Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:1-2
As all of you know, whenever we see the word “therefore”, we are reading a passage that draws a conclusion from what has preceded it. While that is certainly true here, this one isn’t just referring to the verses just concluded, for this is the beginning of a new unit (12-15) and thus, “therefore” is drawing a conclusion from the preceding unit (1-11), which is a very important distinction. The first unit in Romans discussed grace; the second unit discusses our response to grace. Thus, Paul is telling us that in response to God’s amazing grace, we are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God.
Verse 1 is, in a sense, a counterpoint to the Old Testament worship in which animals were sacrificed and rituals were observed. Notice the presence of the words “offer”, “sacrifice” and “worship”, all three of which are terms that pertain to worship in the Old Testament. The old system of worship involved symbols and ceremonies, but worship in the New Testament involves “spirit and truth”. Consequently, the proper and true manner of worship for the Christian is for us to offer ourselves to God as living sacrifices. Please understand: This is no platitude; it is an imperative. A fair question right about now would be, “OK, but just exactly how do I do that?”
You will no doubt be relieved when I tell you that Paul has provided the answer in verse 2: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
My goodness, how we love to quote this, but how many of us actually do it? How many of us actually believe that it is possible? Surely this is nothing more than an abstract ideal, a goal that cannot be realized in this life!
Maybe we should all pause and re-read it; look carefully at the words, the grammar…
Holy heart attack! This is no abstraction; it too is an imperative!
So here’s another question: Would the Apostle Paul command us to do something if it is impossible? Perhaps we need to think about this some more. Do you recall what Paul told us regarding Israel’s failure to attain righteousness? Yes, that’s right: They never obtained righteousness because their faith was in their ability to conform to the Law, but what God wanted was for them to put their faith in Him… and with God, all things are possible.
Notice that in the imperative of verse 2, there is a contrast, a duality that is set up by the word “but” “Do not be conformed… but be transformed” Thus we have a choice to make: Either we live as the world does with its values, activities and ways of thinking, or we allow the Holy Spirit to transform our minds so that we have an entirely new way of thinking with different values that lead us to a different way of life; this is our choice, and to be quite candid with you, it is very much like the choice that Israel had to make.
As Paul continues in 12:3-13:14, he will fill in many blanks for us, so that we can see more clearly how to accomplish this task; I don’t know about you, but I can hardly wait to see what comes next!
Life Project Blog 
Again.. Thanks and good job!
Hi Don,
I’m loving this Romans review, and I’ve refrained from my typical verbosity up to now, but on this… I just have to stand and cheer!
I’m not a big “Memorizer”… honestly. Study? Lots and lots. Memorize? Not so much.
But THIS verse? Yes.
This one, I own… but not out of any sense of “reverence” or “white magic”. This one is a lifeline, a life preserver, for me. This defines my “raison d’etre”. I expend an entire career trying to help well meaning brethren not to herniate themselves by “becoming good and righteous by dint of will and of works”, but rather look to this verse alone and heed it.
One dear friend and great teacher in my life frequently put it this way, “Please stop trying to be Jesus, and just let Jesus be Jesus in you, because only Jesus CAN.”
In that vein, the one thing I wanted to add here was an observation about the two verbs “CON-formed” and “TRANS-formed”.
One critical element I think Paul meant very intentionally… that the first really implies being “pushed into a molded configuration from/by outside force”… like an “idol” is formed, whether by clay molding, casting, or carving. The “inside stuff” never really changes, just the “outside shape”.
But to be “TRANS-formed” is entirely different. Change comes from inside the very nature of the material… as leavening in flour to make bread dough, or salting of meat to make it wholesome, or cooking for nourishment, or fermenting of grapes to make wine. Transforming changes the entire nature of a material, by forces at work within it. No “pushing” involved, sheer metamorphosis.
All that “changing” part… that’s in God’s hands, not ours. We have nothing more to do with it. His grace makes the metamorphosis, and as a result our minds are renewed and we see/think in new ways.
One other interesting point here, that I only saw in recent years, was Jesus’ clarity about the nature of “the altar” and “the offering”. OUR job, in this Romans verse, is to place ourselves on His altar, as an offering, a victim, an holy and living sacrifice. We do that by will, by surrender, by submission… yes… being “Isaac” to His “Abraham” voluntarily… yes. However, in this act, in this “making an offering on this sacred altar”… we are by that “contact” made holy. We do the “will” part… God, by His power and authority does the “made holy” part. (I decline to use the “buzz word” there. :))
Anyway, this is a terrific study. Enjoying it lots!
Grace to you! — LM
Your “usual verbosity” has been missed 🙂
…until now that is; and wonderful verbosity it is! Thank you so much for it, for you have enriched out discussion immensely. Thank you LM!
“Holy heart attack!”
Mr Merritt, that sounds a lot like Batman! Thank you!! 🙂
We hate to be told that change is needed, but we need to change, be transformed, stop questioning and do. Be a doer of the word. vw
Absolutely right, we must become doers of the Word. Great comment, thank you 🙂
Pingback: Be Transformed | A disciple's study