GBC Women's Ministry Night, 9/27
Romans 11:33-12:8
When I was a kid, I hated competition. I had an older brother who was bigger, stronger, and smarter than me, so I rarely stood a chance of beating him at anything. A lot of things that came easily to him were really difficult for me, and I was often envious of his natural abilities. I saw no point in competing with him when I felt that I could only lose, so, for a long time, I didn’t even bother.
Have you ever felt that way about a brother or sister in Christ? Have you compared yourself to another believer and felt like you could not measure up? And no, I’m not talking about comparing families, homes, or even clothes. That’s a separate issue. I want us to look a lot deeper. Have you ever taken stock of the spiritual gifts God has given you, and felt that they were worthless when compared to someone else’s? You might even feel that your contributions to the church are so small that they’re insignificant, and you shouldn’t even bother.
You could also be on the other side of things. Maybe you’ve been richly blessed with obvious spiritual gifts, and struggle with superiority. You look down on women who don’t serve as much as you do, or whose gifts seem, to you, to be less important.
Let’s make this clear from the start: spiritual gifts are meant to be a point of unity in the church, and not division. Every spiritual gift--no matter what type it is, or how well it’s developed--every gift is significant in the kingdom of God. The fact that we are gifted differently is by God’s design. In His infinite wisdom, God saw fit to uniquely equip each and every woman to serve him in the specific ways he has called her to do so. Each of us will glorify God the most when we fulfill the particular role he has given us in the Body of Christ as we serve Him in our homes, our workplaces, our local church, and in the community.
You may be the kind of lady who has a teaching or leadership gift, and you strengthen the church by leading a small group or teaching in children’s ministries. You might be a mom of young kids who is called to serve the church with her spiritual gift of faith by being a prayer warrior for the church body during late night feedings or marathon laundry-folding sessions. There are probably a few ladies here with the gift of service or helps, who serve God by doing “behind-the-scenes” tasks, like providing meals for people or helping out with setup on Sunday mornings. God has given each of us different gifts, and unique opportunities to use them through every season of life. He did it for His glory, and to strengthen and unify Christ’s Bride, the Church.
This is a topic the women’s ministry team is very excited to explore with you this fall. We want to dive into what God’s Word has to say about spiritual gifts so that we can understand what they are, why we have them, and how he is uniquely calling us to use them as women in our particular life circumstances. Today, we’re going to begin with a brief overview of who the Holy Spirit is and his work in the life of the Christian. After that, we’ll look at Romans 11:33-12:8 to understand why God gives spiritual gifts to believers, and how we’re called to use them.
Before we dive into Romans, we need a solid foundation of knowledge regarding the Holy Spirit that we can build on as we talk about the Spirit’s gifts.
So, to begin with, the Holy Spirit is a member of the Trinity. He is eternally in relationship with God the Father and God the Son, “equal [to them] in power and glory.” They are perfectly united in purpose and in power, yet each member of the Trinity has a unique function with regard to humanity. The Holy Spirit’s function is transformative: He reshapes us into the image of Christ. For the Christian, the Holy Spirit is our teacher (John 14:26) and our Helper, who will be with us forever (John 14:16). He convicts us of sin (John 16:8) and gives us softened hearts that desire to obey God (Ezekiel 36:26-27). He also helps us when we’re weak, interceding for us when our words fail us (Romans 8:26).
Like God the Father, the Holy Spirit is omnipresent, but being in all places at once does not mean that he is “in” unbelievers in the same way he is “in” believers. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a special filling with God’s presence and power. It occurs at the time of conversion, and it is not accessible to those who do not believe. Romans 8:9 is clear: “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ” and is therefore not saved. The presence of the Holy Spirit in a person is “a seal . . . a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance” (Ephesians 1:14) of irrevocable salvation. The transformative work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is the outward manifestation of our being recreated in the image of Christ, which is displayed in spiritual fruit.
