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Romans 12:1-2, Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
We’ve had eleven chapters and over a year (we started in August of 2022) of doctrinal teaching here in this grand epistle to the Romans. Now we come to the application of all that truth to your personal life. This was Paul’s method: first doctrine, then duty. First exposition, then exhortation. First, we learn, then we live. And we are here in Romans 12 to learn how to live out all this great teaching of justification by faith alone, of union with Christ, of the Spirit of God leading our lives. If all this teaching doesn’t bring about great change in our lives, we may be no better than the fakes, hypocrites, charlatans; no better than those demons in James who know and believe God is one, but they just tremble.
So, let’s get started. If you want to know what God’s will is for your life, it’s all right here in Romans 12-16. Let’s get a brief overview: God’s will for your body (12:1); God’s will for your mind (12:2); God’s will for your ministry in the body of Christ (12:3-8); God’s will for your attitudes (12:9-13); God’s will and your enemies (12:14-21); God’s will and human government (13:1-7); God’s will and your love for others (13:8-14); God’s will and how you use your spiritual liberty (14-15); and then miscellaneous matters.
When God chose you in eternity past and then sent His Son to redeem or purchase you with His blood, and then sent His Spirit to regenerate you and give you that repentance and faith to believe on His Son, He planned for you to give Him your body and mind. He saved you to live for His glory and He wants all of you, not just bits and pieces. People who think they can throw God a bone of a few bucks, a few hours, or a few prayers occasionally are in for a big surprise. God didn’t save you just to give you a ticket out of hell or to fill an empty spot in heaven. When God saves a man or woman, He intends to change that man or woman. James Montgomery Boice wrote, “True conversion makes a difference in a person’s life. If there are no differences, there is no genuine conversion.”
On the other hand, trying to do what Romans 12-16 say will not save you. That was Mother Teresa’s problem. She tried to live like a Christian without submitting to Christ as her Lord and Savior. She wasn’t even sure if God existed. Her humanitarian works could never get her to heaven. She was so sincere and worked so hard, but sincerity and works don’t save; only Christ saves. (See GotQuestions.org/Mother-Teresa).
Paul begins in verse one by addressing us as brethren. These people are already saved by faith alone, without works. But Paul would be quick to say no one is saved by a faith that remains alone. Justification always leads to sanctification, and that’s what Paul is teaching us now. There’s a key difference between verses one and two. The action verb “present” in verse one is in the aorist tense, which has a strong “do it right now” sense. It’s an ultimatum that requires obedience. The verb “transformed” in verse two is in the present tense, which means you keep on doing it. It’s a process that requires spiritual discipline. In verse one you jump in all at once; in verse two you learn how to swim. So, this morning God is calling you to present your body to Him.
Paul starts with A FERVENT APPEAL – “Therefore I urge you, brethren…” “Therefore” looks back over the previous eleven chapters and brings all that truth to bear on this fervent call. He is addressing brethren, which includes saved sisters as well. But notice Paul doesn’t just command us here – he urges or exhorts us like a coach who urges his players to get themselves wholeheartedly in the game, or a father who is urging his son or daughter to do their best. It’s not “take it or leave it.” Paul expects obedience, but he says it with fervent love and concern. It’s a command wrapped in love. You have the same word in 1 Thessalonians 2:11.
1 Thessalonians 2:11-12, 11 just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, 12 so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
That’s exactly what Paul means here in Romans 12:1. “I’m exhorting, encouraging, and imploring you brothers and sisters in Christ to walk worthy of your saving God.”
Paul gives A COMPELLING MOTIVATION – “by the mercies of God.” Paul isn’t using the law to badger them into submission. No, he appeals to the heart-melting mercies of God. Here’s your motivation to obedience and total consecration. God has been merciful to you. He saved you from the guilt and eternal punishment of your sins. He has forgiven you of all your sins. He has imputed to you the perfect righteousness of His Son and purchased you out of slavery to sin into a loving relationship with Him. He has united you to His Son, given you the hope of resurrection from the dead, given you an eternal inheritance. “By the mercies of God!” Wesley wrote in his song, And Can It Be, “Tis mercy all, immense and free, For, O my God, it found out me.” God’s mercies should melt your heart like the sun melts the snow. God found you by His saving mercy when you were in your depraved and sinful misery. If Christ is your Savior and Lord, Paul says these mercies should fire up your heart and motivate you to lay your whole life at the feet of Jesus to serve Him non-stop for the rest of your life.
