the faith, i.e. the faith of the utterer. The meaning “the (Christian) faith” would in itself be allowable, but in this Epistle (see note “on measure of faith” above) it is not probable. The Gr. word rendered “proportion” is analogia, (whence our analogy). It is used in classical Greek for arithmetical proportion, and in its derived meanings closely resembles our word “proportion.” Here, accordingly, we may fairly render in proportion to his faith; as regulated by his faith, in respect of less or more. This may be explained thus:—The “prophecy” would, above all else, deal with Christ, His Person and Work; with Christ as made known to the “prophet” as the Object of his own faith; a faith which itself (if genuine) was based not on his own impulses and reveries, but on the solid ground of Divine revelation, verifiable as such. Accordingly the “prophet,” in exercising his gift, was to watch over his utterances, and not to allow them to fluctuate with his own independent thinking or wishing, but to see that they were steadily adjusted to the eternal Truth concerning his Lord, already revealed to him as a believer.
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 vv6–21 (6) Gifts differing according to the grace.—The English loses…
(6) Gifts differing according to the grace.—The English loses a point here. The word translated “gifts” means specially “gifts of grace,” grace standing here for the operation of the Spirit. Different kinds of grace, with different forms of expression, are given to different individuals, and they are to be cherished and used accordingly.
Prophecy.—The gift of prophecy is treated at length in 1 Corinthians 14. From the detailed description there given, we gather that it was a kind of powerful and inspired preaching which, unlike the gift of tongues, was strictly within the control of the person who possessed it. What precise relation this bore to the prediction of future events, mentioned in Act_11:27-28; Act_21:10-11, does not appear.
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According to the proportion of faith.—It seems best to take this, not as having reference to the objective rule of faith or doctrine, the due proportions of which are to be preserved, but rather of the active faculty of faith present in him who prophesies. It would then be very nearly equivalent to the condition above—“according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” The prophet is to let his utterances be regulated strictly by the degree of faith of which he is conscious in himself. The inward inspiration and the outward deliverance must keep pace, and advance step by step together. Preaching in which this proportion is not observed is sure to become rhetorical and insincere.
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 vv6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18 Vers. 6-8. Having then gifts differing according to the…
Vers. 6-8. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, according to the proportion of our faith; or ministry, in our ministry; or he that teacheth, in his teaching; or he that exhorteth, in his exhortation; he that giveth, in simplicity; he that ruleth, with (literally, in) diligence; he that showeth mercy, with (literally, in) cheerfulness. The elliptical form of the original has been retained in the above translation, without the words interposed for elucidation in the Authorized Version. There are two ways in which the construction of the passage might possibly be understood.
(1) Taking econtev de in ver. 6 as dependent on esmen in ver. 5, and kata than thv pistewv , not as hortatory, but as parallel to kata thrin th , and understanding in a like sense the clauses that follow. Thus the general meaning would be we are all one body, etc., but having our several gifts, to be used in accordance with the purpose for which they are severally given.
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(2) As in the Authorized Version, which is decidedly preferable, hortation being evidently intended from the beginning of Rom_12:6. The drift is that the various members of the body having various gifts, each is to be content to exercise his own gift in the line of usefulness it fits him for, and to do so well. The references are not to distinct orders of ministry, in the Church, but rather to gifts and consequent capacities of all Christians. The gift of prophecy, which is mentioned first, being of especial value and importance, (cf. 1Co_14:1, seq.) was the gift of inspired utterance, not of necessity in the way of prediction, but also, and especially, for "edification, and exhortation, and comfort", (1Co_14:3) for "convincing," and for "making manifest the secrets of the heart". (1Co_14:24, 1Co_14:25) He that has this special gift is to use it "according to the proportion of his faith;" for the meaning of which expression see on metron pistewv above. (Rom_12:3) According to the prophet"s power of faith to be receptive of this special gift, and to apprehend it if granted to him, would be the intensity and truth of its manifestation. It would seem that prophets might be in danger of mistaking their own ideas for a true Divine revelation; (cf. Jer_23:28) and also that they might speak hastily and with a view to self-display, (see 1Co_14:29-33) and that there was a further gift of diakrisiv pneumatwn required for distinguishing between true and imagined inspiration. (see 1Co_12:10 1Co_14:29) Further, the spirits of the prophets were subject to the prophets; (1Co_14:32) they were not carried away, as the heathen mantiv was supposed to be, by an irresistible Divine impulse; they retained their reason and consciousness, and were responsible for rightly estimating and faithfully rendering any revelation (apokaluqiv , 1Co_5:3) granted to them. Delusion, inconsiderate utterance, extravagance, as well as repression of any real inspiration may be meant to be forbidden in the phrase. (The view of thv pistewv being meant objectively of the general Christian doctrine, from which the prophecy was not to deviate whence the common use of the expression, analogia fidei is precluded by the whole drift of the passage. It is not found in the Greek Fathers, having been apparently suggested first by Thomas Aquinas.) The gift of ministry (diakonia) must be understood in a general sense, and not as having exclusive reference to the order of deacons, (Act_6:1-6 Php_1:1 1Ti_3:8 Rom_16:1) who were so called specifically because their office was one of diakonia . The words diakonein diakonia diakonov , though sometimes denoting any kind of ministry, even of the highest kind, were used and understood in a more specific sense with reference to subordinate ministrations, especially in temporal matters"). (cf. Act_6:2, "It is not reason that we should leave the Word of God, and serve tables (diakonein trapezwv) If any had a gift for any such kind of administrative work under others, they were to devote themselves to it, and be content if they could do it well. Teaching (didaskalia) may denote a gift for mere instruction in facts or doctrines, catechetical or otherwise, different from that of the inspired eloquence of prophecy. Exhortation (as paraklhsiv , which bears also the sense of consolation, seems here to be rightly rendered) may be understood with reference to admonitory addresses, in the congregation or in private, less inspired and rousing than prophetic utterances. In Act_13:15 the word paraklhsiv denotes the exhortation which any person in the synagogue might be called upon by the rulers to address to the people after the reading (anagnwsin) of the Law and the prophets; cf. 1Ti_4:13, where Timothy is told to give attendance to reading (anagnwsin), to exhortation (paraklhsin), and to teaching (didaskalian). He that giveth (oo metadidouv) points to the gift of liberality, to the endowment with which both means supplied by Providence and a spirit of generosity might contribute. The almsgivers of the Church had their special gift and function; and they must exercise them in simplicity (en aplothti), which may perhaps mean singleness of heart, without partiality, or ostentation, or secondary aims. But in 2Co_8:2 2Co_9:11, 2Co_9:13, the word seems to have the sense of liberality, and this may be the meaning here. "Uti Deus dat, Jam_1:5" (Bengel). In the "Shepherd of Hermas" (written, it is supposed, not later than the first half of the second century) aplwv is explained thus: Pasin usteroumenoiv didou aplwv mh distazwn tini dwv h tini mh dwv pasi didou ("Hermae Pastor," mandatum 2). Possibly this gives the true original conception, from which that of general liberality would follow. The idea that the almoners of the Church, rather than the almsgivers, are intended, viz. the deacons, (Act_6:3, seq. ) is inconsistent with the general purport of the passage, as explained above. Besides, metadidonai means elsewhere to give up what is one"s own, not to distribute the funds of others. O diadidouv might rather have been expected in the latter case. (cf. Act_4:35) He that ruleth (o proistamenov) means, according to our view all along, any one in a leading position, with authority over others; and not, as some have thought, exclusively the presbyters. Such are not to presume on their position of superiority so as to relax in zealous attention to its duties. He that showeth mercy (o elewn) is one who is moved by the Spirit to devote himself especially to works of mercy, such as visiting the sick and succouring the distressed. Such a one is to allow no austerity or gloominess of demeanour to mar the sweetness of his charity. On the general subject of these gifts for various administrations (cf. 1Co 12, seq.; 1Co 14 Eph_4:11, seq. ) it is to be observed that in the apostolic period, though presbyters and deacons, under the general superintendence of the apostles, seem to have been appointed in all organized Churches for ordinary ministrations, (Act_11:30 Act_14:23 Act_15:2, seq. ; Act_16:4 Act_20:17 Act_21:18 Php_1:1 1Ti_3:1, 3 5:17 Tit_1:5) yet there were other spiritual agencies in activity, recognized as divinely empowered. The "prophets and teachers" at Antioch (Act_13:1) who, moved by the Holy Ghost, separated and ordained Barnabas and Saul for apostolic ministry, do not appear to have been what we should now call the regular clergy of the place, but persons, whether in any definite office or not, divinely inspired with the gifts of profhteia and didaskalia . In like manner, the appointment of Timothy to the office he was commissioned to fill, though he was formally ordained by the laying on of hands of St. Paul himself (2Ti_1:6) and of the presbyters, (1Ti_4:14) appears to have been accompanied perhaps sanctioned by prophecy. (1Ti_4:14) Persons thus divinely inspired, or supposed to be so, appear, as time went on, to have visited the various Churches, claiming authority some, it would seem, even the authority of apostles; the term "apostle" not being then confined exclusively to the original twelve; else Barnabas could not have been called one, as he is, (Act_14:14) or indeed even Paul himself. But such claims to inspiration were not always genuine; and against false prophets we find various warnings. (cf. 2Co_11:3, seq.; Gal_1:6, seq.; 1Jn_4:1, seq. ; 2Jn_1:10 Rev_2:2) Still, these extraordinary agencies and ministrations, in addition to the ordinary ministry of the presbyters and deacons, were recognized as part of the Divine order for the edification of the Church as long as the special charismata of the apostolic age continued. Afterwards, as is well known, the episcopate, in the later sense of the word as denoting an order above the general presbytery, succeeded the apostolate, though how soon this system of Church government became universal is still a subject of controversy. It appears, however, from "The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles" (Didach twn Dwdeka Apostolwn), recently brought to light by Archbishop Bryennius (the date of which appears to have been towards the end of the first century or the beginning of the second), that the earlier and less regular system continued, in some regions at least (it does not follow that it was so everywhere), after the original apostles had passed away. For in this early and interesting document, while directions are given for the ordination (or election; the word is ceirotonhsate , the same as in Act_14:23) of bishops and deacons in the several Churches, there is no allusion to an episcopate of a higher order above them, but marked mention of teachers, apostles, and prophets (especially the last two, apostles being also spoken of as prophets), who appear to have been itinerant, visiting the various Churches from time to time, and claiming authority as "speaking in the Spirit." To these prophets great deference is to be paid; they are to be maintained during their sojourn; they are to be allowed to celebrate the Eucharist in such words as they will; (cf. 1Co_14:16) while speaking in the Spirit they are not to be tried or proved (oude diakrineite ; cf. dia kriseiv pneumatwn , 1Co_14:10; and oi alloi diakrinetwsan , Rom_14:23) lest risk be run of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. Still, among these itinerants there might often be false prophets, (qeudoprofhtai ; cf. Mat_7:15 Mat_24:11, 24 Mar_13:22 1Jn_4:1) and the Churches are to exercise judgment in testing them. If they taught anything contrary to the received doctrine; if they remained for the sake of maintenance without working for mere than two days; if they asked in the Spirit for worldly goods for themselves; if their manner of life was not what it should be; they were false prophets, and to be rejected, Similarly, in the "Shepherd of Hermas" (apparently a document of the first half of the second century, and in some parts corresponding closely with the Teaching, from which such parts may have been derived) like directions are given for distinguishing between true and false prophets, between those who had to Pneua to Yeion and those whose pneuma was epigeion (mandatum 11). And even in the "Apostolical Constitutions" (a compilation supposed to date from the middle of the third to the middle of the fourth century) there is a passage corresponding to what is said in the Teaching about distinguishing between true and false prophets or teachers who might visit Churches. (Rom_7:23) The Teaching seems to denote a state of things, after the apostolic period, in which the special charismata of that period were believed to be still in activity, though with growing doubts as to their genuineness in all cases. As has been said above, it does not follow that this order of things continued everywhere at the time of the compilation of the Teaching; but that it was so, at any rate in some parts, seems evident; and hence some light is thrown on the system of things alluded to in the apostolical Epistles. It is quite consistent with the evidence of the Teaching to suppose that in Churches which had been organized by St. Paul or other true apostles, the more settled order of government which soon afterwards became universal, and the transition to which seems to be plainly marked in the pastoral Epistles, already prevailed.
Vers. 6-8. Grace and gifts.
It is presumed that every member not only refrains from disparaging or envying the offices of fellow-members, but fulfils his own office. And it is also presumed that, as there is no member in the human body without a function, so, in Christian society, the Creator and Lord has assigned to every individual a place to fill, a work to do, and service to render as well as to receive. In this comprehensive passage several great principles are explicitly or implicitly presented.
