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Romans 12:1-2
Paul has concluded his thoughts concerning Gods ongoing plan for His nation Israel, and their future
salvation. He has shown that for all men, righteousness is through faith in Christ alone, and when Israel
believes into their Messiah Jesus, God will deliver His nation.
Now Paul returns his attention directly to the individuals in the assemblies in Rome, to the brethren, who
have received the righteousness of Christ, with an exhortation to now live that righteousness.
Well just be reading the first two verses of chapter 12.
[Romans 12:1-2]
So this is how Paul begins the next section of his letter, in which he will be encouraging the believers in
Rome in their obedience to the Lord. For the next three and a half chapters, Paul will be describing how
the Body of Christ operates, as a collective, and how its members are to live, individually.
In Pauls words, we will see the profile of a righteous man; a Christ One. Now, Paul does not mean his
words to be considered as all-inclusive, although at times he will get specific to the assembly in Rome. His
words are less of a portrait, than a sketch, of how we are to live our righteousness.
But far from being a set of rules, or principles to live by, what we will find is living our righteousness is
accomplished in the same way that we received righteousness by faith in Christ. Righteous living is
produced by submission to our Lord; by yielding ourselves to Him, and letting Him have the say, in our
lives.
Pauls introduction, in these two verses, are intended to graphically illustrate exactly that. Lets explore
them a little further.
v. 1 First of all, we must not miss the therefore in this verse. This connecting word, often used by Paul,
implies that what he is saying is based upon what he has said before; for this reason.
But what is Paul referring to, that he has said before? Are his statements beginning in chapter 12 meant in
light of what he has just said in chapter 11 about Gods mercy? Or is Paul referring further back than
that?
The word that Paul chooses in verse one concerning the mercies of God is actually an unrelated Greek
word, from that which he had been using at the end of chapter 11; well discuss that shortly. Also, in
chapter 12, it is in the plural form.
Im sure that Paul had been thinking about God extending His mercy to men, as he continued to write; but
based on what Paul is now saying, certainly the train of his thought had gone back much further than that,
even to the beginning of his letter to the Roman assemblies.
The word for mercy that we find at the end of chapter 11, eleos, is the outward manifestation of mercy. It
assumes need on the part of him who receives it, and resources adequate to meet the need on the part of
him who shows it. It is an active desire to extend help.

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Paul used this word in chapter 11 to describe Gods merciful salvation that He extended to man, in Jesus.
Man needed Gods mercy, God extended His mercy, those who believe obtain Gods mercy and are
spared from destruction.
The word which Paul uses in the first verse of chapter 12 is oiktirmos. This word refers to the inward
aspect of mercy; feelings of pity and compassion. In the plural, it communicates an abundance. In this
case, it is an attribute of God, which causes Him to extend His mercy. What abundant attribute of Gods
character caused Him to have pity and compassion on men, and extend His salvation to them? His love.
This is why Pauls use of this particular word takes us back to the beginning of Pauls letter. Do you
remember Pauls description of the desperate plight of humanity? The Gentiles steeped in their
unrighteous lifestyles. The Jews steeped in their self-righteousness religious hypocrites and equally
unrighteous.
Both of them, dead in trespasses and sins, walking according to the course of this world, fulfilling the lusts
of their flesh, the lusts of their mind children of wrath (Eph 2:1-3), treasuring up from themselves wrath
in the day of wrath (Rm 2:5). They were all vessels of wrath, fitted for destruction (Rm 9:22).
But the Father looked upon His creation of mankind with compassion. He recognized that they were
powerless, to be any different; that they were helpless, to save themselves. The Father took pity on
humanity, and out of His heart of love, He sent His Son to save them; to rescue them from perishing. God
demonstrated His own love toward us, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rm 5:8). He
took pity on us, and extended to us His merciful salvation.
And how great a salvation it is! So much more, than man has ever had before. Those who believe have the
righteousness of Christ accounted to them; man, righteous, for the first time ever. And they receive Life
everlasting, a body that will fit them for eternity no longer under the confines of time for the first time
ever.