By nature, sinful humans do not desire the things of God. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, and “by nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:1-3), yet God mercifully redeemed us by the blood of Christ to give us new life:
Ephesians 2:4-5 reminds us, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ . . . “
It is only when believers receive the Holy Spirit that they are capable of desiring God as they should. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit changes our nature and very desires to conform us to the image of Christ (Romans 8:26-29). Still, it’s a process. I am yet being sanctified, and my flesh is at war with the Spirit in me (Galatians 5:17). When I’m feeling overwhelmed and struggle with wrong desires, what I need the most is more of the Holy Spirit to change those desires. I can’t muster up enough love and adoration of Christ on my own to worship and serve Him the way I should. I need to pray for an infusion of Christlikeness so that I will crave life-giving communion with God through His Word and so that I will earnestly desire to obey Him by serving others with my gifts. It’s a prayer I know he will answer because Jesus already guaranteed it. He said, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13)
The work of the Holy Spirit in our lives will be demonstrated by a transformation of our desires, words, and actions. As we become more like Christ, we begin to display more and more of what we call “the fruit of Spirit”, listed in Galatians 5:22-23 as “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control.”
Spiritual gifts are a little different than the fruit of the Spirit. They are “the tools God has entrusted to [believers] for the increasing sanctification of God’s people” (Storms). They are for the common good of the church, to conform us into the image of Christ. Examples of spiritual gifts include teaching, service, leadership, mercy, and prophesy. There are many more, but we’ll save the rest of them, and dig deeper into the characteristics of each, when we meet in October.
Notice how the gifts of the Spirit are different from the Fruit of the Spirit. The opposite of any spiritual fruit is almost necessarily sinful. For example, the opposite of self-control would be things like laziness or unrestrained anger, which obviously don’t honor God. For this reason, all Christians should actively pursue growth in all the fruit of the Spirit. It would be sinful to ignore any one of them. On the other hand, lacking certain spiritual gifts is not sinful. Scripture gives no indication that it is a sign of sin or spiritual weakness to lack certain gifts. Still, believers should pray for God’s glory to be displayed in them through the spiritual gifts they have, and they should also pray that, if it is His will, that they would receive more gifts to use for the good of the Body.
The Holy Spirit is the transformative power of God in believers. His reshaping work in our hearts is evident by the fruit of righteousness in our lives, and his spiritual gifts are tools he gives us to strengthen the church. In the Book of Romans, Paul provides insight into how the Holy Spirit provides individual believers with different gifts that are intended to strengthen and unify the Body of Christ.
Romans is a foundational epistle for understanding God’s righteous justice and rich mercy, which find their culmination in Christ’s death and resurrection. This letter was written by Paul and addressed to the church in Rome, whose members were both converted Jews and Gentile believers. Like many of the young churches of that time, they were struggling to understand many aspects of how to honor the law of the Old Testament in light of the Cross, and how believing Gentiles fit into the chosen nation of Israel. Paul was strongly concerned with warning both groups to avoid pride and divisiveness in all areas, including their salvation and the gifts they used to serve the church. Beginning near the end of chapter 11 and moving into chapter 12, Paul reminded the believers that --from their physical bodies to their spiritual strengths--everything they had was a gift from God to be used for His glory alone.
Let’s look at this passage together, beginning in Romans 11:33:
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
12.1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
(11:33-12:2)
Starting in 11:33, we see that God is the originator of all things. Everything we have--our salvation, our bodies, our abilities--they all come from Him. Serving God with our entire lives, and especially through our spiritual gifts, is what we owe Him. It’s not a special favor that we can take pride in, but a humble offering that cannot even begin to repay him for his goodness to us.
In his unsearchable wisdom, God has mercifully given us physical bodies and spiritual abilities for us to use to glorify Him for the benefit of his body, which is the Church. We are not to conform to the pattern of unbelievers in the world. They use their physical bodies to serve their own desires, and they use their natural abilities to serve their egos and gain power over others. Instead, we are to allow God’s Word to sanctify us, renewing our minds and transforming our very lives. As we are remade into the image of Christ, we will learn to weigh and measure everything in light of what is “good, acceptable, and perfect.” In other words, we will make every thought and action obedient to Christ, concerned with His glory, and not our own. Our transformation will be made known by the way we use our spiritual gifts in service to God.