I GOD"S GRACE ACCOUNTS FOR HUMAN GIFTS. We speak of our fellow-creatures" "gifts," and say of some that they are "gifted," that they "have talents;" but what is involved in this language does not always come before our minds. Yet, if from the Father of lights cometh down every good gift and every perfect boon, surely the gifts of intellect and heart, the gifts of sympathy and ministration, are as truly and really from above, as are those we term the gifts of Providence. The risen and glorified Redeemer bestows gifts upon men. The Holy Spirit is given, and that Spirit"s presence imparts moral power and adaptation and influence. Freely, and not of constraint, or because of our desert, is the Spirit given. It is ours to receive with gratitude, and to use with fidelity; but our receiving and employing are only possible through Divine grace and liberality.
II GOD"S INFINITE RESOURCES SUPPLY MAN"S MANIFOLD NEED. We may well admire the goodness of our Father in heaven, in the bestowal of his gifts; his bounty, manifest in the universal diffusion of those gifts; and his wisdom, conspicuous in their endless variety. God has created man with many wants, and has so constituted human society that "no man liveth unto himself;" that we are mutually dependent one upon another for all our knowledge, happiness, and means of usefulness. Every congregation of Christians may be regarded as a collection of spiritual, as well as of more obvious and physical, necessities. The young need to be taught and trained; the misled need to be recovered; the feeble need to be confirmed; the sorrowful need to be comforted; the presumptuous need to be repressed; the petulant and quarrelsome need to be corrected; the inexperienced need to be advised. These, and other cases, can only be met by a provision inexhaustible in quantity and exquisitely adapted in character. In this and parallel passages the apostle takes pleasure in dwelling upon the vastness and variety of the resources which the Lord of all places at the disposal of his people. It is indeed a delightful thought: "All things are yours," etc.
III THE WORK OF CHRISTIANS IN THIS WORLD IS THE FULFILLING A TRUST FROM GOD. We live, not certainly to seek our own pleasure, not certainly to respond to every passing social impulse, not even merely to develop our own nature and cultivate our own powers. We are summoned to take a higher view of life and its opportunities. As St. Peter expresses it, "According as each hath received a gift, ministering it among yourselves, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." It is good for the young and unformed to come under the control of a superior human mind and will, and so to shape life as to secure approval and commendation from a master, a leader. How much better for us all to live as those whose fidelity the Master in heaven is testing, and who are held responsible to him! When we read of God"s gifts, we are not to infer that we possess them absolutely, in such a sense that it is in our option either to use or neglect them, that we are at liberty to treat them otherwise than as a sacred trust. On the contrary, "every one of us must give an account of himself to God." The talents the Lord has entrusted to his servants are for them so to employ that, when he comes in judgment, they may give in their account with joy and not with
IV EVERY CHRISTIAN IS CALLED TO USE HIS GIFTS FOR THE BENEFIT OF HIS FELLOWS. It is observable that every several admonition in this passage.has reference to benefits to be conferred upon others. The Christian is called to look, not upon his own things, but also upon the things of others. This is the lesson which Christianity has from the beginning been inculcating; and modern society is for it under a debt, which is not always frankly and fully acknowledged. Some modern systems of morality and schemes of human life, as positivism, make the whole of religion consist in living for others (altruism). But it is vain to rear a superstructure without first laying the foundation. To induce and sustain an unselfish life, it is needful to begin with the counsels of God; to feel the one, sacred motive of the cross of Christ, to seek the guidance and aid of the Spirit of God. At the same time, unselfishness and self-denying benevolence are one great evidence of a renewed nature, and of the action of Christian principle.
V CHRISTIAN MINISTRATION IS CONFINED TO NO CLASS, BUT DEVOLVES UPON THE WHOLE CHURCH. The apostle is not writing to the officers of the society at Rome, but to all in the city, who are "beloved of God, and called to be saints." The duties here enumerated are diffused amongst the community, amongst whom the gifts necessary for their discharge are graciously and wisely distributed. There is a mischievous tendency in human nature towards doing good by deputy. It is, indeed, right that a man should not meddle with work which is not his; but some, who profess to act upon this principle, not only neglect other people"s business, but neglect their own. You may not be gifted with much power of teaching, but you may be able to show mercy. You may have little to give, but you may, if you will exercise your gift, prove able to console and sympathize. In any case, let us not fall into the error of supposing that, because we cannot do everything, therefore we can do nothing. One of the disadvantages attending a professional ministry is this that many suppose that it is the exclusive business of the clergy to attend to the consolation of the saints and to labour for the evangelization of the world. The fact is that, wherever the gift has been bestowed and the opportunity for its exercise provided, there the responsibility lies, and there the service is required.
APPLICATION.
1. Let us ask, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
2. Let us cultivate the spirit of mutual respect and consideration as fellow-members of Christ.
3. Let us co-operate for the great ends which the Divine Head of the Church has set before us, viz. the increase and the harmony of the body of Christ.
Vers. 6-8. Gifts (second homily).
In enumerating the various gifts imparted by the Lord to his Church, the various services its members are called to render to one another, the apostle writes for all time. In the primitive congregations there were persons endowed with special and supernatural gifts; but these, with one exception, the apostle does not include in this instructive catalogue; he rather chooses to put upon record his own judgment as to the graces and qualifications necessary, through all ages, for the edification of the Church and the evangelization of mankind. We observe
I GIFTS INTELLECTUAL AND INSTRUCTIVE. The truth is the great gift and deposit entrusted by the Head of the Church. The truth is first apprehended and appropriated; and then, as a natural result, is communicated and propagated. And this has been and is done in various methods.
1. By prophecy. This is, in the strictest sense of the term, a supernatural gift; the word designates the power of uttering forth the mind and will of God, and implies a special illumination from above. There are traces, in the Book of the Acts, of the existence and ministry of such a class, who authoritatively announced the will of Heaven, and sometimes foretold events to come. We may justly regard the apostles as themselves prophetically endowed; so that we, and the whole Church, are benefited through the impartation of this gift.
2. By teaching. Christianity is a teaching religion, and commits to every generation the sacred duties of instructing the succeeding race, and assigns to the enlightened the office of evangelizing those who are in spiritual darkness and ignorance. When the Son of God became incarnate, he condescended to live the life of a Teacher; and when he committed to his apostles the final trust, he bade them go forth and teach all nations. In the early Church the office of the teacher was magnified; and it was an evil time for Christianity when the teacher became a priest. It is true that not every Christian has the qualifications of the teacher. Yet there is a vast amount of teaching power in many Christian congregations, which needs to be called out, sanctified, and employed in the holy cause of religion.
3. By exhortation, or consolation. Teaching appeals to the understanding; exhortation to the heart, the conscience, the will. We are reminded that human nature is reached in various ways. Teaching alone is apt to become dull and mechanical; exhortation, unless based upon sound, sober instruction, is vapid and unpractical. It is in the combination of the two that a spiritual ministry reaches its perfection.
II GIFTS PRACTICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE.
1. By ministry seems to be meant all practical service. The deacons or ministers of the early Churches were no doubt entrusted with the charge of the poor, and the administration of the secular affairs of the Christian community; yet their service seems to have been varied and general, and was limited only by their own powers and the several opportunities of their lives. The apostle here specifies several forms of ministry, as samples of the rest, and as of peculiar interest and value.
2. These gifts may take the practical form of government. Rule is a Divine idea, just as is teaching; and without rule, in some form and to some extent, no society of imperfect human beings can be held together. There is order and rule in the Church, which fails to answer its Founder"s ends, and fails to produce a right impression upon the world, unless decency and order and harmony are maintained. There must be rule in the State, which is an organism in which the head must needs direct and control the members. And there should be order and law in the household, which should be the Church in miniature.
3. Some possess the gift, and are entrusted with the privilege of giving, of liberality. It is obvious that there is propriety in regarding this as a proper consequence of receiving from Heaven. "Freely ye have received; freely give." Gifts may be either for the relief of the poor and needy, or for the promotion of evangelization. In any case, we are here taught that giving should be with simplicity, without ostentation, and with a single eye to the glory of God.
4. Closely allied to this gift is that of showing mercy. Whether in ministrations to the aged, the sick, and the dying, in the release or ransom of captives, in the instruction of the young, or in the recovery of the degraded and the lost, there has ever been, and there still is, abundant room in sinful human society for the showing of mercy. We are admonished that this gift that of compassion and kindness should be exercised with cheerfulness. There should be a sense of the dignity and privilege of being called to so Christ-like, so God-like, a vocation. Not grudgingly, not even from a constraining sense of duty, merely; but with the spirit of the Divine Physician, the Divine Liberator, should the followers of Jesus engage in these sacred and beautiful ministrations.
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 vv6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that…
Rom_12:6-8
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us.
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Gifts of grace
1. Their common source.
2. Diverse character.
3. Liberal distribution.
4. Faithful exercise.
5. Happy influence. (J. Lyth D.D.)
Gifts: their Divine source
As many vapours, rising from the sea, meet together in one cloud, and that cloud falls down divided into many drops, and those drops run together, making rills of water, which meet in channels, and those channels run into brooks, and those brooks into rivers, and those rivers into the sea; so it either is or should be with the gifts and graces of the Church. They all come down from God, divided severally as He will to various Christians. They should flow through the channels of their special vocations into the common streams of public use for church or commonwealth, and ultimately return into the great ocean of His glory, from whence they originally came. (Bp. Hall.)
Gods gifts to the Church to be used for His service
I. Those of whom the apostle speaks. Members of Christs body, i.e., the Church (Eph_1:22-23).
1. But what is the Church? Ask Roman Catholics, the members of the Greek Church, some members of our own Church, or the various sects, they would claim each for themselves the title of the Church. Now these are equally wrong. The Church here spoken of is no particular ecclesiastical government whatsoever, but the spiritual Church of Gods elect throughout the whole world.
2. Here is the test of Church membership--the measure of faith. No person is a member of this Church but a true believer, nor can he exercise the gifts here spoken of except he has the gift of faith. The apostles illustration of the human body is totally inapplicable to the nominal Church. No such sympathy can be exercised unless men be mentally and morally conformed to God. Again, the string of spiritual duties inculcated in the text cannot be performed by mere nominal Christians. If you want a description of real Church members, read the opening address of almost every Epistle.
II. The persons of whom the apostle speaks are all possessed of gifts.
1. The time would fail me to tell of the gifts of God to individual members of His Church--outward gifts, such as station, property, influence, talent; official gifts, gifts of prophecy, of instruction, or those more directly spiritual gifts accumulated in the Church.
2. But the point of the passage is its reference to the diversity of gifts. Sometimes they almost appear to be capricious; one man rich, another poor; one richly gifted, another next akin to idiotcy; some with dispositions very amiable, others just the reverse. Spiritual gifts are not equally given to all. Some have such views of truth, such contemplations of heavenly things, that they seem to be admitted within the veil. Others seem just the reverse, going on heavily, and oftentimes cast down. So it is with all spiritual knowledge and attainments. This point is illustrated under the figure of the human body. What harmony, yet what diversity there! There is the head, the seat of wisdom; the countenance, of feeling and animation; then the various limbs or members of the body, more or less honourable; yet is the whole fitly framed together, each part marvellously adjusted to the other, and all mutually dependent.
3. But the most striking thought is that all are gifts of God. Money we may have earned by our own intelligence and diligence, but God gave us that diligence and intelligence. So with regard to our station in life. So most preeminently with His spiritual gifts. If we have any knowledge of the Scriptures, it is revealed to us by the Spirit of God.
4. Mark the lessons.
(1) The least of Gods gifts are talents entrusted to us, and should not be despised. Do not despise the day of small things, and say, I have nothing, or I can do nothing. Perhaps, too, there is a greater danger of our despising small gifts in others.
(2) These talents being the gift of God, we must not be unduly elated by them (verse 3; 1Co_4:7). How humbling the thought that we have nothing we can call our own!
(3) The lowest gifts are as much Gods as the highest. He that planted the sun in the firmament taught the little glow-worm to shine on the summer bank. He that raises up the most talented to fill with honour distinguished situations is the same God that puts the candle in the cottage and bids it shine there. How encouraging is this to the weakest, the poorest, the youngest!
III. It is their duty and privilege to consecrate those gifts to the service of God. As masters and servants, parents and children, brothers and sisters, as individual members of Christs universal Church, we have each gifts entrusted to us; and whether our talents be few or many, feeble or strong, they are the gifts of God, and must be thrown by us into the common treasury of the Church for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. (Dean Close.)