Paul calls you to A COMPLETE CONSECRATION – “to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God.…” Sacrifice has the idea of totality and finality. Every animal brought to the tabernacle was sacrificed totally and finally. In Luke 9:23 Jesus called for this same total and final sacrifice, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” The cross meant an end to your past life. Tozer said, “The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road…was not coming back.”
“Present” means to place at God’s disposal. The same word is used in Luke 2:22 when Joseph and Mary presented Jesus to the Lord in the temple. It’s not passive or reluctant yielding or surrendering. It’s active and willing. Paul is speaking of a free and happy presenting of your body to God. Like Isaiah in Isaiah 6:8, “Here am I. Send me!” In Exodus 29 God gave Moses instruction on how to consecrate Aaron and his sons as priests. Believers are all royal priests (1 Peter 2:9) and Paul may well have had our priesthood in mind here. Priests were totally dedicated to the ministry of the tabernacle. Exodus 29:19-20 tells us that after several preparatory ceremonies, they literally put blood on the priest’s right ear lobe, on his right thumb, and on the big toe of his right foot. These men were consecrated from their head to their feet to serve the Lord. First Peter 1:2 says we are spiritually sprinkled with the blood of Jesus. That’s what God is calling us to. We have been purchased with the blood of Christ and set apart to serve Christ. Christianity is always full time for every believer, not just pastors or elders or teachers in the church. Every believer is called to this complete consecration of your bodies as a sacrifice to God. God’s sweet saving mercy fires us up, so we willingly and cheerfully present our bodies to God.
Does Paul mean our literal physical body? Yes, he does. Your body is very important to God. He designed your body to be an instrument to serve Him. Everything about your body, from your brains to your tongue to your feet, is to be used for His glory.
Your body is sacred. While sin comes out of our hearts, our hearts use our bodies to sin. People use their bodies to fornicate and do all kinds of other things. Remember Romans 1:24, “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them.” Dishonoring their bodies was a mark of their degeneration.
Paul already focused on our bodies in Romans 6:12, “Don’t let sin reign in your mortal bodies.” Look at 1 Corinthians 6:13-20 to see what God says about that body of yours.
- Verse 13 – your body is for the Lord.
- Verse 15 – your body is a member of Christ.
- Verse 15 – to commit fornication is to make Christ party to fornication.
- Verse 18 – to commit fornication is to sin against God’s purpose for your body.
- Verse 19 – your body is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.
- Verse 20 – you are to use your redeemed body to glorify God.
Your body is so important to God that He’s going to resurrect it or give you a new edition of the same body you have right now. Yes, you’re going to look like that forever. Same ears, same nose. But all the ladies will be beautiful and the men handsome. We will reflect the beauty of the Lord. I worked night shift in a hotel in Warsaw, Indiana, while I was in seminary. It gave me opportunities to talk about Christ with people who came in late. One fellow told me he wanted to be cremated because he didn’t want God getting ahold of his body. No, whether you’re cremated or just go back to dust the slow way, everyone gets their bodies back, even lost people. But God wants you to give your present body to Him, lock, stock, and barrel. He wants to use your body for His glory in the remaining time you have on earth!
Paul lists the QUALIFICATIONS FOR YOUR BODY – “living, holy, and acceptable to God.”
The first qualification is living. God is looking for living sacrifices, full of life, responsive, ready to serve. When Israel brought sacrifices to the tabernacle, they didn’t bring dead old rotting carcasses. Those bulls and goats and sheep and pigeons were alive and moving, of course, until they were actually sacrificed. So here, don’t give God your dead old self. Jesus said in Revelation 3:1, “You have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.” What did He say? “Wake up!” If you want to see living bodies, check out the fans of those college football games. I mean, they are alive, all 90,000 of them! Some may look weird, but they aren’t falling asleep. They are full of life. Paul says give God your body as a living, moving, breathing, serving sacrifice.
