Peter Barnes | Romans 12:8
SERMON NOTES
MAKING THE MOST OF OUR GIFTS
(Romans 12:8)
The seven gifts mentioned in Romans 12:6-8 do not seem to be in any particular order.
1. The gift of encouraging.
– 12:8a; this can also be translated as ‘exhorting’ (NKJV, ESV, Cranfield, Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
– but encouraging seems better; see Barnabas in Acts 4:36-37; 9:26-27; 15:36-38
– not being a flatterer (Prov.26:28; 29:5) or a wet blanket
2. The gift of giving.
– 12:8b; Calvin applies this to the deacons with the church fund, but it can be more general e.g. Eph.4:28
– see Mal.1:13-14 and Acts 5:3-4 for warnings.
3. The gift of leading.
– 12:8c; this probably refers to the elders (cf. 1 Thess.5:12; 1 Tim.3:4-5; 5:17)
– Al Mohler was used to swing the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary over to Reformed convictions after 1993.
4. The gift of showing mercy.
– 12:8d; see Prov.17:22; 2 Cor.9:7