Varied gifts
There is not greater variety of colour and qualities in plants and flowers, with which the earth, like a carpet of needlework, is variegated, for the delight and service of man, than there is of gifts natural and spiritual in the minds of men, to render them useful to one another, both in civil society and Christian fellowship. (W. Gurnall.)
Gifts, diversity of
Every man has received some gift--no man has all gifts; and this, rightly considered, would keep all in a more even temper; as, in nature, nothing is altogether useless, so nothing is self-sufficient. This, duly considered, would keep the meanest from repining and discontent, even him that hath the lowest rank in most respects; yet something he hath received that is not only a good to himself, but rightly improved, may be so to others likewise. And this will curb the loftiness of the most advanced, and teach them not only to see some deficiencies in themselves, and some gifts in far meaner persons which they want; but, besides the simple discovery of this, it will put them upon the use of lower persons, not only to stoop to the acknowledgment, but even withal to the participation and benefit of it; not to trample upon all that is below them, but to take up and use things useful, though lying at their feet. Some flowers and herbs that grow very low are of a very fragrant smell and healthful use. (Abp. Leighton.)
Unity and diversity
Diversity without unity is disorder; unity without diversity is death. (J. P. Lange, D.D)
Unity in diversity
The spirit resolves the variety into unity, introduces variety into the unity, and reconciles unity to itself through variety. (Baur.)
The requirements of true religion
I. Faithfulness in the church. Our gifts must be improved for the common edification (verses 6-8).
II. Love to the brethren--it must be faithful, yet kind.
III. Consistency in the world.
1. Diligence.
2. Fervour.
3. Cheerfulness.
4. Patience.
5. Prayer.
IV. Kindness to all men.
1. To the saints.
2. To enemies.
3. To all according to their need.
V. Humility.
1. In our intercourse with others.
2. In our aims.
3. In our judgments. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Usefulness, the least Christian to aim at
Many true saints are unable to render much service to the cause of God. See, then, the gardeners going down to the pond and dipping in their watering-pots to carry the refreshing liquid to the flowers. A child comes into the garden and wishes to help, and yonder is a little watering-pot for him. Note well the little water-pot, though it does not hold so much, yet carries the same water to the plants; and it does not make any difference to the flowers which receive that water, whether it came out of the big pot or the little pot, so long as it is the same water, and they get it. You who are as little children in Gods Church, you who do not know much, but try to tell to others what little you know; if it be the same gospel truth, and be blessed by the same Spirit, it will not matter to the souls who are blessed by you whether they were converted or comforted under a man of one or ten talents. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith.
The gift of prophecy
I. Its nature and requisites.
II. Its design.
1. The edification of the Church.
2. The spread of truth.
3. Salvation of souls.
III. Its use.
1. According to the analogy of faith.
2. In faith. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
The proportion of faith
1. Prophet means one who is the interpreter of anothers thought. In the Hebrew word there is involved the idea of a fountain bubbling up as from between rocks, subjected to pressure from without. The prophet often declared future events; but we must not limit his function to the prediction. He brought messages to men pertaining to the present practical duty of life.
2. According to the proportion of faith. The sense is made clearer by inserting the or our faith, i.e., the objective system of truth, the gospel. It is a vast, vital, co-ordinated system, built up a unity, like the root, the stem, and branch, or the wall, the tower, and spire of a building. The balance of every part with every other part is hinted at. What is it that Gods Word brings?
I. Great doctrines.
1. The eternal personality of God--a thought the pagan mind did not grasp. And science is dwarfed when it hides this pivotal thought.
2. His providential goodness and redeeming grace. His hand is in history. The history of the race is the history of redemption. It was God who led Paul to Damascus, Augustine to Rome, Savonarola to Florence, and Luther to Worms, His creative power, His providence and grace, like the mysterious trinity of Being to which they are related, fill us with adoring wonder. The Bible lifts the race, exalting its intellectual as well as its moral capacity.
II. The law of God which is as great as the doctrine of God. It is high above the codes of uninspired teachers. Love to God and man are the essential elements. Every element of life is reached and ruled by it. As one sunshine floods the breadth of the sea and the face of the smallest flower, so the law touches alike the mightiest and the meanest. It enters into the whole man. Courtesy in manner is philanthropy in a trait, and heroism of character is shown in the patience of love. In a word, the law is matched to the doctrine in its supernal character and reach.
III. A Saviour as great as either. He was announced by angels; a star led worshippers to His cradle; at His baptism a voice proclaimed Him the well-beloved of the Father. He laid claims on mans service--blasphemous were He not God. He put Himself between parent and child, wife and husband; or, rather, above them all, in supreme authority. By His pierced hands, Christ, the crucified and risen Redeemer, has been guiding the course of empires, and is bringing in millennial eras. Really, though often unconsciously, has the world in its advancing civilisation reflected the glory of this majestic Prince of Life. He shall yet see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied. On His head will rest many crowns.
IV. A universal spiritual kingdom is coincident in majesty and might with the foregoing elements. The idea of such a kingdom is unique and grand. To the Greeks other nations were but barbarians. Rome made other peoples her captives, without extinguishing their enmity or assimilating their life. But Christ founded His throne in the love of His redeemed people. All genius shall be developed, and all wealth shall be consecrated under the supremacy of Christ. Christianity shall be the glory of the nations.
V. Great warnings. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? Here is, then, the proportion of faith, the harmony of truth, the analogy which knits all together in a definite unity. These are the substructural truths of revelation, which are to be studied and proclaimed, each in its time, place, and proportion. Conclusion:
1. As we infer the genius of the architect from the grandeur of the building, the genius of the poet from his verse, or that of the statesman and jurist from what emanates from each, so we infer the sublime greatness of God from this revelation of truth. Can any one say that the Scriptures are the product of the Jewish mind? As well might we say that the Atlantic came from the upsetting of a childs breakfast-cup!
2. Attacking one point of this revelation is an attack on the whole. If one part be in error the value of the whole is vitiated, the entire edifice tumbles to pieces. All these facts of our common faith stand or fall together, as heart and brain are united. If one be paralysed, the whole suffers. If one stone be plucked from the arch, they all tumble in one heap; but in their entirety they reflect the Divine unity and eternity.
3. We rise into sympathy with God as we come into fuller comprehension of His truth. How unwise it is for one to try to banish Gods Word from his thoughts! Here is the romance of the world. The imagination, as well as the conscience of the race, is exalted by the truth of God. It ennobles the whole man. It enriches the life that is, as well as the life that is to come. (R. S. Storrs, D.D.)
Right proportions of truth
I. What is faith here?
1. If we are to understand the trust of the heart towards God, then the passage will mean, that if any man prophesy, or preach, he must do it according to the spiritual experience which God has given him. The measure of the faith is the measure of the life; and if we wish to raise the standard of our life, we must begin by elevating our faith. We cannot go beyond our faith; and we must not fall short of it. The great business of life is to square our words and actions to the faith which God has given us.
2. But we are to take faith here rather as signifying not the belief, but the things believed--our creed--the faith once delivered to the saints.
II. We must keep the general symmetry of the whole body of the truth as it is in Jesus.
1. There is no greater danger than disproportion--the source of almost all error. For the enemy of truth to present what is palpably false would at once startle and offend! But he secures his end much better, by putting before us what is in itself perfectly true, but which becomes false when not balanced by another and equal truth.
2. God has been pleased to give us a revelation; but He has given us also common sense. The Bible was never intended to be cut up into isolated texts. No book would bear it. If you take single sentences you may prove Socinianism, Popery, anything. What we have to do is to know all; to collate all; and to gather, from the Bible, in its integrity, the mind of God.
III. One or two things in which it is most important to keep the proportion of faith.
1. Each Person in the Blessed Trinity has His own prerogative, office, and dispensation. Some persons religion is all of the Father, others all of the Son, others all of the Spirit. See, however, how the works of each stand related to each other in the proportion of faith. The Father loved the world, and gave His Son to save it. The Son wrought out for us a complete salvation, and with Him we have union by faith. That union is our strength, and our life. That union once made, the Holy Spirit flows into us as the blood flows into a member of the body; or, as the sap flows into a branch, grafted into the tree. So that it is impossible to say to which we owe most.
2. According to the proportion of faith, there is a wide distinction between the process of our justification and our sanctification. We are justified at once, and perfectly, by a single act of faith; hut we are sanctified by degrees with effort, and even painfulness. (J. Vaughan, M.A.)
The doctrine of proportion
Proportion means things in their right place, i.e., when one object does not unduly attract our attention above another. A well-proportioned figure, e.g., is where the head is not too large, or the hands and feet too small for the body. A well-proportioned building is that in which nothing is out of place or too large or small for its place. Apply this doctrine to--
I. Christian practice.
1. It is not enough to ask what is right in itself, but what is right under the circumstances. It is a great thing to have right men in right places, but it is also a great thing to have the right man doing the right thing in the right place, in the right way. A right thing done in a wrong way is often more mischievous than a thing done wrong altogether. A saying most true loses all its savour if said at a wrong time; and it is no defence to argue that it was good years ago or miles away. Is it good for us here and now?
2. Congruity, fitness, proportion, are the graces required for the spiritual as well as the material temple. We are not mere isolated blocks of stone, but living stones, built up into a spiritual house. What in one station or age is a grace, in another is a deformity. To everything there is a season, etc., says the preacher in that ancient discourse on the doctrine of proportion. How many good plans have come to nought, not from wickedness or opposition, but because men have exalted a virtue or custom out of proportion, and so have driven men into an equal disproportion on the other side--over strictness leading to over laxity, excessive rashness to excessive caution, etc.
3. And so the apostle tells us to act according to the gifts given to us. He that is endowed with the gift of preaching is to exercise his gift not in any other line, but in that. He that has the gift of practical work is not to rush out of his way in prophesying. Each has his own special calling; let us not waste our time or mar our usefulness by intruding into provinces disproportioned to our powers. Any one faculty indulged in excess becomes a curse, e.g., music, study, mechanical pursuits. How fatal to Louis XVI., who in the crisis of the French monarchy devoted himself to his favourite craft rather than to the task of saving the state; how useful to Peter the Great, who made it the means of civilising his barbarian empire!
4. In the defence of Lucknow the courage, subordination and zeal of each individual was sustained by the consciousness that on him rested the safety of the whole--a single outpost lost would be the loss of all. So if the fortress of goodness and truth is to be saved, it must be by every one doing at his own post the work that belongs to him alone. What discipline effects in the army is effected in our moral duties by a sense of the apostolical doctrine of proportion. Each one has his own work assigned him by the Captain of his salvation. Allow in others, claim for yourselves a division of labour and responsibility. A good master, servant, soldier, teacher, is made in no other way but by waiting on his place.
II. Christian method.
1. He that giveth with simplicity. How greatly the value of a gift depends on the manner of giving! He gives twice who gives soon; so he who gives with simplicity, i.e., with singleness of purpose, gives a hundredfold more than he who gives grudgingly, late, or ostentatiously. A thousand gifts ill given are hardly better than none.
2. He that ruleth, with diligence. He that has charge of a household, school, or commonwealth, may rule imperiously, and so that the institution may go on in apparent prosperity; and yet there may be wanting that peculiar method which will give life and substance to the whole. What is wanted is that he should rule with diligence, i.e. with heart and soul. This is the true secret of influence.
3. He that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness. How easy to show mercy in such a way that it shall be no mercy! What is wanted is the bright smile, the playful word.
III. Christian truth.
1. It is important for the teacher to teach according to the proportion of his own faith; not to assume feelings which are not his own, not to urge truths of which he does not feel the value, but to teach according to his own knowledge and experience.
2. It is important for us all so to seek, find, and teach all truth, so as not to forget what are the due proportions of the truth itself. Christian truth is not of one kind only. It has lights and shades, foregrounds and distances, lessons of infinitely various significance. Woe be to us if instead of rightly dividing the word of truth, we confound all its parts together. We may believe correctly on every single point, yet if we view these points out of their proper proportions our view may be as completely wrong as if on every point we had been involved in error. (Dean Stanley.)
The danger of exaggerations in religion
1. Lord Bacon compares religion to the sun, which invigorates and cheers live animal substances, but turns the dead to corruption. Similarly religion invigorates a sound mind, and cheers a sound heart, while in a morbid mind it breeds superstitions, scruples, and monstrous fancies. We have only to survey the history of Christianity to see how just their comparison is. What follies, superstitions, licentious doctrines, have been founded on the Bible! This has arisen from a certain morbid tendency in the human mind to caricature truths presented to it.
I. Every heresy has been a caricature of some one point of Christian truth--an exaggeration by which the fair proportion of the faith has been distorted.
