The Gift of Prophecy

March 26th, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Romans 12:6 Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith…

Paul’s urging from the outset of Romans 12 concerns the ongoing worship of God in view of His mercies (v. 1). Christians are to worship God with their lives, refuse to conform to the world around them, be transformed by the renewing of their minds, and maintain a right view of themselves while working together as many parts in one body (vv. 2-5). Christ’s body, the Church, has many different avenues of spiritual service, and God has given to each Christian a spiritual bent toward certain services, commonly known as the charismata, or spiritual gifts.

In the Greek text, there are no verbs in Romans 12:6b-8 with regard to the spiritual gifts, but after each gift listed there is an implied command, a qualifying phrase of exhortation to put the gift to use. For example, v. 6 speaks of the gift of “prophecy,” and the implied verb would fit in as follows: “If one has the gift of prophecy, then let him use it in proportion to faith.”

Being a prophet “according to the proportion of his faith” means that the prophet is to make sure his utterance is in keeping with what he believes about Christ. “Proportion” (Gr. analogia), used only once in the NT, was used in the classical Greek period prior to the Bible as a mathematical term. Implying a correct amount related to that which is right, and being used in reference to one’s faith, Paul insists that prophets speak forth God’s truths based upon the faith they have been given in Christ—the “measure” (v. 3) that was given to them and to all Christians alike. In other words, when prophets like Paul received God’s revelation, they were to teach it and write it down insofar as they were confident that God was speaking to them. For those who are gifted in prophecy, even after the completion of the Bible, their faith is exercised in prophecy insofar as they fully believe what they preach as having its roots in God’s word, the Bible.

The biblical prophets heard from God and spoke, “Thus says the Lord!” From the OT to the NT, everything is spoken by a prophet or an apostle who had the gift of prophecy—the authority to quote God. The NT apostles and prophets did not have a written NT by Jesus, so God spoke to them (cf. Heb. 1:1-2), and they recorded it as inerrant, holy writ. Paul looked very favorably on the gift of prophecy (cf. 1 Cor. 14) since the essence of the gift has always been to proclaim the words of God. Now, with the words of God having been completed in written form, Christians have all of God’s word revealed in the Scriptures. The office of prophet as it pertains to receiving new revelation from God for the purpose of teaching a community of believers, however, has ceased. Today’s prophets are teachers of the Bible, preachers of truth.

Christ’s Church was built upon the foundational message of the apostles and prophets (Eph. 2:20), and foundations are only put down once. Now the spiritual words of the apostles and prophets are currently building up the body of Christ on the foundation of Christ’s prophetic truths. Though the gift of prophecy, in its foretelling mode, has certainly passed away as Paul said it would (1 Cor. 13:8), prophecy still exists in the sense that teachers and evangelists speak forth the timeless words of God’s apostles and prophets—the Scriptures.

Food For Thought
There are actually preachers today who are nothing more than figureheads, for they don’t even believe the Bible is true. Many of them are in ministry because they enjoy the lifestyle, attention, or the generous pay they can receive. These men and women are false prophets who peddle Jesus for profit. But true prophets and the words of prophecy—speaking forth God’s words—must never speak truth lightly or ignore any part of God’s word. Rather, with conviction and humility, true prophets must be prepared to die preaching Christ and proclaiming His words.