We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith;
Parallel translations
- WEB Having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us, if prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith;
- KJV Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
- NKJV Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;
- NASB However, since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to use them properly: if prophecy, in proportion to one’s faith;
- NLT In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
We have differing gifts according to grace; prophecy is to be exercised in proportion to one's faith.
Overview
Paul begins listing spiritual gifts, all 'according to the grace given to us,' underscoring that they are unearned endowments for serving the body. The first, prophecy, is to be used 'according to the proportion of faith,' that is, in keeping with what one has been given and in agreement with the faith. The emphasis is on faithful, humble use of gifts for the common good rather than self-display.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 27
- 1 Pet 4:10–11As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another.
- 1 Cor 7:7I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.
- 1 Cor 12:28–31And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues.
- 1 Cor 12:4–11There are different gifts, but the same Spirit.
- Rom 12:3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you.
- 1 Cor 13:2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
- 1 Cor 14:3–5But he who prophesies speaks to men for their edification, encouragement, and comfort.
- Rom 1:11For I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,
- 1 Cor 14:1Earnestly pursue love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.
- 1 Cor 1:5–7For in Him you have been enriched in every way, in all speech and all knowledge,
- Eph 4:11And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
- 2 Cor 8:12For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.
- 1 Cor 4:6–7Brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what is written. Then you will not take pride in one man over another.
- 1 Th 5:20Do not treat prophecies with contempt,
- 1 Cor 14:31–32For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.
- Acts 15:32Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers.
- 1 Cor 14:29Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.
- Luke 11:49Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and others they will persecute.’
- Matt 23:34Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute in town after town.
- Acts 2:17‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
- Phil 3:15All of us who are mature should embrace this point of view. And if you think differently about some issue, God will reveal this to you as well.
- Acts 21:9He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.
- 1 Cor 14:24But if an unbeliever or uninstructed person comes in while everyone is prophesying, he will be convicted and called to account by all,
- Eph 3:5which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.
- Acts 11:27–28In those days some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
- Acts 18:24–28Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, well versed in the Scriptures.
- Acts 13:1Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch), and Saul.
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 12:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
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