Today, we reach a major break in Paul’s letter to the Romans. Thus far, the letter has consisted mostly of theology – that is, the things that Paul (and presumably his Christian readers) believe. Paul has gone out of his way to provide his readers with a thorough examination of such topics as the problem of human sinfulness, God’s gracious provision in saving sinners, and the resulting of those sinners who have been saved. In short, Paul has spent most of his time laying out the gospel – the good news of Jesus Christ and all that entails. And then, as we have seen over the last three weeks, Paul kept with this theme of theology as he examined the faithfulness of God as it relates to the nation of Israel and their place in redemptive history. No doubt, there have been explicitly practical exhortations made at various times throughout these first 11 chapters (6:12-13, 19; 11:18, 20), but – for the most part – the emphasis has been on what Christians believe rather than on the way Christians live.
This changes beginning in Romans 12:1 as Paul begins to shift his focus to more practical exhortations. It is as if Paul, assuming that his readers agree with the things he has written in chapters 1-11, now wants to give his readers a more explicit picture of what true obedience looks like. So, as we look at Romans 12-16 (and particularly Romans 12:1-15:13), we will see a bit of a different emphasis in Paul’s writing.
Understanding that reality, we must make clear the place of Romans 12:1-2 in Paul’s thought. It might seem strange to examine only these two verses after examining much larger chunks throughout the book of Romans (including the entirety of chapter 11 last week). The reason for looking at these two verses by themselves is because they seem to serve as a thesis statement, of sorts, for everything that comes after. A thesis statement is a brief summary of the major theme of a paper. It is the main point of the material that follows summed up in a sentence or two. These two verses serve as the head of this entire section of exhortation that we will examine over the next few weeks, because all of Paul’s coming exhortations can be summed up in what we will look at today. As Thomas R. Schreiner writes concerning this text, ““Romans 12:1-2 serve as the paradigm for the entire exhortation section. If all the exhortations contained here could be boiled down to their essence, they would be reduced to the words: Give yourselves wholly to God; do not be shaped by the old world order, but let new thought patterns transform your life.”1To put it another way: in the coming weeks Paul will give more detailed applications of the reality that is put forth in Romans 12:1-2. But, in a very real sense, those more detailed applications cannot be rightly understood apart from the realities of 12:1-2.
That said, the flow of Paul’s thought is very logical in these two verses, so we will walk through his thought piece by piece.
Paul begins this section of his letter by saying, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God,” (12:1a). We must stop here – in the middle of this sentence – and understood this foundational part of Paul’s thought. Paul is about to give his readers a specific exhortation, but that exhortation rests on a specific understand of “the mercies of God.” It is logical to ask, “What are these mercies?” This reference seems to be to all of the things that Paul has mentioned up to this point in the letter. The mercies of God – at least in the lives of Paul’s believing hearers – are those very things that have come to them in the person of Jesus Christ and in the message of the gospel. As Douglas Moo writes, “’Through the mercies of God’ underscores the connection between what Paul now asks his readers to do and what he has told them earlier in the letter that God has done for them. All that Paul has written in the letter thus far may be summed up under the heading of the mercy of God in action.”2
Understanding this reality, Paul’s thought becomes clear. It is on the basis of the numerous things that Paul has already said that he gives his readers the following exhortation. He exhorts them to action only because they have been born again. Paul has already made clear that human beings – in and of themselves – are merely wretched sinners (1:18-3:20). But human beings that have been justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ (3:21-4:25) are something entirely different – they are a new creation (5:1-8:39). In short, Paul’s exhortations (specifically in Romans 12:1-2 and more generally in Romans 12:1-15:13) can only be understood rightly in light of the first 11 chapters of the letter.
But why is this point so important? Why must we be so careful not to sever the last 5 chapters of Romans from the first 11 chapters? The answer is two-fold. First, any attempt to live the life that Paul is about to describe will be a colossal failure if the grace and mercy spoken about in Romans 1-11 are not present. Paul’s whole point has been that apart from grace, human beings have no hope of doing things like those things he is about to prescribe. The only reason he goes on to prescribe such things now is precisely because he believes in the momentous change that has been brought about in the life of an individual who has placed their faith in Jesus Christ. The basis of any and all practical exhortation is God’s equipping and sustaining grace in our lives. Attempts in faithful living that are separated from this grace are nothing more than legalism which inevitably leaves us defeated and lost. May we never be guilty of trying to obey without the equipping grace of God.
