“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)
This appeal is not a suggestion. It is not just a recommendation. If we read the whole of the teachings of Christ and of his NT apostles, we will realize that what this teaches here is required of the life of a true believer in Jesus Christ. So, this word translated as “appeal” is really an exhortation or a strong and holy urging. It is a call or a summons or an admonishment to holy and righteous living in walks of obedience to our Lord Jesus.
And to be a living sacrifice to God is not optional for the true believer in Christ. For Jesus said that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. And when we believe in Jesus with God-persuaded faith in him, we die with Christ to sin, and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to God and to righteousness.
So, because of what Jesus did for us on that cross in dying for us so that we might die with him to sin and live to his righteousness, and so that we might now live for him and no longer for self, and so that we will deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, we are to surrender our lives to him as living sacrifices to him, holy and pleasing to him. And now our lives belong to God and he is the Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives.
Now we are his people, his possession, here on this earth to serve him with our lives in doing his will, and not to serve ourselves and to do just what we want to do. For we are to be his holy people who are living separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ in character, mind, thinking, passions, desires, attitudes, speaking, believing, and in action. For to this we have all been called of God.
So when this says that we are to present our bodies to God as living sacrifices, that includes our whole being – mind, soul, words, attitudes, and behaviors. And it includes our physical bodies which are to be given over to the Lord in moral purity and not in sin. We are to be his people who are living in moral purity, honesty, integrity, faithfulness, and obedience to our Lord and to his commands as our daily practice and way of life.
And this is our spiritual worship of God. Singing songs in a worship service may be called worship, and in some cases it may be true worship, but singing songs or praise and worship of God is not true worship of God if our lives are not surrendered to the Lord and if we are not living in moral purity and uprightness and godliness, but if we are still walking in sin. For lip service to the Lord is not true worship. Surrender of our lives is worship.
Then we are not to be conformed to the ways of this sinful world. We are not to look like, act like, speak like, and think like the ungodly. We are not to do all the same things that they do, laugh at all the same jokes, watch all the same movies and videos and cartoons, etc., and play all the same games and have all the same conversations and attitudes and behaviors. For Jesus called us out of the world to be different from the world, to be like HIM.
So, we are to be those whose minds and hearts have been transformed of the Spirit of God away from lives of living in sin and for self to now living holy lives which are pleasing to our Lord. And we are to be those who are spiritually discerning of what is right in the eyes of the Lord and what is not right in the eyes of God so that we do what is right and not what is wrong and so that we do the will of God, which is good, acceptable, and perfect.
Video Talk
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Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.
O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
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