A Living Sacrifice
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Rom 12:1
I beseech you... Greek: parakaleo, to call aside; make an appeal in view of certain facts. Here it is an appeal in view of the wonderful doctrines of Romans 1-8 and of God’s dispensational dealings with Jews and Gentiles in Romans 9-11. Paul comes now to the practical application of the gospel to people (Romans 12:1-15:7).
mercies of God... Greek: oiktirmos, tender compassions. Here; 2Cor. 1:3; Phlp. 2:1; Col. 3:12; Heb. 10:28. See Mat. 9:36. The gracious, extravagant, divine graces Paul expounded in the first eleven chapters, including God’s love, grace, righteousness and the gift of faith.
present your bodies... People are now to bring themselves to God instead of sacrifices to the altar as of old. They are now to be wholly the Lord’s as were the former sacrifices. Under the Old Covenant, God accepted the sacrifices of dead animals. But because of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice, those are no longer of any effect. For those in Christ, the only acceptable worship is to offer themselves completely to the Lord. Under God’s control, the believer’s yet unredeemed body can and must be yielded to Him as an instrument of righteousness.
living sacrifice, holy... Fifteen Commands about the Body.
1. Yield it to God (Rom. 11:1; 6:13-20).
2. Make it living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1).
3. Make it holy (Rom. 12:1; 1Cor. 3:17).
4. Make it accepted of God (Rom. 12:1).
5. Make it full of light (Mat. 6:22).
6. Reckon it dead to sin (Rom. 6:11).
7. Reckon it alive to God (Rom. 6:11).
8. Refuse its slavery to sin (Rom. 6:12).
9. Mortify its deeds (Rom. 8:13).
10. Refuse to defile it (1Cor. 3:17).
11. Make it fit temple of Holy Spirit (1Cor. 3:16-17; 6:13-20).
12. Make it free from fornication and only for the Lord (1Cor. 6:13-20).
13. Glorify God in it (1Cor. 6:20).
14. Keep it in control (1Cor. 9:27).
15. Put off its sins (Col. 2:11).
your reasonable service... Rational worship, because performed with the heart, mind, and soul of intelligent beings, and is in contrast to the worship of idols of Rom. 1:25. Reasonable is from the Greek for “logic.” In light of all the spiritual riches, believers enjoy solely as the fruit of God’s mercies. It logically flows that they owe God their highest form of service. Understood here is the idea of priestly, spiritual service, which was such an integral part of Old Testament worship.
Beseech is a Greek word which comes from a root meaning to “call alongside to help”.
1Pet. 2:5 “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”
Psm. 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.”
We can see from this that God expects our loyalty. We have been bought and paid for with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. The least we can do is live for Him since He ransomed us from death.
God’s Righteousness Revealed in Transformed Living
Paul divided several of his letters into two major sections, a doctrinal portion and a practical one. He followed that pattern in this epistle too, though the doctrinal part is more than twice as long as the practical. (In both Eph. and Col. the doctrinal and the practical sections are about equal in length.)
The basic consecration
The start of this practical section is indicated by Paul’s exhortation I urge (the first word of Rom. 12:1 in the Gr. text). Therefore also shows a transition (cf. “therefore” in Rom. 3:20; 5:1; 8:1). The basis of Paul’s exhortation is God’s mercy (oiktirmōn, rendered “compassion” in 2Cor. 1:3; Phlp. 2:1; Col. 3:12, and “mercy” in Heb. 10:28). God’s compassion has been described in detail in the first 11 chapters of Romans. The content of Paul’s urging is to offer your bodies (cf. Rom. 6:13) as living sacrifices. A Christian’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1Cor. 6:19-20). In the KJV “offer” is translated “present” (Rom. 12:1) and “yield” (Rom. 6:13, 6:16, 6:19). The word “bodies,” mindful of the Old Testament sacrifices, represents the totality of one’s life and activities, of which his body is the vehicle of expression. In contrast with Old Testament sacrifices this is a “living” sacrifice. Such an offering is holy (set apart) and pleasing (cf. “pleasing” in Rom. 12:2) to God. Furthermore, it is spiritual (logikēn; cf. 1Pet. 2:2) worship (latreian.) Latreian refers to any ministry performed for God, such as that of the priests and the Levites. Christians are believer-priests, identified with the great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Heb. 7:23-28; 1Pet. 2:5, 2:9; Rev. 1:6). A believer’s offering of his total life as a sacrifice to God is therefore sacred service. In the light of Paul’s closely reasoned and finely argued exposition of the mercies of God (Rom. 1-11), such an offering is obviously a desirable response for believers.
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