Romans 12:1-2 NKJV
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Living Sacrifice
This word “beseech” is not a casual word to be overlooked.
For literally it means to exhort, to intreat, to urge, to implore, to encourage
strongly, to urgently ask for or to request or to admonish, all of which are to
be taken deeply seriously. So this is not a casual request, but this is urgent,
critical, and regarding life and death. And to exhort is to insist. And to
admonish is to caution and to warn, as well as to reprove. And to intreat is to
plead. So this is of a critical nature that we pay close attention to what is
said here.
So, what does it look like if we, by the mercies of God,
present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God? Well, it
means first of all that this originates with God, by his design and purpose,
and that this is not something we can do of our own will or in our own strength
and flesh. It is only because of God’s grace in sending Jesus Christ to the
cross to put our sins to death with him that any of us can now deny self, die
to sin, and follow our Lord in walks of surrender to him in obedience to his
commands.
So, only by God’s grace, and by his divine persuasion, can
any of us turn from our sins and now follow Jesus and walk in his ways and in
his truth and righteousness. And this is what it really means to present our
bodies to him as living sacrifices, for to sacrifice is to give up something,
in this case it is to give up our flesh and our sinful practices and our
stubborn wills to now surrender our lives to the will of God and to his
service. It means to put self on the altar of sacrifice to God so that he now
has command of our lives.
Holy Living
And to be holy is to be different, unlike the world, because
we are being transformed by God into the likeness of Jesus Christ, by his
grace, in his power, via our full cooperation with his work of grace in our
lives. And his grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to
renounce (say no to) ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live
self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await our Lord’s return. For
we are now clay in the hands of our Potter God who is shaping and molding us
into his likeness.
And when we have, by God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ,
denied self, died to sin, and we are now following our Lord in surrender to his
will, in walks of obedience to his commands, in holy living, in practice, then
we are acceptable to God. And all of this is our reasonable service to God in
our worship of God. And to worship God is not done just with the raising of
hands and the singing of songs, but true worship of God involves death to sin
and obedience to his commands in holy living – all in his power.
Transformed and Conformed to God
And if we are no longer conformed to this world, that means
that we are no longer living and following after the desires of the flesh and
worldly living. We no longer follow after the pattern of the world, but we now
follow Christ in being who he wants us to be. Rather than imitating the world
and its desires, we imitate Christ and we obey his desires for our lives. We do
not prefer the world – the lusts of the flesh and of the eyes and the pride of
life – but we prefer holiness, honesty, faithfulness, and obedience to God.
For if truly we are transformed of God in the renewing of
our minds, so that by our actions (behaviors, habits) we prove what is that
good and acceptable and perfect will of God, then our lives (our lifestyles) should
reflect Christ and his will and purpose for our lives. Our lives should no
longer reflect what is wicked, immoral, dishonest, prideful, selfish, and
unfaithful to our Lord, as a matter of life practice. And this is not claiming
absolute sinless perfection, but that in practice we serve Jesus Christ.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans
8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians
5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14;
Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24;
1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation
3:1-22]
Living Sacrifices
Based off Romans 12:1-2; Romans
6:11-14 NIV
An Original Work / September 14, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Oh, holy ones, I
counsel you,
In view of God’s
mercy,
To give yourselves
to God in love
As living offerings,
Pleasing to God,
holy in love.
This is your true
worship.
Do not conform to
worldly lives.
Let God transform
you today.
Then you’ll be able
to
Test and approve of
what
God’s will is – His
pleasing
And perfect will.
Oh, holy ones,
I counsel you –
Offer yourselves unto God.
Oh, holy ones, I
counsel you –
Do not be conceited.
Humble yourselves
before your God.
Do not be
self-righteous.
The strength you
have to live in love
Comes from your Lord
God, so
Live your new lives
in pow’r of God.
Be changed in heart,
mind and will.
Do this because of
what
Christ did for you
when
He died on the cross
to save
The world from sin.
Oh, holy ones,
I counsel you –
Humble yourselves before God.
Oh, holy ones, I
counsel you –
Count yourselves
dead to sin,
But be alive to God
in Christ.
Do not let sin reign
in
Your earthly lives
so you
Obey its evil
desires.
Offer yourselves
unto your God
As those who’ve been
born again.
For sin shall no
longer be
Your lord and
master.
Give of yourselves
to God
For righteousness.
Oh, holy ones,
I counsel you – Be
alive to God in Christ.
Our Bodies a Living Sacrifice
An Original Work / June 6, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
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