Present Your Bodies a Living Sacrifice, Holy, Acceptable to God
1Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. 2Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God. 3For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith. 4For even as we have many members in one body, and all the members don’t have the same function, 5so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6Having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us, if prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith; 7or service, let us give ourselves to service; or he who teaches, to his teaching; 8or he who exhorts, to his exhorting: he who gives, let him do it with generosity; he who rules, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
Until now the apostle Paul has proclaimed that we can be saved only by having faith in Jesus Christ. He has said that God sent his only Son to save those imprisoned in death because of sin, and that, since we have escaped eternal death through the sacrifice of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit, we must give thanks. For those who stand on the rock of Jesus Christ, living as the saints God delights in is the very way to repay his grace. So the lives of those who stand on the rock and of those who live for the world must be different, because a world shaped by darkness ends in hell, while the end to which God leads us by his light is a glorious heaven.
The apostle Paul is asking the church what kind of life it will choose. He is asking whether the things of the world have come before the work of God. If you have learned the doctrine, you must now live a life worthy of it. If you know how great a love God has given you and yet the world always comes first, God’s attention will turn to others among his people, because God, too, wants much love and attention from you.
Revelation 2:10
10Don’t be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested; and you will have oppression for ten days. Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life.
The word of truth and your life must become one. The church in Smyrna suffered economic sanctions for refusing emperor worship, and endured severe hardship from Jews who were hostile to them. Even so, though they were poor in worldly goods, they were pure within and rich in spirit. Because people under Satan’s rule hated the church in Smyrna, some of its members were thrown into prison and suffered every kind of affliction and persecution, and some were martyred. In the midst of such great tribulation, the Christians of Smyrna, ready to die, kept faith with the Lord to the end. Seeing the faith of those who were faithful to death, God promised to give them the crown of victory. Do you see now how far God wants your faith to go? He wants the love of a people who look toward the eternal kingdom he has established and are faithful with all their heart.
If the word and your life do not walk the same road, the word will have no power, and it will not be able to help your life. Only when we walk together with the word can we have the wisdom that lights up the world. If we live by our own plans and desires without fighting the spiritual battle to hold fast to the faith, we can never do the work of God. The thought “I will serve when I have time” amounts in the end to saying “I won’t,” which is why God will not concern himself with such a person either. Confessing faith with the mouth is truly necessary for a person’s faith. But if that confession is not joined by faithfulness to death, the faith confessed with the mouth will come under suspicion. The apostle Paul taught the word unceasingly, and to those who had received God’s grace and still did not change, he declared what true faith is.
Romans 12:1
1Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.
I have said that salvation is completed through God’s mercy and through faith in Christ. Those who have received the mercies of God must show their faith by presenting their bodies to him as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. And to become a living sacrifice, they must live blamelessly, according to God’s will. A life centered on God in all things — that is spiritual service. The only way to show God our faith is for those who have lived out a holy life to give themselves to him with their bodies. So our actions are the only way to show God what faith and what thoughts we hold now, and they become the means by which we serve him.
To “present” as a living sacrifice means to give, to offer up, to surrender. A sacrifice laid on the altar has no say over itself; it simply yields its life as the priest does with it. To become such a holy, living sacrifice, it must be without blemish. And to be without blemish, we must live a life of joy overflowing with thanksgiving and praise, and stand ready in faith so that God can use us at any time. Of course I know that living this way is hard, but we must obey, knowing that a sacrifice offered to God has no choice of its own and hoping for the eternal kingdom.
Let us look at the offerings of Cain and Abel. Cain brought grain, the fruit of the ground, and Abel brought the firstborn of his flock and their fat. God did not judge them by their offerings; he looked at their lives, and did not accept Cain and his offering, but accepted Abel and his. Cain did not know the standard by which God judged; his face fell, and when he grew jealous of his brother and hated him, Satan did not miss the chance and made Cain a murderer. When God asked Cain why his face had fallen, he was giving him a chance to turn back; had Cain repented then, Satan would not have found his opening. But after killing Abel, when God asked where Abel was, Cain answered arrogantly, asking whether he was his brother’s keeper. Having already had his heart taken by Satan, Cain was darkened in heart and mind, and he no longer feared even God. How could God accept the offering of Cain, who would not let go of human righteousness? Cain did not complain because God had rejected his offering; he showed his wicked nature at every turn because he had a wicked character from the start and did not know true thanksgiving.
