The apostle Paul concludes Romans chapter
11 by reminding us that from Him (God)
and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him
be glory forever (Rom 11:36). God deserves our recognition and
worship in everything. He is worthy! And it is the believer’s privilege to voluntarily
direct glory to Him in every way possible.
Romans
12:1 then begins with the word “therefore,” which
connects glorifying God with the following specific components of what that is
to look like in our lives. Paul writes, 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.
The Lord’s mercy is the only foundation available
to mankind on which we can do anything that would be acceptable. There is no
self-righteousness here. Humility is the place from where we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. You see, the
death of Jesus Christ on the cross was the final sacrifice demanding death that
God required, believers are set free in Christ
Jesus from the law of sin and death (Rom 8:2). Instead of repeatedly
sacrificing animals to God, as under the old covenant, God now desires each of
us to continually offer a single living human life, which is ourselves, as glorifying
to Him (cf. Hebrews 13:15).
Similarly, just as the old covenant
required animals without defect or disease to be offered, so God now desires
holy lives of Christians, that are not dominated by sin. So, by faith, we are
to present our lives with 2 levels of holiness. First, we present our lives
with the righteousness of Jesus Christ having been credited to us (cf. Romans
3:22). Again, by God’s mercy, we are now acceptable to God because of Jesus.
Second, we offer our lives as living people
who have been and continue to be transformed as new creations in Christ. Now,
God understands that we are inconsistent and faulty in this. So, the Holy
Spirit perseveres in us, to make us more and
more like him (Jesus) as we are
changed into his glorious image (2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT). God’s
mercy activates the ongoing process in which our hearts and behavior are being
developed and matured to become more like Jesus Christ, which is acceptable and
pleasing to God. We call this lifelong process “sanctification,” growing more
and more, little by little, to be more holy as Jesus is holy.
God’s mercy means that the Holy Spirit has
committed to this lifelong process, and just as He patiently works at it, so should
we as our spiritual worship. This is why we persevere with
determination; it’s part of our worship. This is why we invest great effort
into our Christian living, so we may walk
in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully
pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the
knowledge of God (Colossians 1:10). In
fact, this is love for God: to keep His commands. And His commands are not
burdensome (1 John 5:3). You see, Jesus is our ultimate perfection
which makes us acceptable to God in the heavenlies. But here on earth, it’s our
Holy Spirit energised sanctification that forms a significant and pleasing part
of our worship to God.
May we live every day, with lifestyles of spiritual worship, pleasing and glorifying to
God as evidence of being in Christ.