In verse 3 of chapter 12, Paul encourages the Roman believers to spend time in purposeful introspection. He calls them to wisely weigh the value of their own abilities realistically, without pride, and “according to the measure of faith God has assigned.” It is God who will supply the faith we need to discern the value of the gifts he has given us. He will also guide us in how best to use them in his service. A spiritual gifts inventory can give you a glimpse of your gifts, but it will never paint of full picture of how God has gifted you to serve Him. It also won’t provide much insight into the avenues in which he’s calling you to use those gifts. How should you be serving Him in our church? In your home? Your workplace? What about in the community? God will use His Word, your prayers, your experiences, and wise insight from the community of believers to guide you in your giftedness. This is something we’re going to dig into more next month, when we’ll talk in detail about the different types of gifts and how to figure out which ones you have, but I want you to start thinking about it over the next few months. Spend some time thinking and praying about this, and consider asking your fellow believers for their insights as well.
Starting in verse 4, Paul uses a physical body as a metaphor for how the church is made up of a variety of members who use their different strengths to function as a unified entity. Let’s look at that passage again:
4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
Jesus came to Earth “not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). Believers are called to imitate Christ’s example of servanthood in the way we use our spiritual gifts to minister in the Body of Christ, and also in our homes, workplaces, and communities. Every single believer was created by God to serve a unique and essential function in God’s Kingdom, beginning with the local church. This is for His glory, and for the strengthening of our fellow believers. It also brings unity to the church, as we become “members of one another” through our service. That means, if you are not committed to actively serving in your local church, you are handicapping Christ’s bride. God is sovereign, so he will ultimately accomplish his will, but you will be missing out on opportunities to participate. You’re also missing out on the chance to be united with other believers by serving and being served in the body of Christ. How many of us would love to feel more connected with other people in our church? I think most people feel that way, particularly women. Play dates and dinner invitations have their place in building community with other believers, but perhaps our go-to question for when we feel disconnected shouldn’t be, “Who can I invite over?” or “Who will invite me over?”, but instead, “Who can I reach out to?” or “Who can I work alongside in service?”
In the final verses we’ll be looking at, Paul encourages believers to exercise their different gifts in a manner that is pleasing to God. Beginning in verse 6, he says that prophets should prophesy “in proportion” to their faith, when they feel confident that their message comes from God, and not from themselves. Others should joyfully serve, teach, and exhort their fellow believers according to how the Holy Spirit leads. Those who are gifted to make financial contributions should give out of generosity, not because of obligation or to impress others. Leaders should lead with energy and passion, not laziness. The merciful should care for the hurting gladly, without resentment.
With any spiritual gift, it would be easy to fall into the trap of using our abilities in a self-serving or half-hearted manner. To do so is detrimental to the health of the church. Every member is needed. “When believers go AWOL, the whole body suffers. Fringe church attendees aren't neutral, they’re actually harmful.” Instead, we are called to use our gifts like they aren’t ours at all, but just “on loan” from God for us to serve Him. One author put it this way: “Whatever one’s gift, he should exercise it faithfully as a stewardship from God.” I love the picture this paints.
In a monarchy, a steward is an official who has been entrusted with the care and management of the kingdom. His job is to represent the King when he is absent. The steward has no power that has not been given to him, and he will be held accountable for the quality of his work when the king returns.
In the same way, we will be held accountable for how we use the gifts God has given. Are we using them to serve the Body of Christ, or are we using them for ourselves, or not all?
Maybe pride tempts you to think more highly of your gifts than you ought to. On the other hand, you may undervalue your gifts to the point of rarely using them, if ever. Maybe you fall somewhere in-between. Whatever the case, I hope you’ll spend some time this month “thinking with sober judgment” as Paul encourages us in here in Romans. Consider what your gifts are, how you should use them, and whether they are fostering your unity with the Body of Christ, or your division from it. Pray that God will give you wise discernment, and a willing and obedient heart to serve Him in the good works he has prepared for you. I truly believe that God wants to use you to bless others and give you joy in doing so.
Today, I want to close our time with Psalm 100. It’s a song gratitude to God for his love and faithfulness, and his goodness as our creator and shepherd. It reminds me that, whatever my gift is, my service to God should be a joyful outpouring of worship because of who He is, and all He has done for me:
Psalm 100
1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
Amen.