Prophesying in Proportion to the Faith
Romans 12:6
Introduction.
Last week we looked at the concept of the vestigial Christian.
Such a thing does not truly exist.
We all have a function and a purpose in the Lord’s church.
It is our duty to find it, not only to help us reach our full potential but to help the cause of Christ.
There were seven areas we looked at in Romans 12:6-8.
Prophesying, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, and mercy.
In the next few weeks, we are going to look at each one of these to see where we might be able to fit in.
There are some notable changes going on here in this congregation, and we need to consider what the Bible has to say on our duties.
Truth be told, this could have applied to us several months ago, too, but it certainly applies now that we must step up in areas we might not have felt comfortable before.
Prophesying Preview (PPF).
Prophesying.
Proportional.
Faithful.
Body.
Prophesying.
We normally think of prophesying in a miraculous sense.
It is true that there is often an element of the miraculous when this is mentioned in Scripture.
We recognize that prophesying in that sense has failed (1 Cor. 13:8-13).
Sandwiched in between two chapters devoted to the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, Paul talks about love, and how it is the “more excellent way” (1 Cor. 12:31).
Miraculous prophecies will fail, miraculous tongues will cease, and miraculous knowledge will vanish away.
Such miraculous things are done in part, and that which is in part (these miraculous gifts) will be done away.
When will they be done away? When that which is perfect has come.
There are different ideas for when that is (or will be).
Some think it refers to heaven, some to the second coming, others say it is when the canon of Scriptures was completed.
Paul later talks about the three things that remain after the miraculous gifts have ceased: faith, hope, and love.
In heaven and at the second coming, we will have no more need of faith or hope.
Faith is only faith when the object of our faith is unseen (Heb. 11:1).
Hope is only hope when the object of our hope is unseen (Rom. 8:24).
When the church is mature, she will no longer speak, understand, or think as a child, but then will have all the knowledge we need—the written word of God!
Faith and hope are still needed even after this perfect knowledge has been revealed.
So if we are to apply this gift of prophecy in Rom. 12, we must consider alternatives to the miraculous.
What does the Greek say?
Upon first inspection, it doesn’t say much.
The term “prophet” or “prophecy” is actually a transliteration of the Greek word: προφήτης for prophet and προφητεία for prophecy.
So, just like we do for “baptism,” we must look at the origin of the word and try to properly translate it.
Thayer’s defines it: “a discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God, whether by reproving or admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden; esp. by foretelling future events.”
When you break down the word, it’s a combination of two words: προ (a prepositional prefix) and φημι (meaning to say).
This προ can mean several different things:
before of place or time, or as a superior position.
Or it could mean someone who is in public view, who does something openly.
So this is someone who speaks publicly.
While this is typically understood to be in a miraculous, Spirit-directed situation, if one speaks from divine inspiration indirectly (that is preaching the Bible), then he can still “declare the purposes of God, reprove or admonish the wicked, comfort the afflicted” – though he will not be foretelling any future events that are not already foretold in Scripture.
He may reveal, or open up the Scriptures, to others.
He may foretell, but he definitely forth-tells.
This is a gift we may have.
Anyone of us might have a gift to proclaim the gospel to others.
One doesn’t need a contract or a paycheck to preach the truth publicly.
It certainly helps to have training—even the prophets in the OT had a school that many of them attended. The students were called the “sons of the prophets” (2 Kgs 2–9; cf. Amos 7:14).
But it is a skill one can hone.
If you asked any of my friends from high school what they thought I would be doing for a living, a preacher was not on that list.
Not because I wasn’t a good kid, I was, but because I was a terrible public speaker.
In any of my school presentations, I would be so nervous, unable to get through it.
Even in my first presentation in church, after I became a member of the church of Christ, I was 18, and I did a terrible job, stammering, making no coherent sense.
But I learned from my mistakes and did better the next time.
That’s all any of us can ever do, learn and do better!
Proportional.
The Scripture says that if we have this gift, we should use it in proportion to our faith.
How should we understand this concept of proportionality?
This is the Greek word ἀναλογία.