The second answer to the question of why this point is so important focuses on an issue at the other end of the spectrum: an individual who says they belief the things Paul has said in Romans 1-11, and who says they have been justified by grace through faith, must inevitably lead a life that coincides with that confession. Paul says, “I appeal to you therefore…” [emphasis added] to make the point that these exhortations are natural results of what has already been said. We are saved by faith and that saving faith is demonstrated in a life of faithful obedience. May we never be guilty of using our justification in Christ as an excuse for fulfilling our own sinful desires.
In short, it is vitally important for us to understand that the doctrinal foundation of Romans 1-11 cannot be separated from the practical exhortations of Romans 12-16 so that we might avoid the ever-present danger of trying to please God through our works as well as the ever-present danger of walking in sin because grace abounds.
Having laid out the foundation for the things he is about to say, Paul then exhorts his readers “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (12:1a). The language Paul uses here would not have been new to Paul’s readers in Rome, and it probably is not new language to us either. That said, the way that Paul uses the language in this verse would have been unusual. It represents an entire shift in thinking that we as Christians must be sure to understand.
Paul’s language is the language of the Old Testament. Sacrifice was an integral part of the life of national Israel. A great number of God’s commands and declarations in the Torah center on Israel’s sacrifice and her worship – of which sacrifice was an integral part. In using the language that he uses in the way he uses it, Paul is tying himself intimately to the roots of God’s people in the Old Testament, but he is demonstrating that those Old Testament realities have now been transposed into a much grander and more personal reality through the lens of justification by grace through faith.
To give one example of what I am talking about, the object of sacrifice in the Old Testament was always on object outside of the one making the sacrifice. Whether it was a bull, a ram, a bird, grain, incense or anything else, the person offering the sacrifice brought something with them to offer. In Paul’s mind, this reality is radically changed. Rather than bringing something to sacrifice, Paul calls on his readers to offer themselves as a sacrifice. In light of the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ (“the mercies of God”) – of which the Old Testament sacrifices were merely a shadow and a type – Paul recognizes that God desires the total dedication of his people to himself rather than their mere offering of an animal. In the Old Testament, the blood of bulls and goats was shed so that God’s presence might dwell among his people. It was the only way that the holy God could dwell among sinful people. But now that Christ has come, a way has been opened for God’s presence to rest among his people. Indeed, in the New Covenant, God himself – in the form of the Holy Spirit – actually does reside in the very hearts of those who believe. There is no need for the blood of bulls and goats because the blood of Jesus Christ has been shed. As a result, we no longer sacrifice animals. Rather, we offer ourselves.
The implications of this are astounding and we see Paul make brief reference to some of them. Notice that he exhorts his readers to “present your bodies.” In using the word “bodies,” Paul is not merely referring to the physical body. Rather, he is making reference to the entirety of who we are as human beings. That said, this reference certainly includes our physical bodies as well as our thoughts and attitudes and desires. Paul envisions a person who is entirely submitted to the Lord and who is ready to do whatever the Lord pleases. Notice that sacrifice is no longer a ritual reserved for specific days or specific occasions. The sacrifice that Paul has in mind is a sacrifice that includes every ounce of our being at all times. To use the imagery of the Old Testament, the one who places their faith in Jesus Christ never leaves the temple. Instead, they are the temple. And the sacrifice is continuous. There is never a moment in which sacrifice is not occurring, because every word and thought and deed is an act of sacrifice – an act of submission to the Lord and an offering of ourselves to him. It is this sort of sacrifice – in the words of Paul, a “living sacrifice” – that is holy and acceptable to God. It does not consist of the blood of animals but of a willing heart and soul and mind and strength.
But notice something else that Paul says: he tells his readers that this presenting of their bodies as a living sacrifice to God is “your spiritual worship.” In Paul’s mind, worship is defined as the very sacrificing of which he has been speaking. Just as sacrifice is no longer merely an occasional activity but something that involves every bit of us, worship is no longer a formal thing reserved for special occasions. Rather, everything we do is now an act of worship. This is a profound reality that should affect everything we do. Suddenly, the corporate gathering on Sunday is not the only place where worship occurs. Worship happens throughout the week as we do whatever the Lord has called us to do. Suddenly, the way we interact with our children is an opportunity to worship. The way that we do our work is an opportunity to worship. The way we obey and submit to authorities is an act of worship. Suddenly, everything is sacred because we present our very lives to God as worship. We must not forget that, in light of the cross and our salvation, every mundane moment becomes a moment in the presence of God and an opportunity to worship.
