The Act of True Worship

Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. (Romans 12:1 CSB)

I imagine the Jews that read this line in Paul’s letter experienced confusion by the phrase “living sacrifice”. They brought living sacrifices to the temple, but then the priest killed the sacrifice to present it to God. And the Christians, who were once Gentiles, were even more confused because they had no background in a sacrificial system.

Today, in the 21st century, this line of Pauls’ letter can still be baffling. Let’s unpack the meaning in this verse and see how it applies to our lives today.

The verse begins with “therefore”, and I was taught that when you see “therefore” in a sentence, stop and see what is “there for”. Therefore, refers to everything that has come before, which Paul states as “… in view of the mercies of God.”

Romans 12 begins a change in Paul’s discussion. Paul filled the chapters before this with the riches of God’s mercy on His people. He spoke of the forgiveness of God and how faith in Jesus brings new life.

Paul talks about the mercies of God in chapters 1-11. In view of the mercies of God, it is an act of worship to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. This is a rational and reasonable act when we consider all the mercy of God has done for us.

Our body is a living sacrifice, and not a dead sacrifice, because Jesus offered Himself as the one time, for all time, the single sacrifice that didn’t just atone for our sin but completely wiped away sin. We can add nothing to this. The only thing we must do is accept, believe, and trust in His death, burial, and resurrection.

Presenting our body as a living sacrifice is an act of worship to God. True worship of God is our response to Who He is and what He has done. We express this worship in what we say and how we live.

“I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20 CSB)

This brings us to the most important phrase in this verse: “… holy and pleasing to God.” We are to offer all the parts of our body to God. Hands, feet, eyes, ears, mind, etc. Everything.

This means all we say or do, our whole life, is to be holy and pleasing to God. We do it His way, avoiding sexual immorality, gossip, greed, lusts of the flesh, and everything else that is not pleasing to God.

We need to pray the same way Moses prayed, “Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You [progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with You, perceiving and recognizing and understanding more strongly and clearly] and that I may find favor in Your sight.” (Exodus 33:13 AMPC)

God’s way is always the best. It is when we live our lives as worship to God that we will find success, joy, and peace. This is our reasonable and rational service in light of what God has done for us.

Prayer:

Father, I come to your throne of grace boldly to obtain Your grace to live a life that is holy and pleasing to You. I desire more than anything to live a life that is submitted to your plan and will for me. Holy Spirit, I permit you to stop me at any time when what I am doing is not holy and pleasing to God. Guide me and show me how to live as a living sacrifice. Lord, I know that Your way is best, and I commit myself to do that for the rest of my days. In Jesus name, Amen.

Additional Scriptures:

Jeremiah 29:11; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 5:3; Hebrews 9:12, 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Galatians 5:19-21; Mark 7:20-23; Colossians 3:5-6