Romans 12:1-2
Sanctification, says the Westminster Shorter Catechism (Q.35), is “the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.”
It shows the connection between Paul’s ethical exhortations, in this and subsequent chapters, and his dogmatic statements in the first eleven chapters
‘fellow believer, Christian brother’
The plural form speaks of the greatness or tenderness of God’s mercy, as spelled out in the first eleven chapters, and specifically his kindness, patience, love, and grace
This is a term deriving from Jewish worship practice
The body represents the whole person
He is saying that the body must be consecrated to God, and sanctification must include the body [Mu]. The entire person, body as well as soul, must be dedicated to God [Ho]. Paul is saying that they must be holy and pure in body as well as spirit, living as temples of the Holy Spirit and unstained by passion [ICC1]. He is saying that worship must not be only inward, but must be expressed in acts of service done by our bodies, and that there also must be a putting to death of the sin that so often expresses itself through bodily acts [St]. In Christian teaching even the body should be yielded to God as an implement of righteousness, and is a temple of the Holy Spirit [Mor]. Paul assumes that the will of the believers has already been consecrated, and now urges them to offer their bodies as well, as the instruments for consecrated living [Gdt].
QUESTION—What is a living sacrifice?
A sacrifice is something that is put to death, so a living sacrifice is a contradiction in terms [TH]. This contrasts a sacrifice that consists in killing an animal with a sacrifice that consists in the quality of daily living [WBC]. ‘Living’ modifies ‘sacrifice’, and it refers to the nature of the sacrifice that does not die but goes on living so that the sacrifice continues in its efficacy until the person who offered dies [NICNT]. The Christian is to offer himself or herself to God continually [SSA]. The person so offered must be a living agent of God’s will at every moment [Gdt]. Sanctification involves deliberative acts of the will that continue throughout life [NAC]. The sacrifice proceeds from the new life that is in the believer [NTC]. They are to offer is themselves and their conduct to God as worship, which recalls the offering of themselves mentioned in 6:13 [AB]. It is living in the sense that it is perpetual, and is never neglected or recalled [Ho]. It is a continual dedication of oneself [Mu, WBC]. The offering of self that a Christian makes is to be positive and dynamic, demanding the full energy of life, not the destruction of life [Mor]. ‘Living’ describes the spiritual condition of people who believe in Christ, who, through Christ, are now alive to God as Paul has already said in 6:11, 13, and 8:13 [BECNT]. Although the believer belongs to God both by creation and by redemption, he must also belong to God by self-surrender, an act that must continually be repeated [ICC2]. The Christian also is ‘living’ in a deeper, theological sense, which is the spiritual newness of life that Paul spoke of in 6:4 [ICC1, ICC2]. They are to present their bodies as alive from the dead, as temples of the Holy Spirit, as members of Christ and as instruments of righteousness [Mu].