How great a salvation, to be delivered from sin and from death! And that salvation became possible,
because of the kindness of God, to send His Son to deliver us. That is the great love of the Father, with
which He loved us (Eph 2:4).
Paul is saying, therefore brethren, because of this abundant mercy of God, I beseech you. Paul is not
asking the believers to do this; he is exhorting them, to do it. It is a call, to do what should be done.
What is Paul calling the believers in Rome to do? All believers, in fact? To present their bodies a living
sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is their reasonable service. Based on the abundant mercy of
God, the love that moved the Father to save them, Paul now says that they are to present their bodies to
Him. It is a call, to respond to the Father, and His abundant love for them; to love Him, in return.
What does it mean to present your body a living sacrifice? How do we understand what Paul is saying?
Well clearly, Paul is drawing on the imagery of the ceremonial Law given to Moses, which is fixed in
Pauls mind, from his Jewish heritage.
We see the language of an offering, used here. The Greek word present is used in the Septuagint for a
priests placing an offering upon an altar. Sacrifice ordinarily refers to an animal whose blood is shed, in
death, as the offering.

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Holy in this context indicates that the offering is consecrated dedicated to God; and implies that the
offering is perfect and without blemish. Acceptable here indicates that the offering is right, in the eyes of
God; that He recognizes it, and will receive it. And finally, service specifically means divine service,
referring to an act of worship.
Clearly this is an offering; and it is an offering that the believer makes; but what kind of offering is this?
The way in which Paul qualifies the offering gives us an understanding of this.
If you had the opportunity to read Leviticus chapters 1-5 this week, you got an overview of the offerings
that the children of Israel could bring to the LORD.
An offering is an act of worship. There were five primary offerings, which the children of Israel could bring
to the LORD: the burnt offering, the grain offering, the peace offering, the sin offering and the trespass
offering. Each of these offerings picture a unique facet of the person and the work of Christ, as the Savior.
And I believe Paul had a particular one in mind, here.
The first three offerings the burnt offering, the grain offering and the peace offering were called sweetsavor offerings. It means that they had a fragrance that was pleasing to God. Through the sweet-savor
offerings, the offerer came before God for acceptance as a worshiper.
But the last two offerings the sin offering and the trespass offering they were called non-sweet savor
offerings, because they pictured some aspect of sin, and sin is offensive to God sin is not a sweet
fragrance to Him. Through the non-sweet savor offerings, the offerer came before God with the offering
bearing the penalty for his sins.
The offering which Paul speaks of here in Romans must be a sweet-savor offering. The offering is
presented for acceptance as an act of worship, on the part of the offerer. Further, we see that this offering is
a sacrifice, which involves the shedding of blood. As the grain offering involves no animal sacrifice, we
can see Paul is not alluding to it, here.
Finally, the fact that the believer is presenting his body a living sacrifice, as an act of worship, we can know
that Paul is not thinking of the peace offering for that was an offering of only the fat of the slain animal
the energy of the life, offered up.
What Paul has in mind here is the burnt offering. In the burnt offering, the animal that is sacrificed is
offered up to God in its entirety its whole body as an act of worship.
Now, you might be thinking, I thought she said that these offerings picture Christ. I hope you were
thinking that, because Paul brought this to light in a different letter. Were going to turn to Ephesians
chapter 5, to take a look at that. This was a general letter of Paul, to be circulated among the assemblies in
Asia Minor. Paul was also exhorting believers in these assemblies, in their obedience to Christ.
[Ephesians 5:1-2] Paul calls the believers to be imitators of God; this is speaking of God as our Father; we
are to follow the Fathers example, as His beloved children.
How do believers do that? By walking in love. Then Paul gives the measure of that love, that we are to
imitate, to follow; the love of Christ. And the greatness of that love was seen as Christ gave Himself for us
meaning He gave Himself over, to death.