We are all born with a sinful nature. But if we live patiently by the word, then through that experience and knowledge our sinful nature will gradually be changed into godly character. Human nature itself does not change, but as we grow little by little in the word and in faith, we gain the wisdom to cover that nature, bit by bit. This is a maturity quite different from pretense. When some trouble comes, the wisdom of God’s people is to fight a spiritual battle within so that the sinful nature does not show, and to display maturity instead. I hope you will live to the end with the wisdom that keeps your nature covered. If you have learned the word, you must give yourself to God with a holy and upright faith. God wants his people to be steadfast, doing what they ought to do. Our bodies are members of Christ and temples of the Holy Spirit. This means that not only our souls but, one day, our bodies too will be saved. The Holy Spirit never leaves us even for a moment, yet we, formed from the dust, always carry within us the desire to return to the world. Like the apostle Paul, who confessed that he died daily, unless this body and heart of ours are born again, we cannot help living selfish and immoral lives.
Romans 12:2
2Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.
Satan and the world press us to live within the mold they have made. But those born again through the word have the wisdom to judge rightly, and so they do not bow to this dark world. To be transformed means to be changed in form: in thought and in action one has become an entirely different person from before. To discern what the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God is, we must not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Satan has deformed by sin the human being who is God’s handiwork, but God is able to break that sinful shape and remake it perfectly, so God’s people must be born again by the Holy Spirit.
Glass, I am told, is made by mixing sand, soda ash, and limestone in the right proportions, melting them at more than 1,000 degrees, and then shaping them into the products we use every day. To make stronger glass, they say, it is heated above 1,700 degrees; that it grows harder at higher heat is like the way we grow firmer the more we suffer. And to add various colors, the color must be put in while the glass is still liquid if the products are to be colorful. This is the picture of those whose hard hearts have been softened through suffering and who have been transformed by the renewing of their minds. At first they were the kind of people one sees everywhere in the world, but once they are melted by the fervent heat of the Holy Spirit and shaped into the form of God’s people, they become treasured children who shine all over the world and make the name of God known.
One who has been born again in uprightness is like clean, clear glass. Saints filled with the spirit of martyrdom will serve as windowpanes, shutting out the cold and hot air of the world so that many souls can live safely in God. In the same way, we must put off the old self, which follows the old ways and grows corrupt through deceitful desires, be renewed in the spirit of our minds, and put on the new self, created after God in righteousness and holiness of truth. When we lay down our own will, feelings, and reason and become people God finds easy to use, we can discern the spirit of Satan and triumph with great power. Even so, the temptations of the world are not easy to overcome. Like water, Satan seeps in wherever there is a gap; so, just as Noah coated the ark with wild honey, we must receive the help of the Holy Spirit.
To be people who give themselves wholly to God, you must first learn to discern what he wants of you. If you rely on Jesus Christ, you will come to know God’s will better than your own and can live by an upright faith. As ambassadors sent from the Kingdom of God, you must bear that responsibility and give yourselves, with your very bodies, to rescuing the people of his kingdom out of this world.
Romans 12:3
3For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith.
What matters in the church is that its members, with their good character, ability, wisdom, and understanding, come together in harmony and work for good. Those who lead must guide the church with love and humility, and the rest of the congregation must know that they are God’s children and obey even in small things. Because God wants us to work together for good, we must think reasonably and act wisely, according to the measure of faith God has given each of us. If we cannot discern God’s perfect will and cannot break out of the mold of pride, we will end up as fools and drift away from God.
Just as it would be inconvenient to keep house with only big bowls or only small ones, the church can work for the Kingdom of God only when people with a variety of gifts come together. The gifts God gives his people differ from one another. Gifts are not what we choose to receive; God decides and distributes them. So whatever the gift, it must be used for Christ. God gives grace and gifts even to people like Cain, but those who will not acknowledge that their gift belongs to God use it, as Cain did, to exalt themselves. Because gifts are God’s, if they are not used to spread the gospel, they can in the end become a sharp weapon that wounds one’s own soul.
