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. 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. (Romans 12:1-2.)
I have been thinking and praying about this passage for a while and I will offer comments on the verses and a practical application, as I believe God had revealed this to me.
I appeal
The word appeal means to ask or to make a serious and urgent request, and it also means to ask for a reversal of an already made decision of someone that can make that change.
Paul is putting an urgency into the request that we are looking at, and it is a serious matter, it is very important
Though some may already have made up their mind, Paul is asking to reverse the decision and hear him out and do what he knows is important and true.
to you
We understand that Paul wrote the letter to the people in the church of Rome, but we also understand that the Bible is the Word of God that God sent to us all, to the whole world.
Bible is the only written instruction, encouragement, and advice that God had sent to us.
God watches over it very closely so it does what it supposed to do according to His intentions, and the word will accomplish what God wants it to accomplish (Isaiah 55:11).
Timothy is not a Roman but is half Jew and half Greek, so does the book of Romans apply to Timothy?
Paul writes to Timothy:
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
So Paul is suggesting that Timothy can take the whole scripture as Word of God, sent by God for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Timothy, under Paul’s instruction, can take the passage in Romans as if it was written to him.
And you and I too can take the Bible as written to me and to you, by faith.
I believe that God watched over His Word and the 66 books that are in the Bible are the right books. The books that didn’t make it into the Bible are not the right books, even if they sound good and teach good things.
Bottom line, this verse is written to me, and to you, and to any one who is reading and believes that Bible is addressed to him or her personally, and applies it to him or her personally.
These two verses are for you, dear reader.
therefore,
A favorite question of Derek Prince every time he sees ‘therefore’ in Bible is ‘what is it there for’)?
Why is ‘therefore’ here?
Because it ties what follows with what was said right before. What is Paul is talking about in the chapter above?
He is talking about God’s unsearchable ways and judgments and depth and riches of God’s wisdom.
Paul is basically asking us to trust God because God is just so much above us with wisdom and judgement and knowledge, and God simply knows best.
God also has our interest in mind, not just His, God cares for US, works to save us, His plan on earth is about us, we are at the center, Jesus died for us.
Paul is writing to gentiles, not Jews, not the chosen people.
Paul’s message is that there is good news for the gentiles because they have been reconciled with God (Rom. 11:15) and grafted into the chosen people (Rom. 11:17).
So, the two verses we are looking at, are a result of understanding what God has done for all humanity including for gentiles, and as a result we can present our bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and acceptable to God which is our spiritual worship.
brothers,
There maybe a chance that women have a slight feeling of being left out, since this says “brothers”.
But the word here means either ‘brothers’ or ‘brothers and sisters’ in the original and has to be understood in context.
We have a similar situation in English with the word ‘man’, which can mean a ‘male human being’ or ‘mankind’, depending on context.
This verse is written to brothers and sisters, there is no male nor female in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:28).
by the mercies of God,
Based on understanding God, based on our past experiences. Based on what we may learn and read about God but have not yet experienced:
we should trust that God is merciful and will not lead us into a mistake when we give to God something so important to us as the physical acts of our body in this physical world.
Paul appeals to us to listen to this, and trust the merciful God.
to present
To present is to make ready and then to offer, to give, to gift.
It is no longer mine to do what I want with it.
We don’t present and then take back, we don’t hold back, we do not have a use anymore.
We tell God, here is my body, do what you want with it, we do what God wants us to do with our body, not what we want, not what we think is better, not what we research is the better use for our body, but what God tells us to do, as we believe God is telling us to do.
We carry on with our lives, yes, but we need to always be ready to use our bodies to do something that God will tell us to do.
I keep my body presentable, I take care of my body, I stay fit and healthy, I feed it in time, I give my body enough sleep, I keep it free of drugs or other things that makes my body disabled, I don’t make markings on my body that will make it less useful, I don’t hurt it and I don’t abuse it, I don’t change it from male to female, I don’t influence it or torture it to numb my mind, I don’t do perverse things, I don’t do things that may cause me to lose control over my body, I don’t give into pleasures that harm my body or other’s bodies.