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Paul describes Jesus giving Himself in death as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling
aroma this is the sweet-smelling savor of the burnt offering, the life of Jesus offered up in its entirety to
the Father, in perfect obedience, culminating in His obedience to death on the cross.
That is to be the measure of our love; that is the example that we are to follow. We are not the burnt
offering, but it is the example for our lives; and what Paul is showing in Romans is that what we offer to
God should be like it.
This calls for us to have a fuller understanding of the burnt offering. Well look at that now, in Leviticus
chapter 1. These were the instructions that the LORD gave to Moses for the children of Israel, for their
ceremonial worship of Him. Each offering gave a portrait of Israels coming Messiah, who is the only
acceptable offering to the LORD.
The LORD begins with the burnt offering.
[Leviticus 1:1-9]
v. 1-2 In the case of every offering described, there is always the offerer, a son of Israel, who brought his
offering; there is the offering itself, the prescribed animal sacrifice or grain offering; and there is the one
who presents the offering before God one of the priests, a son of Aaron.
In the ceremony of worship, these were, of course, three separate things; but in the fulfillment of the
picture, all three pictured Christ. Jesus brought Himself to the earth, on behalf of man; He became the
offering, in the stead of man; and as our High Priest, He presented Himself to God, for the acceptance of
man.
The emphasis in the burnt offering was not particularly on the fact that it was burnt, but that it was wholly
burnt; all the parts of the animal were offered as a burnt sacrifice to the LORD.
The word for burnt offering in the Hebrew means that which goes up, referring to the smoke of the
sacrifice ascending toward heaven. So this offering was for the LORD in its entirety; it all went up to Him.
The main idea is a consecrated offering, reflecting complete devotion to the service of God.
Several different animals were acceptable as a burnt offering. They were given by the LORD to Moses in
decreasing order of value, creating different grades of the offering.
Only the rich could give the most valuable animal, the bull; whereas anyone could afford to offer a bird.
This reflects the range of understanding to be had in the burnt offering; there were deep spiritual truths and
more elemental truths.
Yet all of those who had understanding would be accepted by the LORD, if they brought the acceptable
offering; which is the offering of Christ, by faith. Of course, that is the picture; those who merely went
through the motions of the ceremony could not be accepted by the LORD.
Well just be looking at the highest offering.
v. 3 Only the priest could enter the tabernacle; therefore, the offerer came to the door of the tabernacle to
present his offering.

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Notice the mention that this was done of his own free will. In the Septuagint, it reads, he shall offer it to
be accepted. Verse 4 then says in response to this, and it will be accepted on his behalf.
The intent of bringing a burnt offering was to make the worshipper acceptable to the LORD; he is accepted
in his offering, which pictures Christ. Remember that in the picture, Christ not only represents the offering;
He represents the offerer; a true worshiper of God. He is the One who is making that perfect offering to
God for man. He would do so of His own free will.
A male of the herd would be a bull. The bull was valued for its strength and willing submission. The bull
labors in the service of man. The bull offered had to be a perfect male, without defect.
The bull pictures Christ, as the Servant of Jehovah, who through the strength of His submission, fulfilled
the Fathers purposes, to redeem mankind. Jesus labored to bring forth many sons to glory (Heb 2:10);
laboring to carry out the work of salvation, on behalf of men.
In order to accomplish the Fathers purposes, the Savior had to be perfect in His person. Therefore, Jesus
was conceived of the Holy Spirit (Mt 1:20) in a body that was prepared for Him (Heb 10:5), a body upon
which the mar of corruption had never passed (Lk 1:35).
But Jesus also had to live a perfect life, in that body; a life of complete obedience to the Father. And Jesus
did so, in perfect submission; utterly devoted to His Father, as His Beloved Son; the Son, in whom the
Father was well-pleased (Mt 3:17).
In Jesus was no sin (1 Jn 3:5). He was entirely without spot. Here is the bull without blemish, the Servant
of Jehovah, His entire, obedient life offered up to the Father for His acceptance.
v. 4 The offerer placing his hand upon the head of the bull symbolized the bull was being offered in the
stead of the offerer.
