Title: Living Sacrifices: A Call to Total Dedication

Romans 12:1
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and
holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

In Romans 1 through 11, we have instruction.

In verses 12 through 16, we have application.
In the first eleven chapters, we have doctrine. Now, we have duty. In the first half, it is all
about the mind, but now in the second half it is about the heart and the hands and the feet
and the eyes and putting this into practice.

Introduction. Many professing Christians, believe Christ as their savior.. they understand the
atoning works of Christ on the cross, they praise and thanks Christ Saving work but they don't
want Christ to be their Lord. They don’t want word of Christ to take charge in their decisions
and directions of life. In short, they did it in their own way.
This is the point Paul here in romans 12.This church of romans profess Christ as their savior,
they learned a lot of God's word yet doesn’t submit on the Lordship of Christ

I. The exhortation.. . In verse 1 Paul says, therefore I urge you brethren,

"I urge you, brethren" The phrase “I urge you,” are frontloaded at the beginning of the
sentence the Apostle Paul writes. We call that the emphatic position.

This word “urge,” that is a strong word. This word “urge” means, “I exhort you.” “I implore
you,” “I appeal to you.” “I summons you.” “I entreat you.” “I beseech you.” “I plead with you.” “I
compel you.”

“I urge you” is the emphasis that Paul is making here as he is aggressively seeking to
persuade.

What Paul is saying here is, “I want to move you.” Paul is after us, and every preacher and
every Spirit-filled Bible teacher is always after the reader or the listener to move you in a
particular direction.

After 11 chapters of strong doctrine such as condemnation, justification, sanctification,

glorification, election, predestination, he has stacked it up. And he is saying, “I urge you,
brethren.

Paul is urging us here by what means? “By the mercies of God.,” is really the sum of the
motivation:

II. The Motivation .

“the mercies of God” is a condensed summary of Romans 1 through 11. It is the saving
sovereign grace of God that Paul has just laid out in the first eleven chapters.
 “Mercies” is in the plural. It represents all of the saving mercies of God,
These mercies refer to what God did to intervene into the affairs of your perishing life by
sending His Son into this world on a mission of redemption to save your soul. It speaks of the
sending of the Holy Spirit by God to awaken you out of your spiritual sensibility and to bring
you to faith in Jesus Christ. That is a part of the mercies of God.

Here are some of the add’l list of Gods mercy ..

Freedom from sin - Ro 6:16-18,

Gift of eternal life - Ro 6:23,
Peace with God - Ro 5:1,
Access to the grace of God - Ro 5:2,
Salvation from the wrath of God - Ro 5:9

These mercies refer to what God did to intervene into the affairs of your perishing life by
sending His Son into this world on a mission of redemption to save your soul. It speaks of the
sending of the Holy Spirit by God to awaken you out of your spiritual sensibility and to bring
you to faith in Jesus Christ. That is a part of the mercies of God.

All of that is bound up in these five words, “by the mercies of God.” There could not be a
more compelling motivation that the Apostle Paul could bring to bear upon your heart and my
heart than “by the mercies of God.”

And if you have truly given careful consideration to the mercies of God in your life, it will so
motivate you and ignite a passion within your soul to want to live in a radically distinctly
different way.
May the Word of Christ will richly dwell within us and that we will wake up every morning
thankful and praising God and is determine to live for the glory of God. That is the
motivation.

it is the plead of Paul that this mercy of God moves us to repent and seek transformation? -
Rom 2:4-5.

III. The presentation

Now, third: “The Presentation,”

What to present and how to present is vital here..

“to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice to God.” So, when he says now to present
your bodies, this is God’s will for your life, that you be presenting your bodies a living and
holy sacrifice to God.

The word “bodies” here really represents the entirety of your being. It represents every inch of
who you are and what you are.
The entirety of your being, your mind, your emotions, your will, is to be completely yielded to
God, that you hold no part back for yourself, that it is 100% placed on the altar before God.

