A friend asked me this question recently. To be forced to think about the scriptures one knows so well is a huge blessing.
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Actually, I believe the answers are all contained within the scripture!
I beseech you therefore….. In other words, in the light of the great doctrines I have unfolded to you to this point and my telling you of Israel’s future, (Romans Chapters 1-11), in the light of all this, I beseech you to present your bodies a living sacrifice.
Two questions arise from that – how are we to do it, and what does it mean to do it?
Firstly, how do we do it? We are to do it by the mercies of God. Once again we are told how helpless we are apart from Him. But now we are equipped. By His mercies we each have (the brethren) the Holy Spirit and indeed the Godhead, indwelling each of us. We have a powerhouse within. So that’s how we do it, coupled with obedience to the instruction, or rather willing submission to the earnest beseeching.
What does it mean to be a living sacrifice? Note that it is a living sacrifice. Most sacrifices in the biblical sense involve death. We often trivialise the word but it has profound meaning. We are to be living sacrifices. We are dead to sin and alive to Christ, so we must behave like it. That is the sacrifice. We are to sacrifice our bodies, those casings of sin in which we are trapped, by subordinating them as a matter of love for God, obedience, discipline, and constant repentance against the wilful (mis)leading of the flesh. Instead we are to recognise what God says about us who are in Christ, submitting wholly to Him, and that, in some way I don’t understand, makes the action holy as well as acceptable to God.
Paul now gives further instruction on how to do it. We are to renew our minds. We must be soaked in the scriptures so the Holy Spirit is able to guide us by then from within, so that they bubble forth causing us to behave aright. This is so important because most scriptural instructions about behaviour are counterintuitive to the flesh.
Luke 6: But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. 29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. 31 And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
32 “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. 36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.
37 “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
These are not actions or reactions that come naturally to man, so they have to come supernaturally. Faced with such situations we need renewed minds, minds renewed to think like God thinks, so that we do what He says rather than what the flesh urges and the unrenewed mind reasons. Being saved is enough to get us to heaven, but it is clear the Lord expects high standards from His children, and quite right too. This is partly what James is referring to also in that scripture that troubles so many.
James 2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
Our behaviour must no longer be conformed to the worldly ways but we must step out under a new code. We must not just sit back in the secure knowledge of our eternal security, but we are to demonstrate the ways of the Kingdom on earth, ways which are in such contrast to the world.
In doing this we prove to ourselves (not to God!) the perfection of His ways. That in turn builds us and encourages us. It also one step more on the path of sanctification.
Amen.
