Our attitude that pleases God (Chap.12)
Apostle Paul has dealt man’s need of God. He presented the Gospel to both Jews and Gentiles univocally. In a Christian life, doctrine and duty go together. It is not enough for us to just understand doctrine, but we must apply it in our daily lives. God looks at our attitude and principles. Paul explains that the Gospel has implications for the way we should treat one another.
Living Sacrifice. (12:1):
The apostle begins with “therefore” which means he is making a conclusion. This is the 4th “therefore,” (3:20) is the “therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law” which is a condemnation, declaring that the whole world is guilty before God. In (5:1) is the “therefore we have been justified by faith” and (8:1) is the “therefore there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” is a tremendous assurance. But in (12:1), we have the “therefore” of living sacrifice, and it is this sacrifice that is the basis for the other relationships that Paul discussed in this section.
Paul is asking that our bodies are to be given to God in worship as a living sacrifice, not as a dead one. As a living sacrifice, we would continually respond to Him and worship Him and do His will. We are set apart for Him, to serve Him and do His will.
Before we believed the Lord, we used our body for sinful pleasures and we were objects of God’s wrath. But when we accepted Him as our personal Saviour, we belong to Him. Our body is to be used for His glory and His purpose. The Christian’s body is the temple of God (1 Cor.6:19-20). It is our opportunity and privilege to glorify Christ through our body. The Lord Jesus Christ accomplished God’s will through His physical body, in the same way we also must yield our bodies to accomplish God’s purposes in this life.
In the entire Bible, we see 2-such living sacrifices. Isaac (Gen.22) willingly yielded himself to be sacrificed but God provided a ram in his place. He died to self, and when he got off that altar, he portrays as a living sacrifice to the glory of God. The second example is our Lord Jesus Christ. He willingly gave His life as a sacrifice to redeem us from the bondage of sin and in complete obedience of the Father God. He actually died, but rose again and is sitting at the right hand of Father interceding for us. He did not come for just only for Jews but for the entire humanity. He said: ” come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt.11:28). He died for us while we were yet sinners. “We were by nature objects of wrath, but because of His great love for us, God who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved” (Eph.2:3-5). He even bears the marks of wounds of Calvary. He is our High Priest (Heb. 4:14-16) and our Advocate (1 Jn. 2:1) before the throne of God.
So Paul is urging all the believers to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is the true worship. Jesus said to Samaritan woman: “the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks” (Jn.4:23). In other words, when we worship God, our lives must be true and consistent with teaching of the Lord. The Lord commands a definite commitment from each one of us just as a bride and groom commit each other in their wedding service. Our commitment must go through all our lives and be consistent, this is the reasonable service. (thoughts taken from The Bible Exposition commentary)
Be transformed: (12:2): The apostle warns that our world system is conforming us to the ungodly patterns of the world which must be avoided. The opposite word for conforming is transform. Paul says: “but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (1:2). It is all in our mind and in our thinking process. Transformation is caused by the Word of God and He renews our mind time to time.
- Many Christians live their life based on feelings. A life of feeling would never know the transforming power of God, because it ignores the renewing of the mind. Of course God is never against our feelings and doings. He is a powerful God and passionate God.
Ex. Demas loved the world and left the ministry with apostle Paul.
- The feeling and doing something is entirely different from what Bible says. There is no place in Christian life viz. How do I do? What do I feel? But we must know what is God’s teaching, what does the Bible tells us.
- The word ‘Transformed’ is an ancient Greek word describing “metamorphosis” which is quite nearer to “transfiguration” (Mk.9:2-3).
- Apostle Paul used the word ‘transform’ in another place: “And we who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor.3:18).
When we are transformed from inside, which is evident on the outside, others will see us praise God. That is a perfect gift and acceptable to God. We can allow God to transform.