The second qualification is holy. The key idea is you are no longer a part of this world. You are set apart to God. One author wrote, “Holiness is the aim and issue of the entire Gospel.” Peter wrote:
1 Peter 1:14-16, As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”
How do you know if a man is alive? Is he breathing? How do you know if a person is truly born again, a child of God? Is he pursuing holiness? Holiness means taking a radical stand for God, set apart from the world’s parade. Do you have a hunger for holiness in your heart? We’ve been chosen to be holy (Eph. 1:4). Everything about our lives should reflect holiness. Christ is holy. The Father is holy. The Spirit is holy. We read in Isaiah 35:8 this week about the “Highway of holiness.” In the millennium even the horses’ bridles and the pots and pans have “holy to the Lord” on them (Zechariah 14). Heaven will be all holiness – not a mite of sin. “You mean we can’t watch any steamy, blood and gore movies laced with profanity?” You won’t want to. Lost people would hate heaven because heaven is pure holiness. No fleshly lusts, no selfish pleasure seeking, no parading around in our proud, self-righteous peacock feathers in heaven. Robert Murray M’Cheyne, a godly Scottish preacher in the 19th century, said, “My people’s greatest need is my personal holiness.”
The third qualification is acceptable or well-pleasing to God. In 2 Corinthians 5:9 Paul said, “I make it may aim to be pleasing to Him.” Memorize that verse. It is the standard to guide us as we apply holiness in our lives, especially with our bodies. What biblical principles govern the use of your body? Ask yourself, “Is God pleased?”
What do you put on your body? Remember that word “modesty?” Modesty means you are concerned about dressing so as not to draw sensual attention to your body. What do you put in your body? Gluttony is still a sin (Prov. 23:20). Where do you take your body? What about your eyes? What do you look at? Job made a covenant with his eyes not to look at a maiden (Job 31:1). The availability and power of pornography is frightening. Let’s remember Keith Carter’s counsel when tempted – Look away. Walk away. You get the idea. Consecrate your body to please God.
Finally, Paul gives us THE LOGICAL CONCLUSION – “which is your spiritual way to worship.”
What is Paul saying here? The Greek word translated spiritual is “logical.” Here’s my paraphrase: “It just makes sense to worship and serve God like this.” Look what God in His mercies has done for you. Should you go on living a self-centered, self-pleasing life, or does it make sense for you to obey God, love God, and serve God’s people? It means thoughtfully worshiping God with all that you are, not ignorantly, mindlessly, mechanically, or just outwardly, but with your whole being.
There’s a wonderful story in Luke 7 that illustrates this verse. Here is this Pharisee who invites Jesus over for lunch. Suddenly in walks a woman with a lurid history. But Christ had shown mercy to her, and she comes to present herself to Him. She pours out her perfume on his feet and her tears flow so freely from her grateful heart that she tries to wipe them up with her hair. The perfume, her tears, her actions all represent all that she is and the depth of her love for Him. But what made her love Christ so deeply? She understood how undeserving she was of His forgiving mercy. “Whoever is forgiven much, loves much,” Jesus said to Simon the Pharisee, who was oblivious to how much he needed Christ’s mercy.
SO WHAT?
Friends, how much do you love your Lord? How much do you understand the mercy of God to you? We believers should pray something like this. “Lord, I give you my body as a living, holy sacrifice. I gladly dedicate myself to seeking to please you with how I use this body that really belongs to you. Forgive me for taking selfish control of my body for my own pleasures and lusts. Use every part of my body to glorify you and serve others. Amen.”
And if you have never repented of your self-serving life and turned to Christ in simple faith, why don’t you do that right now, right where you sit, just as you are? Your sins may be many, but God’s grace and mercy is so much greater than your guilt. God promises in Romans 10:13, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved.”