“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”
Romans 12:1 NIV
“Therefore”…! I was taught at Bible college that, when you see a “therefore…”, you must ask what it’s there for…
So, as we have already met “therefore” in previous posts, we know that “therefore” is a bridge between what has gone before and what follows. Paul has spent eleven chapters, at least according to artificial chapter divisions, explaining to his readers the magnitude and scope of God’s righteousness. In the face of the disaster of human sin, God intervened…in perfect harmony with who He is…and set in motion His plan to rescue sinners from His judgment. He reinstated them as His sons and daughters. Included in His plan is the gift of His Spirit who gives them the power to do what He wants them to do and become…to become like His Son and to live in obedience to His will.
However, nothing in this new life is automatic. God has set the stage for us to co-operate with Him…to work out what He has worked in us who believe in Jesus and have become a part of His forever family.
“Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”
Philippians 2:12-13 NLT
This new life begins with an exchange…a sacrifice. I don’t know whether my idea fits the biblical teaching on sacrifice but…I view sacrifice as an exchange. We give to God what He requires… and He gives back something much greater.
Now, since our bodies are very often the part of us through which we indulge in sin, is it not logical that we should give God our bodies first? In other words, should we not hand over the control of our bodies to the Holy Spirit who is in us so that we follow His leading rather than giving in to sinful desires and behaviour?
Sexual sin, and overindulgence of every kind, is not the way to live in our bodies because our bodies are not ours to use as we choose.
“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!…Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
1 Corinthians 6:15, 19-20 NIV
This is a compelling reason for us to treat our bodies as sacred…God’s temples…not our playground. (Does this not also apply to what happens to our bodies after death? Is it okay to put God’s temple into the fire?)
Why, then, must we give our bodies to God as a sacrifice? Why must we live in our bodies in a way that expresses His ownership? Why should we take care of our bodies? What does God give us in exchange for His right to use our bodies for His purposes?
Look at the outcome of this sacrifice!
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”
Romans 12:1 NIV
A living sacrifice…just what it says…a gift to God that is alive and responsive to Him! For what purpose?
Worship!
Paul says that giving our bodies to God is an acceptable sacrifice and an act of true worship. That’s amazing! We think worship is what we do on a Sunday morning in church. No…worship is much more than that. Worship is what we do every moment, in every day of our lives in our bodies.
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV
Worship is doing everything we do for God and with Him in mind because…we represent Him here on earth…all the time.
The second part of this exchange takes effort and work.
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Romans 12:2 NIV
We were born with minds that soak up everything like sponges. As young children, we absorbed everything as truth. We learned, as we grew older, the difference between what is ťrue or false if we had wise teachers. Unfortunately many, if not most children believe that everything they hear is true, especially from those closest to them or those representing the world around them…and they live accordingly.
Paul says that, as God’s children, we need to learn to be guided by truth rather than by what the world says and does. This means that we must exchange what we have been taught and absorbed by the world’s influence… the systems and standards set by ungodly people…for God’s instructions for living contained in His word.
This is not a once-off activity. It takes a lifetime to uncover the false ideas and beliefs we have gathered from our early childhood… and replace them with what God says about Himself, about us, and about the way we relate to Him, to other people, and to the world around us.
As we take time and effort to do this work…especially learning, by trial and error…how to act and react in our everyday lives as the Bible teaches us… we slowly begin to understand more of God’s will and His ways. As we become wiser in our understanding, we come closer to God and His people in togetherness and fellowship.
John says it like this…
“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”
1 John 1:3 NIV
These two verses in Romans 12 set the stage for Paul’s instructions about living our daily lives as God’s children in a sinful and broken world in accordance with the righteousness God has given us by His grace.
To be continued