Peter Barnes | Romans 12:6-7
SERMON NOTES
MAKING THE MOST OF OUR GIFTS
(Romans 12:6-7)
1. The gifts are from God’s grace.
– 12:6a; from God, Christ (Eph.4:7), and the Spirit (1 Cor.12:7-11)
– the word for ‘grace’ is related to the word for ‘gifts’
2. The gift of prophecy.
– 12:6b; Calvin equates this with preaching but there is direct revelation involved here.
– see Acts 13:1; 1 Cor.14:29-30; examples in Acts 11:27-28; 21:9-11
– according to their faith in God or, more likely, to the faith which God has revealed
– need to discern true from false prophets (1 Thess.5:20-21)
3. The gift of serving.
– 12:7a; diakonia could refer to the work of deacons (e.g. Acts 6:1-2) or to any more general Christian service
4. The gift of teaching.
– 12:7b; see Eph.4:11; 2 Tim.2:15
– faithful, appropriate, and able to apply Scripture