Romans 12:1-2
Intro:
He emphasizes that God’s will is for believers to think rightly: to recognize the equal value of all members of the body and to use all of one’s gifts to build up the body.
Here Paul says literally, “Do not be conformed to this age.” In contrast to some ecstatic Greek worship that played down rationality and the amoral ritual formalism of most Roman and many public Greek cults, Paul emphasizes the proper use of the mind: those who discern what is good, acceptable (v. 1) and perfect will know God’s will.
This introductory portion is a prelude to the discussion of specific duties of the believer. It sets forth the fundamental obligations one must meet before he is prepared to face the challenge of living as a believer in this world. Only an intelligent commitment of life in the light of God’s gift of salvation will suffice.
As believers are transformed in their minds and conformed to the image of Christ, they will be able to discern, desire, and approve the will of God. God’s will is good and holy; it is sufficient for every need. Only through spiritual renewal can believers do the will of God.
The gospel provides not only salvation from God’s wrath but also the power to live changed lives.
Remember the massive theology of Romans 1–11 which burst into consummate doxology in the final verse of chapter 11: “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen”?
therefore. This refers to the last refrain of his doxology of praise in 11:36. Since all things are for His glory, we must respond by offering ourselves for that purpose.
Be transformed. The same verb (metamorphoō) is rendered ‘transfigured’ in the transfiguration narratives of Matthew 17:1–2 and Mark 9:2. The only other place where it occurs in the New Testament is 2 Corinthians 3:18, of believers being ‘changed’ into the likeness of Christ ‘from one degree of glory to another’ by the operation of ‘the Lord who is the Spirit’—a passage which is a helpful commentary on the present one.
2. Do not be conformed to this world. This ‘world’ or ‘age’ (aiōn, as in 1 Cor. 1:20; 2:6; 3:18; 2 Cor. 4:4; Gal. 1:4) is distinguished from the age to come (cf. Eph. 1:21). While it is called ‘the present evil age’ (Gal. 1:4), whose ‘god’ blinds the minds of unbelievers (2 Cor. 4:4), yet it is possible for people living temporally in this age to conduct themselves as heirs of the age to come, the age of renewal and resurrection.
But be transformed (pres. passive imper., “keep on being transformed”) by the renewing of your mind. The Greek verb translated “transformed” (metamorphousthe) is seen in the English word “metamorphosis,” a total change from inside out (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18)
The key to this change is the “mind” (noos), the control center of one’s attitudes, thoughts, feelings, and actions (cf. Eph. 4:22–23). As one’s mind keeps on being made new by the spiritual input of God’s Word, prayer, and Christian fellowship, his lifestyle keeps on being transformed.
Paul added, Then you will be able to test and approve (dokimazein, “prove by testing” [1 Peter 1:7, “proved genuine”], i.e., ascertain) what God’s will is—His good, pleasing (cf. Rom. 12:1), and perfect will. These three qualities are not attributes of God’s will as the NIV and some other translations imply. Rather, Paul said that God’s will itself is what is good, well-pleasing (to Him), and perfect. “Good,” for example, is not an adjective (God’s “good” will) but a noun (God’s will is what is good—good, i.e., for each believer).
But only by being renewed spiritually can a believer ascertain, do, and enjoy the will of God.
12:2 do not be conformed. “Conformed” refers to assuming an outward expression that does not reflect what is really inside, a kind of masquerade or act. The word’s form implies that Paul’s readers were already allowing this to happen and must stop.
This sum of contemporary thinking and values forms the moral atmosphere of our world and is always dominated by Satan (cf. 2 Cor. 4:4).
unto the horns of the altar” (Ps 118:27 KJV). Significantly, there is a shift in the tense of the verbs (from the aorist “offer”) to the present tense, pointing up the necessity of continual vigilance lest the original decision be vitiated or weakened.
Complementary to the refusal to be conformed to the pattern of this world is the command to be “transformed.” The two processes are viewed as going on all the time, a continual renunciation and renewal. Our pattern here is Christ, who refused Satan’s solicitations in the temptation and was transfigured (metamorphoō—the same word as that translated “transformed”) in his acceptance of the path that led to Calvary (Mark 9:2, 3). As his mission could be summarized in the affirmation that he had come to do the Father’s will John 6:38), the Christian’s service can be reduced to this simple description also.
The key question then becomes: What are we feeding into our minds? Most Christians have little choice but to spend forty or fifty hours of every week in “the world,” making a living. It is hoped that most Christians also seek to spend time with unbelievers as a means of ministry and evangelism. But if we spend all our discretionary time watching network television, reading secular books, and listening to secular music, it will be a wonder if our minds are not fundamentally secular. Our job is to cooperate with God’s Spirit by seeking to feed into our minds information that will reprogram our thinking in line with the values of the kingdom.
The word “bodies,” mindful of the Old Testament sacrifices, represents the totality of one’s life and activities, of which his body is the vehicle of expression. In contrast with Old Testament sacrifices this is a “living” sacrifice. Such an offering is holy (set apart) and pleasing (cf. “pleasing” in 12:2) to God. Furthermore, it is spiritual (logikēn; cf. 1 Peter 2:2) worship (latreian). Latreian refers to any ministry performed for God, such as that of the priests and the Levites. Christians are believer-priests, identified with the great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Heb. 7:23–28; 1 Peter 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:6). A believer’s offering of his total life as a sacrifice to God is therefore sacred service. In the light of Paul’s closely reasoned and finely argued exposition of the mercies of God (Rom. 1–11), such an offering is obviously a desirable response for believers.
