Romans 12:1–2 (ESV)✞: A Living Sacrifice
In Romans 9–11 Paul has been focused on his fellow Jewish people – especially the unsaved Jewish people. A lot of that discussion has been contrasting the unsaved Jewish people with saved people, especially (but not limited to) the Gentiles.
So how should we Christians—all of us—respond to this? Paul tells us:
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
There’s a lot in those two verses, so let’s get into it!
For the rest of this post I’m going to skip the verse numbers in my quotations and freely emphasise any text I want to call out, so just keep that in mind.
First, Paul is talking to fellow Christians—the word used for “brothers” here doesn’t just mean men, it’s more like “brothers and sisters” or “siblings”—those who have the same Holy Spirit as he has. So he starts by saying:
I appeal to you therefore, brothers
This isn’t a command. This isn’t Moses standing on top of a mountain with decrees from God in his arms carved into stone; this is one Christian talking to fellow Christians and saying, “think about everything I’ve said so far in this letter – doesn’t that lead you to the same conclusions it led me to? In light of all of this, shouldn’t we submit to God?”
I think Paul has proven by this point that his understanding of Christianity is much deeper than that of most Christians; as I have often pointed out on this blog he wrote about half of the New Testament himself, so he’s obviously the most influential thinker on Christianity the world has ever known (other than Christ Himself); he could just tell the Romans what they should do, but all of that knowledge and understanding has also shown Paul how the Holy Spirit works, and he knows that God is working through Paul’s readers just as He is working through Paul himself.
Paul doesn’t need to tell the Romans what to do he just needs to remind them of the things they ought to know already and let the Spirit do His work.
by the mercies of God
Paul is exhorting his readers to be “living sacrifices” to God, to discern “what is good and acceptable and perfect.” How are they to do this? At the command of God? By the power of God? In the fear1 of God? No, by the mercy of God.
Because we’re sinful we often think of holiness as something we “have” to do; as a restriction placed upon us by God, when what we’d really like to be doing is… well, whatever we want, whenever we want, however we want! Even if we recognise that living righteously is better than living sinfully, we still, at least in part, also think of it as a burden. Giving up our sins and “being good” is—please pardon the expression—a “necessary evil” that we have to do, to be “good Christians.”
The Bible views it exactly the opposite: humans were made in the image of God, and we were made to worship Him. We were made to be like Him. Anything else is against His plan. The Grace He has bestowed upon us through the work of Christ on the cross, and the power He bestows on us through the Holy Spirit, finally enable us to live as we should live. We think of giving up our sins and living for Him as something we “have” to do, but Paul shows us that it’s actually God’s mercy that enables us to finally do what we should have been wanting all along.
I would also point out that this attitude of not wanting to give up sins, or of viewing righteous living as a “burden” instead of an opportunity, is something we feel in advance, not in retrospect. When I’m confronted with my own sin, and realise that I’m going to have to give it up, part of me feels like I’m giving up something good and pleasurable out of compunction, but if I ever (through the Spirit) succeed in giving up sinful activities and replacing them with right living I only ever feel joy, not loss.
In my experience of talking to older Christians, this is a pretty universal thing; older Christians don’t tend to find themselves at the end of their lives saying, “I wish I’d been allowed to keep doing that sin!” They find that their most joyful times have been the times when they’ve been closest to God, and are looking forward to being even closer to Him once their sinful natures have been discarded.
The Bible sometimes asks us to take things on faith—to obey God because He is God—but that doesn’t mean we’re not also given the facts: we’ll be happier if we live righteous lives than if we don’t, so I can obey God out of faith while also obeying Him because I know that, in the long run, I’ll be happier if I do (even if, initially, it feels like I’m going to be miserable if I have to give up this or that sin).
to present your bodies as a living sacrifice
We think of “sacrifice” in the sense that I’ve outlined above: having to give up something we really don’t want to give up. “It’s a sacrifice,” we say (grudgingly), “but I’ll do it.”
Paul isn’t using the word “sacrifice” in that sense. He’s using it in the sense of Old Testament sacrifices made to God on the altar. For example, there is the offering of thanks: “You have blessed me this year,” someone might say to God, “so now I give back to You some of what You have given to me, by sacrificing this first-born animal from my flock!” Or the sin offering: “I recognise that I have sinned before You, so now I atone for that sin by giving up an expensive animal from my flock, offering it to You, in the hope that You will be merciful to me.”
In one sense it’s taking something that legally belonged to the human and offering it to God; in another sense it’s recognising that it belonged to God in the first place. We’re offering our bodies as a sacrifice in both senses: it belongs to me, and I could do whatever I want with it, but I’ll devote it to Him instead – but, also, it belonged to Him in the first place anyway so I’m just recognising that fact.