I take it as my responsibility to have my body ready for service at any time in the capacity and abilities I have, whether is painting, talking, carrying, organizing, helping, delivering, etc.
And I tell God that I’m ready when God is ready. It doesn’t mean God has a use for my body 24/7/365, for some yes, but for some no.
Some of us simply present the body and wait for God to need it for a project and His appointed time.
Some vessels are used daily, some stand visible or invisible until are needed for a special occasion only.
your bodies
My body is an essential part of of me on this earth.
I understand that my spirit is where God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, lives, when I’m born again God gives it His zoe life and dwells in it (I may write a separate article on this subject later).
My soul, or mind, is where I make a decision to follow the Spirit or my flesh – God’s desires or sinful desires of this world.
Body is the part that does things in this physical world, it acts things out in the physical realm, it makes things happen in the physical.
A spirit or a mind cannot go to a person and help them carry groceries, or build a house physically, or hand a Bible to a person in distress, or write this article.
No matter how cliche it sounds, we are the Body of Jesus on this earth (1 Corinthians 12:27).
Jesus is the head of the Body, of the Church (Colossians 1:18), and He is sitting on the right hand of the Father God (Hebrews 12:2, Psalm 110:1, Hebrews 1:3) and is ruling with all authority over all there is (Matthew 28:18, 1 Corinthians 15:25) until He, Jesus, delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power (1 Corinthians 15:24) and the last enemy to be destroyed is death (1 Corinthians 15:26).
This is Jesus mission, as I gather from the Bible, and we are Jesus’s body, the ones that carry His mission out on the physical earth, in addition to our mission written at the end of each of the gospels to “go and preach”.
Our bodies are needed and are necessary for these missions.
Here may be a funny thought, but God made the tablets of the Ten Commandments Himself (Exodus 32:16), and they lasted only a few days on this earth because Moses, a human being, destroyed them, due to sinful acts of Israelites, other human beings.
Then Moses had to carve a new set on his own, using his hands (Exodus 34:1).
When God came down to the mount Sinai there was thunder and lightning and I can imagine that earth was melting and boiling in that area (Exodus 19:18).
Imagine an old unbelieving grandma in some village witnessing such an appearance from God, because God wants to deliver a message of salvation to her, she would probably prefer a human being tell her, just like Israelites decided (Exodus 20:18-19).
She may simply not understand that God came to give her a message of hope and salvation, but would fall on her face, like many prophets in the Bible did (Revelation 1:17, Daniel 8:17, Ezekiel 1:28), and possibly tremble in fear, maybe even have a heart attack.
And if God and His messengers-angels would get through the influence of satan to an atheists mind and send thoughts of repentance to that atheist (or a possessed person, or an unbeliever that thinks he is an exemplary human being, or a calloused recidivist who had a hard life, and examples run on), who says that the person can understand what God is trying to tell him anyway?
That person may see that something is wrong, but may now know what to do with it. He may need someone to explain the Bible to him like it happened with Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch.
The man was reading the Bible and simply didn’t understand.
It is possible that God did what He could to stir up the desire to read the Bible in the Eunuch, but it took a physical human being, Phillip, to explain in a language the the Eunuch understood, and it took a physical human being, Phillip, to give the Eunuch a baptism after the Eunuch made a decision (Acts 8:26-38).
For whatever reasons, God, who is in the spiritual world, can only do so much through the spiritual world in the physical world – it is our responsibility to present our body to carry out the physical work in the physical world.
I am Jesus’s body, God needs me for many tasks on this earth, and those tasks can only be carried out by me, while I still inhabit my body.
as a living sacrifice
The body is living and must remain living to be of any use to anyone, so we don’t just let it die.
We also are not to hide it from the sinful world in a hut in the middle of the forrest, but must remain alive and need DO what God is purposing for us to do, HOW God wants us to do it, and WHERE God wants us to do it.
We should be excited and full of energy, not dragging our feet doing the work of God.