The animal sacrifices of an earlier day have been rendered for ever obsolete by Christ’s self-offering, but there is always room for the worship rendered by obedient hearts. Instead of living by the standards of a world at discord with God, believers are exhorted to let the renewing of their minds by the power of the Spirit transform their lives into conformity with God’s will.
A living sacrifice. The sacrifices of the new order do not consist in taking the lives of others, like the ancient animal sacrifices, but in giving one’s own (cf. Heb. 13:15–16; 1 Pet. 2:5).
The adjective is logikos (from logos, ‘word’, ‘reason’), which may mean either ‘reasonable’ (the service of obedient lives is the only reasonable or logical response to the grace of God) or ‘spiritual’ (as in 1 Pet. 2:2, ‘spiritual milk’). Here ‘spiritual worship’ is probably set in contrast with the externalities of Israel’s temple cult. In the Testament of Levi (3:6) the angels are described as ‘offering to the Lord a fragrant odour, a spiritual (logikos) and bloodless sacrifice’.
present your bodies a living sacrifice. Under the Old Covenant, God accepted the sacrifices of dead animals. But because of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice, the OT sacrifices are no longer of any effect (Heb. 9:11, 12). For those in Christ, the only acceptable worship is to offer themselves completely to the Lord. Under God’s control, the believer’s yet-unredeemed body (see note on 6:6, 12; 7:5; cf. 8:11, 23) can and must be yielded to Him as an instrument of righteousness (6:12, 13; cf. 8:11–13).
Here “mercy” is the leverage for the appeal that follows. Whereas the heathen are prone to sacrifice in order to obtain mercy, biblical faith teaches that the divine mercy provides the basis for sacrifice as the fitting response.
The word “living” may glance by way of contrast to the animal sacrifices of the OT, which, when offered, no longer possessed life. But it is also a reminder that spiritual life, received from God in the new birth, is the presupposition of a sacrifice acceptable to him. Christian sacrifice, though made decisively and once-for-all (this is the force of “offer”), has in view a life of service to God. In Israel the whole burnt offering ascended to God and could never be reclaimed. It belonged to God.
The idea is rather that the sacrifice we render is intelligent and deliberate, perhaps to be understood in contrast to the sacrifices of the Jewish cultus in which the animals had no part in determining what was to be done with them.
Dedication leads to discernment and discernment to delight in God’s will.
There are two “living sacrifices” in the Bible and they help us understand what this really means. The first is Isaac (Gen. 22); the second is our Lord Jesus Christ. Isaac willingly put himself on the altar and would have died in obedience to God’s will, but the Lord sent a ram to take his place. Isaac “died” just the same—he died to self and willingly yielded himself to the will of God. When he got off that altar, Isaac was a “living sacrifice” to the glory of God.
Of course, our Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect illustration of a “living sacrifice,” because He actually died as a sacrifice, in obedience to His Father’s will. But He arose again. And today He is in heaven as a “living sacrifice,” bearing in His body the wounds of Calvary. He is our High Priest (Heb. 4:14–16) and our Advocate (1 John 2:1) before the throne of God.
The verb “present” in this verse means “present once and for all.” It commands a definite commitment of the body to the Lord, just as a bride and groom in their wedding service commit themselves to each other. It is this once-for-all commitment that determines what they do with their bodies. Paul gives us two reasons for this commitment: (1) it is the right response to all that God has done for us—“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God” (italics mine); and (2) this commitment is “our reasonable service” or “our spiritual worship.” This means that every day is a worship experience when your body is yielded to the Lord.
The totality of the commitment comes dramatically to us through the language of sacrifice. The Greek translated “to offer” is a technical term used for the ritual presentation of a sacrifice. “Your bodies,” referring to more than skin and bones, signifies everything we are—our totality.
Not only is commitment to be total, it is also logical. I am glad I first memorized this in the King James Version which more accurately represents the last phrase of verse 1, “… which is your reasonable service,” rather than the NIV’s “which is your spiritual worship.” Cranfield is correct in maintaining that the root idea of the word logikos is “logical.”
Sam Shoemaker said it well: “To be a Christian means to give as much of myself as I can to as much of Jesus Christ as I know.”
in the original and is the word from which we get metamorphosis, the change from one form to another, as in the transformation of the tadpole to the frog or the caterpillar to the butterfly. But the full meaning is even richer, as the other three uses of the word in the New Testament indicate. In Matthew 17:2 and Mark 9:2 it is used to describe the transfiguration of Christ—when the Lord’s glorious inner essence was allowed to show through his body so that his face radiated like the sun and his clothing was white with light. We experience such transfiguration in Christ. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18 (using the very same word):
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
How does this happen? Again the language in Romans is most expressive, because our text says we are to “be transformed” (passive imperative). This must be done by someone or something else, which is of course the Holy Spirit. We are to submit to the Holy Spirit who brings about “the renewing of your mind.” We also understand from the present tense of the verb that this is a process, a gradual transformation. The Christian is to allow himself to be changed continually so that his life conforms more and more to that of Christ. Ultimately, as Romans 8:29 says, there will be the supreme metamorphosis when we will be transformed (summorphos) to the image of Christ in eternity.
“Spiritual” translates a word (logikos) over which there is much debate, as the varied renderings in English translations suggest: “spiritual” (NIV; NRSV; NASB); “reasonable” (KJV); “true” (TEV); “offered by mind and heart” (REB); “intelligent” (Phillips). But when the background is considered (see Bridging Contexts), we think “informed” or “understanding” is the best single equivalent in English. We give ourselves to God as his sacrifices when we understand his grace and its place in our lives. We offer ourselves not ignorantly, like animals brought to slaughter, but intelligently and willingly. This is the worship that pleases God.
We worship God, says Paul, by giving ourselves in sacrificial service to our Lord. We are to serve him every day, every hour, every minute.