The word atonement here does not refer to atonement for sin, which would be the satisfaction of Gods
offended justice concerning sin. Remember there is no thought of sin at all in the burnt offering. In this
context, atonement means satisfying the loving and holy requirement of God, upon the life of a man. What
is that requirement? Righteousness. And Christ, in His flawless obedience to the will of God, completely
satisfied that requirement.
A priest is a mediator; he represents God to the people, and the people to God. Here the priest acts on
behalf of the LORD, accepting the bull on behalf of the offerer; and the offerer is accepted, with the offering.
v. 5 Who killed the bull? The offerer did; it is here that we see Christ offering Himself as Paul wrote in
Ephesians, He gave Himself for us (Eph 5:2). But notice that it says that He killed the bull before the
LORD.
The idea is primarily that it was the life of the bull that was being offered up to the LORD; then the animal
was sacrificed. So the offering then became a sacrifice, with the death of the animal.
The bulls blood was collected, and sprinkled on the altar the altar of burnt offering. In the Law, the LORD
indicates that the life is in the blood (Lev 17:11). The sprinkling of the blood on the altar reflects the
offering of the life of the bull the perfect, consecrated life of Christ to the LORD the whole life, offered
to Him.

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Malachi 1:12 tells us that the altar is the table of the LORD; the sacrifices are His food; in them, the LORD
finds satisfaction. Here, we see the LORD finding satisfaction concerning the One man who lived His life in
complete obedience to His will; His Christ, pictured in the bull.
The offerer had one further set of responsibilities.
v. 6-9 So the offerer was responsible for skinning the bull, and then cutting it into pieces: head, fat,
entrails the inner parts, and legs the whole bull, excepting the skin.
The priests provided the fire and wood, arranged the wood in order on the fire, and arranged the parts in
order on the wood. The inner parts and the legs were washed with water before they were laid on the
wood. The entire bull was offered up to the LORD. This was a sweet savor offering, allowing the offerer to
be accepted with his offering to the LORD.
You can see how personally involved the offerer was with this offering; he killed the bull, he skinned it, he
cut it up. This is an offering of the highest level, containing deep spiritual truths to be discovered and
understood concerning Christ, in His life of consecration to the Father.
What we see in the parts of the bull, which was arranged in order on the wood, and the wood placed in
order on the fire, is the obedience of Jesus through His life, unto death.
First there was the head, representing the mind, with its thinking. Jesus, being in the form of God, did not
consider it robbery to be equal with God; thats because Jesus is God. But He made Himself of no
reputation (Phil 2:5-7a). That was the mind that was in Christ Jesus; He had no thought for Himself, but
only for those He would save, and for the Father whom He would honor.
Next, the fat was laid on the wood. The fat was the source of energy for the bull; its strength. Jesus took
the form of a bondservant (Phil 2:7b) the Servant of Jehovah; all of His strength, devoted to
accomplishing the will of His Father.
The inner parts and the legs of the bull were washed with water a reflection of the consecration of Jesus,
within and without, set apart for God for His Divine purpose of salvation. For this, Jesus came in the
likeness of men; He was found in appearance as a man (Phil 2:7c-8a), identifying Himself with them in
their humanity, yet living a life of perfect righteousness.
The inner parts reflect the heart of Jesus; His motives, His intents. Jesus had no desire for Himself, only to
do the will of His Father; He humbled Himself (Phil 2:8b).
Finally the legs speak of the walk of Jesus; how He conducted Himself in His life. Step by step, Jesus
walked in perfect obedience; He lived by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. And that is
how He died; He was obedient to death, even the death of the cross (Phil 2:8c). The cross is the wood, laid
in order on the fire of Gods holiness.
His mind, His strength, His will, His conduct Jesus surrendered all to His Father, in love. All was offered
up to the LORD, to Him alone.
The fire of Gods holiness searched that offering, and found it to be perfect. And the fire consumed the
offering. The perfect Man met the holiness of God, and was completely accepted. The offering was
completely satisfying to the LORD; a sweet savor offering.

