“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 ESV)
When Paul stated here that he appealed to the Christians, this was not a light encouragement nor a mere suggestion nor a recommendation to them. This was an exhortation which is a strong encouragement, which means to beseech, to entreat, and to admonish. And to admonish can mean to reprove, caution, warn, and rebuke. So this is a holy urging (a call) of God toward some particular action and behavior that will be acceptable and pleasing to God, in accord with God’s word and his will and purpose.
So, we as believers in Jesus Christ are to present our bodies to Christ as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God. And this goes right along with what Paul taught in Romans 6:1-23 where he said that our old self was crucified with Christ in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we will no longer be enslaved to sin. Therefore, we are not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies, to make us obey its passions, for if sin is what we obey, it leads to death, not to life eternal with God.
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11-14 ESV).
For the truth is in Jesus Christ teaches us “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (see Ephesians 4:17-24 ESV).
For Jesus said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:23-26 ESV).
And this is what it means for us to give our lives to God as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship of God. For our worship of God is not in form only. It is not going through the practice of certain religious rituals and human traditions. It is not just raising our hands in the air and singing songs with our lips and/or playing musical instruments in what is called a “worship service.” For it is not worship of God if our lives are not surrendered to the Lord to do his will, but if we still live for self.
True biblical worship of God involves us denying self, dying daily to sin, and following our Lord in obedience to his commands and in surrender to his will for our lives in holy living. But this isn’t just about obeying the word of God written for us Christians to obey, but this involves total surrender of our lives to be who Jesus wants us to be in doing what he has called us to do, as his servants, and as his messengers, and as those who belong to him and who have died to our old lives to now live for God to do his will.
Therefore, we are not to be conformed to the ways of this sinful world. We are not to live worldly lives, pleasing ourselves, without regard for what God wants us to do and without regard for how he wants us to live our lives on this earth. We are not to look like, act like, talk like, think like, and believe like the people of the world who have no relationship with God. For we are called to be God’s holy people in all our conduct, and to be holy is to be different from the world because we are being conformed to Jesus’ likeness.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24]
Here is Your God!
An Original Work / July 18, 2012
Based off Isaiah 40:9-31 NIV
You who bring good tidings to Zion,
Lift up your voice; raise with a shout,
And do not be afraid of the people.
Say, “Here is your God!”
See how the Lord God comes now with power.
His arm rules for Him; His reward with Him.
He tends His flock just like a shepherd,
His lambs in His arms.
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from beginning?
Our Lord sits enthroned above all things.
None to Him compare.
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens.
Who made all of these? Who calls them by name?
Because of His great power and strength,
All accounted for.
Why do you say, “My way is hidden
From the Lord, and my cause forgotten”?
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord, He is your God.
He will not weary. He gives us power.
Those who trust in Him will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings just like eagles;
Walk and do faint not.
