Romans 12:8 - Printer Friendly

ESV: the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

NIV: if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

NASB: or the one who exhorts, in the work of exhortation; the one who gives, with generosity; the one who is in leadership, with diligence; the one who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

CSB: if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness.

NLT: If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

KJV: Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

NKJV: he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Paul is urging those who have received God's mercy through faith in Christ—all Christians—to use the spiritual gifts they have received through God's Spirit to serve each other in the church. So far, Paul has listed the gifts of prophecy, service, and teaching. He seems to be saying that each of these are given to different people, not that every person would have all these gifts.

The gift of exhortation is the Spirit-enabled ability to build someone up by challenging him or her to do better. This passage includes strong exhortation from Paul himself. The church needs exhorters to keep all of us on the right path and moving forward.

Contribution, sometimes called the gift of giving, has to do with money. It is the ability to see the financial need and to step in to help meet that need. As Paul writes here, it requires generosity. Giving generously does not require that someone be wealthy. Often Christians of very limited resources are the most generous in the church as they are led by the Holy Spirit to exercise this gift.

Paul lists leadership as a separate gift from teaching, though often in the church we expect the same person to have both gifts. This often isn't the case. Sometimes called the gift of administration, this is the supernatural ability to call others to follow in the best direction for the group. Paul urges those with this gift to use it with zeal or enthusiasm. Spirit-gifted leaders help to set the energy level for the entire group.

Finally, Paul lists the gift of mercy. This is a powerful gift when exercised in the Holy Spirit. It involves the ability to reflect the mercy God has shown to us on a personal level. Someone with the gift of mercy does not express to others that their wrong choices are okay, but that they are forgiven and accepted in Christ. Another view of this gift is that it involves ministering to the less fortunate. In either case, Paul urges this gift to be exercised with genuine cheerfulness.

Romans 12:3–8 describes the first responsibility of every living-sacrifice Christian who worships the Lord. The church is like a body: Christ's body. Each Christian has a part to play using the specific spiritual gifts God has given to us. These gifts of grace provide all the power and ability we need to serve each other, but we must still do it, whether our gift is service, teaching, exhortation, mercy, or something else.

In Romans 12, Paul describes the worship of our God as becoming living sacrifices to our God, giving up seeking what we want from life and learning to know and serve what God wants. That begins with using our spiritual gifts to serve each other in the church. Paul's list of commands describes a lifestyle of setting ourselves aside. Our goal as Christians is to love and lift each other up. We must focus our expectation on eternity and wait with patience and prayer for our Father to provide. We must refuse to sink to evil's level, giving good to those who harm us instead of revenge.

Romans 11 ended with a hymn describing God's vast ownership of the universe. Romans 12 begins by asking the question, ''Since He owed us nothing and has given us great mercy, how should we respond?'' The answer is a life of self-sacrificing worship spent in serving the Lord and other believers, refusing revenge and overcoming evil with good. Romans 13 will continue to describe God's intended lifestyle for those in Christ.

The book of Romans is the New Testament's longest, most structured, and most detailed description of Christian theology. Paul lays out the core of the gospel message: salvation by grace alone through faith alone. His intent is to explain the good news of Jesus Christ in accurate and clear terms. As part of this effort, Paul addresses the conflicts between law and grace, between Jews and Gentiles, and between sin and righteousness. As is common in his writing, Paul closes out his letter with a series of practical applications.