A Total Commitment

Romans 12 transitions from teaching about what God has done for his people to what God expects from his people. How are the new people of God (the true Israel) supposed to live out their faith in the world? It appears that the first two verses of Romans 12 are the general commands on how to live out our faith in the world. The rest of chapter 12, along with chapters 13-15 are the details as to how to obey the exhortation given in Romans 12:1-2.

Romans 12:1-2

New International Version

A Living Sacrifice

12 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. 2 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.

A Total Commitment

The first thing Paul is calling for is a total commitment. We are to present our bodies as the sacrifice to God. God is calling for us to give ourselves wholly to God. We are to offer ourselves to God. We are not to offer some of our lives or some of our bodies. We are to commit 100% of our lives and bodies to God. Sacrifice is the ultimate proof of true love. God proved his love for us through the sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus told his disciples that there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15:13). We are called to give ourselves completely to God. Paul has already taught this idea earlier in his letter to the Romans.

Romans 6:12-14

New International Version

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Notice how similar the language is regarding presenting our bodies to God. We often just think of the sentence that says to present the members of our bodies as instruments of righteousness. God is asking for all of us. We must present ourselves to God as those alive from the dead. We have been brought to life and we are no longer dead in our sins. This is the point that Paul is making in Romans 12.

Paul explains how we are to present our bodies as a sacrifice. We present ourselves as sacrifices by being pleasing to God. We give ourselves as sacrifices by being holy to God. We present ourselves as sacrifices by being alive to God.

The point Paul is making is not that we are living physically, in contrast to the animal sacrifices that were dead physically. The contrast is that we are alive spiritually and no longer dead spiritually. We are alive to God. This is the point Paul was making in Romans 6:12-14. We are alive spiritually because of God’s faithfulness to his promise to save the world. We present our bodies as a sacrifice that lives for God. This is a concept that we can easily forget. I must live for God.

What can I do in my life today that shows I am presenting myself as a sacrifice that is living for God?

The Christian cannot live for self. The Christian is defined by the fact that he or she lives for God. One is not a Christian if he or she is living for self.

Not only must be present ourselves as alive to God, but we must also be holy to God. No one seems to think that holy living is important anymore. Christians think they can look like the world, dress like the world, and act like the world. Holy conduct is demanded of Christians. Holiness is the idea of being separate from the world, living according to the laws of God and not worldliness.

1 Peter 1:15-16

New International Version

15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.

Finally, we present ourselves as sacrifice to God by being pleasing to God. Following this command requires that we have a proper mindset. We must always be asking, "What does God want me to do?" "What does God want from me?" Not only are we asking these questions, but we are digging into God’s word to discover God’s will for us.