1. The truth upon which the Quaker founds his system, is that the New Dispensation is spiritual. No truth can well be more vital, and through the subtle encroachments of formalism it is necessary for all of us every now and then to ask ourselves whether we are properly awake to the fact that the law, under which Christians live, is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, written on the fleshy table of the heart, and that God is a Spirit, and therefore to be worshipped in spirit and in truth. The Quakers would have deserved the warmest thanks if they had done nothing more than bring these truths forward. But, unhappily, they caricatured them, and robbed the Church of her sacraments.
2. The fundamental truth of our religion is that God is love, and that He has shown His love by the sacrifice of His dear Son. Now certain divines have perceived this truth clearly, and it is impossible to perceive it too clearly, or proclaim it too loudly. But to say that anger is inconsistent with love, or that justice is inconsistent with compassion, and to acknowledge no relations with God as a Judge, because He stands to us in the relation of a Father, is to caricature the faith and mar its fair proportions. God loves me deeply, but He hates my sin, and will never consent to save me from its guilt without saving me from its power.
3. And where there is no actual heresy, this tendency may lead to a vast amount of unsuspected mischief. In many spiritual books a strain is put upon certain precepts which caricatures them, sets them at issue with other precepts, and cramps the mind which should strive after obedience to them. Take an example. When St. Francis of Sales was dying, he said to one of his attached disciples, Bishop, God has taught me a great secret, and I will tell it you, if you will put your head closer. The bishop did so, anxious to know what Francis considered as the crowning lesson of a life of holiness. He has taught me, said the dying man, who was acutely suffering, to ask nothing, and to refuse nothing. Now at this a sentimental pietism might perhaps whisper, What beautiful resignation! But is it in conformity to the Word of God, and the mind of Christ? We admit that we should refuse nothing which comes from our Fathers hand. But where has God taught His people to ask nothing? Did not our Lord pray, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me? Good St. Francis erred by exaggeration, and caricatured the grace of resignation. Resignation is a heavenly and Christ-like grace; but if you will push it to every length, it becomes absolutely mischievous. Thus one might conceive a beggar doing nothing to improve his condition, on the plea that such was the will of God, and that mendicancy was the state of life to which tie had been called; forgetting that there is a maxim which says that if any man would not work, neither should he eat. In the lives of the Scriptural saints nothing is so remarkable as their perfect naturalness, and freedom from all overstrained spirituality. The great Apostle of the Gentiles, after a miraculous escape from shipwreck, gathers a bundle of sticks, and puts them on the fire (for St. Paul was not above feeling cold and wet); and when writing under the affiatus of the Holy Ghost, he bids Timothy bring the cloak which be left at Troas with Carpus, in anticipation of an approaching winter, and the books, but especially the parchments; for what studious man can bear to be without his books and papers? Among the early disciples you would have seen nothing overcharged in character or manner; nay, you would have seen little foibles, of temper, of superstition, of prejudice--you might have heard sharp words passing between great apostles, and you might have seen a damsel, recently engaged with others in prayer, in such a joyful trepidation of nerves when the answer arrived, that she opened not the gate for gladness.
II. How, then, shall the devout man keep his mind free from exaggerations both in doctrine and practice? By an impartial study of the whole of Scripture. Pray for the Bereans nobleness of mind who brought even the doctrine of apostles to the test of inspiration, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so. How much more, when men are not apostles, must their doctrine be thus searched and sifted! (Dean Goulburn.)
The proportion of faith
It has been a matter of controversy whether the faith is to be understood in its objective or subjective sense, in other words, whether the caution is intended to guard the preacher against violating the due relation existing between one and another of the truths of revelation; or whether he does not rather use the word faith in its subjective meaning, and bid the Christian who is to exercise the prophetic office so to regulate his teaching as may be in accordance with the measure of faith attained by himself or his hearers. I can myself see no reason why we should not use the words in both applications.
I. First, taking the text in its objective meaning, what shall we say is the true proportion which is to guide us in our teaching? Surely in the first instance we must go to the Catholic creeds: these, surely, in the first place, are the natural exponents to us of the revelation of the New Testament. The great truth of the incarnation of the eternal Son lies, as we all should admit, at the root of all sound teaching connected with mans relation to God. It is the one great central truth round which a theologian would group all the subsidiary truths, which we connect with the words atonement, reconciliation, pardon, justification, and the like. A number of other points of teaching, whether we count them matters of faith or of opinion, flow out of this central head. A clergyman--a scribe instructed into the kingdom of heaven--ought to see this relation between the several parts of revelation; but every clergyman even is not a formal theologian; and, deep as is the reverence still amongst our people for the English Bible, St. Pauls Epistles are mostly read for other purposes than for that of tracing the interdependence of religious truth. We complain sometimes, and not without reason, of the way in which a past generation so magnified one particular doctrine, which they thought to be embodied in St. Pauls writings, as to obscure altogether collateral and complementary truths; so as to give a thoroughly distorted image of the apostles teaching concerning the doctrine nearest to their own hearts. Our generation surely is not altogether clear from the same error.
II. But I suggested that St. Pauls words, where he speaks of the proportion of faith, might fairly bear the subjective as well as the objective interpretation; in other words, he seems to imply that prophecy, to be effective for the edification of the Church, must be exercised in subordination, not only to the analogy of the faith of the Church itself, but also to the faith of the preacher, and I think also of the hearer. Am I wrong in saying that the prophecy of our days has not been always mindful of this rule? And has not this forgetfulness been one fruitful source of much of the disappointment which has waited on the ministry of good and earnest men? And we hear a great deal about the importance of defending the outworks from some who do not seem to understand altogether what is the citadel which they suppose these outworks to defend. I do not at all mean that there is of necessity any insincerity in all this, but there is, I think, a measure of unreality. The learner is not attracted by very decided statements on the part of the teacher, so long as there is a certain secret instinct in his own mind that the conviction of the speakers heart is not altogether in unison with the strength of his language. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh--words not spoken out of that abundance fall dead and powerless even upon the untaught ear. But there is a third, and a different aspect of the whole question.
III. The proportion of faith which we have to take into account is the faith of our hearers as well as the faith of the Church at large, and the force with which we ourselves have apprehended the realities with which faith deals. The days in which we live are days of excitement, of controversy; I must add also days of failure and disappointment to those who have the cure of souls. We have gone out, many of us, full of expectation, and we have returned full of disappointment, we have sown much and we have brought in little, and the bright lights of the early morning have ended in a very sober grey. Doubtless there are many causes working up to this result. Our expectation has been unreasonable, and it has been good for us that tears, prayers, and watchings should fail. But I venture to think that there has been also a great forgetfulness of St. Pauls precept among us clergy. We have again and again looked for a sympathy amongst our people, which we had no right to expect; we have failed to apprehend the very wide difference between their standpoint and our own: we have expected to quicken their interest in religious truth, simply because our own has been quickened: and that new, possibly important, phases of doctrine should commend themselves to the spiritual apprehension of our people because they have so commended themselves to our own. These things are doubtless in a measure inevitable. I suppose every clergyman, in reviewing his own work and teaching, has found that he has fallen into many a mistake in his younger days from attempting to build up a super-structure where there was no sufficient foundation already laid. Sympathy with the spiritual and intellectual condition of others must of course be the result of experience. In a word, as years go on, I believe the oldest and the simplest standards alike of faith, and of devotion, and of practice satisfy us best. For dogmatic statements about the sacraments we turn to the catechism of our childhood, and we learn to see that all the refinements of more elaborate definition have added not one whit to the clearness of our apprehension of what is confessedly mystical. In like manner as the Lords prayer becomes to us the most complete and satisfying formula of communion with God, each petition in its iteration becoming more and more formal, but ever pregnant with fresh meaning and with new life, so also do the Catholic creeds supply us with all that we want as a standard of faith. Curious and intricate questions about which we were once very much inclined to speculate, we are content to leave where the creeds leave them, implicitly contained perhaps in their statements of truth, but no more. It is in them that we learn the true balance, the real proportion; and alike for our own souls guidance and for the teaching of our people, we fall back upon truths learnt at our mothers knee, and we find words which once sounded a little cold and formal become ever instinct with a new life; for that indeed they contain all that a Christian ought to know and believe to his souls health, the love of the Father, the Incarnation of the Son, and the indwelling power of the Spirit of God. (Archdn. Pott.)
Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering.--
Waiting on our ministering needs extra grace
I was in Cologne on a very rainy day, and I was looking out for similes and metaphors, as I generally am; but I had nothing on earth to look at in the square of the city but an old pump, and what kind of a simile I could make out of it I could not tell. All traffic seemed suspended, it rained so hard; but I noticed a woman come to the pump with a bucket. Presently I noticed a man come in with a bucket; nay, he came with a yoke and two buckets. As I kept on writing and looking out every now and then, I saw the same friend with the often-buckets and blue blouse coming to the same pump again. In the course of the morning I think I saw him a dozen times. I thought to myself, Ah, yon do not fetch water for your own house, I am persuaded: you are a water-carrier; you fetch water for lots of people, and that is why you come oftener than anybody else. Now, there was a meaning in that at once to my soul, that, inasmuch that I had not only to go to Christ for myself, but had been made a water-carrier to carry the water of everlasting life to others, I must come a great deal oftener than anybody else. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
He that teacheth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation.--
The faculties of teaching and exhorting
May be combined in the same individual; and indeed in these days, they are best laid upon one person, the ordinary minister of a congregation. Yet the two faculties are so far separate, as in other times to have given rise to separate functions; and accordingly, in the machinery of more churches than one, have we read both of the doctor and the pastor as distinct office-bearers. The one expounds truth; the other applies it, and presses it home on the case and conscience of every individual. The didactic and the hortatory are two distinct things, and imply distinct powers--insomuch, that, on the one hand, a luminous, logical, and masterly didactic may be a feeble and unimpressive hortatory preacher; and, on the other, the most effective of our hortatory men may, when they attempt the didactic, prove very obscure and infelicitous expounders of the truth. Both are best; and we should conform more to the way of that Spirit who divideth His gifts severally as He will, did we multiply and divide our offices so as to meet this variety. It were more consonant both to philosophy and Scripture, did we proceed more on the subdivision of employment in things ecclesiastical. (T. Chalmers, D.D.)
Requisites to faithful teaching
I. Study--to secure right material.
II. Method--or the right way of communicating the truth.
III. Diligence.
IV. Simplicity--Or a right aim.
V. Above all faith--Or dependence upon Divine help. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Duty of teachers and ministers
On Egypts far-off soil, away from friends and home, just as the morning beams lit up the Eastern sky, an officer lay dying. With gallant daring he had led his followers through many a devious path, guided alone by the pale starlight of the heavens, until at last they reached the enemy; and now the strife is over, but he is wounded, mortally! As the general, his cheeks bedewed with tears, gazed down with sadness on his face, a sudden radiancy illumined for a moment the youths countenance as, looking up to Wolseley, he exclaimed, General, didnt I lead them straight? and so he died. Oh, brothers, when Oer our eyes there steals the film of death, and when the soul flits solemnly from time into eternity, may it be ours to say in truthful earnestness to Christ concerning those committed to our care, We led the people straight. (H. D. Brown, B.A.)
He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity.--
The triple lesson
What is the great object of human life?
1. To prepare to die, say many, an answer which contains a small modicum of right, and an overwhelming preponderance of wrong. To be prepared to meet death is, of course, a great object, but it is not itself the great object of life. If it were, on the same principle the great object of a journey would be to get home again; and of getting up in the morning to go to bed again at night, of a fire to consume fuel, and of reading a book to get through its pages. These absurdities bring out the truth that the fag end of a thing is not always the chief object of it.
2. The great object of life is to live, i.e., to do ones duty as a Christian. And wherever this object is fairly and fully followed out, the last stage of life will be safe and easy. What thought is there so disheartening and disturbing as the thought that we must die, and we know not how soon? Let it be chased away with the reflection that it is our present duty to live, and the text is suited exclusively to living men; to men who will one day have to die, but whose business now is to live and do their duty.
I. To give with simplicity. The word simplicity is the opposite of duplicity. Let him do it with a single eye and heart, and without any second or double meaning. Let there be no undercurrent of unworthy motive, but one pure and simple desire of benefiting the recipients of his bounty (Luk_6:35). The case of those who never, or scarcely ever, give anything, is not mentioned. Perhaps the apostle left it as a case which carried its own condemnation with it, and therefore required no special mention. But those who do give are to watch the motive of their giving. They have been bought with a price, and they must give out of a feeling of gratitude to Him who hath done so much for them. Whatever they have has been given to them by God, and sooner or later they will have to give an account of their stewardship. That they may do so with joy they must aim at simplicity in the exercise of their trust.