But there’s an important distinction being made here: Paul doesn’t say, “to present your bodies as a sacrifice,” he says, “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice.” When an Old Testament Israelite offered to God a sacrifice of a sheep or an ox that animal was gone. That was the whole point! For an offering of thanks the person was saying that it was more important to “give up” this animal to God than to keep it; for the sin offering the person was saying that it was more important to atone for their sin and be right with God than it was to keep that animal (with all of the monetary benefits it would bring).
My body, on the other hand, belongs to God, but is not being taken away. I still live in it. I still have it. This tells us two things:
- An Old Testament-style sacrificial system is no longer needed because Christ did, once and for all, what all of the Old Testament sacrifices pointed to but could never actually achieve: He has made us right with God.
- I’m alive in Christ. Because of my faith in Him I have life – real life.
holy and acceptable to God
We lose sight of what the word “holy” means because we see it so often in the Scriptures; we think of something being “holy” when some special rituals have been performed over it. Frankly, I wonder how the concept of “holy water” (as presented in the media) colours our thinking about the word “holy;” movies are constantly presenting “holy water” as something that’s basically magic! You perform some kind of ritual on some water and then it ends up with special properties, and suddenly it can be used against vampires or whatever. I think we think of “holy items” in that sense: it’s “holy” because some kind of ritual has been performed over it, bestowing special properties on it.
But that’s not how the Bible uses the word “holy.” “Holy” just means “set apart for God,” or “belonging to God,” or “for use by or in service of God.” There are some isolated instances in which a ritual is performed over something that’s to be made holy—for example, some rituals are performed over Aaron and his sons before he becomes the first High Priest—but it’s not about the ritual it’s about the purpose. Aaron wasn’t made holy because a ritual was performed over him; Aaron was holy because he was set aside for service to God. (The ritual was just needed because Aaron was human, and therefore sinful, and God couldn’t use him as-is.)
For example, there were special garments the Old Testament priests were to wear, and those garments were called “holy,” which meant that they were only to be used in in specialised Temple duties. They were set apart for that use. So were the utensils used in the Temple; they were “holy” because they were only to be used for those purposes for which they were created. If someone were to take the special shovels and basins and forks and fire pans that were used at the bronze altar (see Exodus 27:1–8✞), and use them to poke at his own hearth at home; doing so would have “profaned” them – that is, those things that were supposed to be set aside for service to God had been used inappropriately, and were therefore no longer being used for their purpose – they were no longer “holy.” If such a thing had happened they would have had to create brand new utensils for His use.
I, and my fellow Christians, are “holy” in that sense. We’re set apart for God. Not just set apart by God—it’s not just that He has saved us from Hell, though that’s true too—we’re set apart for God. For His use. For His purposes. For Him to do with as He pleases. For the Christian, this should thrill us, not scare us! It’s a privilege!
But just as importantly, I’m not just holy, I’m also acceptable. Aaron wasn’t holy because of the rituals that were performed over him, he was holy because he was set aside for service to God, but the rituals were needed before he could be acceptable for that service. I, on the other hand, am acceptable to God because Christ made me acceptable. I’m not just saved I’m justified – Christ has made it such that I’m actually worthy to be used by God. Not by what I’ve done, but by what Christ has done.
I’m set apart to be used by God—I’m holy—and I’m worthy to be God’s instrument—I’m acceptable.
As a side note, if “holiness” means being set apart for God, why is God Himself holy? God is also set apart – from all of us! He is God and we are not, so we can’t approach Him. At least… we couldn’t, before Christ’s sacrifice! Now we can, and one day, in the new heavens and the new earth, we’ll actually be able to see Him face to face!
which is your spiritual worship.
What is “worship?” Well, it’s going to a particular building every Sunday morning, singing some songs, doing our best not to nod off during long prayers, and pretending to pay attention while someone at the front of the room talks to us for a while about the Bible. And then probably singing some more.
Except that’s obviously not what worship is, and even if I take away the facetiousness and assume someone is eagerly singing those songs and praying those prayers and drinking in those sermons that’s still not what worship is. It can be done in worship, but it’s not the sum of what worship is.
Worship is being set aside for God – being holy, in the sense I’ve outlined above. It’s Paul saying in 1 Corinthians, “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Except it’s not that phrase in isolation, it’s that phrase in context:
23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 26 For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” 27 If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— 29 I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.
That is our spiritual worship! It’s looking at the needs of others; asking what they need at this moment rather than what I need. In the example Paul gives in 1 Corinthians it’s knowing that meat sacrificed to idols is no different than any other meat, but giving up eating it if I know that doing so is going to cause a crisis of conscience for someone else.