Having heard these things, we might be thinking: “That is great, but I do not feel as if my mundane tasks are worship. I do not feel consumed by joy and delight as I worship God through working at my job or parenting my children or obeying my parents. How do I do that? How do I get there?” In many ways, Paul’s answer seems to come in verse 2. Though there are no verbal indicators that verse 2 is the means by which verse 1 is accomplished, it seems very likely that the flow of Paul’s thought is just that. Having just exhorted his readers to present their bodies as living sacrifices to God, he then tells them, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Rom. 12:2a).
In laying out this exhortation, Paul makes clear that the presenting of our bodies as living sacrifices described in verse 1 will not happen unless we are transformed at the very core of our being. As we saw at the beginning, attempting to obey Paul’s exhortation without being transformed from the inside out is a losing battle that will only leave us frustrated and defeated. The thing that is needed is that we be transformed into the very image of Jesus Christ
But notice that this exhortation is preceded by a negative exhortation. These two exhortations go together because one cannot happen without the other. Paul first tells his readers, “Do not be conformed to this world.” Here, Paul is picking up on a common biblical theme in which “this world” refers to the fallen, sin-infested, God-rejecting age in which we live. In this context, “this world” is the same world that lies under the power of the evil one according to John (1 John 5:19). After the fall of Genesis 3, the world was radically changed. Rather than being a world in which God was exalted and praised by his creation, this world became a world in which unrighteousness reigned. As human beings, it is “this world” that is naturally comfortable to us. This unrighteous culture feels like home to us by nature. As Paul said, in Ephesians, “…you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:1-2). Everyone by nature is a part of “this world.”
But at the point of a person’s salvation, something incredible happens. At the moment of belief, the believing individual is transferred from “this world” (the sin-infested, God-rejecting world) into the glorious kingdom of Jesus Christ. Paul tells the Galatians that Jesus “gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father” (Gal. 1:4). He is even more explicit in writing to the Colossians: “He [God the Father] has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13-14). This is the reality that we saw in Romans 5: when we believe in Jesus Christ, we move from being “in Adam” (a citizen of “this world”) to being “in Christ” (a citizen of Christ’s eternal kingdom).
But there is something that makes this difficult: even though we are citizens of a new Kingdom, we still live in the midst of “this world.” Though we as people have been radically changed, our circumstances – in many ways – remain the same. The world around us is as sin-infested as ever. The world around us is as God-rejecting as ever. It is for this reason that Paul says, “Do not be conformed to this world.” This world is hostile to the heavenly kingdom of Jesus Christ. And we must do everything in our power not to be conformed to it. That is, we now have new values that are not the values of this world, and we must not let the world’s values crowd out the values of our heavenly kingdom. For example, the world values external beauty, but we know that God looks on the heart. We must not conform to this world. The world values riches and honor and fame, but we know that earthly treasures are destined to be destroyed and that the only treasure that matters is treasure in heaven. We must not conform to this world. Likewise, the world’s attitudes are explicitly contrary to the attitudes of our heavenly kingdom. The world tells us to seek our own good at the expense of others, but God tells us to consider others better than ourselves. The world tells us to seek to make everyone else our servant, but God tells us that the greatest is the servant of all. We must not let the world dictate to us our values and attitudes. We must be conformed to this world.
Instead, as Paul says, we are to be transformed. The usage of a different word is striking. Conforming is something that I choose to do in order that I might look a certain way or fit in with a certain group. Transformation is something that happens to us. We do conform, but we are transformed. As I said before, we are all by nature conformers to “this world.” But when we are redeemed, the transformation begins. That is, we are being changed from one who loves sin to one who hates sin. We are being changed from one who rejects God into one who loves God. To use Paul’s letter to the Romans as an example, we are being changed from Romans 1:18-32 into Romans 12:1. To use Paul’s words to the Corinthians, “…we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor. 3:18). Paul is making clear that the way to present your bodies as living sacrifices to God is to refuse to be conformed to this world and instead to be transformed by God himself into the very likeness of Christ.
