Look at these two translations of the same passage, Romans 12:6:

Seeing then that we have gifts that are divers, according to the grace that is given unto us, whether we have prophecy, let us prophesy according to the portion of faith. (1599 Geneva Bible)

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith. (Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬)

The latter seems to be saying that if you have the gift of prophecy, you have a certain amount of faith, and you should prophesy in accordance with it.

The former is more ambiguous, mentioning only the portion of faith.

How are we to understand this? Is the verse speaking of those who have a supernatural gift of prophecy, so that they can receive direct words from God, reveal hidden insights, and declare the future?

Is it saying that the relevance, success, and outcomes of your prophetic words are dependent on the size of your faith?

Or should we understand the portion of faith (the proportion of faith, KJV; in proportion to our faith, NKJV, ESV) to mean a standard of some sort.

In other words, is Romans 12:6 talking about a subjective measurement of faith; or an objective standard of faith?

Two things are key here. First, the word translated as portion (1599 Geneva Bible); in accordance with (NIV); proportion (KJV, NKJV, ESV, NASB 1995, CSB); and as much as (NLT).

The Greek word back of this is analogia, from which we get the English word analogy. An analogy involves setting one thing beside another. Now, this passage is the only time this word appears in the whole NT. But in Classical Greek, analogia was a mathematical term. It meant a ratio. So what we need to understand here—and some of our newer translations aren’t doing a great job getting this across—is that this is referring to conforming to an objective standard. It has to compute with faith.

If you’re confused by this, you should be, so here’s the second thing to see, and this should clear it up completely. The word faith is articular, meaning the definite article immediately proceeds it. The Greek here is tēs pisteōs, or the faith.

Again, a lot of our English translations are confusing just here. Notice the NIV above had prophesy in accordance with your faith. Your is not in the text. The ESV says in proportion to our faith, which is better (we’ll see why shortly), but again—it’s supplying a pronoun that’s simply not there.

When we understand that it says in proportion to the faith, now we can see that Paul has in mind a body of doctrine. Not faith as in belief, such as when he says: by grace you have been saved through faith (Ephesians 2:8 NKJV); but the faith, as when Jude 3 says: the faith [tē pistei] which was once for all delivered to the saints (NKJV).

So what is Paul saying in Romans 12:6?

He’s not saying that prophetic words are successful on account of the subjective amount of faith you bring to prophesying. This is essentially how the charismatic, Word of Faith type preachers want us to understand this passage, so that prophecy becomes an exercise in manifesting.

Rather, Paul here is speaking of prophecy as preaching. Note how it’s immediately connected with ministry, teaching, and exhortation (vv7-8a). He’s not speaking to private revelations or predictions.

Rather, he is saying that preaching ought to conform to the objective standards of the faith, along the lines of Jude’s the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

The passage is therefore handled best by the EHV, which has in complete agreement with the faith; and the LSB, which has in agreement with the faith. Analogia should be understood as an objective correspondence. You could render it corresponding to the faith.

This is why I said the ESV’s in proportion to our faith was slightly preferable to others, like the NIV’s your faith; or the CSB’s one’s faith. When we speak of our faith, we do typically mean an objective body of doctrine, one which is shared by all Christians, as when 2 Peter 1:1 speaks of like precious faith with us (NKJV); or as the EHV has it: the same kind of faith as ours.

Thus, the concern of Romans 12:6 is ultimately hermeneutical. In other words, what is preached in the Church must harmonize with, as C.S. Lewis put it in Mere Christianity, “the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times.” In other words, the preacher is not to get up and reinvent the Christian faith every Sunday morning. Or as John Calvin puts it in his comments on Romans 12:6, preachers are to prophesy according “to the rule of faith, lest in anything they should deviate from the right line. By faith he means the first principles of religion, and whatever doctrine is not found to correspond with these is here condemned as false.”

Incidentally, this also helps us better understand Romans 14, which begins: Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things (NKJV). Once again, faith is articular here: tē pistei, the faith. Like the NKJV, the 1599 Geneva Bible, KJV, and NET all bear this out. Others simply say weak in faith, as if the problem were the quality of an individual’s personal faith. And again, this can get subjective very quickly. But when we read it as weak in the faith, we understand that it means those who have not yet learned and mastered the body of doctrine of the Christian faith.

Thus, these are those we might call “baby Christians,” whose faith is immature. Hebrews would say that they are unskilled in the word of righteousness, who have not yet by reason of use had their senses exercised to discern both good and evil (Hebrews‬ ‭5‬:‭13-14‬ ‭NKJV). We don’t debate doctrine with the immature, but continue to instruct them in the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints; including such matters as the elementary principles of Christ, … repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, … the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment (Hebrews‬ ‭6‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

Those who are weak in the faith need preaching and teaching that is in complete agreement with the faith (Romans 12:6 EHV), so that they may become strong, healthy disciples who don’t stumble over secondary matters, or develop deadly cases of scrupulosity. [2]

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[1] Exactly how this connects with v3, which says that God has dealt to each one a measure of faith (NKJV), is an interesting discussion somewhat outside the scope of the present study.

[2] Scrupulosity is an obsessive disorder where the sufferer is constantly concerned that they have said, thought, or done something that has violated religious doctrine. It is truly hellish for those afflicted with it.