II. To rule with diligence.
1. Persons in authority are too apt to forget or shelve their responsibilities; and there are numbers who repudiate the idea of having any authority at all. But there are very few who do not exercise some influence. Now the text drops a word of warning to all, from the queen downwards, and condemns those who talk about taking it easy, and leaving things to take care of themselves.
2. Ruling is not a process which can be performed anyhow. It requires care, and thought, and discretion. And if parents, masters, and mistresses will not take the trouble to look after their dependents, or lack moral courage to do it, we may be sure of an unsatisfactory result sooner or later. Wherever habits of idleness and indulgence, waste and extravagance, recklessness and imprudence, of unbecoming finery in dress, and morbid delicacy in eating, go uncorrected, there the seed of a fruitful crop of social evils is being sown broadcast. Such habits cling tenaciously to young people, and in the case of servants, the humble fare of whose future homes may present a painful contrast to the profusion of domestic service, such habits make them poor and keep them so.
III. To show mercy with cheerfulness. There is a great deal in the way in which a thing is done. The man who does a kind action, accompanying it with kind words and looks, doubles the favour which he confers. The term cheerfulness refers particularly to looks. What a beautiful illustration of the spirit of our religion, which seeks to bring our whole man, body as well as soul, our very looks as well as our words and actions, into captivity to the obedience of Christ! How it carries us back to the example of our Master, who never said an unkind word, or gave an unkind look, or did a favour grudgingly. There is a good deal of kindness in the world, but the kindness we experience is not always associated with cheerfulness. Who has not heard of the poor relation, and the dependent friend, mourning in secret, not always over unkind actions, but over kind actions unkindly done? (J. Mould, M.A.)
Giving
I. Is a Christian duty. Because--
1. An acknowledgment of our stewardship.
2. An expression of--
(1) Gratitude to God.
(2) Self-denial.
(3) Goodwill to man.
II. Should be performed with simplicity. With--
1. A generous heart.
2. A single eye.
3. A clean hand. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Giving with simplicity
is giving just as if giving were so natural that when a man gave he did not think of changing his countenance, manners, or air at all; but did it quietly, easily, beautifully. When you are going around for proper help, some men give so that you are angry every time you ask them to contribute. They give so that their gold and silver shoot you like a bullet. Others give with such beauty that you remember it as long as you live; and you say, It is a pleasure to go to such men. There are some men that give as springs do. Whether you go to them or not they are always full, and your part is merely to put your dish under the ever-flowing stream. Others give just as a pump does where the well is dry and the pump leaks! (H. W. Beecher.)
Giving, blessedness of
It is told of John Wesley that when he bestowed a gift or rendered any one a service he lifted his hat as though he were receiving instead of conferring an obligation.
Giving, penalty of not
A lady who refused to give, after hearing a charity sermon, had her pocket picked as she was leaving church. On making the discovery she said, The parson could not find the way to my pocket, but the devil did.
Giving, a sign of perfectness
When wheat is growing it holds all its kernels tight in its own ear. But when it is ripe the kernels are scattered every whither, and it is only the straw that is left. (H. W. Beecher.)
He that ruleth, with diligence.--
Ruling with diligence
I. The necessity of the ruler.
1. In the world.
2. In the Church.
II. The functions of the ruler
1. To maintain order.
2. Protect liberty.
3. Secure the common weal.
III. The duty of the ruler. Diligence, implying--
1. Self-sacrifice.
2. Attention to all. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
He that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness--
Showing mercy with cheerfulness
This instruction may mean--
1. That we should carry sunshine with us in our visits to the sick chamber or distressed home. In no case is cheerfulness or brightness so needed or so welcome.
2. That we should perform kind offices to the sick or sorrowful, not of constraint, but of a ready mind, con amore; not because it is our business as the paid or voluntary staff of a Church, nor as a matter merely of principle or habit, but of pleasure and privilege. That manner is something to everybody, and everything to some, is a maxim we should act upon when consoling those claiming our compassion. Besides, it is our privilege to show cheerfulness in soothing the sorrows of the afflicted, for no task tends more than this, if entered upon in a right spirit, to banish gloom and discontent from our own minds, and to enliven our own souls. (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 vv6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21 6–8. Having then gifts. Each in the church had…
6–8. Having then gifts. Each in the church had his duties, just as the hand, or foot, or eye of the body. These duties were indicated by the “gift” dealt out by “the measure of faith.” They differed according to the grace that was given. Compare verse 3. One gift was given to one, as he was seen to be fitted for it, and another gift to another. Seven gifts are now spoken of in succession. The first four are official, and some of them are extraordinary. Whether prophecy. To prophesy was to speak by inspiration. As the early church did not yet have the New Testament, many were thus inspired to speak. One would be called to this work.
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 vv11, 13, 17, 20 Rom_12:11.—In your haste be not idle, in your business…
CRITICAL NOTES
Rom_12:11.—In your haste be not idle, in your business be not lazy. As to your zeal, being not indolent; fervent in spirit, taking advantage of opportunity. The Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, and all the Greek scholiasts, read “serving the Lord.” The other reading, “serving the time,” mentioned by Ambrose, St. Jerome, and Ruffinus, seems to have had its rise from the abbreviation of the word in the manuscripts. Though it may have a good sense “by accommodating yourselves to present things, if tolerance be not unlawful.”
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Rom_12:11
Fervent in spirit.—As to zeal, being not indolent; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord, or taking advantage of opportunity. The Epistle to the Romans is a doctrinal book, and at the same time eminently practical. There is no book which contains passages more practical than those in these concluding chapters. So long as we read these practical teachings, so well adapted to all times, we are indifferent to the utterance of those who say that the Bible is a worn-out book. The Bible is no worn-out book for the true and the good. Its teachings adapted to all. Its soothing tones are welcome to the weary, worn, troubled, and distressed. Its stimulating utterances move to energy and to fervency of spirit.
I. A work to be done.—The work is that of serving the Lord in every department of life, and it is thus that in the best possible manner we take advantage of opportunity. It seems more reasonable to suppose that St. Paul should write “serving the Lord” than “serving the time.” The former includes the latter. Serving the Lord is the best way of serving the time. The man who serves the Lord faithfully is the one to take a wise and holy advantage of every opportunity. There can be no sublimer work than that of serving the Creator. This is the work to call forth man’s noblest energies. Other service calls forth only part of man’s nature, but this claims every power and faculty. Other service is only for a short period, and short as is the period the service palls upon the taste; but this service is for life, and for a life beyond this life; and it never loses its attractiveness to the spiritual man. It will ever show new beauties, expand fresh powers, and introduce varied pleasures to the soul. We are all called to this service. The command is to all, “Son, go work to-day in My vineyard.”
II. The manner in which the work is to be done.—By “fervent in spirit” is meant the active and energetic exercise of all those powers which distinguish man as an intellectual and a moral creature. It does not imply confusion or agitation. There must not be half-heartedness in this service. Fervency of spirit is not compatible with double service. It implies unity of heart. “Unite my heart to fear Thy name, to serve the Lord.” This fervency of spirit is illustrated by St. Paul himself when he says, “This one thing I do.” When a man is fervent in spirit about the accomplishment of any work, he becomes a man of one idea. Have we this fervency? Are our souls possessed of one idea? Let us seek to serve the Lord, and thus to serve our time to the best of our ability.
III. Fervency of spirit is enjoined upon us by:
1. Positive precept.—“Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength.” Fervency of spirit is required from him who is to serve God by the combination of every power and faculty of the nature. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” This fear and trembling does not lead to depression and paralysis of the powers, but to energy, to fervency of spirit. The kingdom of God is a strife and a battle, and the fervent in spirit overcomes in the conflict.
2. By implied directions. We are enjoined to be zealous of good works—zealously affected in a good thing. The zealous man is fervent in spirit, ardent in the pursuit of an object. How ardent should the Christian be who is pressing forward to apprehend that for which he is apprehended in Christ Jesus! The man who feels within himself the consuming force of a great principle is ardent, is fervent in spirit. The Christian should be a man on fire. The light glows within and radiates the circle he fills. Let us be more concerned about being ardent than about showing ourselves ardent. Let the ambition be, not to blaze, but to give light and heat—though the blazing man gains the world’s applause, while the true light-giving man treads the obscure pathway to heaven’s immortality.
3. By illustrious examples. We have the examples of Paul, of John, and of Peter. Consuming energy possessed their souls. In the whole range of the world’s history there are not found men so wonderfully earnest and fervent. Their intense zeal was such that we declare they were superhumanly endowed. The very reading of their lives stirs to greater fervency of spirit. Jesus left us an example that in all things we should follow His steps. His earthly life was marked by fervency of spirit. It was so great that He could say, “The zeal of Thine house hath eaten Me up.” Here was intense zeal in the pursuit of God’s glory which became a consuming fire. The strong nature of Jesus was being eaten up by His zeal. My little nature is scarcely warmed by the feeble spark of my zeal. This was so strong in Jesus that He forgot to take necessary food. Sublime forgetfulness! Divine memory of divine service producing consuming ardency!
4. By the difficulties of the course. Vigorous plants only can survive severe winters; vigorous Christians only can survive the rigours of time. Fervency of spirit will be a protection against the withering blasts of earth’s winters. There must be fervency of spirit if we are to outlive those unfavourable influences by which we are often surrounded.
5. By the blessings on the way and to follow. Great are the blessings on the way, and yet there are more to follow. Bright are the Christian’s privileges on the way, and yet there are brighter to follow. Gladsome are the songs which the Christian can sing on the way, and yet there are gladder to follow. Sweet are the viands which the Christian finds on the way, and yet there are sweeter to follow. Rich are the prospects on the way, and yet there are richer to follow. Dazzling crowns on the way, but a crown of unsullied and imperishable beauty to follow. The thoughts of present bestowals and of future glory should produce fervency of spirit.
The Christian spirit in business.—Christians must give themselves up to God, body and soul. To listen to doctrine is both good and necessary; but the listening is of no avail unless that doctrine and all the preaching about it lead to something practical. Men are but shabby specimens of the Christian life unless they prove experimentally how far they give themselves up to the perfect will of God. St. Paul sets forth many exhortations to godliness—e.g., a Christian must have genuine humility, or rather a right estimate of himself. He must also love truly; he must also abhor evil, have it in moral detestation. Like ivy clinging to the wall, he must cleave to the good; and so on. But a Christian also must be not slothful in business. A better rendering of this is: not so much in business, but in diligence, in zeal, in earnestness, we are not to be slothful. The whole verse suggests that the Christian life has two sides—the sacred and the secular. Some men are so thoroughly one-sided that they miss the very mark at which they aim. They need to learn that the Christian life has two sides, and that Christ demands of every Christian diligence in both.
I. Whence shall we get the true measure of a Christian’s life in this world?—From the Founder of Christianity. “The whole lesson of Christ’s life, the whole burden of His teaching, was that the common concerns of this life—its buying and its selling, its gaining and its losing, its working and its rest—shall be in like manner, by the unchanging purpose of a pure Christian spirit, a true son of God, ennobled with the essential qualities that make a heaven of heaven.” Public life got its guinea-stamp from Jesus. Cæsar must have his due. In all Christ’s teaching it was a question of right things in right places—e.g., commerce: bad in God’s house; commendable in the world.
II. The question of worldly duty.—The most secular duties may be performed in a way that is pleasing to God. Men have often gone wrong on the question of worldly duty. Too much discrimination between godliness and worldliness. Consequently we have too narrow standards. The extreme notions that are held are hard to reconcile with Christ’s words to Christians: “Ye are the salt of the earth,” “the light of the world.” Worldly men, on the other hand, have narrow notions of religion. It is a mistake to say that business, and all kinds of world-life and energy, have ever been pronounced as opposed to godliness.
III. The great secret of true world-life depends on the motive that lies behind it.—There may be business, backed by good motive, and it may be more acceptable in God’s sight than a religion splendid to look upon, but having no special motive, or a very bad one. Business done on godly principles—though curtailed thereby—far better than great gains made by questionable practices. What we want is to have our lives set squarely upon a sound basis. Christ gave us the standard for daily living, and therein we find that purity of spirit is one of its leading features.
IV. The sound basis of all worldly occupation is Christ.—Base every method of your lives upon Him who became man, not only to go through that final agony that won the world’s redemption, but also that He might show us how to live. A man who copies Him is the Lord’s freeman. If we would live aright, we must seek to be in right relations or harmony with all truths, all facts, and all realities in this world, as well as the world to come—otherwise there is no possibility of hearing the “Well done.”—Albert Lee.