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Do you remember that the offerer skinned the burnt offering? Did you wonder what happened to the skin?
Turn to Leviticus chapter 7.
[Leviticus 7:8] The skin was the only part of the bull which was not burnt on the altar for the LORD. That
part was given to the priests.
What is the significance of this? Levitical priests did not earn their position based on any quality within
themselves. The priests were sons of Aaron; they were born into their position, born to serve the LORD in
His holy tabernacle.
One of the privileges of that position was to receive portions of the sacrifices and offerings that were made.
In this particular instance, the priests were privileged to receive the skin of the burnt offering the covering
of the bull. It was not their offering, but they reaped the benefit of it.
This reflects those who have believed into Christ, to become a kingdom of priests to God (Rev 1:6); a
position that they did not earn but were born into, when they became a child of God.
As priests, believers have received the burnt offering of Christ, made on their behalf, to become the
righteousness of God, in Christ. (2 Cor 5:21) The skin represents Christs covering, which they receive;
they are clothed in His glory; a glorified body, like unto their Lords; their garment of righteousness.
So now that we have a little more understanding of Christ as the burnt offering, lets return to our passage
in Romans.
[Return to Romans 12]
What Paul is exhorting the believers in Rome to do all believers to do is to present their bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God.
It is to imitate the example of their Lord, Jesus, submitting themselves completely to the Fathers will,
carrying out His will in obedience through the members of their bodies. It is to follow in the footsteps of
their Lord, Jesus; walking in love, which is the only real response to the love He has shown to them; the
only true worship, as a priest of God.
But there is a difference. In the fulfillment of the burnt offering, the consecrated life of Jesus was then
sacrificed in death, in order to accomplish the Fathers purposes of redemption. But Paul makes it very
plain that he is not speaking of obedience to death here but obedience to life; to living.
Paul joins two words together in an unusual way, to make his point. Believers are to present their bodies a
living sacrifice. What is a living sacrifice? A sacrifice indicates a dead body; how can it then be alive?
Paul has given us the clue earlier in his letter. Turn back to Romans chapter 6, where Paul began his
discussion on sanctification.
[Romans 6:1-4]
v. 1-2 Paul speaks of having died to the old master, Sin; this is how.
v. 3-4 In the death of Christ, we see the burnt offering. Through faith, His offering is made our offering,
and we are accepted in the Beloved.

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Joined through faith, Christs death becomes our death, freeing us from the old master, Sin we are
justified. And through faith, we are buried with Christ; separated from the world system we are
sanctified, set apart to God.
And through our union with Him, as Christ was raised from the dead in a body of glory, so we also we are
alive to God, in Christ Jesus our Lord (v. 11) we have received the skin of the offering; a glorified body
for we are in Christ.
From the eternal perspective, it is all complete; we have already been justified, sanctified, glorified; weve
already been raised with Christ (Col 3:1); in fact, it happened 2000 years ago, at the cross. It is a reality.
But what about the temporal perspective? Time is a reality, too. Under time, we are not yet in our glorified
bodies; we are still in our bodies of flesh. And we are in the process of being sanctified; more and more set
apart from this world, more and more set apart to God.
Lets skip down to verse 12, as Paul begins to speak of the ramifications of what God has done for us, in
Christ.
v. 12-13 Notice that Paul speaks of the believer presenting themselves here, as well its the same word as
in chapter 12 and again, it is an exhortation. Paul says present yourselves to God as being alive from the
dead theres the living sacrifice your members as instruments of righteousness to God speaking of
presenting the body.
Because of the Greek tense used, this presenting is often cited as a one-time action. In fact, the tense
simply means the action is not repeated or continuous. And of course, that would be so, because the
believer is presenting their body a living sacrifice; and once a sacrifice is offered up to God, it is forever
and wholly His.
But when was this sacrifice offered? The Greek tense does not indicate a particular time. Well, when we
consider it from the eternal perspective, it was all finished, the moment you believed. Thats when you
stepped into eternity. You were justified; you presented your body a living sacrifice, to live a sanctified
life; you were sanctified; you were glorified.
