Fellowship

What this is saying is that we are all to be engaged. The equipping of the saints for the work of ministry builds up the body of Christ. The saints are equipped, they do the work of ministry, the body is built up and in the building up of the body of Christ. We attain to Christ’s likeness, and then our message, the truth which we speak in love, is undergirded by our lives and it has a great impact, it puts Christ on display. Motive number one, because of the source of our service, because of the source of our service.

Back to verse seven. But to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. But to each one of us, he’s just been talking in the opening six verses about the unity of the church. One body, verse four, one spirit, one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Unity we’re all one, but in that unity there is diversity, and that’s the point of verse seven. But there’s a transition. To each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

We all have these things in common. We all are part of the one body, possess the one spirit, have one hope, believe in one Lord, hold to one faith, receive one baptism under one God and Father of all. We all have that in common. But then there is the uncommon uniqueness of the body of Christ in that each one of us has been graced with a gift that is measured out to us by Christ. To each one of us, each one of us, there is no such thing as a believer who is not gifted for ministry in the body of Christ.

This too is a grace. It is a grace. It is an undeserved favour. It is not something we earn. It comes according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Measure is doria. It’s a word that emphasises the word gift, I should say, is a word that emphasises the free-ness of it. Doria. It’s a free gift. You don’t buy it, you don’t purchase it, you don’t earn it, you are given it. And it is measured out by the determining purpose of Christ. Okay? So the source of your gift is Christ who has designed that gift, measured out that gift and given you freely that gift by which you are to minister in the church.

That is what verse 7 is saying. Every believer possesses such gifts. So turn for a moment to Romans chapter 12, and let’s look at the two definitive passages on these gifts. Romans 12.3. For through the grace given to me, I say to everyone that you ought not to think more highly, that he ought not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think. But to think so as to have sound judgment as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. There’s that word again, that measure that God has allotted to every believer.

God has measured out an allotment to every believer that is unique to that believer. Verse 4. There are many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function. There we are again. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one body, one hope of our calling, one God and Father, and yet there are many members. Verse 5. There is one body, but they’re individual members, one of another, and we have gifts that differ according again to the grace given to us. These are freely given gifts. This again emphasizes the source.

They are given to us end of verse 6, according to the proportion of faith. In other words, God determines the measure by his grace and gives us a proportion of faith to work the gift. The proportion of faith, the proportion of grace, is consistent with the expectation bound up in the gift. They’re gifts of service, gifts of teaching, of exhortation, of giving, of leading, of showing mercy, as you see going down to verse 8. Those are simply categories of gifts. There are some who serve, there are some who teach, there are some who exhort, there are some who give, there are some who lead with diligence, there are some who are merciful, and who demonstrate that mercy with cheerfulness.

Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 12, and there’s a parallel passage to this that has a couple of interesting things to comment on. In verse 4, again there are a variety of gifts, but the same spirit. We are back then to this diversity within unity. The same spirit, one Lord, one faith, all of that, but varieties of gifts. There are varieties of ministries, but the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. And here it comes again, just as we read it in Ephesians 4.

To each one is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good. So you are given by God himself a gift. It is a manifestation of the spirit, it is a free gift of grace, it comes with a proportion of faith so that it can operate in its fullness for the benefit of the church for the common good. For some there is given the word of wisdom, for another the word of knowledge, for another faith, for another gifts of healing, for another the effecting of miracles, for another prophecy or preaching, for another distinguishing of spirits or discernment, for another various kinds of languages, for another the interpretation of languages.

But one and the same spirit works all these things, distributing to each individual just as he wills. Thank you for joining us in this exploration of fellowship. Until next time remember to keep the faith, stay strong and continue to shine your light in the world. To hear these daily devotions of your daily bread please log on to goddessgovernment.com. Goodbye and may your faith always lead the way. [tr:trw].