Religion and business.—It is said of the divine Founder of our religion that He knew what was in man, and no better proof of the assertion could be furnished than is supplied by the religion itself. For it addresses itself to man as he is—that is, not as a spiritual being merely, not as a perfect being at all, nor yet as a being who has got into some wrong world, and who should be only too anxious to get out of it again; but it rather addresses itself to him as one who has work in the world to do, and duties towards the world to discharge, and faculties, both of body, soul, and spirit, which in the world are to find their proper employment and exercise.
I. In the command that we are to be “not slothful in business” we seem to have a recognition of the principle that a life of ardent labour is an almost universal necessity belonging to our present state.—And it is so; it is part of our fallen heritage. The wisdom of the appointment is seen in many ways. Continued employment keeps the soul from much evil. Active engagements give a healthy tone to the mind; they strengthen the moral energy of the will; they prevent a good deal of the listlessness and inconstancy and utter feebleness of character, so often found in those who, having no stated occupation, and having nothing to compel prompt action, will do and undo, resolve and alter their resolve, continually a prey to the first ascendant influence, the sport of every wind that blows.
II. There is nothing in the business of life, as such, which is incompatible with the claim of godliness.—There is to be no room for the charge against us of slothfulness in business, and yet it is to be rightly said of us that we are serving the Lord. Religion consists, not so much in the superaddition of certain acts of worship to the duties of common life, as in leavening the duties of common life with the spirit of religious worship. It is worship in the husbandman when he tills the ground with a thankful heart; it is worship in the merchant when for all successes he gives God the glory; the servant who in all good fidelity discharges the duties of his trust is offering unto God a continual sacrifice; and to walk humbly and obediently in the calling to which He hath called us is to be “fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.”
III. So far from the active duties of life presenting any barrier to our proficiency in personal religion, they are the very field in which its highest graces are to be exercised and its noblest triumphs achieved. The hindrance to our spiritual proficiency is not in our occupation, but in ourselves.—D. Moore.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Rom_12:11
“Secular and spiritual.”—There is no such thing as “secular and sacred” in the whole realm of a good man’s life. The “secular” is “spiritual” when a “spiritual” man touches it; the “spiritual” is “secular” when the “secular” man seizes it. All good work well done is sacred. The counting-house ought to be as holy as the pulpit—and often is. Professor Stuart is right: “Religion is not a thing of the stars, it is a thing of the streets.”—Aked.
Business needful.—In the light of all I know of Jesus, I am constrained to lay down this axiom, that business is a good thing. Jesus never gainsays that. It is said of Him, that the light is too rich and clear upon the life of Christ to-day for any man to tell us that in order to be holy we must go away in dens and caves, and avoid the emporiums of the world, and not live the world’s life. That is not true. “It was not the world, but its spirit, that Christ hated. He forswore not men, not markets, not commerce. No; but the spirit which filled men as they engaged in all these. It was not the world’s work, the world’s ambitions, that He hated. I say it was the spirit in which these were realised that Christ utterly abjured. He did not condemn money-changing and merchandise; but He burned with the still fires of unimpassioned anger when men did these things in His Father’s house. The spirit was base, not the act; the purpose was ignoble, not the thing.”
The most secular duties may be performed in a way that is pleasing to God. And by duties I mean those which radiate in all directions—God-ward, manward, heavenward, earthward. Duty merges in heaven and earth. It is like the middle point of day; one knows not whether it belongs more to daybreak or to sunset. As a rule men have discriminated between heaven and earth, godliness and worldliness; but they have never caught the idea that God has joined the two, and that it is wrong to divorce them.
Dr. Parker says that he infers from Christ’s treatment of the scribes and Pharisees that it is possible for men to deceive themselves on religious methods—to suppose that they are in the kingdom of God when they are thousands of miles away from it. Is it possible that any of us can have fallen under the power of that delusion? I fear it may be so! What is your Christianity? A letter, a written creed, a small placard that can be published, containing a few so called fundamental points and lines? Is it an affair of words and phrases and sentences following one another in regulated and approved succession? If so, it is a little intellectual conceit. Christianity is life, love, nobleness,—it is sympathy with God.—Albert Lee.
MAIN HOMILETIC S OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Rom_12:12
Three needful mental conditions.—A book which is to be a guide for all must not be of such an elaborate character as to task the energies of its readers. A sailor’s chart must not be a scientific, geographical, and historical work. The Bible is a book for mankind, and must be both brief and comprehensive. If a man truly desire to live right, he will have no practical difficulty. In this twelfth chapter are rules of life precise and yet sufficiently comprehensive. Here are three rules: in hope be joyful; in sufferings be steadfast; in prayer be unwearied. Here are three states in which the Christian may be found, and three conditions proper to those states. It is a wise conception to place tribulation between hope and prayer. Tribulation is calculated to depress, but hope energises and gives courage. Tribulation drives to prayer, and finds in the exercise sustaining power. The man supported in tribulation on two sides, by hope and prayer, will come off conqueror in every trial.
I. The state of hope and the joyful mental condition.—Hope is a great sustainer. The human mind is ever forecasting the to-morrows. Man never is but always to be blest. The darkest day, live till to-morrow, will have passed away. The schoolboy, the apprentice, the business man, all hope. A dreary world if hope were banished from hearts and homes. When old age creeps on apace, when the bright visions of time have vanished, when the backward glance is disappointing and the onward earthly look is darkening, it is sweet to look by hope to the bright sphere where all true hopes will be realised. “Christ in you the hope of glory.” Faith in Christ the foundation of hope which will not disappoint. He is both the giver and sustainer of hope. It is a blessed thing to possess a good hope through grace. The man who possesses this hope can rejoice more than one who has found great spoil. He goes rejoicing all the day, and he can even sing songs in the night-time of his earthly pilgrimage. “Rejoicing in hope.” He encourages great joy, for he has great expectations.
II. The state of tribulation and the patient mental condition.—Tribulation is a process through which the Christian must pass. We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. It is the narrow doorway and the rugged pathway to every high throne. No kingship here or hereafter without tribulation. No royalty of nature without suffering. No nobility of character without the tribulation. A Straitened way, a compressed course, for the sons moved by high ambitions. One in his parable describes the way to instruction much in the same way as our Lord describes the way to heaven. “Do you not see,” says the old man, “a little door, and beyond the door a way which is not much crowded, but very few are going along it, as seemingly difficult of ascent, rough and stony?” “Yes,” answers the stranger. “And does there not seem,” continues the old man, “to be a high hill, and a road up it very narrow, with precipices on each side? That is the way leading to true instruction.” “Strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth to life, and few there be that find it.” The way to all heavens is the way of tribulation. It separates the chaff from the wheat in character. It prepares for divine uses. It fits for noble employments and for highest positions. Patience is the needful mental condition, the enduring power of great souls. The patience of God’s heroic saints is marvellous. What do I see in my vision? A long cloud of witnesses pressing through the highways of life whose patience is crowned by the inheritance of the promises.
III. The state of prayer and the unwearied mental condition.—“Continuing instant in prayer.” We still repeat the old questions, What is the Almighty that we should serve Him? and what profit shall we have if we pray unto Him? God anticipated the modern sceptic. Is there anything new under the sun? We question, but we continue to pray. In tribulation the soul of man rises up above its scepticism and gives itself to prayer. How strange that prayer cannot be banished from the world! Philosophy cannot hush the voice of prayer. Strange, yet not strange, for prayer is the upward look of humanity, and the human must look to the divine, as the flowers seek the sun, as the climbing plant stretches out for support. Let us show what profit continuing instant in prayer will produce:
1. Continuing instant in prayer is the way to gain strength. If it be true that prayer is the life of the Christian, if by this exercise we gain supplies from heaven, then it must be by prayer that we put on strength. There is a method of invigoration at the believer’s disposal. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” The promise is definite. Though science so called tries to reason us away from the exercise, though scepticism hurls its shafts of ridicule, and though many hurry past to try other means of gaining strength, we will wait upon the Lord until weakness departs and the strength of moral manhood is obtained—until with eagles’ pinions we may soar above the earth, mists, and clouds, where undisturbed we may catch the many voices that sound their sublime anthems across the heavenly plains—until running in the Christian course does not weary, and we can walk with those mighty men of old who had power to walk with God on earth, and then were translated to walk unabashed amid angels and archangels, with cherubim and seraphim, and all those who walk in the light ineffable. The praying man must be strong, for thus he moves into the life-giving sunlight. “The Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory”—the grace to overcome weakness and to grow in strength, the glory of a mighty warrior who triumphs over every foe. We must place ourselves in the sunlight by prayer. God promises, “I will be as the dew unto Israel.” By this figure is denoted the genial influences, vigour, and strength which God will impart unto His people. There must be certain conditions of the plant in relation to the surrounding atmosphere if the pearly dewdrop is to be formed on its surface and is to exert its reviving force. The certain conditions which God requires for the fulfilment of His gracious promise are a heart open to receive, a spirit of prayer and of supplication. The man becomes strong into whose soul God distils the dew of His reviving influences. By prayer we must go to the Fountain of living waters, and be refreshed; by prayer and meditation we must feed upon the Bread of life, and thus put on strength. We need the baptism of a praying spirit. We have all kinds of men—scientific, scholarly, rhetorical, oratorical, energetic. We have men of business-like capacity, men great in books and mighty in speech; but have we a sufficient number of the men of prayer, who plead earnestly in their closets, who by intercessory prayer put the God of Jacob to the test? Oh for prayers the expression of hearts inhabited by the eternal Spirit,—prayers that witness to an overflowing plenitude of spiritual life; prayers manifesting themselves in nobleness of character, in kindness of nature, in benevolence of disposition, and in a cheering beneficence as its outcome! If we had this true prayer, what spiritual vigour would pervade the Church, and how she would move on in a career of ever-expanding conquest!
2. Continuing instant in prayer is the way to experience its efficacy. What would be St. Paul’s answer to those who talk about the folly of supposing that the order of nature is to be disturbed by the force of prayer, that inevitable law is to give place to the cries and necessities of an insignificant creature, that the movements of worlds are to be checked by the voice of one who is but as an atom and whose removal would soon be forgotten? His answer is continuance in prayer. Let gnostics and agnostics, let scientists and evolutionists, let sceptics and philosophers, write, reason, and refute, but we will give ourselves to prayer. The workings of natural laws may be guessed at; but the workings of God’s spiritual laws are along high pathways which no scientist knoweth and which the keenest eye has not yet seen. However, we will give ourselves to prayer, for we have felt its power and preciousness, and so felt as not to be disturbed by clever opponents. When confined to prison, prayer is our only support and comfort; prayer only can give us songs in the night.
3. Continuing instant in prayer is the way to surmount temptation. Introspection is not always productive of peaceful results even when good men carry on the process. Looking inward may ofttimes fail, but looking upward and Godward should never fail. God looks to the heart, and He will not fail to help His suffering sons. Faith in God, continuing instant in prayer, will strike the good old song, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present and an ever-present help in trouble.” The face of the dying Stephen was glorified because he saw a divine Helper in heaven; the stoned was far happier than the stoners. The mighty God helped and cheered. Prayer endows with patience in tribulation, gives songs in the prison cell, turns the dreary dungeon into a palace beautiful, transforms the sluggish streams of earth into the fashion of the river of bliss that flows o’er Elysian flowers hard by the throne of God, through landscapes of perpetual beauty. Prayer paints the rainbow of hope on the tears of tribulation; prayer brings the sunlight of heaven behind our darkest clouds, and makes them glorious with their exquisite tinting and drapery of purple and of gold; prayer shapes the lava which the volcano of earthly disaster has sent forth in molten streams into beautiful and glorified forms. Out of the ashes of our earth fires arise eternal riches. If men be not made spiritually strong by prayer, there is no other known method by which strength can be obtained. But they have been and may be so again. Joyfulness in hope, patience in tribulation, have been the result of continuing instant in prayer. Let us still pray in faith and in constancy, and we shall find that prayer has power, that prayer has beneficial influences, that prayer has wondrous results.
Pray on, and pray fervently.—“Continuing instant in prayer.” Prayer takes for granted that God is full, and we are empty. The creature is finite, alike in evil and in good. Our poverty and want must ever be a mere nothing in comparison with the fulness of Him who filleth all in all. Prayer takes for granted that there is a connection between this fulness and our emptiness. The fulness is not inaccessible. It is not too high for us to reach, or for it to stoop. Prayer takes for granted that we are entitled to use this channel, this medium; and that, in using it, there will be a sure inflow of the fulness into us. “Every one that asketh receiveth.” Prayer takes for granted expectation on our part. If, then, we examine our prayers, and strip them of all that is not prayer, how little remains! Let us mark such things as the following in reference to this kind of prayer:
1. The irksomeness of non-expecting prayer. Sometimes there may be such an amount of natural feeling as may make what is called “devotion” pleasant. But in the long run it becomes irksome, if not accompanied with expectation, sure expectation.
