The Christian's Measure of Faith

March 21st, 2025
by Dr. Lance Waldie

Romans 12:3 “For I say through the grace given to me, to all those among you, do not think too highly of yourselves than that which is necessary to think, but think with sound-thinking—each as God divided a measure of faith” (author’s literal translation).

It is only by the grace of God that anyone can exhort others in God’s ways as Paul does. He could have said anything at this point in his letter, yet he opts to warn Christians about the sin of pride—the overestimation of oneself, perhaps the worst of all sins. He has just reminded the Roman Christians about their sinful depravity and about the need for their minds to be renewed daily (12:2). Since man’s mind is depraved, his will is evil. But because God’s will is “good, acceptable, and perfect” (12:2), Christians ought never be haughty. They are to approve of what other Christians do only by measuring their will against God’s perfect will.

In the Greek text there is a play on words for the verb “think” (Gr. phroneō) as indicated by my literal translation above. Christians are not to phroneō of themselves with “lofty thought” (hyperphroneō) but rather with “sensible thought” (sōphroneō), the final term standing in contrast to hybris—“pride.” The verb connotes not so much the intellectual process of thinking in this context as it does the manner in which Christians view things. The proper view of oneself is one that gives all glory to God through the saving grace of Jesus Christ. A proper view of what Christ did at the cross, in view of man’s sinful ways, is that of “sound-thinking” which results from a renewed mind that has been transformed by the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.

Romans 12:3 lends itself to a couple of different interpretations. In light of the fact that vv. 4-8 speak of the church body and its various spiritual gifts, some interpret “measure of faith” in v. 3 as the various and differing gifts that the Holy Spirit has given to all Christians in order to serve the Church of Jesus Christ effectively. They interpret “measure” in terms of quantity—some receiving more of one gift than another. Yet if this were the proper interpretation, it would be difficult for those with the healing gifts, for example, not to think more highly of themselves when gauging themselves against less-gifted others. One would be far more prone to be haughty while seeing their greater gifts in comparison to those with smaller measures of spiritual gifts. So, since Paul was looking to exhort unity rather than superiority, and since Christians tend to calculate their rank in comparison to others, this interpretation is unlikely.

A second use of “measure” in the NT concerns the means of measurement as in a cup, liter, or gallon (cf. Matt. 7:22; 23:32; Mark 4:24; Luke 6:38; Rev. 21:15, 17). Using it this way in v. 3 would mean that “faith” is saving faith, and the “measure of faith” is the same for all who are saved, for saving faith has been given to all Christians in equal measure. Faith can indeed be weak or strong, as Paul shows in Romans 4:19-20 and 14:1, but Paul never teaches that God grants saving faith in various degrees—one person being more saved than another. The faith God gives does indeed save, but it is up to the believer to develop their faith if in fact they truly have saving faith (cf. Matt. 25:14-30). Therefore, “sound-judgment” comes not from comparing one Christian’s giftedness to another but by seeing all believers on equal footing with respect to the saving grace all of them have received from God, resulting in spiritual fruit that honors God.

Food For Thought
Sadly, some Christians are susceptible to competition today, measuring themselves with others. In so doing, we will either think too highly or too lowly of ourselves. Instead, let us think of ourselves with a sound mind and measure ourselves by the common faith God has given to us. This will push us to concentrate on the one thing we all have in common: our saving faith through Jesus Christ. From there we can be unified in one faith under one God.