12:1 I beseech {1} you therefore, brethren, {a} by the mercies of God, that ye {b} present your {c} bodies a {d} living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your {e} reasonable service.
(1) The fourth part of this epistle, which after the finishing of the principal points of Christian doctrine, consists in the declaring of precepts of the Christian life. And first of all he gives general precepts and grounds: the principal of which is this, that every man consecrate himself wholly to the spiritual service of God, and do as it were sacrifice himself, trusting the grace of God.
(a) By this preface he shows that God's glory is the utmost goal of everything we do.
(b) In times past the sacrifices were presented before the altar: but now the altar is everywhere.
(c) Yourselves: in times past other bodies besides our own, but now our own must be offered.
(d) In times past, dead sacrifices were offered, but now we must offer those which have the spirit of life in them.
(e) Spiritual.
12:1 Christian Life
SUMMARY OF ROMANS 12:
The Divine Mercy Should Move Us. Being Transformed. Humility. Faithfulness in Our Own Personal Duties. Loving with Pure Hearts. Blessing for Cursing; Good for Evil. Leaving Vengeance to the Lord. Treatment of Enemies.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. The depth of the riches of the divine mercy has been shown in the argument of the preceding chapters, mercy for Jew and Gentile believers, and mercy in prospect for all Israel. The argument is now ended; God's plans have been explained, and the apostle appeals to those who have found mercy, in the name of that mercy, to continue in the goodness of God (Ro 11:22).
Present your bodies a living sacrifice. The Jewish dispensation with its sacrifices was ended; it closed when Christ, our passover (1Co 5:7), was offered for us. But a new order of sacrifice has come in. We should give ourselves. As the victim on the altar was surrendered wholly to God, so our bodies with all their members should be consecrated to his service; not as slain, but as living sacrifices. We do this when they become the temple of the Holy Spirit, and are used to serve God.
Your reasonable service. The consecration of the body to God is not an outward act, like the sacrifice on the altar, but an act of the mind, or reason; hence a reasonable service.
12:1 I exhort you - St. Paul uses to suit his exhortations to the doctrines he has been delivering. So here the general use from the whole is contained in the first and second verse s. The particular uses follow, from the third verse to the end of the Epistle. By the tender mercies of God - The whole sentiment is derived from Rom. i. - v. The expression itself is particularly opposed to the wrath of God, Rom 1:18. It has a reference here to the entire gospel, to the whole economy of grace or mercy, delivering us from the wrath of God, and exciting us to all duty. To present - So Rom 6:13; 16:19; now actually to exhibit before God. Your bodies - That is, yourselves; a part is put for the whole; the rather, as in the ancient sacrifices of beasts, the body was the whole. These also are particularly named in opposition to that vile abuse of their bodies mentioned, Rom 1:24. Several expressions follow, which have likewise a direct reference to other expressions in the same chapter . A sacrifice - Dead to sin and living - By that life which is mentioned, Rom 1:17; 6:4, and c. Holy - Such as the holy law requires, Rom 7:12. Acceptable - Rom 8:8. Which is your reasonable service - The worship of the heathens was utterly unreasonable, Rom 1:18, and c; so was the glorying of the Jews, Rom 2:3, and c. But a Christian acts in all things by the highest reason, from the mercy of God inferring his own duty.
12:1,2 The apostle having closed the part of his epistle wherein he argues and proves various doctrines which are practically applied, here urges important duties from gospel principles. He entreated the Romans, as his brethren in Christ, by the mercies of God, to present their bodies as a living sacrifice to Him. This is a powerful appeal. We receive from the Lord every day the fruits of his mercy. Let us render ourselves; all we are, all we have, all we can do: and after all, what return is it for such very rich receivings? It is acceptable to God: a reasonable service, which we are able and ready to give a reason for, and which we understand. Conversion and sanctification are the renewing of the mind; a change, not of the substance, but of the qualities of the soul. The progress of sanctification, dying to sin more and more, and living to righteousness more and more, is the carrying on this renewing work, till it is perfected in glory. The great enemy to this renewal is, conformity to this world. Take heed of forming plans for happiness, as though it lay in the things of this world, which soon pass away. Do not fall in with the customs of those who walk in the lusts of the flesh, and mind earthly things. The work of the Holy Ghost first begins in the understanding, and is carried on to the will, affections, and conversation, till there is a change of the whole man into the likeness of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness. Thus, to be godly, is to give up ourselves to God.
