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; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith
– Romans 12:3
In the passage that follow, Paul talks about the gifts that God has given to every member of the Body of Christ. The major points Paul makes about the use of these gifts are that they should be used with humility, confidence, and faithfulness. In this passage, Paul talks about the importance of humility in the use God’s gifts. Less than 100 years after this passage was written, the church at Rome became overzealous of their gifts and had begun to exert unbiblical authority over other churches. This church had completely forgotten Paul’s exhortation and thought more highly of themselves than they should have.
He begins this verse with the words, “through the grace given unto me.” As in a lot of his writings, Paul gives himself first as an illustration. Paul was given many spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are tools that are given to members of the Body of Christ through the grace of God. None of us deserve these gifts, but God still gives them to us for the edification (building up) of the local church and in the bigger picture, the Body of Christ. Paul had the authority to speak in this manner because of the gift of apostleship given to him through grace. He wants the Romans to use their gifts appropriately just as how he is using his gift appropriately.
Notice next the words, “to every man among you.” This is a very important piece of doctrinal truth concerning the nature of the local church. Paul is writing to Born-Again Believers in the Roman church. He did not say “to the most spiritual people among you” nor did he say “to those who have been saved the longest.” Paul wanted these Roman believers to know that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM has a gift God has graciously given to them to use in the edification of the church. But along with that, he wants EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM to realize that this gift is BY GRACE (Remember that grace is a gift we DO NOT deserve) and so they should not think of themselves more highly than they ought.
Every blessing in life is a gift we do not deserve. Every blessing is GRACE.