Humility in the Church — John Murray

The Command to Think Soberly About Ourselves

If you turn to the twelfth chapter of the Epistle of Paul to the Romans, the third verse, the twelfth chapter of the Epistle of Paul to the Romans, chapter three, the twelfth chapter, verse three, Through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

In the two preceding verses of this chapter, as we found, the Apostle Paul is giving exhortations which obviously apply to all without any distinction whatsoever. You could not think of any differentiation as the exhortations of the first two verses bear upon all believers, because all believers, without any difference whatsoever, ought to present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is their reasonable service.

And all believers must be exhorted to be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of their mind, that they may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. But you will notice that the Apostle Paul, at verse three, makes a very significant change, and he proceeds, For I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.

Differences in Faith, Offices, and Spiritual Gifts

And it is quite apparent that the Apostle Paul, in this particular verse, and in the verses which follow, is going to deal with the differences which exist among believers. Now that's quite apparent, because even in verse three he says, According as God hath dealt to every man, that is, to each one, a measure of faith.

They don't all have the same measure, the difference. There is the distribution on the part of God, as God hath distributed to each one, his own or her own measure of faith. And then he says, For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, they don't all have the same function.

And then, So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one member one of another, having then gifts differing. According to the grace that is given unto us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith, or ministry, let us wait on our ministering, or he that teacheth on teaching, or he that exhorteth on exhortation, he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity, he that ruleth with diligence, he that showeth mercy with cheerful.

There is the distribution of offices, the distribution of gifts in the church of God. And I take it that that is why the Apostle Paul says at the beginning of verse three, For I say, through the grace of God given unto me, and he is no doubt appealing there, to the particular office that was given unto him in the church of Christ.

And it is in terms of that office, or by virtue of the authority with which he was invested in connection with that office, that he proceeds to give exhortations to the believers in their various offices, in their various difference.

Paul's Apostolic Authority in Church Government

And the grace that the Apostle Paul speaks of here is very likely the same grace as he refers to elsewhere when he says, That to me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.

And when the Apostle Paul, in this chapter, and in other parts of, in other epistles, in other parts of this epistle, assigns to each one in the church of God his own particular place, and prescribes for the church of God the various offices that are to be exercised in the church of God, it is in pursuance of his apostolic authority that he is doing that.

If any other Christian ordinary believer in the church of God would speak as the Apostle Paul speaks in some of his epistles, it would be downright presumption that the Apostle Paul is conscious of his apostolic authority, is conscious of the authority delegated to him by the great head of the church, and he is prescribing for the church in all ages that government and discipline, as well as that ministry by which the church of God is to be carried on and governed to the very end of the age.

And consequently, there was a necessity that the Apostle Paul, at this point, should make some allusion to the authority with which he was speaking. And consequently, he says, for I, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.

The Mercies of God and the Grace of Apostolic Office

You see the difference at this point between what you have at the beginning of verse 3 and that which you have at the beginning of verse 1? For at the beginning of verse 1, the Apostle Paul based his plea upon the tender compassions of God.

For he says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, through the mercies of God, that is, through the tender compassions of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice. And of course, that kind of plea is not by any means abrogated or suspended at the third verse, but the Apostle Paul now finds it necessary to introduce an allusion to his own particular office in the Church of God, and the grace that was given to him, in order that he might perform that office.

So he says, for I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you. Now when we are thinking of the differences that exist among believers, and when we are thinking of the different offices, the different graces, the different gifts that God bestows upon the various members of the Church of God, the important consideration that has to be urged upon the members of the Church of Christ, that you shall raise the people must of the different functions and different offices which particular individuals perform in the Church of Christ.

The Sin of Pride and Self-Assertiveness

Well, it is humanity. Humanity. And that is what Paul alludes to here, that it is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to. Now is the day that when a particular person is endowed by God so liable to become so absorbed in the gifts which he or she possesses, that he or she will consider himself or herself the danger of becoming, as it were, inflated with pride, the danger of self-assertiveness, the danger of all the...

You know, the Apostle John spoke of a certain person who loved to have the preeminence sometimes in very subtle and deceitful forms. Did my dear even appear under the garb of humility, the danger of self-assertiveness, of overbearing...

Mutual Dependence in the Body of Christ

Recognize one's particular place in the body. You see how utterly inconsistent and even inconceivable it is in the human body to boast itself against the food, against the heart of the body in any way whatsoever, to boast itself against some other part of the body.

And that, you see, is what the Apostle is pleading. For we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office. So we, being many, are one body in Christ, member of self-assertiveness and overbearingness.

