Romans 12:1 - I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service
Romans 12:1 is a verse frequently quoted in our midst. We’ve heard it recited over and over again, but do we really know what it means?
In this verse, Paul is pleading with the believers to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. This is a surprising phrase. In the Old Testament, animal sacrifices were used to atone for sin. But our ultimate sacrifice for sin came through Christ. In the Old Testament, an animal sacrifice required bloodshed, through the death of the animal. But Christ shed His blood and died for us.
How then can Paul, through the Holy Spirit, call us to be a living sacrifice? It seems contradictory. In reality, it’s not. The definition of sacrifice is anything consecrated and offered to God. This means that we should honor and glorify God with our lives. Since the debt of our sin and shame has already been paid through Christ’s sacrifice, we must live our lives in a manner that pleases God.
We please God with our lives being holy. We cannot ever reach the perfection of holiness that God has, but we can strive for it. We can rely on God’s help to transform us. But we can’t just pray for that transformation without doing anything on our end. We must understand God’s instructions in His word and then follow it.
Paul writes that this kind of living is our ‘reasonable service’. The word reasonable means appropriate or fair, moderate. This means that living a holy life for the Lord is the bare minimum we can do for Him. Our God owns our lives, our time, our money, and our possessions - everything. What can we offer Him that He doesn’t already have? We were created to have fellowship with God. How can a sinful mortal have a relationship with a Holy God? We have that relationship with Him by surrendering to Him and trying to live a life pleasing to Him. It’s the least we can do for our Creator who loves us, saved us, and calls us His own.
