Romans 12:6-8

“ Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us [let us exercise them], whether prophecy, according to the proportion of faith; or ministry, in ministering; or he that teacheth, in teaching; or he that exhorteth, in exhortation; he that giveth, with simplicity; he that ruleth, with zeal; he that doeth works of mercy, with cheerfulness. ”

There is no occasion for making the participle ἔχοντες, having, as De Wette and Lachmann do, the continuation of the preceding proposition: “We are one body, but that while having different gifts.” This idea of the diversity of gifts has been sufficiently explained in the previous verses. And if this participle still belonged to the previous proposition we should require to take all the subordinate clauses which immediately follow: according to the proportion...in ministering...in teaching...etc., as simple descriptive appendices, which would be tautological and superfluous. The words having then are therefore certainly the beginning of a new proposition. Paul takes up the last thought of the previous verse, to make it the point of departure for all the particular precepts which are to follow: “As, then, we have different gifts, let us exercise them every one as I proceed to tell you: confining our activity modestly within the limits of the gift itself.” As to the meaning, it is always the σωφρονεῖν, self-rule, which remains the fundamental idea. Grammatically, the principal verb should be taken from the participle having: “Having then different gifts, let us have (exercise) them by abiding simply in them, by not seeking to go out of them.”

The term χάρισμα, gift, denotes in the language of Paul a spiritual aptitude communicated to the believer with faith, and by which he can aid in the development of spiritual life in the church. Most frequently it is a natural talent which God's Spirit appropriates, increasing its power and sanctifying its exercise.

The gift which holds the first place in the enumerations of 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4 is apostleship. Paul does not mention it here; he pointed to it in Romans 12:3 fulfilling its task.

After the apostolate there comes prophecy in all these lists. The prophet is, as it were, the eye of the church to receive new revelations. In the passages, Ephesians 2:20; Ephesians 3:5, it is closely connected with the apostolate, which without this gift would be incomplete. But it may also be separate from it; and hence prophets are often spoken of as persons distinct from apostles in the primitive church, for example, Acts 13:1, and 1 Corinthians 14. Prophets differed from teachers, in that the latter gathered up into a consecutive body of doctrine the new truths revealed to the church by the prophets.

Wherein, then, will the voluntary limitation consist which the prophet should impose on himself in the exercise of his gift (his σωφρονεῖν)? He should prophesy according to the analogy of faith. The word ἀναλογία is a mathematical term; it signifies proportion. The prophet is not absolutely free; he ought to proportion his prophecy to faith. What faith? Many (Hofmann, for example) answer: his own. He should take care in speaking not to exceed the limit of confidence, of real hope communicated to him by the Spirit, not to let himself be carried away by self-love to mingle some human alloy with the holy emotion with which he is filled from above. But, in that case, would not the apostle have required to add the pronoun αὐτοῦ : “ his faith”? And would not the term revelation have been more suitable than that of faith? Others think it possible to give the term faith the objective meaning which it took later in ecclesiastical language, as when we speak of the evangelical faith or the Christian faith; so Philippi. The prophet in his addresses should respect the foundations of the faith already laid, the Christian facts and the truths which flow from them. But the word faith never in the N. T. denotes doctrine itself; it has always a reference to the subjective feeling of self-surrender, confidence in God, or in Christ as the revealer of God. And may not we here preserve this subjective meaning, while applying it also to the faith of the whole church? The prophet should develop the divine work of faith in the heart of believers, by starting from the point it has already reached, and humbly attaching himself to the work of his predecessors; he should not, by giving scope to his individual speculations, imprudently disturb the course of the work begun within souls already gained. In a word, the revelations which he sets forth should not tend to make himself shine, but solely to edify the church, whose present state is a sort of standard for new instructions. It is obvious how, in the exercise of this gift, it would be easy for one to let himself go beyond the measure of his revelations, and thus add heterogeneous elements to the faith and hope of the church itself. No more in the New Testament than in the Old does it belong to every prophet to recommence the whole work. Hence no doubt the judgment to be pronounced on prophesyings, mentioned 1 Corinthians 14:29.