We also need to be alive in our mind, as our mind commands our body, we need to root out the thoughts that remove energy from our body and from our action.
We need stay away from depression and things like it (depression is not possible if you think and care for others, depression happens when you only look in self).
So we must be ready, and full of energy, and excited to do the work of God that He tells us to do.
holy
Separated and dedicated to God and to God’s work and God’s work only.
Our body is not shared with the world.
We are clean and clear of the world.
We don’t do filthy things and Godly things using the same body.
We don’t show inappropriate gestures with our bodies, we don’t fill it with substances that will make our body do things that are not fit for a vessel separated for God’s work, we clean our body from dishonor (2 Timothy 2:21), we don’t take our body to places that are not appropriate for a body that is dedicated for God’s work to be at.
(Unless you know it’s a case when God tells us to go there).
and acceptable to God
It is for us to figure out what is an acceptable body to God.
There are common rules that are for everyone (keep it healthy, feed the body, don’t kill it, etc), but there are individual things for every person.
Someone that has a disability in the body would ask God what would make his or her body acceptable to God, and for what work.
Someone that has a black body or a white body or an Indian body would ask God where is his or her body is best used, someone that is more fit or less fit, someone who is more able to build, someone who is able to do fine work with their hands, etc.
All things that make us unique can be used by God, or God may ask you to give them up fully, because He has a different purpose for your body than your abilities
(He gave you those abilities anyway, why can’t He give you new ones).
No matter which one it is, you need to find out what will make your body acceptable to God and what you need to do.
which is your spiritual worship
This is a very clear definition of worship from the Bible that I can act on (article on worship is coming).
This phrase is a treasure, since we want to be found by God who seeks those who will worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:23).
It is also amazing that we can influence or have an effect in the spiritual world with our body, but keep in mind that “presenting our body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” is our spiritual worship.
How you can worship God?
“Present your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.”
Notice that this phrase must stay all together, this COMBINATION of actions is the spiritual worship, but not just presenting your body, or just being a living sacrifice, it must be holy, etc.
It must be all those things together, and that is spiritual worship!
Do not be conformed
Do not become like the world, do not stoop down to the world, do not take on nor comply with the standards and rules and laws of this world, do not assimilate, do not try to imitate, do not try to blend in, do not avoid standing out in this world. No excuses.
Jesus was very strict and adamant about us not being a part of the world.
He said do not love the world and things in it, because if you love the world then the love of the Father is not in you (1 John 2:15).
Jesus said His Kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36), we are to have no part in it.
to this world
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
That is how Bible defines the world from the perspective of the sinful nature of the world and people in it.
Those people live by their flesh and are slaves to their flesh (Rom. 6:6b).
God will judge the world (Rev. 19:11, Rev. 20:11-15, Matthew 25:31-46), he already punishes them in their life on earth (Romans 1:18-32).
It seems to me that the world is people who are not born again, who do not confess that Jesus is their Lord, they do not believe in their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, they do not admit that they need Jesus for salvation, do not seek God, etc.
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind
Jesus said that He is the truth the way and the life (John 14:6) and those that know the truth will be set free (John 8:32).
When we do not know Jesus and when we do not know the truth, our mind is full of doubts, misunderstandings, questions, perversions, wrong ideas, sinful thoughts, etc.
Yes, people make do with what they have and some succeed to a degree, but without God’s truth, the real truth, they still are full of doubts and pointlessness and hopelessness, especially when facing death or problems.
But knowing truth sets us free and we discover truth by reading Bible and by God revealing us the truth.
When I know the truth I do not doubt, I do not have anxiety, I do not panic. When I am facing a multiple choice test and the question is how much is 2+2, and I know that the answer is 4 without a doubt, then no matter how many multiple choices answers are there, I don’t panic nor am I anxious – I know the truth, I’m free, I don’t need sleepless nights before the exam.
Same goes for complicated things
If I know the answer, the truth, I’m set, I’m at peace, I trust.
When I know that God loves me and cares for me and takes care of me then I live free of worry and anxiety.
