Romans 12:1-2

These verses ought to be memorized and meditated on regularly.  They are the fundamental to our life and growth in Christ.  And they are critical in the understanding of Romans.  They are built on the major truths of Romans 5-8, and are the basis for the way we live out the life-issues of the chapters to follow.

·        “I beseech you”: This is the language of grace.  It “comes along side” and exhorts, encourages.  The law says “I command you”, “thou shalt not,” etc.  Remember that victory over sin comes from grace, not law (Rom. 6:14).

·        “Therefore”: What immediately precedes leads Paul to this section we call practical application (Rom. 12-16).  

·        “By the mercies of God”: This is what immediately precedes Rom. 12:1.  The chapters on the status of Israel are again seen to be, not just a parenthesis, or a discussion critical only to the New Testament Church, but foundational to Christian living.  They conclude by saying “God has committed them all to disobedience that He might have mercy on all” (11:32).  This mercy of God is the leverage or motivation or inspiration for the Christian.  People will wonder if not being under the law will result in license.  It will if we are not fully convinced that God is merciful and that our salvation is the result of nothing but mercy!  We do have an “obligation” or, as Paul put it, we are debtors (Rom. 1:14; 8:12; 15:27), but not to the law (Gal. 5:3).  It is a debt of love (Rom. 13:8; 15:1 where “ought” is the same word “debt”).

·        “That you present your bodies a living sacrifice”: This is what we are moved to do, to be a sacrifice as Christ was in the mercy of the cross.  Remember He called us to follow Him to the cross, to live as He did (Luke 9:21-26).  Further in Rom. 6:12-13 Paul encouraged us to present our members as instruments of righteousness to God.  The verb present calls for a conscious act of the will on the part of the believer.  It is the way we begin each day and the way we live throughout each day!  

·        “A living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God”:  This sacrifice is living because our bodies are physically alive.  Again Rom. 6 tells us to present our members, the parts of our mortal bodies, to God.  He then uses us as He sees fit.  His purposes are holy so our lives will be holy.  And this pleases God which fulfills the desire we have because of His mercy.  In the end this is …

·        “Your reasonable service”:  In other words it’s the only thing that makes sense.  To loosely quote a prof in Bible College, “you’re stupid if you don’t.”  In light of God’s mercy and the example of Christ, this is logical (Grk. logiken) service.  The word for “service” was used of what the Priests and Levites did in the temple (Rom. 9:4; Heb. 9:1,6).  So this is our ministry; instead of offering animal sacrifices we offer ourselves as the sacrifice.  

May I beseech you to memorize this, think about it deeply, and daily make it your practice to make this choice of faith!