Vv. 7. The term διακονία, which we translate by ministry, denotes generally in the N. T. a charge, an office confided to some one by the church. Such an office undoubtedly supposes a spiritual aptitude; but the holder is responsible for its discharge, not only in relation to God from whom the gift comes, but also to the church which has confided to him the office. Such is the difference between the functions denoted by this name and the ministry of the prophet, or of him who speaks with tongues. These are pure gifts, which man cannot transform into a charge. In our passage this term ministry, placed as it is between prophecy and the function of teaching, can only designate an activity of a practical nature, exerted in action, not in word. It is almost in the same sense that in 1Pe 4:11 the term διακονεῖν, serving, is opposed to λαλεῖν, speaking. We think it probable, therefore, that this term here denotes the two ecclesiastical offices of the pastorate (bishop or presbyter) and of the diaconate properly so called. Bishops or presbyters were established in the church of Jerusalem from the first times of the church, Acts 11:30. Paul instituted this office in the churches which he had just founded, Acts 14:23; comp. Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:1 et seq.; Tit 1:5 et seq. They presided over the assemblies of the church, and directed its course and that of its members in respect of spiritual matters; comp. 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13. Hence their title ποιμένες, pastors, Ephesians 4:11.

Deacons appear even before elders in the church of Jerusalem (Acts 6:1 et seq.). They were occupied especially with the care of the poor. This office, which emanates so directly from Christian charity, never ceased in the church; we find it again mentioned Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:12.

Each of these functionaries, says the apostle, should keep to his part, confine himself within the administration committed to him. The elder should not desire to mount the tripod of prophet, nor the deacon aspire to play the part of bishop or teacher. It is ever that voluntary limitation which the apostle had recommended, Romans 12:3-5.

In the passage from the first to the second part of this verse, we observe a slight change of construction. Instead of mentioning the gift or the office, as in the two preceding terms, Paul addresses himself directly to the man who is invested with it. This is not a real grammatical incorrectness; for, as the preceding accusatives: προφητείαν (prophecy), διακονίαν (ministry), were placed in apposition to the object χαρίσματα, gifts (Romans 12:6), so the nominatives: ὁ διδάσκων, he that teacheth, ὁ παρακαλῶν, he that exhorteth, are in apposition to the participle ἔχοντες, having (same verse).

As to the following clauses: in teaching, in exhortation, they continue to depend on the understood verb ἔχωμεν, let us have, exercise, abide in.

He that teacheth (the teacher, ὁ διδάσκαλος), like the prophet, exercises his gift by speech; but while the latter receives by revelations granted to him new views which enrich the faith of the church, the teacher confines himself to an orderly and clear exposition of the truths already brought to light, and to bringing out their connection with one another. He it is who, by the word of knowledge or of wisdom (1 Corinthians 12:8), shows the harmony of all the parts of the divine plan. In the enumeration, Ephesians 4:11, the teacher is at once associated with and distinguished from the pastor. In fact, the gift of teaching was not yet essentially connected with the pastorate. But more and more it appeared desirable that the pastor should be endowed with it, 1 Timothy 5:17; Titus 1:9.

Vv. 8. In 1 Corinthians 14:3, the function of exhorting is ascribed to the prophet, and the surname Barnabas, son of prophecy, Acts 4:36, is translated into Greek by υἱὸς παρακλήσεως, son of exhortation. The prophet therefore had certainly the gift of exhorting, stimulating, consoling. But it does not follow from the fact that the prophet exhorts and consoles, that, as some have sought to persuade themselves in our day, any one, man or woman, who has the gift of exhorting or consoling, is a prophet, and may claim the advantage of all that is said of the prophets in other apostolical declarations. Our passage proves clearly that the gift of exhorting may be absolutely distinct from that of prophecy. So it is also from that of teaching. The teacher acts especially on the understanding; he would be in our modern language the catechist or dogmatic theologian. He that exhorts acts on the heart, and thereby on the will; he would rather be the Christian poet. Also in 1 Corinthians 14:26, Paul, bringing these two ministries together as he does here, says: “Hath any one a doctrine, hath any one a psalm? ”

