Apparently Romans 12 is easy to understand, but in actuality it is not easy to get into this portion of the Word. Again we may compare it to the title of God referred to by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 22:32: “The God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” It seems that it is easy to understand that God is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. However, there is something in this title that requires a certain amount of spiritual insight. In Romans 12 it is the same in principle.
Verse 6a says, “And having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us.” Here the gifts are according to grace. I am afraid that not many Christians know what gifts...according to the grace means. What is the grace mentioned here? What is the difference between gifts and grace? And what does it mean that gifts differ according to the grace? Grace may be compared to the blood supply in the members of our body. If a member has a bigger capacity for the blood supply, then it has a bigger gift. If it has a smaller capacity for the blood supply, the size of the gift in that member is smaller. In our little finger, the capacity for the blood supply is very small, so its gift, that is, its function, is also small in size.
In Romans 12 the gift is the function. Ephesians 4 tells us that the members are given to the Body as gifts, but Romans 12 tells us that the functions are given to the members as gifts respectively. In Ephesians 4 the gifts are to the Body while in Romans 12 the gifts are to the members. The latter gifts are the functions given to the separate members as gifts. The arm is given to a physical body as a gift. In addition, a gift is given to the arm as a function so that it can do something. This function is given to this member as a gift according to the measure of the capacity of how much blood supply the member has. If there is a bigger capacity for the blood supply to come in, then the gift is bigger. If there is a smaller capacity for the blood supply to come in, then the gift is smaller. Therefore, we can say that the gift, or the function, comes out of the capacity for the blood supply. This is the proper meaning of gifts differing according to the grace.
Grace is Christ as life to us, Christ within as the “blood supply,” the life supply. As members, the kind of gift, or function, that we have depends on the quantity of Christ as life that we have. If we have more grace, that is, more Christ, then the function given to us will be bigger. If we have only a small amount of Christ, if our capacity to take Christ in is small and limited, we can have only a small function; the function that is given to us will be very limited. This is why Romans 12:6 tells us that the gifts differ according to the grace. The Lord gave the apostle Paul a very big function as a gift. If we had such a great capacity to contain Christ, we also would have a function like Paul’s. The gift is given according to the capacity of grace, that is, of Christ as life.
How can we have the capacity to contain grace, Christ as life, within us? In Romans 12 there are three matters related to the three parts of our being. First, we have to offer our body (v. 1). This is to free our body. We should not let our body be occupied by things other than the Lord. Too often our body is occupied, not released. I agree that the young people have to study in college and the universities. I always encourage people to get a proper education. However, I am not happy to see the young brothers fully occupied by their studies. Sometimes they do not even come to the meetings because they say they are too busy. Their body is fully occupied by studies. I do not agree with this. To study is right, but it is not right to be fully occupied by studies.
It is the same with taking care of our home. To clean and keep our home in a proper way is right, but we should not be occupied in our body by housework. If our body is occupied by home affairs, then how can we function? I would suggest that if you do not have much time, then you should sacrifice a little of your studies and home affairs in order to set your body free from any kind of occupation, so that you may function and serve the Lord. In this country as well as in the Far East, some sisters and brothers keep their homes brilliant, but they do not have any time to contact the Lord. On the Lord’s Day a sister may have time to come to the church meeting only to bring some money and drop it into the offering box. To her this means that she has done her duty. However, she may spend much time to keep her home with its decorations and bright floors.
To spend too much time keeping our home is a kind of luxury. We have to keep our home in a proper way, but only to that extent. Compare our situation with the lives of the Lord and the apostles. They did not spend time to prepare a brilliant home. We cannot bring our home into the New Jerusalem, so no doubt that is a waste. Eventually it will go into the “trash can,” not into the New Jerusalem. If we spend too much time on something that will go to the trash can, it is better to spend it on something else. I do not agree that we should keep our home in a mess. We have to have a proper home, but only that much. Our body is too limited. We need to free our body for the Lord’s service, for our function.
Why can we not function? It is because we are too occupied by our studies, our home, or our business. Some brothers are too occupied by their business. Last year they made five million dollars, this year they want to make eight million, and next year they want ten million. If they do this, they will not be able to serve. Learn to set your body free. Do not occupy it with so many things other than the Lord. This is the meaning of Romans 12:1, which tells us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. We should not offer ourselves in an abstract way. We must have a concrete offering. The concrete offering is the offering of ourselves in our body. Everything must be done in our body. This is to set our body free from occupations and preoccupations.