“to present a holy sacrifice to God.”

Is Old Testament priestly sacrificial language. What an Old Testament priest would do is he
would take a sacrifice, an animal sacrifice, and he would slay the sacrifice and the sacrifice
would be dead, and he would come to the altar and he would lay the sacrifice on the altar as
has been prescribed by God. He would bring the very sacrifice that God required and present
it in the manner with which God has required,
because any other kind of sacrifice, other that what God required, would be unacceptable to
God and would be displeasing to God and would be rejected by God.

And what Paul is saying is that God requires that you and I present “not an animal sacrifice”
on to the altar, but to take your own life and to place it on the altar, and for it to be totally
given to God.

It begins with your mind. Your mind is given to God. Your eyes are given to God, what you
look at, what you see, your worldview, what you gaze upon. Your ears are given to God, what
you listen to, what you allow to come into your mind. Your mouth is given to God, what you
will say and what you will speak, that it will all be governed by that which glorifies God. Your
hands will be completely given to God, what you lay your hands to do, what you are engaged
in, what your work is. And your feet are given to God, where you go and where you travel.

All of that is just breaking out “presenting your bodies to God.”

How to present your body?

1.“a living and holy sacrifice.”

And the word “holy” here means to be set apart for a very special use, to be set apart from
living for the temporal, and to be living always for the eternal and for the heavenly, and
setting our mind on things above. It means that we are to live a transcendent life that rises
above the "muck and the mire", dirty situation of this world.

To live with God-purpose and to live with God-direction. The word “holy” here also signifies
purity and to be unstained by the contaminations and the pollutions of this world. This is
calling for the pursuit of holiness and godliness.
This is calling for what Leviticus 11:44 and 45 said, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And it is
only this sacrifice that is acceptable to God.

2."acceptable to God.”

Notice the next phrase “acceptable to God.” So, there is a Christian life that is acceptable to
God, and there is a Christian life that is unacceptable to God. (I am not talking about your
eternal standing. You have been justified by faith, but it is possible for someone who has
been justified by faith, let us say in a season of their life, to be living in a way that is
unacceptable to God. )
So, this says, “acceptable to God.” Anything less than being a living and holy sacrifice is
unacceptable to God.

Now, this word “acceptable” means, literally out of the original language, to be well pleasing,
to be well pleasing to God. So, as a believer who has been justified by faith, the manner with
which I live my life must be done in a way that is well pleasing to God.

2 Corinthians 5:9, the Apostle Paul writes,

Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him..
That must be our ambition, and the mere fact that he says this implies that it is possible for
you to be living in a way that is not pleasing to Him.

So, we must be living pleasing to the Lord and that necessitates that we be rightly motivated,
not by guilt but by grace, by the mercies of God, and that we present our bodies a living and
holy sacrifice to God.

So, there is a manner with which we serve Christ that is acceptable to God. There is also a
manner in which we would serve Christ that is not acceptable to God. So, the motivation here
is to live our life in a way that is acceptable and pleasing, well-pleasing to God, which is that
we present our bodies a living and holy sacrifice to God

3. *spiritual service of worship*

He says at the end of verse 1, “which is your spiritual service of worship.” The word
“spiritual” here in Greek word, logikos, and you can hear “logic,” that is referring to that which
is rational, that which is intelligent. When he says that “which is your spiritual service of
worship,” I think it is best translated, and commentaries would explain...your reasonable and
rational service of worship.

. The only reasonable way for you to live your Christian life is to present it on the altar to
God.”

IV. The applications

1. Let us be consciously offer ourselves to God as a living sacrifice. Pray for His guidance
and strength to live according to His will throughout the day. Consider how you can worship
God through your everyday actions, such as showing kindness to others, serving your
community, or using your talents and resources for His kingdom.
2. Let us cultivate a habit of gratitude by regularly reflecting on God's mercy and grace in our
life. This can help foster a heart of thanksgiving and motivate us to live for Him.