I’ve heard many, many Christians struggling with that verse; how can eating or drinking bring glory to God?!? But that’s because they’re reading it in isolation; it’s glorifying to God if I view others’ needs more important than eating. An example that we use more often in modern contexts is drinking alcohol; the Bible doesn’t prohibit drinking alcohol, if anything wine is presented very often in the Scriptures as something to enjoy, but if I’m with an alcoholic—or even with a Christian who believes it is wrong to drink alcohol—then I’ll avoid it for their sake. That would bring glory to God. It would be spiritual worship of Him.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed
As a Christian, I shouldn’t be like all of the non-Christians around me. But what does that mean? Let’s not rip this verse out of context; not being conformed to this world means all that Paul has said above! It means presenting my body to God, in His mercy, as a holy, acceptable, living sacrifice – which is how Paul defines spiritual worship. If I do that—and to the extent that I do that—I’m not being conformed to the world.
It doesn’t mean living differently from the people around me, unless living differently means being holy where others are not. Frankly, Christians don’t need to look for ways to be different from others, we just need to be holy, and that is different enough that people will see that we’re not conformed!
It means that Christians in North America have jobs, just like everyone else, but we’re honest at work even when being dishonest would be more profitable, which means we’re not conformed to the world. It means that Christians in North America buy and sell goods and partake in capitalism just like everyone else, but we are also eager to give to the poor and less fortunate, and would rather share what we have than keep it all for ourselves, which means we’re not conformed to the world. It means that Christians get married and have children just like everyone else, but we also view marriage as a binding commitment and not only stay faithful to our spouses but resist divorce, even when things get tough, which means we’re not conformed to the world.
And yes, for sure, we fall down in all of these areas, and sin just like everyone else, but we also ask for God’s forgiveness and try to do better going forward, which means we’re not conformed to the world.
There are more grey areas than the typical Christian would like to admit; areas where some Christians think something is sinful while others think it’s perfectly ok. I already gave the example of drinking alcohol: there are Christians who would say I’m wrong in thinking it’s ok, and I think they’re wrong in thinking it’s sinful, but we’re both doing the same thing in trying to figure out what would make us holy and what would be conforming to the world. If I were to say that drinking alcohol is sinful but it’s ok to do it anyway because everyone else does it, that would be conforming to the world.
What we don’t need to do, as I said above, is try to be different just for the sake of being different. Paul is saying we should not conform to the world in the sense that we should be holy; he’s not saying we should dress differently or do different hairstyles or something, so that we stand out. He’s saying we should be good and righteous – so that we stand out.
by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
I hadn’t planned this ahead of time, but this part of the passage brings us right back where we started! Paul is talking to fellow Christians, who have the same Holy Spirit he has. At least part of the reason Paul doesn’t give Christians a bunch of new commandments, a la Moses, is that he doesn’t need to. We all have the Holy Spirit. We can, through His power, use our minds to test and discern what is God’s will; what is good and acceptable and perfect.
The other reason Paul doesn’t give a bunch of commands—and this might be controversial to some Christians—is that there is no universal set of laws or standards that would apply to all Christians in all places and all circumstances. If Paul had been alive a few hundred years later he would have had very different advice for Christians than he did in the 1st Century, and if he were alive and writing today, in the age of the internet and social media and artificial intelligence, he’d have very different advice again. What does it mean to not be conformed to this world? Well, whatever it means, it’s a lot different than it was a hundred or a thousand years ago! But Christians still, in the 21st Century, have the Holy Spirit. We can still, through His power, use our minds to test and discern what is God’s will; what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Anyone who’s been a Christian for any length of time will know that this isn’t clean and simple. There are issues that divide us; there are issues that honest, earnest, God-seeking, Spirit-filled Christians disagree on. Issues that Christians will look at—empowered by the same Holy Spirit, with the same intent of discerning the will of God—and come to different conclusions on. (Are you allowed to drink or not? How and when and why should you baptise people?) We shouldn’t read Paul’s words here and assume that the Holy Spirit only gives direct, concrete answers – and that, therefore, people who are “wrong” on any given issue are wrong because they ignored or stifled the Spirit.
I firmly believe that there are issues in which there isn’t a right or wrong answer, and it is those very issues where Christians are called to spiritual worship. If you and I disagree on a spiritual matter, it’s up to me to assume that you’re coming into the argument in good faith, just as I am, that you’re seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit just as I am, that you are attempting to discern the will of God just as I am. (If you’re a Christian it’s up to you to do that, too – but that’s between you and God, just as my actions and motives are between me and God; I can only control my own actions, not yours. It’s up to the individual to do the right thing, even if the other individual isn’t doing the same.) It is good and fine for us to debate the matter and try to convince each other—and sometimes that might even happen—but Paul, I think, would be much more concerned with how we do that than with the outcome we reach.
Footnotes
- I’m using “the fear of God” in the Biblical sense, which is more of a sense of awe and wonder of God than of being “afraid” of Him. Though, in this context, even that could apply for this rhetorical question. ↩
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