The three last functions mentioned in this verse are no longer exercised in the assemblies of the church; they come, to a certain point, under the exercise of private virtues. It is wrong, indeed, to regard the μεταδιδούς, he that distributeth, as has been done, to indicate the official deacon, and the προι·στάμενος, he that ruleth, the elder or bishop. The verb μεταδιδόναι does not signify to make a distribution on behalf of the church (this would require διαδιδόναι, Acts 4:35); but: to communicate to others of one's own wealth; comp. Luke 3:11; Ephesians 4:28. And as to the bishop, the position here assigned to this ministry would not be in keeping with his elevated rank in the church; and the matter in question is especially works of beneficence. The first term: he that giveth (communicateth), therefore denotes the believer, who by his fortune and a natural aptitude sanctified by faith, feels himself particularly called to succor the indigent around him. Paul recommends him to do so with simplicity. The Greek term might be translated: with generosity, with large-heartedness; such is the meaning which the word ἁπλότης (2 Corinthians 8:2; 2 Corinthians 9:13) often has. According to its etymological meaning, the word signifies: the disposition not to turn back on oneself; and it is obvious that from this first meaning there may follow either that of generosity, when a man gives without letting himself be arrested by any selfish calculation, or that of simplicity, when he gives without his left hand knowing what his right does that is to say, without any vain going back on himself, and without any air of haughtiness. This second meaning seems to us preferable here, because the prevailing idea throughout the entire passage is that of σωφρονεῖν, self-limiting, self-regulating.

The second term: he that ruleth, should be explained by the sense which the verb προΐστασθαι frequently has in Greek: to be at the head of; hence: to direct a business. So, in profane Greek, the term is applied to the physician who directs the treatment of a disease, to the magistrate who watches over the execution of the laws. In the Epistle to Titus, Titus 3:8, there occurs the expression: προΐστασθαι καλῶν ἔργων, to be occupied with good works; whence the term προστάτις, patroness, protectress, benefactress, used in our Epistle, Romans 16:2, to express what Phoebe had been to many believers and to Paul himself. Think of the numerous works of private charity which believers then had to found and maintain! Pagan society had neither hospitals nor orphanages, free schools or refuges, like those of our day. The church, impelled by the instinct of Christian charity, had to introduce all these institutions into the world; hence no doubt, in every community, spontaneous gatherings of devout men and women who, like our present Christian committees, took up one or other of these needful objects, and had of course at their head directors charged with the responsibility of the work. Such are the persons certainly whom the apostle has in view in our passage. Thus is explained the position of this term between the preceding: he that giveth, and the following: he that showeth mercy. The same explanation applies to the following clause ἐν σπουδῇ, with zeal. This recommendation would hardly be suitable for one presiding over an assembly. How many presidents, on the contrary, would require to have the call addressed to them: Only no zeal! But the recommendation is perfectly suitable to one who is directing a Christian work, and who ought to engage in it with a sort of exclusiveness, to personify it after a manner in himself.

The last term: ὁ ἐλεῶν, he that showeth mercy, denotes the believer who feels called to devote himself to the visiting of the sick and afflicted. There is a gift of sympathy which particularly fits for this sort of work, and which is, as it were, the key to open the heart of the sufferer. The phrase ἐν ἱλαρότητι, literally, with hilarity, denotes the joyful eagerness, the amiable grace, the affability going the length of gayety, which make the visitor, whether man or woman, a sunbeam penetrating into the sick-chamber and to the heart of the afflicted.

In the preceding enumeration, the recommendation of the apostle had in view especially humility in those who have to exercise a gift. But in the last terms we feel that his thought is already bordering on the virtue of love. It is the spectacle of this Christian virtue in full activity in the church and in the world which now fills his mind, and which he presents in the following description, Romans 12:9-21: First, self-limiting, self-possessing: this is what he has just been recommending; then self-giving: this is what he proceeds to expound.