2. The uselessness of non-expecting prayer. It bears no fruit; it brings no answer; it draws down no blessing.
3. The sinfulness of non-expecting prayer. The utterance of petitions is nothing to God; it does not recommend the petitioner.—H. Bonar.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Rom_12:12
Constant prayer.—Cornelius prayed to God alway. The stated devotions were not wanting, but the life itself was a prayer in action. He was a man seeking God not in words only, but in all that he did. And in our busy, practical times we can only hope to pray to God always in that sense. Pressing duties encroach on meditation; their urgency engenders habits foreign to meditation. Too fast for our sight flash the thousand wheels of the great social machine, on which we are whirled round as a small part. Those constrained faces knit with anxiety that haunt you in the streets, those lips whispering busily to themselves in the crowded thoroughfare—those thousand vehicles locked in confusion at the confluence of streets, with all the occupants goaded to impatience by the words “too late”—they all remind us of the impetuous age in which we live. Who can pray to God always amidst such dire confusion? Do not despair even of that. Amidst the money-changers’ tables you cannot pray as in the precincts of the temple. But there is a kind of work that becomes a prayer: Laborare est orare. From the most active life in this great city may be daily floating up, for aught we know, to the throne of the Most High an incense of worship more pure than any that issues from the quiet chamber of the pious recluse. I do not speak of acts of mercy and almsgiving only; that there is a prayer in these all would admit. They are an imitation of, and therefore a longing after, the loving Son of God, who is our example. For amongst men, and in aiding men, or in striving with them, do we, the disciples, find our education, as our Master made the scene of His ministry in the midst of the men whom He would serve. The soul in retirement has often grown sickly with over-consciousness of itself, and invented needs and called for help against phantoms of its own creation. But the trials that surround us in our daily duties are those which God has made for us; and to Him we turn for strength to surmount them. Turn, then, to Him; make frequent approaches to His throne, at any time, in any place; ask His help for any undertaking; and if it be one which you dare not bring before Him, abandon it. Such a practice, to use the words of Bishop Taylor, “reconciles Martha’s employment with Mary’s devotion, charity, and religion—reconciles the necessities of our calling and the employments of devotion. For thus in the midst of business you may retire into your chapel—your heart—and converse with God by frequent addresses and returns.” And the fruits of this practice will be justice and uprightness in action, forbearance towards others, kindness towards the helpless, love towards all.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 12
Rom_12:11. Prescott’s perseverance.—Some years ago a student in college lost one of his eyes by a missile thrown by a classmate. His other eye became so affected by sympathy that its sight was endangered. The best oculists could not relieve him. He was sent to Europe for medical treatment and change of climate, and tarried there three years, when he returned with only part of an eye, just enough vision to serve him in travelling about, but too little for reading. His father was an eminent jurist, and designed his son for the bar, but this calamity quenched his aspirations in that direction. He resolved to devote himself to authorship in the department of historical literature. He spent tea years in laborious systematic study of the standard authors before he even selected his theme. Then he spent another ten years in searching archives, exploring masses of manuscripts, official documents and correspondence, consulting old chronicles, reading quantities of miscellaneous books, and taking notes—all through the eyes of others—before his first work was ready for the press—Ferdinand and Isabella. Prescott was forty years of age when he gave this remarkable history to the public. Then followed his Mexico, Peru, and Philip the Second, works that have earned for him the reputation of a profound historian on both sides of the Atlantic. Noble work for any man with two good eyes! Noble work for a man with none!
Rom_12:12. Prayer, a necessity of Christian life.—There is a class of animals, neither fish nor sea-fowl, that inhabit the deep. It is their home; they never leave it for the shore; yet, though swimming beneath its waves and sounding its darkest depths, they have ever and anon to rise to the surface that they may breathe the air. Without that those monarchs of the deep could not live in that dense element in which they move and have their being. And something like what they do through a physical necessity the Christian has to do by a spiritual one. It is by ever and anon ascending to God, by soaring up in prayer into a loftier, purer region for supplies of grace, that he maintains his spiritual life. Prevent these animals from rising to the surface, and they die for want of breath prevent him from rising to God, and he dies for want of prayer.—Dr. Guthrie.
Rom_12:12. Spirit of prayer.—During the blizzard a few years ago in America, many of the telegraph wires were prostrated, and messages were sent to Chicago by the way of Liverpool, England; and the answer, after a while, came round by another circuit. And so the prayer we offer may come back in a way we never imagined; and if we ask to have our faith increased, although it may come by a widely different process to that which we expected, our confidence will surely be augmented.
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 vv6–21 6. “And having gifts differing according to the grace…
6. “And having gifts differing according to the grace given to us: whether prophecy, according to the proportion of faith.” Precisely as the corporeal members, actuated by five hundred muscles and a thousand nerves, all have a diversity of office and work, equally dependent upon one another, and all equally important and honorable in the human organism, so every member of God’s kingdom in all the earth has a grand, glorious and important office to fill in the gracious economy, all equally honorable and remunerative in the sight of God. You can not fill my place, and it is equally true that I can not fill yours. There is no room for us to envy another, as we all have enough to do in our appointed sphere, while the angels look down with sympathy and admiration, and God is ready to say, “Well done,” and place upon our brow a never fading crown if we will only be true. We see here that our availability as a soldier of Christ is in direct proportion to our faith. As doubt vitiates faith, we should constantly hold up the glittering two- edged sword, ready to slay every one that comes skulking around in order that our faith may be made perfect, i. e., free from doubt. Then we should constantly pray, Lord, increase our faith. When your garden is perfectly clean, it is in good fix to grow with paradoxical rapidity.
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 vv6, 9, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 19 Rom 12:6 - Rom 12:8.
Romans
GRACE AND GRACES
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Rom 12:6 - Rom 12:8.
The Apostle here proceeds to build upon the great thought of the unity of believers in the one body a series of practical exhortations. In the first words of our text, he, with characteristic delicacy, identifies himself with the Roman Christians as a recipient, like them, of ‘the grace that is given to us,’ and as, therefore, subject to the same precepts which he commends to them. He does not stand isolated by the grace that is given to him; nor does he look down as from the height of his apostleship on the multitude below, saying to them,-Go. As one of themselves he stands amongst them, and with brotherly exhortation says,-Come. If that had been the spirit in which all Christian teachers had besought men, their exhortations would less frequently have been breath spent in vain.
We may note
I. The grace that gives the gifts.
The connection between these two is more emphatically suggested by the original Greek, in which the word for ‘gifts’ is a derivative of that for ‘grace.’ The relation between these two can scarcely be verbally reproduced in English; but it may be, though imperfectly, suggested by reading ‘graces’ instead of ‘gifts.’ The gifts are represented as being the direct product of, and cognate with, the grace bestowed. As we have had already occasion to remark, they are in Paul’s language a designation of natural capacities strengthened by the access of the life of the Spirit of Christ. As a candle plunged in a vase of oxygen leaps up into more brilliant flame, so all the faculties of the human soul are made a hundred times themselves when the quickening power of the life of Christ enters into them.
It is to be observed that the Apostle here assumes that every Christian possesses, in some form, that grace which gives graces. To him a believing soul without Christ-given gifts is a monstrosity. No one is without some graces, and therefore no one is without some duties. No one who considers the multitude of professing Christians who hamper all our churches to-day, and reflects on the modern need to urge on the multitude of idlers forms of Christian activity, will fail to recognise signs of terribly weakened vitality. The humility, which in response to all invitations to work for Christ pleads unfitness is, if true, more tragical than it at first seems, for it is a confession that the man who alleges it has no real hold of the Christ in whom he professes to trust. If a Christian man is fit for no Christian work, it is time that he gravely ask himself whether he has any Christian life. ‘Having gifts’ is the basis of all the Apostle’s exhortations. It is to him inconceivable that any Christian should not possess, and be conscious of possessing, some endowment from the life of Christ which will fit him for, and bind him to, a course of active service.
The universality of this possession is affirmed, if we note that, according to the Greek, it was ‘given’ at a special time in the experience of each of these Roman Christians. The rendering ‘was given’ might be more accurately exchanged for ‘has been given,’ and that expression is best taken as referring to a definite moment in the history of each believer namely, his conversion. When we ‘yield ourselves to God,’ as Paul exhorts us to do in the beginning of this chapter, as the commencement of all true life of conformity to His will, Christ yields Himself to us. The possession of these gifts of grace is no prerogative of officials; and, indeed, in all the exhortations which follow there is no reference to officials, though of course such were in existence in the Roman Church. They had their special functions and special qualifications for these. But what Paul is dealing with now is the grace that is inseparable from individual surrender to Christ, and has been bestowed upon all who are His. To limit the gifts to officials, and to suppose that the universal gifts in any degree militate against the recognition of officials in the Church, are equally mistakes, and confound essentially different subjects.
II. The graces that flow from the grace.
The Apostle’s catalogue of these is not exhaustive, nor logically arranged; but yet a certain loose order may be noted, which may be profitable for us to trace. They are in number seven-the sacred number; and are capable of being divided, as so many of the series of sevens are, into two portions, one containing four and the other three. The former include more public works, to each of which a man might be specially devoted as his life work for and in the Church. Three are more private, and may be conceived to have a wider relation to the world. There are some difficulties of construction and rendering in the list, which need not concern us here; and we may substantially follow the Authorised Version.
The first group of four seems to fall into two pairs, the first of which, ‘prophecy’ and ‘ministry,’ seem to be bracketed together by reason of the difference between them. Prophecy is a very high form of special inspiration, and implies a direct reception of special revelation, but not necessarily of future events. The prophet is usually coupled in Paul’s writings with the apostle, and was obviously amongst those to whom was given one of the highest forms of the gifts of Christ. It is very beautiful to note that by natural contrast the Apostle at once passes to one of the forms of service which a vulgar estimate would regard as remotest from the special revelation of the prophet, and is confined to lowly service. Side by side with the exalted gift of prophecy Paul puts the lowly gift of ministry. Very significant is the juxtaposition of these two extremes. It teaches us that the lowliest office is as truly allotted by Jesus as the most sacred, and that His highest gifts find an adequate field for manifestation in him who is servant of all. Ministry to be rightly discharged needs spiritual character. The original seven were men ‘full of faith and of the Holy Ghost,’ though all they had to do was to hand their pittances to poor widows. It may be difficult to decide for what reason other than the emphasising of this contrast the Apostle links together ministry and prophecy, and so breaks a natural sequence which would have connected the second pair of graces with the first member of the first pair. We should have expected that here, as elsewhere, ‘prophet,’ ‘teacher,’ ‘exhorter,’ would have been closely connected, and there seems no reason why they should not have been so, except that which we have suggested, namely, the wish to bring together the highest and the lowest forms of service.
The second pair seem to be linked together by likeness. The ‘teacher’ probably had for his function, primarily, the narration of the facts of the Gospel, and the setting forth in a form addressed chiefly to the understanding the truths thereby revealed; whilst the ‘exhorter’ rather addressed himself to the will, presenting the same truth, but in forms more intended to influence the emotions. The word here rendered ‘exhort’ is found in Paul’s writings as bearing special meanings, such as consoling, stimulating, encouraging, rebuking and others. Of course these two forms of service would often be associated, and each would be imperfect when alone; but it would appear that in the early Church there were persons in whom the one or the other of these two elements was so preponderant that their office was thereby designated. Each received a special gift from the one Source. The man who could only say to his brother, ‘Be of good cheer,’ was as much the recipient of the Spirit as the man who could connect and elaborate a systematic presentation of the truths of the Gospel.
These four graces are followed by a group of three, which may be regarded as being more private, as not pointing to permanent offices so much as to individual acts. They are ‘giving,’ ‘ruling,’ ‘showing pity,’ concerning which we need only note that the second of these can hardly be the ecclesiastical office, and that it stands between two which are closely related, as if it were of the same kind. The gifts of money, or of direction, or of pity, are one in kind. The right use of wealth comes from the gift of God’s grace; so does the right use of any sway which any of us have over any of our brethren; and so does the glow of compassion, the exercise of the natural human sympathy which belongs to all, and is deepened and made tenderer and intenser by the gift of the Spirit. It would be a very different Church, and a very different world, if Christians, who were not conscious of possessing gifts which made them fit to be either prophets, or teachers, or exhorters, and were scarcely endowed even for any special form of ministry, felt that a gift from their hands, or a wave of pity from their hearts, was a true token of the movement of God’s Spirit on their spirits. The fruit of the Spirit is to be found in the wide fields of everyday life, and the vine bears many clusters for the thirsty lips of wearied men who may little know what gives them their bloom and sweetness. It would be better for both giver and receiver if Christian beneficence were more clearly recognised as one of the manifestations of spiritual life.