But we must not be mistaken into thinking that we are merely passive agents in this transformation. Paul tells his readers that they are to be transformed “by the renewal of your mind.” That is, we are to set our minds on the things of God and keep them there until we are radically transformed into people who look like they are part of the true Kingdom of Christ. As we have already seen in Romans 8, Paul told his readers that “those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit” (Rom. 8:5b). And he told them that “to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace” (Rom. 8:6b). As Christians, we are responsible to set our minds on the things of God. That is, we are to think often and hard about God and who he is and what he has done for us. We are to think often and hard about the person of Jesus Christ and who he is and what he has done in us. We are to think often and hard about our own responsibilities and obligations as Christians in light of our redemption in Christ. As we think often and hard on these things, our minds will begin to change. We will begin to think more like those who dwell in the Kingdom of Christ and less like those who are part of this world. We become the very thing we dwell upon. And, as Christians, we must labor to dwell on the things above – where Christ is – so that we might be conformed to his image as we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. Paul’s words to the Colossians are equally applicable to us: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:1-3).
So, up to this point in these brief but intense verses, we have seen Paul – in light of the mercies of God that he has spoken about already – exhort his readers to present their bodies as living sacrifices to God. He has told them that for this happen, they must refuse to be conformed to this world; instead, they must be transformed by the renewal of their minds. But there is one final part to Paul’s exhortation. Having said all those things, Paul lays out a clear result that will flow from his reader’s presentation of themselves to God. He tells them that the end result of being transformed in their mind is “that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2b). Here is the final piece of Paul’s thought in these verses. He makes clear that one result of having our minds renewed so that we might be transformed is that we will be able to more clearly discern the will of God.
One thing that needs to be made clear at this point is that Paul’s reference to “the will of God” in this verse seems to be a reference to the explicit moral will of God. That is, Paul is not thinking about questions regarding what school to attend, whom to marry, or whether to buy a house or not. Paul seems to have in mind specific questions regarding whether a particular act honors the Lord or not. Obviously, there are certain moral questions that are beyond arguing: God’s will regarding murder is clear and God’s will regarding adultery is clear. But there are other situations in which God’s will does not seem to be so clear: issues regarding what music to listen to, what things to watch and even larger issues that might parallel the debate over whether or not to hide Jews from the Germans in World War II. These sorts of sticky, difficult moral questions are all around us, and – according to Paul – the way to begin to discern God’s will is to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. That is, as our minds are transformed, it will be easier and easier for us to decide God’s will in the particular situation that we face.
This is a very interesting reality that we often miss. There are numerous times when we wish we could know God’s will in a particular situation, and yet it is difficult for us to discern that will. According to Paul, the root of our lack of wisdom in that particular situation lies further back on the road of life. In Paul’s mind, the renewal of our minds that results in our transformation today will affect us weeks and months and years down the road because it will enable us to discern God’s will more clearly. If we desire to know how we should live and behave in particular situations, it all starts with the transformation of which we just spoke. That is the key to our being able to discern God’s will. As we are transformed into Christ’s likeness, the Spirit that dwells within us leads us into all truth (as Jesus promised in John 16). This Spirit knows the mind of God and imparts that mind (and will) to us, so that we might obey it faithfully. This is the way it works in Paul’s mind. The way we know God’s will is by being transformed through the renewal of our minds to the point that we begin to think like the Lord because we have his mind. This is Paul’s thought as he tells the Corinthians, “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16). We have that mind and we grow in the ability to use it and discern the glorious will of God.
So, having looked at these verses in depth, we can clearly see Paul’s thought. Paul clearly assumes that the doctrinal truths and realities that he has been laying out over the first 11 chapters of Romans will have a practical impact on the lives of his hearers. And, beginning in these two verses, Paul lays out what that practical impact looks like. In summing up what is to come in the next few chapters, Paul exhorts his readers to present their bodies as living sacrifices to God – realizing that everything they do is a sacrifice presented to God and realizing that worship is a continuing attitude of the heart because all of life is sacred. Our true act of worship is a life lived to the glory of God. And, in light of that exhortation, Paul exhorts his readers not to be conformed to the sin-producing, God-rejecting pattern of the world. Instead, he exhorts them to be transformed by the renewal of their minds to the things of God so that they might be better able to discern the will of God.
It is fitting in light of these realities that we come to the table, because we as Christians can rejoice today. No doubt, these things Paul has laid out can seem difficult and hard to follow. But the reality for us as believers is that we are able to obey because of the glorious sacrifice of Jesus Christ. These exhortations are not meant to be rules or laws laid upon us to weigh us down or shame us into submission. Paul believes that the realities he has expressed in Romans 1-11 (the very realities that we celebrate as we take communion) will result in the hearts of his readers being moved to obey and honor the Lord with their entire lives. So as we celebrate communion today, let this act of taking communion be the first of many times in which you present your bodies as a sacrifice to God. He commanded that we take this meal together and, in taking it, we remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and we submit to him as Lord by obeying his command to do so. Amen.