Thousands of people today, including many genuine Christians, flock to various churches, seminars, and conferences in search of personal benefits—practical, emotional, and spiritual—that they hope to receive. They do just the opposite of what Paul so plainly emphasizes in Romans 12:1-2. In this forceful and compassionate appeal, the apostle does not focus on what more we need to receive from God but on what we are to give Him. The key to a productive and satisfying Christian life is not in getting more but in giving all.
Having concluded eleven chapters of profound and stirring teaching about what God has given believers, Paul now charges those believers with what they need to give God.
- Our souls are given to God
I urge[a] you therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ by the mercies of God 12:1a
In the words “urge“—implore you, beg you— therefore; note a significant point: what is about to be said is not being said to the world, it is being directed to brothers and sisters in Christ.
In the first 11 chapters is the wonderful message of how much God loves us and of what God has done for us. This is what is meant by “the mercies of God.” The mercies of God are overflowing; they are beyond anything any person could ever desire. Just think about what God has done for us. God has…
- met our desperate need to get right with Him.
- provided the power to be set free from the terrible bondages of this life and to live eternally.
- given the most glorious purpose to life: that of proclaiming the news of God’s Son, of how to be set free from sin and death and to live eternally.
Therefore, in light of the mercies of God, of all this that God has done for us, we must devote ourselves to God. We must dedicate and commit ourselves to Him.
Such soul-saving mercies should motivate believers to complete dedication.
- Our Bodies are to be given to God
“to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. (12:1b)
After it is implied that believers have given their souls to God through faith in Jesus Christ, they are specifically called to present their bodies to God. The importance of the human body cannot be overstated. The one thing upon earth that is abused more than anything else is a person’s body. People abuse, neglect, and ignore their bodies…
| • by overeating
• by becoming inactive • by being too active • by cursing, fighting, and killing |
• by partaking of harmful substances
• by caring for the external abusing the internal • by getting too much or too little rest |
The list could go on and on, but just the mention of these few sins clearly strikes the point home. If there is an appeal in Scripture that must be heeded by Christian believers:
- The believer is to present his body as a living sacrifice to God.
- God seeks the believer’s body. God is not only interested in our spirit; He is vitally interested in our body. His interest could not be any stronger nor made any clearer.
- The believer is to present his body to God. The dedication…
- is not to be made to self: living as one wishes; doing one’s own thing.
- is not to be made to others: living for family, wife, husband, child, parent, mistress, companion, sexual partner, or employer.
- is not to be to something else: houses, lands, property, money, cars, possessions, profession, recreation, retirement, luxury, power, recognition, fame.
The body is to be offered to God and to God alone. The believer is to present his body to God as a living sacrifice. Note the believer’s offering of his body is to be sacrificial. This is the picture of Old Testament believers taking animals and offering them to God as sacrifices. The believer is to make the same kind of sacrificial offering to God, but note the profound difference. The believer’s offering is not to be the sacrifice of an animal’s flesh and blood. The offering and sacrifice of the believer is to be his body: he is to offer his body as a living sacrifice.
A living sacrifice means the believer is to dedicate his body to God as a living sacrifice in the home, church, school, office, plant, field, restaurant, club, plane, car or bus. No matter where the believer’s body is, his body is to be sacrificed for God. Sacrificing to God is not something that is transacted in a church. Sacrificing to God is transacted in every act of the human body. The world, that is, the whole universe, is the sanctuary of God; and the believer’s body is the temple of God. Therefore, every act of the believer’s body is to be an act of service to God.
This is your spiritual act of worship.NIV This refers to any act done for God, such as work that priests and Levites performed. Spiritual can also mean “reasonable” (nkjv). To serve God is the only reasonable way to respond to his mercy.
3. Our Minds are Given to God
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, (12:2a)
When believers offer their entire self to God, a change will happen in their relation to the world. Christians are called to a different life-style than what the world offers with its behavior and customs, which are usually selfish and often corrupting (Galatians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:14). Christians are to live as citizens of a future world. There will be pressure to conform, to continue living according to the script written by the world, but believers are forbidden to give in to that pressure.
Many Christians wisely decide that much worldly behavior is off limits for them. After all, it is not our objective to find out just how much like the world we can become yet still maintain our distinctives. But refusing to conform to this world’s values must go even deeper than the level of behavior and customs—it must be firmly planted in our minds—be transformed by the renewing of your minds.NRSV The Greek word for “transformed” (metamorphousthe) is the root for the English word metamorphosis. Believers are to experience a complete transformation from the inside out. And the change must begin in the mind, where all thoughts and actions begin. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “You were taught with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” Ephesians 4:22-24 NIV. One of the keys, then, to the Christian life is to be involved in activities that renew the mind. Renewing (anakainosei) refers to a new way of thinking, a mind desiring to be conformed to God rather than to the world. We will never be truly transformed without this renewing of our mind.
Much of the work is done by God’s Spirit in us, and the tool most frequently used is God’s Word. The Bible claims the ability to judge “the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” Hebrews 4:12 NIV. As we memorize and meditate upon God’s Word, our way of thinking changes. Our minds become first informed, and then conformed to the pattern of God, the pattern for which we were originally designed.
- We give Him our mind ( 2a). The world wants to control your mind, but God wants to transform your mind. This word transform is the same as transfigure in Matthew 17:2. It has come into our English language as the word “metamorphosis.” It describes a change from within. The world wants to change your mind, so it exerts pressure from without. But the Holy Spirit changes your mind by releasing power from within. If the world controls your thinking, you are a conformer; if God controls your thinking, you are a transformer.
- We give Him our will ( 2b). Our mind controls our body, and our will controls our mind. Many people think they can control their will by “willpower,” but usually they fail. (This was Paul’s experience as recorded in Rom. 7:15-21). It is only when we yield the will to God that His power can take over and give us the willpower (and the won’t power!) that we need to be victorious Christians.
What is sacrificial living?
Romans 12:1-2 offers an outline for breaking the world’s mold. To put these directions in motion means going against the flow of society. Yet God does not hesitate to confront us with the choice. The option is not whether we will conform; rather, the choice is to whom will we conform? Will our lives follow the pattern of this world or God’s pattern? The following are components of God’s pattern:
- Offer our bodies—Delivering both the inner and outer self into God’s control. Divers and gymnasts know that where their head goes, the rest of their body will eventually follow.
- Be nonconformists—Consciously resisting the suggestions and pressures of the world around us.
- Renew our minds—Constantly asking God to teach us to think as he thinks
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