We replace the lies of the world, the rules of the world, the mind of the world by the truth and rules and way of Jesus, of God, of God’s Kingdom, and we know that this is the Kingdom that will stand and is the only one that matters and will matter (Daniel 2:35 end, Habakkuk 2:14, Numbers 14:21).
God’s Word and Truth must replace the existing worldly thoughts and ideas and lies in our mind.
that
What is the above done for? What is the goal?
What follows the word ‘that’ is the goal, it is what Paul is trying to tell us that we will achieve if we do what we are asked to do above.
by testing
We do not speak the language of Heaven in way that we fully understand it, we do not speak ‘spirit’.
We sometimes have encounters and ‘downloads’ where a truth or a concept just enlightens our mind, but its not a constant occurrence like speech in English language.
We do not have the senses that understand the spiritual world fully, so we must do what we are able to do in this physical world, which is to test and try and keep testing and trying.
We examine, we ask, we research, we read other people’s experience, we pray, we pray more, we wait in silence, we try and err.
But there is good news.
you may discern
God says that we may discern, we do the testing and trying so we may discern, He gives us hope that we may discern, it is possible, there is hope.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.(Matt. 7:7-8).
God gave us His word so we would have a guide in this complicated life (John 1:14, whole Bible),
He didn’t leave us to ourselves, but He sent us the Holy Spirit to teach us and advise us and remind us (John 14:26),
and God will teach us what is true, and will not teach a lie (1 John 2:27).
We will understand, more and more.
what is the will of God
We will understand what does God want! What does God want from us, from this earth, from universe, from the spiritual world.
We understand that God has a plan and He is working it in this earth.
Some hints are given throughout the Bible (I may write an article on that later) and the end result is the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21-22), our bodies will be changed to something immortal (2 Corinthians 5:1-5), whole creation will be free of corruption (Romans 8:21), and other interesting things.
Bottomline is that we know that God pays close attention to all that is happening on earth and in life of people,
The LORD looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds (Psalm 33:13-15).
But those are general goals and desires of God.
What about His desires for me personally?
what is good and acceptable and perfect.
I believe this part reassures that we will know God’s will individually, as presented to us by the Holy Spirit for me in my situation.
As a result I will be able to discern what is good, what is truly good, in my actions, in my life, in my understanding, in my intentions, in others.
This will help me live right, treat people right, make good decisions and have good intentions.
We will know what is acceptable to God, what sacrifice He will accept, what service He will accept, what life He will accept.
We will also know what is not acceptable to God as well, and we will know to avoid that.
And we will know what is the perfection that He is seeking and to what perfection He is taking us to.
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. 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. (Romans 12:1-2.)
How to apply all this in the real life:
I am to keep my body ready, and healthy, and I train it, and keep it up, and present it to God daily for His use in whatever capacity He decides.
I need to know my strengths and my weaknesses so I work on discovering them (1 Timothy 4:16a)
and I work on the strengths and I develop them,
and I check that I don’t fall into my weaknesses,
and I don’t allow the devil to take hold of my weaknesses and use them against me (Ephesians 4:27).
I present my body only to God, I stay away from different things that destroy my body or the ability to do God’s work using my body.
I keep my body clean.
With God’s help I work on my mind to make sure it does not listen to my flesh but rather listens to my spirit,
I think on what is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8),
and I avoid the rotten and the destructive.
In everything I do I recognize the hand of God, I look for the hand of God, I understand that He watches me closely and everything that happens happens under God’s guidance.
I test and try and check and analyze and try to understand what God likes and what he rejects, I try to understand what is good and I will learn to recognize good and differentiate it from bad, what God accepts and rejects, and what is the perfect thing that I should be striving to be and do, as well as the perfection God is taking us to.
And I delight in Him (Psalm 37:4) and I am in awe of Him.
I am Jesus’s body on this earth.
Jesus has a mission that He set out to do with His Father agreement, and my body and my willingness are needed to carry it out.
So, I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by besting you may discern the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Roman 12:1-2)