We ought to recognize mutual dependence, that we are members on earth, rejoice with it. Or if one member suffers, suffer with it. That is what is done in the human body. If you have a toothache, it may not be a very important ailment at all, but if you have a toothache, not simply your tooth that aches, your whole body is in the Church of Christ.

If you have a particular member in your body that is particularly useful or particularly strong, your whole body contributes to that strength, and your whole body rejoices in the strength. If a person has a very strong arm, rejoices in that strength, and the whole body contributes to the strength of that particular arm, which that particular person has.

And that's what we should recognize, our mutual interdependence. The one upon the other. And that the whole body is not one member frequently. In connection with office in the Church, that this vice of pride, of self-assertiveness, of overbearingness, and it has become, of course, vice of the Christian Church.

Ecclesiastical Preeminence and the Papacy

Particular eminence, particular pre-eminence, in the government experience that we are immune to that vice. It has frequently appeared in the history of Presbyterian churches, and even of Orthodox, doctrinally Orthodox Presbyterians.

Certain persons, in their overbearing selves, have a prediction the opposite of that which the Apostle Paul enjoins in this particular passage. To every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly.

For example, in the church owner, has claimed for himself to be the victor of Christ, and has even claimed for himself that when he speaks ex cathedra, that is, officially, he speaks in Palavra. And that he is, as it were, the very voice of God himself.

Application, the extreme development of that particular vice against which the Apostle Paul is warning us in this particular text. To everyone that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought.

True Humility and the Proper Use of Gifts

And perhaps that is the companion that so frequently appears, even in the church of Christ, self-exhortation. That's the next virtue that the Apostle Paul enjoys. Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly.

Not to think so literally, so as to think soberly. That's what Paul says. But to think, so as to think soberly. Has dealt to each one a measure of thanks. And what is this? That's the vice of a false humility.

In the church of Christ, they have given certain gifts, an underestimation of the grace of God. And that is likewise a vice. Each individual, in the body of vocations, exercise the grace God has given to him or to her in that particular position.

And that, or to think, or to think, so as to think soberly. There is the danger. Humility, because of unfaithfulness, because of even laziness, the fear of man, people fail to exercise the function or the office to that person in the church of God.

And that is the other vice of not thinking soberly. If God has given a measure of faith, if God has given a gift, he has given that measure of faith to be exercised. He has given that gift that it may be exercised.

Just remember that there is a certain responsibility devolving upon us in the church of Christ for not to sit by idly. God has not appointed women, for example, to office in the church. According to his own institution, he has appointed men.

Offices and Responsibilities of Men and Women

He has endowed men with certain gifts. And in the last analysis, there are only two offices in the church party. The office of Elder and the office of Deacon. And these two offices, of course, are, according to the institution of Christ, always exercised by men.

So that as far as ruling in the church of Christ is concerned, that is the function of man, not of women. But nevertheless, they are also, just as well as men, have to discharge in the church of Christ their responsibility.

They are from the place that God has assigned them in that place and according to that measure of faith. And that is what the Apostle Paul is enjoining in this particular passage. But to think, so as to think soberly, according as God has dealt to everyone, not simply to every man.

He doesn't say every man is distinguished from a woman. He speaks to each one. That is to the woman as well as to the man, to each one, a measure of faith. And as you proceed to examine this passage, you will find that the gifts that God has, that the Apostle mentions and that God has distributed, include every member of the church of Christ.

Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith, or ministry let us wait on our ministering, or he that teacheth on teaching, or he that exhorteth on exhortation, he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity, he that ruleth with diligence, he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness.

Unity and Edification in the Body of Christ

Let love be without dissimulation, abhor that which is good, abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good. And consequently, just in one word, we have to appreciate more and more what I have been stressing sometimes on these few visits to you, the unity of the body of Christ.

The church is the body of Christ. That is, the visible church is the body of Christ, or the church as visible is the body of Christ. And each has to exercise his or her function. Otherwise, there is mutilation in the body.

If a certain organ is not exercised, it becomes atrophy. It becomes, perhaps, disease. And the whole body is afflicted with that disease. If that is true in our physical body, it is also true in the body of Christ.

And if a particular person has the gifts and the graces that God has given to him or to her, then there is, to that extent, a certain disease, a certain affliction in the body of Christ. And as you read, as we read that chapter, you know, in the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, how the Apostle Paul emphasizes in that chapter, like, the members of the body of Christ are mutually to support one another, mutually encourage one another, so that in the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace, they may all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, and to a perfect man, and to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Let us pray. Most high and holy and ever-blessed God, who thou bless our meditation upon thy holy word, mix it with faith in our hearts, that it may bring forth the fruit of love and of good works in our lives.

For Jesus' sake, amen.