But from the perspective under time, its different. Notice that Paul says, in verse 13, present yourselves to
God as being alive from the dead. This is the temporal perspective; you are not yet in that body of glory,
but you are to live your life as if you already are as being alive from the dead.
So from that perspective, Paul is saying, present your bodies as living sacrifices. He doesnt mean, do it
now, as if it is some kind of separate and later act, from believing. He is saying, recognize what really
occurred the moment you believed, and live in it, in the here and now; under time. The faith you had to
receive the Life is the same faith by which you will live that Life. And the more you exercise that faith, the
stronger it will grow.
[Return to Romans 12]
Paul indicates that for the believer, this is their reasonable service. As mentioned before, service means
divine service; the service of a priest, in the act of worship.

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When we read that this is our reasonable service, we are inclined to think of the English meaning of
reasonable; it is logical; the only sensible thing we could do. But the word in the Greek is a little different,
in meaning. It refers to the faculty of reason; a function of the mind; even intelligence.
What Paul is meaning here is that as priests of God (1 Pet 2:5), our worship is not to be ritual, where we
just go through the motions. It is not to be lip service, where the heart is withheld. Our service to God is to
be mindful.
Paul is calling you, as a believer, to present your body a living sacrifice to God, being mindful of what that
really means.
It means that you are recognizing what it is that in fact you did, when you believed into the Lord; you freely
gave yourself to Him of your own free will (Lev 1:3) in that union of faith, with Christ.
That you have died out of your old life, and Christ has given you a new one to live.
That this gives Him the right to have the say, over what is done in your body the body that He delivered
from death.
The body of the believer is the temple of His Spirit, and is now devoted to the sole purpose of glorifying
God. It is no longer our own, to do with, what we please (1 Cor 6:19-20) ever.
This mindful service on the part of us, as believers, is the only true worship of God; giving ourselves, our
bodies to Him in complete consecration is the only fitting response, to the one who loved us, and gave
Himself for us.
Paul continues this thought, in the next verse.
v. 2 In the first verse, Paul has shown that true worship on the part of the believer means that he lives his
life in submission to his Lord. In this second verse, Paul makes it clear that this is a conscious decision; the
believer must choose to do this.
Paul has visited this idea previously, in his letter. In chapter 6, Paul spoke of believers not presenting the
members of their bodies as instruments of unrighteousness to sin (Rm 6:13); and in chapter 8, Paul spoke of
believers living according to the flesh, following after their old manner of life, in Adam; minding the things
of the flesh (Rm 8:5).
What Paul shows here is that this is no less than being conformed to the world; to this present evil age. It is
a choice to fashion ones life according to the ways of the world, with its wicked thinking, its corrupting
influences, its rotten values.
How could a consecrated Christ One, who has been sanctified, possibly make that the pattern for his life?
But it is possible, isnt it?
Instead, Paul calls believers to be transformed by the renewing of their minds. The word transform
does not refer to an outer conformation, but to a deep change, in the inner man. It originates in the spirit of
your being; its the work of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5).

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10

The word renew in the Greek doesnt mean to receive again, as in the English like renewing a
magazine. Instead, it means made new change, in the very spirit of your being, by being made new in
your mind - a continuous action. How does the believer do that? By choosing to have the mind of Christ,
as the Spirit reveals it to him.
As we continue in the process of having our thinking changed, so that we have Gods thinking on things,
then we will be able to prove that is, discern the will of God.
We will truly see that Gods will for us, in Christ that His plan for us, as His birthed sons is indeed good
and acceptable and perfect. Like the burnt offering, we will recognize that Gods will, that our bodies be a
living sacrifice, that we live a life of consecration, is what is good, and acceptable, and perfect to Him, and
for us. It is our true and mindful worship, as His kingdom of priests. It is the only worship which we can
offer.
Reading: Romans 12, Eph 4:7-16, 1 Cor 12.