Your Body. Romans 12:1 In my journey of examining the Gospel from God's own commentary, I came to the place where the theological unfolding of the Gospel message, now turns to the practical application of these holy truths - and God, through His chosen apostle, begins with me! I am one of those brethren Paul refers to. I cannot escape this fact. In no way can I excuse myself or say I am not included in this heart-felt appeal. This is not some weak-hearted suggestion. In my mind I see tear-filled eyes looking over the miles (and ages) at me. And this appeal is based on the highest possible motivation - the mercies of God! How could I ever ignore such beseeching! How could I ever relegate this to some "Bible Study" in the confines of a gathering of scholars or the privacy of one's own private chamber!
The "mercies of God" are obvious to me every day of my life! I have again been reminded in reading through Romans, that I have been "justified by grace" and made the "righteousness of God" in Christ. No longer some kind of free-lance person, but before God I am "in Christ," "accepted in the Beloved." I have been set apart by God's grace - not law, have been given the Holy Spirit who dwells within and adds to my feeble supplications His unlimited knowledge of every situation with the urgency of His loud voice and holy tears. Not only this but in God's eternal purpose, He has sovereignly elected this poor, weak person to share in His coming glory that is beyond description. Still further, there is nothing that will ever separate us from the love of God who is forever faithful to me. What motivation to respond to this heart-felt appeal!
To present one's body indicates that one yields all his capacities (which are God-given) freely to the use of another for purposes that up until now have not been used. The grace of God to me should not make this a comparison to anyone else's actions, but urges the consecration of my whole person to the Lord because of who He is. By voluntarily "signing up" for this privileged duty, I step into the freedom of service for God without the restraints of imposed slavery. A living sacrifice has yielded to the will of another voluntarily like Isaac yielded himself to Abraham when he was laid on the altar.
This changes an imposed service, to an intelligent, spiritual, priestly service. This has nothing to do with forms or ceremonies. There are now in Christendom, a lot of forms and formal services that are designed by men to make people feel religious. When an individual is motivated by the mercies of God to engage in spiritual service, this comes from an appreciative heart of one who loves the Lord and counts it a great blessing to be able in this way to serve God with the whole person - spirit, soul and body.
The seeking mind turns to the Lord to focus the heart’s praise on Him and the mercies of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the basis of the riches of grace that comes from God and final revelation of the “mystery” of His ways. To know Christ Himself is the knowledge of God. His mercy is the basis and motivation of our service and sanctification. When we “offer” (present) our body, this is a continual action which includes the whole person – mind, emotions, will as the “living sacrifice.” That means we are alive spiritually in Christ as sons and daughters of God.
A sacrifice in Old Testament times ended in the death of an innocent victim and its blood was to cover sins for a time. Christ’s death was the final atonement for sins, so we no longer need any other sacrifice for us to be accepted by God. Believers are to consider their whole life as a sacrifice that is dedicated to God; His plans and purposes. A focused mind, spirit and body are to be holy because they belong to God who has bought us with the precious blood of Christ.
New believers may have a struggle for a while to establish new habits and activities and put off old ones that are no consistent with our new life. Abandoning sinful practices and superficial pleasure for our life with Christ may leave a vacuum unless we begin right away to live with a new purpose in life. Life in Christ brings real fulfillment and satisfaction when we choose to respond to the appeal in this verse.
When our resources and energy have been given to God, He will guide us in ways that will accomplish His will for us and bring us joy and lasting satisfaction. Out of gratitude to God for being forgiven of our sins, we consider ourselves to not be our own independent person but the property of our Maker, Redeemer and Lord. When that is true, our lives will be morally pure, holy and pleasing to God.
This is not only “reasonable service,” but when the heart, mind and will are for Him and His glory, that is our obedient and worshipful service. God doesn’t impose on us things that are unreasonable and beyond our ability to do for Him. It is up to us to take this voluntary action as a free-will offering to God. The practices and principles of life and service to God will be for the right reasons on our part.