Living sacrifices

The apostle Paul ends his letters with some practical instructions so that his readers can apply the doctrine that he has just taught them. Romans 12 begins with a “therefore” showing us that this section is an application section. Another device that is often used in the Bible is when the author makes a statement and then spends some time expounding that statement. This chapter follows that practice as well.

“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. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.”

Paul has demonstrated the importance of living by faith earlier in this book and then shown that God has not rejected Israel. Now he moves on to show that this information should make some difference to the lives of the Christians in Rome. The first statement ties us back to his previous arguments.

The idea of “mercy” is first expressed, in the Bible, when Lot was procrastinating while the Lord was waiting to destroy Sodom. (Gen 19: 16, “And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.”) The angels forced Lot to go with them even though Lot wanted to stay in the city. The Lord’s mercy always occurs when He saves us from something that we deserve. The mercies of God are such that we, who are sinners, and deserve death (Rom 6: 23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”) have been given eternal life.

Since we have eternal life then we should present our bodies a living sacrifice. When the Lord God first made living things he gave the ability to move, be fruitful and multiply. (Gen 1: 20-22, “And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.”) Conversely, a sacrifice, involves taking the life of a living things. It would seem that the statement “living sacrifice” is an oxymoron, where the first part contradicts the second part. If this is the case then why would the Lord allow this statement to be part of the inspired Word of God?

This is one of those times when the Lord calls upon us to stop and think and decide what He is teaching us. The first place that we can look to find a connection between “living” and “sacrifice” is Eph 5: 2 (“And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”) The Lord Jesus Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice to God but He is alive today (Mark 16: 6, “And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.”) We can conclude from this that a living sacrifice is not an oxymoron but is closely related to the Lord Jesus Christ. So what does this mean to us?

This same apostle wrote these words, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:” (Phil 2: 5-7) The Lord Jesus Christ did actually die but He is alive today. If we want to follow Him and enjoy the eternal life that He has provided for us then we should seek to adopt His attitude. (Compare 1 Cor 2: 14-16, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”)

When the Lord Jesus Christ came down to live as a man on the earth, He was already God (John 1: 1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”). There was nothing that He could do to improve His own position. In spite of this He actually become of no reputation. He didn’t insist that He be given His proper status on the earth, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19: 10) Gamaliel was a man with a reputation (Acts 5: 34, “Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space;”) he was the sort of man that people would treat with respect. However, the Lord of Glory, while He lived as man on this earth wasn’t treated with the respect that He deserved. Even by His followers.

If we want to be willing to be living sacrifices then we have to be willing to be of no reputation. Not only that we should be willing to take the form of a servant. When Noah cursed his son Ham he said, “And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.” (Gen 9: 25, 26) A servant is someone who is cursed and has to serve those who are blessed. a servant is also some who has to do what he is told, when he is told, (Matt 8: 9, “For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.”) The Lord Jesus Christ was the same,  He did exactly what the Father told Him to do (John 17: 4, “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”)

If we become living sacrifices then we will be holy and acceptable unto God. This is only our reasonable service. We can compare this with the words of the Lord Jesus Christ when He was talking about servants, “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.” (Luke 17: 10). Our reasonable service is just the barest minimum rather than something outstanding and worthy of great praise.

The mercies of God will lead us to be transformed rather than conformed to the world. What does it means to be conformed? In Rom 8: 35, (“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”) we discover that it is possible to conformed to the image of His Son. That is we can become like the Son of God. On the other hand we can be like the rest of the world.

What does it mean to be like the rest of the world. Firstly, we should note that there is a difference between the earth and the world. (1 Sam 2: 8, “for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S, and he hath set the world upon them.”) The earth contains the world, the world consists of the people who live on the earth. God created the heavens and the earth but God so loved the world.

We can follow the ways of the world, which were defined when Satan first tempted Eve. Satan told Eve, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Gen 3: 5) The way of the world is to be able to define what is good and what is evil for me. In our sinful, worldly state we want to have the final say as to what is right and what is wrong for me. If we are conformed to this world then we will seek to follow the ways of the world. 

Transform is the opposite of conform. We find the opposite kind of transformation in 1 Cor 11: 13-15, (“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”)

If we are to be transformed then we will be something that is not natural to us. It is not natural for us to be of no reputation, it is not natural for us to take the form of a servant and it is not natural for us to be living sacrifices. On the other hand, we are called upon not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought. We are simply servants of the Lord Jesus Christ and we are just doing the barest minimum when we do our best.

If our best is just the barest minimum then how can we please God? “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Cor 12: 7-9) We are to rely on the sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ. If He is sufficient then we can be living sacrifices.

This kind of attitude leads us to understand that unity is not the same as uniformity. We are all one in Christ but we each have a different role to play. The rest of the chapter explains who people who are living sacrifices will behave in the world.