May you walk humbly with the Lord, according to the measure of faith you have received. To think reasonably according to the measure of faith does not speak of differences in ability; it means to fulfill humbly, as a member of the body, the work that is yours to do. When each of us acts wisely according to the measure of our faith, the church will flourish, so acting according to that measure is vitally important. The apostle Paul says that when we know where we stand, we will not harbor the pride that reaches beyond the ability God has given. Why is it so important for us to work together? Suppose an emergency strikes and the feet cannot walk: the body cannot move from where it is. And even if the mouth shouts at the feet to hurry while watching them unable to move for pain, that will not get the body up. Only when the feet are healed can the body rise.
For the body to be healthy, it must exercise regularly; the feet must go diligently to buy food, the hands must cook, and the mouth must eat with relish. If the eyes, because the food looks delicious, declare that they will eat it, they are thinking more highly than they ought to think, and that is not wise. That is why God has given each member a role it can do well. Only when members who know their roles work together for good can we build a healthy church, a gathering of God’s people in which he delights.
Romans 12:4
4For even as we have many members in one body, and all the members don’t have the same function,
God’s people serve with a variety of offices and gifts, but it is God who uses all of them to bring about good. Through the Holy Spirit one person speaks a word of wisdom, and through the same Spirit another exercises the gift of healing. One prophesies, another discerns spirits, another speaks in various kinds of languages, and another interprets them. The variety is truly great, but because God is almighty, he works so that all these gifts come together for the sake of Christ. The members of the church come from different backgrounds and have different gifts and abilities, yet in Christ they have become one body and give themselves to God. Whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, all have been baptized by one Spirit and, being one body in the Spirit, are working for the Kingdom of God. If these dear members of Christ fail to recognize one another’s worth, then, holy body though they are, their true worth will go unrecognized.
For the church to do its work, all its members must have an effect on one another. If they recognize that they need one another and hold one another dear, they will build up the body of Jesus Christ in health, without strife, and extend the Kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 12:28-31
28God has set some in the assembly: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracle workers, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, and various kinds of languages. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all miracle workers? 30Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with various languages? Do all interpret? 31But earnestly desire the best gifts. Moreover, I show a most excellent way to you.
What Paul wants to stress is that the gifts we have received are not to be ranked against one another or set in rivalry; they belong together in cooperation. To serve as a teacher, one must learn the word, and so apostles are needed; for languages and their interpretation, someone spiritually further along must come first. Since we must therefore cooperate, no one should grow proud for having received a gift or act carelessly for having received an office. Offices and gifts are given according to need, so we must earnestly desire still greater gifts. When Paul says “earnestly desire the best gifts,” he means that we should keep growing, so that we can use the gifts we have now according to God’s will. If we speak in languages or interpret them, it means we should devote ourselves all the more to prayer for the good of the church and grow in the wisdom to comfort and build up our brothers and sisters.
What gift have you received? How are you using it for the church, for your fellow believers, and for the Kingdom of God? Because gifts belong to God, they must not be used to put ourselves on display. I believe that time, too, is a gift. For example, suppose I call a senior deaconess for help, and she has never once refused but always makes time to help — for her, time is a gift. She has the wisdom to make good use of her time, and she has faith. Her faith, longing for greater gifts, is what has given her time so unsparingly that God’s work may go well. Seeing such wisdom, God will bless her with material provision, health, and peace so that in faith she can give him still more of her time. Faith like this is what it looks like to present oneself as a holy, living sacrifice.
We are people already offered to God as a holy, living sacrifice. Since you are children who have already given your whole lives, you must strive to become trustworthy fellow workers to whom God can entrust any task. Making good choices every day to be fit for God, laboring to offer him the fruit of faith — that is spiritual service. May you offer your lives as holy worship. If you are transformed and live discerning the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God, the church will naturally grow healthy. But if God’s people do not give themselves, the church can do nothing. If they do not love one another, the church cannot be full. If they do not sacrifice themselves, the church cannot spread the gospel. Your dedication and sacrifice are what make the church healthier. If your gift is serving, teaching, encouraging, caring for the poor, leading, or showing mercy, I hope you will give yourself to it with a cheerful heart. This is because God, thinking of his people delivered from death, carried his work through to the end with a joyful heart. My earnest hope is that you will always put God first and be faithful to him.