READ: Rom. 12:4–8: … as we have many members … and the members do not all have the same function … so we, being many, are one body in Christ …
Brotherly love within the congregation requires mutual cooperation, with each person oriented toward the other. Paul compares the church to the human body (cf. 1 Cor. 12; Eph. 4:1–16). The congregation is the body of Christ, in which His Spirit dwells and works.
The individual members have different functions and are interdependent. Each supplies what another lacks. One is not more important than another. Together they form a living body. As it is with the human body, so it must be in the church.
Christ teaches us a very different pattern of interaction than that found in the world, where it is often “each for himself.” He grants gifts of grace to each member, differing from one another, for the building up of the body. Their diversity serves unity. Paul lists several such gifts. Not everyone possesses every gift, and that is intentional.
The first gift mentioned is prophecy according to the measure of faith. This gift belonged to the apostolic era and served to strengthen the church before the canon of Scripture was completed.
We now possess the completed Bible and receive no new special revelation. Nevertheless, all believers share in the prophetic office in that we confess and speak in accordance with Scripture.
The gift of service concerns practical assistance: material or physical help. There is also the gift of teaching within the congregation. Paul further mentions leadership and acts of mercy. For all these vital functions within the communion of saints, God grants the necessary gifts.
Let us therefore employ them wholeheartedly and cheerfully, encouraging one another to use them to God’s glory and for the benefit of the congregation. No one is more important before the Lord than another; all are needed.
Which gifts has the Lord given you for this purpose?
Sing: Ps. 22:10