Date: June 11, 2006

Speaker: Mike Puskas

Title: Romans 12:1-8

Core Verses: Romans 12:1-8

Summary of Message:

Romans chapter 12 unveils to us the purpose and practical working out of God’s salvation in the Christian life. Today we will be reviewing and fellowshipping verses 1 through 8.

Paul begins Chapter 12 with the call to present our bodies together as one living sacrifice. Following this, he exhorts us not to be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind. By a renewed mind we can prove what the will of God is. Then, in verse 3 we have the emphasis on the importance of how we think. To have a proper view of the body of Christ and each individual saint, our thinking must be sober. We need a sober mind when we consider one another. God has apportioned to each one of us a measure of faith. Thus, we should not regard ourselves according to our natural thought, but according to the faith given to us by God.

Now in verse 4, Paul compares the believers function in the body of Christ to the human body. In one human body there are many members and all the members do not have the same function. The members of our body are individual and distinct. Our ears, eyes, nose, mouth, hands, feet, etc…all have different functions, but you don’t feel it. They all function according to their portion freely and their operation is smooth and unremarkable. The only time you feel any member “sticks out” is when something is wrong with it. If you have an ear ache, the whole body takes notice and begins to address the problem. The same is true regarding the Body of Christ.

Concerning the Body, there are two things that I would like to say. First, when Paul mentions the Body in Romans, he is mainly talking about the local aspect; because only the local aspect of the Body is practical. Therefore to declare that you are one with the Body and not be one with ALL the saints in your locality is not genuine. So many Christians declare their “oneness” with the Body, but despise and criticize the brothers and sisters in their own back yard. What a falsehood!

The second point is that the oneness of the Body of Christ is expressed in diversity and not in uniformity. This is clearly revealed in the verses we are covering. If we were all the same in our gifts, talents, functions, etc., there would be no need for the practical “oneness” since it would appear that the “oneness” was already achieved. Oneness thrives on diversity; the more diverse, the better. Think about it. If the whole body were a nose, how ugly that oneness would be! On the other hand, look at the diversity in your own body. How wonderful it is! There are many members with many different functions, yet they work together in absolute harmony. In the genuine Body there is no back-biting, condemning, declaring, etc.—just absolute peace and harmony. Why? Because we understand that diversity is from the Lord and we are happy with His arrangements.

According to verse 6, we all have gifts that differ. This difference is according to the grace given to us by God. Enjoying God’s grace releases diversity! When we, based on the grace given to us, begin to operate, we do so by faith. Now we need some understanding regarding the difference between grace and faith. Grace is for supply and faith is for action. God gives each of us grace to function, but we need faith to operate according to our function in grace. Grace is no problem. The supply to do what God has ordained us to do is always there. The challenge is to apply the faith that God gave us for our function. Grace is free, even faith comes freely from God, but the action needed to activate our faith is in our hand. Faith requires our action—our cooperation.

If you have the gift to prophecy, this gift was given to you according to God’s grace. However you need to apply it, make it operational, by taking action according to faith. It is up to you! God has supplied everything. Now you need to apply what God has supplied. When you do this, you are in the reality of the Body of Christ!

Another gift is service. Service is the broadest of gifts because many kinds of service are included in this category. Praise the Lord for the gift of service! Other gifts include teaching, exhortation (to console, to encourage and strengthen by consolation, to comfort, instruct and teach), giving in simplicity (free from pretence), leading in diligence, and showing mercy with cheerfulness (hilarious abandon). These gifts should be exercised by faith (stepping out on a limb) according to the grace given to us by God. We should be free and liberated to function in such a way.

Finally, don’t think too much about what your gift is. Just operate according to God’s life in you; by doing so your operation will become evident. Think about it, your hand doesn’t consider what its function is; it just operates in its measure according to the brain’s command. In like manner, we just function according to God’s supply of grace, taking action by faith so the Body of Christ can be realized and become our reality.

May God cause us to see and take action according to this revelation!