It might sound familiar, like analogue, analogy, or analogous—in fact, it is!
When something is analogous to another, you find shared characteristics of both.
We might look at baptism and say it is analogous to the Flood or to the Israelites crossing the Red Sea.
We say that because Scripture makes that connection (1 Pet. 3:21; 1 Cor. 10:2).
When the Flood came, it saved Noah and his family from the sin in the world.
When the Israelites escaped Egypt, the Red Sea saved them from getting back into Egyptian bondage.
When we are baptized, we are saved from the pollutions of the world, and set free from the bondage of sin.
This is the only time this word is used in the NT, but Thayer states there is an equivalent phrase—“a measure of faith” (12:3).
We note that God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
Since we note this is done through grace, this is a gift given to the saved.
This is for those who have made their bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, those who have been transformed by having their minds renewed (12:1-2).
This is for the Christian.
This is the Greek word μέτρον where we get the word “meter.”
In this context, it is “determined extent, portion measured off, measure or limit.”
In other words God has dealt or divided to each one a portion of faith.
Again, in context, this is a reference to the miraculous gifts.
The application we can take from this is that God has gifted us with our natural talents and abilities that we can develop and hone.
Since God has given them to us, we are “not to think of [ourselves] more highly than [we] ought to think” (12:3).
So if we have the gift of prophecy (in a non-miraculous sense), then it should be analogous to or in accordance with something … our faith?
Faithful.
In accordance with the faith.
The NKJV says it is in proportion to our faith, as does the ESV.
But the truth is there is no pronoun there. It literally says “in proportion to the faith.”
We could potentially understand it to mean “our faith,” but it would not be our individual faith or amount of belief.
This should be understand to be the faith, that is the system of faith that we are under today—the gospel system of faith.
In accordance with the faith.
In other words we are not to preach willy-nilly.
We are not to preach our feelings or opinions.
We are not to preach on some knew book I just read.
I mentioned in a live stream this past week that I would love to find some way to teach or preach through C. S. Lewis’ book The Screwtape Letters.
It has some great and fascinating material that could be spiritually beneficial for us all.
But is it the Bible? No, no it’s not.
Quoting it in a sermon is not wrong, as we quote many people: “Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”
Isn’t that a great quote? And so true, but it’s not the Bible.
We are to preach the gospel.
Preaching that gospel is to “preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness” (1 Cor. 1:23).
But it doesn’t matter what others say, because we are “not [to be] ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16).
The job of the gospel preacher, or one who publicly declares the gospel, is outlined well in Nehemiah 8:8.
It had been 70+ years since the Israelites had been in their homeland, and they forgot much of what the Law said—if it were even passed down to them to begin with.
The Levites “helped the people to understand the Law” (Neh. 8:7).
And “they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading” (Neh. 8:8).
They were separated by so much time away and their culture had greatly changed, so it was difficult for them to understand certain aspects of the Law.
We are separated by thousands of years, thousands of miles, so imagine how much more difficult it is for us.
While we can read the Scriptures and understand them for ourselves, sometimes we need help—there’s no shame in admitting it. The Ethiopian eunuch certain did.
As it was the job of the Levites, it is my job, to read distinctly from the Scriptures, to give the sense, and to help you understand it (1 Tim. 4:13).
Conclusion.
We all have different gifts and abilities.
For some, that gift is a form of prophecy, to publicly declare something.
That’s what a preacher does week in and week out.
But it doesn’t have to be limited to the preacher.
We all can do our part to proclaim the gospel.
We have our opportunities on Wednesday evenings for our men to get their feet wet.
Dan and I usually cover the devotionals after class, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Sunday evenings once a month after our song service is another great opportunity for our men.
And if you want to preach longer sermons, let someone know, and we can work something out!
Recall anything that we preach must be the gospel of Jesus Christ.
This is our faith, and it must be proclaimed!
What is it we are to proclaim?
Of course, we need to proclaim Christ and Him crucified.
We need to proclaim salvation to sinners.
We need to show them what they need to do to be saved and to get right with God.