Gifted By Grace

Ephesians 3:1

Paul sets a profound truth which has not been known before, but which was given to Paul in a special way to be shared with all of God's people. The real secret of the functioning of the will of God in the lives and the conduct of Christians, so that believers can live together in blessed communion with mutual love and esteem, is "Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Col. 1:27)

It is the indwelling Christ who enables Believers to live in the will of God with love and good will toward all men, so that all human distinction and earthly categories are gone.

Paul is speaking of the grace given to him. Can you understand that each Christian as a member of the body of Christ is given something to do in His will and service that no one else can do? Paul wrote to the believers in Ephesus that they might know the meaning of the grace of God in Christ. Sometimes, Paul uses himself as an example:
"For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given to me to you-ward: how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery." (Eph. 3:1-3)

Through this teaching they would come to know more about the grace of God that is Christ Jesus. This in itself is an important message for any Christian. Every Christian has something special to benefit others. No one can take your place.

Paul says, "I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles." I've got something to say, and I'm responsible to say it.
"If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me you-ward. "

Paul had been entrusted with an understanding of the grace of God which he was to share with other believers. Those of us who have this wonderful, good news have a responsibility to pray for others and to tell others of God's grace. You have something to do. You have something to say. You have something to show. You have something to suffer. You have something to give that no one else has.

The assignment you have from God is specific. Each believer has a task that is uniquely his. God reveals to each individual believer his specific responsibility.

It is often implied that if a person were a Christian, he would be good and he would do good. Unconsciously perhaps, yet nonetheless, it is felt that the person - the believer - is the doer all the way through. This whole line of thought is wrong. If this were true, the person who seems to do well would become proud.

In this connection, if such a believer seems to be obedient, and seems to be doing the right things, he would become smug and self-satisfied. If he seems to fail, as sometimes he will, he becomes depressed and frightened because he thinks that it is all up to him. This person feels his life to be barren without any visible results and would begin to doubt. He feels there could not be anything real about his faith because he is not doing anything.

All these things are the result of a great big mistake. It is natural to feel that if one is ever to achieve anything, he has to strive to do his best. We are slow to realize our natural pride. The natural person feels that it is all up to him.

Here we must remember what Paul had to say in Romans 12:6:
"The gifts we possess differ as they are allotted to us by God's grace, and must be exercised accordingly."

Paul uses a Greek word in this passage meaning, "grace gifts." This word is used frequently in the New Testament to describe our new spiritual capacities. The significance of it is that it ties the idea of our gifts to the grace of God.

We know that the word, "grace" means "unmerited favor." God has given us something that we didn't deserve. He did not present us with our gifts because we were highly skilled, or properly born, or spiritually perfect.

Our place in the Lord's body is an act of grace.
Our function as a member of that body is an act of grace.
Our service for Him, using our spiritual gifts is a function of grace.

There is not a single reason why I should ever brag about my gifts. They are not mine!
How I use them and when I use them and where I use them should be as God directs me. I cannot do my own thing.
When I do my own thing, I am out of the will of my Father. I am really deep into self-serving. This is where my entire life can get out of whack - life, home, business, and church. There are too many in our churches doing their own thing to the detriment of the church and to all those they influence.

When the Head of the body (Jesus Christ) enters into our lives, we are placed into that body quite deliberately. We are given a practical function to perform. A hand or an eye must do its specific function in the body's life. The human body is an amazing creation - everything does something.

1 Corinthians 12:7 explains that the Spirit is given to us so that we might function for some useful purpose.
"Therefore, the Christ-given gift come to us."

In 1 Corinthians 12:1 the term, "gifts of the Spirit," is in the Greek simply "the spirituals." Look:
"About gifts of the Spirit, there are some things of which I do not wish you to remain ignorant...In each of us the Spirit is manifested in one particular way, for some useful purpose."

Here the term "gifts of the Spirit" or "the spirituals" describes specific capacities produced in us by the entrance of the Holy Spirit. It means that I have received spiritual capacities, so that I might perform adequately as a member of the body of Christ.

The Spirit's life within me is a practical possession. He is not mine to enjoy having, as I would enjoy playing with a toy. He indwells me to use me to perform the tasks directed to me by the Head of the body. We must be certain that it is He who is directing us and that we are not just doing the things that we enjoy doing.

God, who outfitted the human body, has also outfitted the body of Christ. In Romans 12:4-5, Paul says:
"For just as in a single human body there are many limbs and organs, all with different functions, so all of us, united with Christ, form one body, serving individually as limbs and organs to one another."

As I stated above, there is no reason why any of us should ever brag about our gifts. Also, there is no earthly reason why we should be jealous over the spiritual gifts possessed by another member of the body. Remember, God has placed them there by His grace.

When I was born into the physical world, I was endowed with certain talents related to my function in it. The use of these human skills or talents makes it possible for me to contribute something to human society. Man's ability to be an accountant, to repair a car, or to design a bridge, makes him a productive person.

"Spiritual gifts" are given to us in order that we might be productive, functioning members of our new world in Christ. These gifts are obviously more than our natural talents, or physical skills. We have missed the teaching of the Scriptures if we think that "spiritual gifts" refer to using natural talents for the glory of God.
One playing the piano or the organ in church services, instead of a night club, is not exercising his or her spiritual "gift." He is using his natural talents for the glory of God, rather than for the devil or the world. There is a world of difference between the talent of teaching practiced by an atheistic college professor and the gift of teaching practiced by a spiritual Bible teacher.

Because many are not using their talents for God, they are blind to the very fact that they even possess grace-gifts.

Notice that Paul states in 1 Cor. 12:14-21:
"A body is not one single organ, but many... the eye cannot say to the hand, 'I do not need you.'"

Nothing is more foreign to the New Testament than the idea that spiritual gifts are to be exercised privately, or that the individual receives them for his own personal enrichment. We are not to be "Lone Ranger" Christians. A believer is missing what God made Him to be when he is not intimately joined to a local body of Christians, called the "Church."

The salvation of an individual is a personal thing, but the very act joins us to the Church, the "Family of God." For one to be a member of the family demands as an active relationship at all times.

John warns against hating other members of the family.
Paul tells us that members of the family are never to be unequally yoked to non-family members.
Hebrews cautions us against neglecting fellowship with our brothers and sisters.
Peter describes the family as a group of "living stones," carefully fitted to each other.

How does the average Christian select the local church that he will join? He probably will do so by such ways as these:

The quality of the preaching.
The newness of the church building.
The effectiveness of the youth program.
The adequacy of the choir or its music.
The size of the congregation.
How close it is to their home.
How much attention they give to them.
How much they visit them.
The social life of the congregation.

What kind of a freak does a church become when one or all of these reasons become the standard of where I join a church instead of where the Lord of my life would have me join.

Some questions that one should ask himself before joining a local church:

Have you acknowledged the Lordship of Jesus in your life?
Has the Holy Spirit directed you to a church and to your place in that church?

If He hasn't, then you shouldn't be there!
If He has, then you should be there all the time - with all your abilities and all your spiritual gifts.

We belong to the family of God, and we all have a place of service and a responsibility to the family. We have a responsibility to each other.

1 Peter 4:10: "Whatever gift each of you may have received, use it in service to one another, like good stewards dispensing the grace of God in its varied forms."

"Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above.

Before our Father's throne,
Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,
Our comforts and our cares.

We share our mutual woes,
Our mutual burdens bear;
And often for each other flows
The sympathizing tear.

When we asunder part,
It gives us inward pain;
But we shall still be joined in heart,
And hope to meet again."

Sermon by Dr. Harold L. White
You can email Dr. White at hleewhite@aol.com