III. The exercise of the graces.
There are some difficulties in reference to the grammatical construction of the words of our text, into which it is not necessary that we should enter here. We may substantially follow the Authorised and Revised Versions in supplying verbs in the various clauses, so as to make of the text a series of exhortations. The first of these is to ‘prophesy according to the proportion of faith’; a commandment which is best explained by remembering that in the preceding verse ‘the measure of faith’ has been stated as being the measure of the gifts. The prophet then is to exercise his gifts in proportion to his faith. He is to speak his convictions fully and openly, and to let his utterances be shaped by the indwelling life. This exhortation may well sink into the heart of preachers in this day. It is but the echo of Jeremiah’s strong words: ‘He that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord. Is not my word like as fire, saith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?’ The ancient prophet’s woe falls with double weight on those who use their words as a veil to obscure their real beliefs, and who prophesy, not ‘according to the proportion of faith,’ but according to the expectations of the hearers, whose faith is as vague as theirs.
In the original, the next three exhortations are alike in grammatical construction, which is represented in the Authorised Version by the supplement ‘let us wait on,’ and in the Revised Version by ‘let us give ourselves to’; we might with advantage substitute for either the still more simple form ‘be in,’ after the example of Paul’s exhortation to Timothy ‘be in these things’; that is, as our Version has it, ‘give thyself wholly to them.’ The various gifts are each represented as a sphere within which its possessor is to move, for the opportunities for the exercise of which he is carefully to watch, and within the limits of which he is humbly to keep. That general law applies equally to ministry, and teaching and exhorting. We are to seek to discern our spheres; we are to be occupied with, if not absorbed in, them. At the least we are diligently to use the gift which we discover ourselves to possess, and thus filling our several spheres, we are to keep within them, recognising that each is sacred as the manifestation of God’s will for each of us. The divergence of forms is unimportant, and it matters nothing whether ‘the Giver of all’ grants less or more. The main thing is that each be faithful in the administration of what he has received, and not seek to imitate his brother who is diversely endowed, or to monopolise for himself another’s gifts. To insist that our brethren’s gifts should be like ours, and to try to make ours like theirs, are equally sins against the great truth, of which the Church as a whole is the example, that there are ‘diversities of operations but the same Spirit.’
The remaining three exhortations are in like manner thrown together by a similarity of construction in which the personality of the doer is put in the foreground, and the emphasis of the commandment is rested on the manner in which the grace is exercised. The reason for that may be that in these three especially the manner will show the grace. ‘Giving’ is to be ‘with simplicity.’ There are to be no sidelong looks to self-interest; no flinging of a gift from a height, as a bone might be flung to a dog; no seeking for gratitude; no ostentation in the gift. Any taint of such mixed motives as these infuses poison into our gifts, and makes them taste bitter to the receiver, and recoil in hurt upon ourselves. To ‘give with simplicity’ is to give as God gives.
‘Diligence’ is the characteristic prescribed for the man that rules. We have already pointed out that this exhortation includes a much wider area than that of any ecclesiastical officials. It points to another kind of rule, and the natural gifts needed for any kind of rule are diligence and zeal. Slackly-held reins make stumbling steeds; and any man on whose shoulders is laid the weight of government is bound to feel it as a weight. The history of many a nation, and of many a family, teaches that where the rule is slothful all evils grow apace; and it is that natural energy and earnestness, deepened and hallowed by the Christian life, which here is enjoined as the true Christian way of discharging the function of ruling, which, in some form or another, devolves on almost all of us.
‘He that showeth mercy with cheerfulness.’ The glow of natural human sympathy is heightened so as to become a ‘gift,’ and the way in which it is exercised is defined as being ‘with cheerfulness.’ That injunction is but partially understood if it is taken to mean no more than that sympathy is not to be rendered grudgingly, or as by necessity. No sympathy is indeed possible on such terms; unless the heart is in it, it is nought. And that it should thus flow forth spontaneously wherever sorrow and desolation evoke it, there must be a continual repression of self, and a heart disengaged from the entanglements of its own circumstances, and at leisure to make a brother’s burden its very own. But the exhortation may, perhaps, rather mean that the truest sympathy carries a bright face into darkness, and comes like sunshine in a shady place.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv6–21 And having gifts differing according to the grace that…
And having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith [It would be as unreasonable and unwise to give all Christians the same gift as it would be to give all the members of the body the same function. Since, then, the gifts had to differ, and since God dealt them out, each member was to exercise humbly and contentedly that gift which God had portioned out to him, whether, compared with others, proportionately large or small, important or unimportant, for should the ear stubbornly refuse to hear, and set up a determined effort to smell or to see, it would produce anarchy in the body. Let each Christian, therefore, retain the place and station and discharge the work which God has designated as his by the proportion of faith, a miracle-working power, assigned to him. The power of Christ, operating through the Holy Spirit, awoke in Christians talents and endowments unexampled in the world's history. The greatest of these were bestowed upon the apostles. The next in order of importance were the gifts bestowed upon the prophet ( 1Co_12:28 ; 1Co_14:29-32 ; 1Co_14:39 ). His gift was that inspiration of the Holy Spirit which enabled him to proclaim the divine truth, and make known the will and purpose of God, etc., whether as to past, present or future events. His work was supplementary to that of the apostles, and was greatly needed in the days when the New Testament was but partly written, and when even what was written was not yet diffused among the churches. Eventually the prophet ceased ( 1Co_13:8-9 ) and the Scripture took his place. In his day he was as the mouth of God ( Exo_7:1 ; Exo_4:16 ; Jer_15:19 ; Deu_18:18 ); he delivered a divine message at first-hand ( Eze_2:7-10 ; Eze_3:4-11 ; Luk_7:26-29 ) and was inspired of God-- 1Pe_1:10-12 ; Act_2:2-4 ; 2Pe_1:19-21 ];
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 v9
dissimulation
hypocrisy.
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 vv9, 17 The Christian’s conduct in his personal relations:
The Christian’s conduct in his personal relations:
v. 9. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
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v. 10. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love, in honor preferring one another;
v. 11. not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
v. 12 rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
v. 13. distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
v. 14. Bless them which persecute you; bless, and curse not.
v. 15. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
v. 16. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
The apostle now speaks in general of the Christian’s relation to his fellow-Christians and to his fellowmen. Of love in general he says that it should not be dissimulated, consisting not merely in words, but in sincere deeds; it should come from the heart and truly desire the welfare of one’s neighbor. It is a feature of such true love that it will not hesitate to rebuke every form of sin and trespass, and likewise to acknowledge and further the good which it finds in one’s neighbor. This admonition is incidentally a summary of all the exhortations now following. So far as brotherly love is concerned, your love toward each other and toward one another as children in the one great family of God should be tenderly affectioned. The relation of believers toward one another, as members of the one body of Christ, as possessors of the same faith in the redemption of their Savior, is, in a way, more intimate than that of blood relation between members of a family. And therefore it should be tender and affectionate in its manifestations. And with this love should be connected mutual respect: through honor preferring one another, going before each other in giving honor. There should be a friendly rivalry between Christians to outdo one another in every form of kindly reverence as partakers of the same grace of the heavenly Father. A mere passive feeling, however, is not sufficient, according to the apostle’s admonition: In zeal or willingness not lazy, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. When it comes to the question of serving one’s brother or neighbor in any way, there should be no hesitating, laggard steps, and we should not grow indolent or weary. Rather, should our spirit be fervent with eagerness, we should be interested in his welfare with persevering enthusiasm. And, with a decent regard for the exigencies of the various circumstances of life, the Christian should nevertheless never forget that his activity and zeal is actuated and governed by the desire to serve Christ a factor which will tend also to keep down any thought of self-exaltation and pride in the performance of our duties. The thought that the Christians in all the works of their calling are in the service of the Lord will have a further beneficial effect: As to hope, full of gladness; they will rejoice inasmuch as they are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, that they may also become partakers of His glory, 1Pe 4:13. As to oppression, distress, misery, tribulation of every kind, patient; remembering always that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed, Rom 8:18. In prayer, be intent and persevering; the Christians should apply themselves to this indication and manifestation of their spiritual life with all ardor and importunity, as the Lord so often admonishes them, not with conventional deadness, but with the zeal which grows from firm trust in His fatherly goodness.
Having thus shown just how the feeling of personal service toward God will influence the Christian’s personal conduct, the apostle again turns to his relation toward his neighbor, vv. 13-16. Take part in the needs of the saints, let them be your earnest concern as well as those with which you have to battle, make their necessity your own and act accordingly. And this is further explained: Following after hospitality. Because believers are members of the body of Christ, they will naturally share their sorrows as well as their joys. During times of persecution, such as often came upon the early Christians, there was great need for the believers to entertain the strangers of the household of faith, as they were driven from their homes by tyrants. But in the midst of such persecutions the Christians were not to forget the example and the command of their Lord as to their enemies: Bless those that persecute you; bless, and do not curse. For the sake of emphasis the apostle repeats his admonition that the believers must be active in blessing their enemies. Even if persecution rises to unbearable heights, Christians must cultivate the habit of wishing well to their persecutors. "It is not sufficient to avoid returning evil for evil, nor even to banish vindictive feelings; we must be able sincerely to desire their happiness. " (Hodge.) And in cultivating this state of mind, we shall find ourselves all the better able to heed the admonition that again concerns chiefly the brethren: to be glad with those that are glad, to weep with those that weep. The interest of a Christian brother or sister enhances their joy over any blessing of the Lord; and their sympathy relieves any heavy burden, especially if their words are not the conventional, stereotyped phrases of so-called polite society, but the words of heartfelt compassion dictated by the love of Christ. That same love will also effect this, that Christians think the same thing toward one another; a feeling of concord, or harmony, of unanimity governs their actions, Php 2:2; Php 4:2; 2Co 13:11. Because the love of the Christian for his fellow Christian will always cause him to place himself in the position of the other, therefore he will be able to combat discord and disharmony. All the better will he succeed in this by following the injunction: Not having in mind, not setting your thoughts upon high things, but be willing to be drawn along with the lowly; be not wise in your own estimation. All pride of self is out of harmony with the demands of Christian love; not to be aspiring, but to be humble must be the character of every follower of the lowly Nazarene. Inordinate ambition, which despises all those that have not received equal intellectual or spiritual gifts, on the one hand, together with a contempt for their lowly persons or pursuits, are absolutely inconsistent with the idea of perfect Christian unity which the Lord at all times had in mind. The lowliness of mind which was found in Christ Jesus, who consorted with publicans and sinners, with the very outcasts of society, because they had accepted His message of salvation, must be found in all His true servants. But if any one becomes puffed up by his pride of intellect, by a fancied superiority to others, then he deliberately disrupts the harmony which should characterize the Christian community, and cannot properly lay claim to the spirit that lives in the Master.
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 vv6, 9, 11, 14, 17, 19 We have different gifts according to the grace that…
We have different gifts according to the grace that was given to us
Paul speaks of believers' different abilities as being free gifts from God. You can translate this in an active form. AT: "God has freely given each of us the ability to do different things for him" (See: Metaphor)
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let it be done according to the proportion of his faith
Possible meanings are 1) "let him speak prophecies that do not go beyond the amount of faith God has given us" or 2) "let him speak prophecies that agree with the teachings of our faith."
If one's gift is giving
Here "giving" refers to giving money and other things to people. You can make this meaning explicit in your translation. AT: "If one has the gift of giving money or other goods to people in need" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
gift
grace
prophet
faith
servant
teacher
mercy
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 vv6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20 12:6 The ability to prophesy was one of the…
12:6 The ability to prophesy was one of the most important of the New Testament gifts (see also 1 Cor 12:28; Eph 4:11). Although prophets are mentioned in several passages in Acts as predicting the future (see Acts 11:28; 21:10-12), the prophet’s most fundamental responsibility is to communicate God’s message to the community of believers (1 Cor 12:3, 24-25, 29-30; see also 1 Cor 14:1-40). • as much faith as God has given you (literally in proportion to the faith): Proportion (Greek analogia) is a word drawn from mathematics and logic, where it refers to the correct proportions in a relationship among things, quantities, or ideas. Paul uses the phrase to remind prophets to make sure that their utterances are in right proportion to faith, whether the amount of individual faith the prophet has been given, or the Christian faith in general (see study note on Rom 12:3). This passage has given theology the phrase the analogy of faith, which refers to the importance of bringing the interpretation of any particular passage into line with the teaching of all of Scripture.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.