Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
Or ministry, let us wait on—"be occupied with."
our ministering—The word here used imports any kind of service, from the dispensing of the word of life (Acts 6:4) to the administering of the temporal affairs of the Church (Acts 6:1-3). The latter seems intended here, being distinguished from "prophesying," "teaching," and "exhorting."
or he that teacheth—Teachers are expressly distinguished from prophets, and put after them, as exercising a lower function (Acts 13:1; I Corinthians 12:28-29). Probably it consisted mainly in opening up the evangelical bearings of Old Testament Scripture; and it was in this department apparently that Apollos showed his power and eloquence (Acts 18:24).
Having then gifts differing according to the grace given to us—Here, let it be observed, all the gifts of believers alike are viewed as communications of mere grace.
whether—we have the gift of
prophecy—that is, of inspired teaching (as in Acts 15:32). Anyone speaking with divine authority—whether with reference to the past, the present, or the future—was termed a prophet (Exodus 7:1).
let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith—rather, "of our faith." Many Romish expositors and some Protestant (as CALVIN and BENGEL, and, though, hesitatingly, BEZA and HODGE), render this "the analogy of faith," understanding by it "the general tenor" or "rule of faith," divinely delivered to men for their guidance. But this is against the context, whose object is to show that, as all the gifts of believers are according to their respective capacity for them, they are not to be puffed up on account of them, but to use them purely for their proper ends.
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Romans 12:7:
Romans 12:21
1 Timothy 3:13
1 Timothy 4:13
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