ROMANS UNWRAPPED 193

"Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy , acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."   Romans 12v1

The word "present" is a double-barreled word in the Greek (Paristemi, Paristano); this word is used in Romans 6v13, 6v16, 6v19, 14v10, 16v2.   Sometimes it is rendered  "yield," sometimes "stand before."   It is a military term and literally means STAND TO ATTENTION, STEP FORWARD FOR INSPECTION.   It is a term which means the complete submission to a higher authority, in this case Divine authority.   The most graphic illustration of it would be in Romans 14v10  "For we shall all stand before the judgement seat of Christ."   The question of our sin has been forever settled as per chapters 1 - 11, but our lives will come under inspection at the judgement seat in a day to come.   The apostle Paul is begging us to bring our entire beings under Divine scrutiny now.

He says  "present your bodies"; in the past we yielded our members entirely over to sin (chapter 6v6:6v12:6v13).   According to Romans 3v13-17 every member of our bodies were totally committed to and under the power of sin.   " Their THROAT is an open sepulchre; their TONGUES use deceit; the poison of asps was under their LIPS; whose MOUTH is full of cursing and bitterness; their FEET are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their WAYS; and the way of peace have they not KNOWN; there is no fear of God before their EYES."   Every member of our bodies was used in the service of sin.   This is reminiscent of the prophet Isaiah in chapter 1v6   "from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it."   Now we are being asked to use the same bodies in the service of God.   Every member, our tongues, our lips, our mouths, our feet, our minds, our eyes, once used in selfish pursuits in the service of sin, now to be used in the holy service of God.   "PRESENT YOUR BODIES" it is a whole of life commitment to God.  

One of the features of  "the mercies of God ", granted to us in the course of this epistle, was that we were  " justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."   Romans 3v24.

One of the major aspects of redemption, that is often missed by both expositor and hearer alike is that the Redeemer now has possession of all that I am and have, including my time, my talents, my possessions, my thoughts, and my energies.   This dedication to God will play out in my family life, in my church life, in my business life and all will receive the benefit; the important thing however is that my life, my entire being is now for God, as he says in verse 1  "  Unto God."   There are four things that he says about this commitment to God.

• It is to be a living sacrifice   -   Firstly we note that it will be a sacrifice, there are things we will need to give up and deny to ourselves because of the nature of the lives we are now living.   It is a living sacrifice, all the Old Testament sacrifices were dead; ours is a living sacrifice so we are conscious every day that we live, whose we are and whom we serve. It will cost us.
• It is a holy sacrifice     -     This word is a most misunderstood word in the Bible and it just means  "set apart," reserved, put aside for service to God.   It is a privileged position, but it is also a challenging position for it means that we are set aside for God's use whenever and wherever He will determine.  
• It is a sacrifice acceptable unto God     -     We don't do it our way, we do it God's way.   Only service which is pleasing to God will be acceptable to God, and so we have to learn what is pleasing to God and what is not.   We must learn to think in terms of not only serving God in some way, but in serving God in His way.   This will mean searching the scriptures to find out what is pleasing to God and what is not.
• This is your reasonable service    -    The word is LOGIKOS from which we get logical or rational.   In other words says Paul when you have done all this, you haven't achieved anything other than what is logical, reasonable.   The only rational response to a God who has given a massive commitment to us, is to return what He has given us in His holy service.   The word used for service means religious service, sacred service, a life lived out in the view of the holy presence of God; temple service, service carried out in the reverential fear of God. 

In summary our bodies should be used for the worship of God.   The beauty of the Greek language, which God chose to use to reveal Himself to the world in the New Testament scriptures, brings out an important feature in this verse.   The word  "present" is in the aorist tense and in the imperative mood.   What this means is  "do it instantly" don't even think about it, just do it and make it your life pattern from this moment onwards.   Do not delay it, do it instantly, do it once and for all.