Romans 12: Living Sacrifice

Romans 12:1-2 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Mercies of God

Throughout Romans, Paul has reminded us over and over how good God is. Love, grace, mercy, kindness, salvation, forgiveness, election, sanctification; these are just some of the abounding riches that God, through Christ Jesus, has lavished on us who by faith believe. It is from a Biblical understanding of God’s mercy that we present our bodies as a living sacrifice.

Psalm 51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

Only when I fully grasp God’s mercy toward a sinner like me will I willingly, voluntarily, and cheerfully die to myself and live to Christ.

But this exhortation teaches us, that until men really apprehend how much they owe to the mercy of God, they will never with a right feeling worship him, nor be effectually stimulated to fear and obey him. -John Calvin

Living Sacrifice

I love this idea of living sacrifice. Christ has called me to die to self, to sacrifice myself, my flesh, my desires for his sake. But Paul says a living sacrifice. This means Christ calls me to die so that I can truly live.

Matthew 10:39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

If I am honest, the reason I do not die to self and obey Christ as I ought to is because I lack faith in his promise that I will actually live. This is a pride issue, a control issue, a faith issue. Lord Jesus help my unbelief! Holy Spirit please empower me to obey, to grow, to produce fruit that I am insufficient to produce myself.

Holy and Acceptable

God is holy, perfect, righteous, good, all-knowing, all-powerful, gracious, kind, merciful, long-suffering, and He is everywhere. Do we really want to offer this Father of ours anything mediocre? I certainly do not, but I also know that in my own strength I cannot offer God a holy and acceptable gift. Thank you Jesus that you have made me holy and acceptable and righteous!

1 Peter 1:13-19 - 13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

Spiritual Worship

The King James Version says “reasonable service,” and I like that phrasing. Knowing the gospel of Jesus Christ and experiencing his mercies first hand, it is only reasonable that we live for him and not ourselves. That’s why worship is not just singing on Sunday mornings, we worship every second of every day. By presenting our time, resources, thoughts, words, actions to God we are in fact worshipping Him.

Do Not Be Conformed

We are constantly taking in information, media, opinions, culture, the Bible. All of these are fighting for our attention. Satan’s number one tactic is to feed us lies, to conform us to the world and our flesh. Paul warns us often in the New Testament to be on the look out for the devil’s schemes, to put on the armor of God, to resist him, and to submit to the Holy Spirit for transformation.

Be Transformed

If you’re like me, you hold back from God. I like the idea of God saving me from my sins, making me more like Jesus, helping me defeat the sinful desires in me, but I am usually satisfied much sooner in the sanctification process than God is. God calls me to holiness, not “improvement.” God is in the complete transformation business, death to life, sinner to saint. Through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit and through the Word (Jesus), we are not simply being conformed to Christianity, we are being transformed through our minds. The biggest change I have seen in my mind is seeing strangers the way Jesus sees them, which is a drastic transformation from my usual self-centeredness.

The Will of God

The will of God is good, acceptable, and perfect. The will of God for his kids is that we be like our brother Jesus in every way, which starts in our mind.

1 Thessalonians 4:3a For this is the will of God, your sanctification

This is a painful, sometimes annoying journey of faith. But, the journey starts every morning, presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice to God.

Luke 9:23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Are you holding back a part of yourself? Remember, you owe Jesus everything (Rom. 14:7). Submit to God, trust the process, let go and let Him transform you.