We need to read verses 6 through 8. “And having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them accordingly: whether prophecy, according to the proportion of faith; or service, in the service; or he who teaches, in teaching; or he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, in simplicity; he who leads, in diligence; he who shows mercy, in cheerfulness.” In verse 6 Paul says that we have “gifts that differ according to the grace given to us.” What is grace? As we saw in a previous message, grace is simply God in Christ as our enjoyment. When this grace, this divine element, which is the divine life, comes into our being, it brings with it certain skills and abilities which are the gifts. The gifts, the spiritual abilities, come from the divine element which we have enjoyed. As you enjoy God, receiving and assimilating His divine element into your being, out of this divine element proceeds some gift, skill, or ability. These gifts differ according to the divine element which we have enjoyed and which we have assimilated into our being. The grace given to us refers to the grace we have enjoyed and assimilated. Therefore, the gifts mentioned in Romans 12 are the gifts of grace in life.
This can be proved by other verses in the book of Romans. Romans 5:17 says that “those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life.” This verse indicates that grace is related to life. Furthermore, in 5:21 Paul says that “grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” These two verses from Romans 5 prove that grace is related to life. What is grace? It is the divine life for our enjoyment. When the eternal life of God becomes our enjoyment, that is grace. In 1 Corinthians 15:10 Paul said, “I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” The grace of God which was with Paul was the divine life within Paul as his enjoyment. Thus, he labored more than the other apostles, although actually it was not Paul himself, but the divine life which he enjoyed. Thus, grace in Romans is a matter of life.
The gifts in Romans 12 are according to grace. This means that the gifts are granted according to the measure of life. If you have enjoyed the life of God to a high degree, you will receive a higher gift. However, if your enjoyment of the life of God is limited, your gift also will be limited, for the measure of your gift is limited by the extent to which you have enjoyed the divine life as grace within you. The gifts enumerated in Romans 12 are not the miraculous gifts which come to you suddenly. No, the gifts in Romans 12 are like the abilities of the members of our human body. The measure of ability depends upon the amount of life in the body. If the body is mature with considerable growth of life and with a great amount of life, it will have an abundant overflow of life, and this overflow of the inner life of the body will produce abilities. These abilities resemble the gifts in Romans 12. All of the items included in verses 6 through 8 are gifts of grace in life. We may list seven of them: prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, and showing mercy. We need to remember that each of these seven items, including the showing of mercy, is a gift.
Many Christians seem to think that the only gifts are speaking in tongues, interpretation, healing, and miracles. However, it is quite strange that none of these gifts is mentioned in Romans 12. In Romans 12 Paul says nothing about speaking in tongues, interpretation, healing, and miracles, but he does speak about the gifts which are necessary for the Body life. Please notice that verse 6 says, “having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us,” and that it does not say, according to the so-called baptism. I need to repeat once again the definition of grace: grace is the divine element coming into our being to be our life for our enjoyment. Grace is not outward; it is the element of the divine life that is wrought into our being inwardly and which gives us some skill or ability. Let us now consider the gifts of grace in life in more detail.
If you consult various versions and translations of Romans, you will find that most of them agree that prophecy in Romans 12 does not mainly denote prediction. Even in the Scripture as a whole, the word prophesy does not mainly mean to predict. In both the Old and New Testaments to prophesy means: (1) to tell for, that is, to speak for others; (2) to tell forth, that is, to speak things forth; and (3) to foretell, that is, to predict, to speak things before they happen. The whole book of Isaiah is a book of prophecy. It is not only composed with foretellings, but the more with tellings forth and tellings for. It is true that Isaiah does contain some predictive prophecies, but the majority of the oracles and utterances in that book are the speaking forth of the prophet on behalf of God. Hence, the meaning of the word to prophesy is mainly “speaking for” and “speaking forth.” What is prophecy? It is the speaking for God under His direct inspiration. In his Word Studies in the New Testament (Vol. 3, p. 156) Marvin Vincent says this about prophecy: “In the New Testament, as in the Old, the prominent idea is not prediction, but the inspired delivery of warning, exhortation, instruction, judging, and making manifest the secrets of the heart. See 1 Corinthians 14:3, 24, and 25. The New Testament prophets are distinguished from teachers by speaking under direct inspiration.” Thus, the main idea of prophecy in the Bible is not prediction, but speaking for God under His direct inspiration.