The First Principle

Paul is calling his readers to live lives that are motivated and guided by the great truths he has laid down through the first 11 chapters of Romans. In full knowledge of and appreciation for God’s mercies to them, they are to order their lives according to certain principles.

The first of these is self-sacrifice. Paul calls the Romans to “present your bodies a living sacrifice.” Sacrifices, of course, were common among the Jews of Paul’s day, just as they had been for centuries. The worshiping Jew would bring an animal to the priest, symbolically transfer his guilt to the animal by confessing his sins over it, then kill it. The slaughtering of bulls, goats, and lambs never actually paid for any Jews’ sins, but it taught them the principle of substitution and reminded them of the divine promise of a perfect sacrifice. In the course of time, Jesus came as the Lamb of God and sacrificed Himself for His people. Paul has taught us in Romans that when we are justified by faith in Christ, we share in His death and resurrection; we die to sin and rise again to newness of life (Rom. 6). In other words, we become new creatures in Christ. Now, Paul tells us, we who owe everything to Him who sacrificed Himself for us are to follow His example and sacrifice ourselves—for Him. As “living sacrifices,” we are to put our own desires to death and determine to live for Him, pursuing only His will for our lives. In essence, we are to give back to God the new spiritual lives Christ has given us.

In the brief passage before us today, Paul tells us quite a bit about this sacrificial duty. First, it involves our bodies. This may mean our entire selves, but the body in particular is in view, for it is through our bodies that temptations entice our sinful natures. We are to give up any supposed “rights” to fulfill physical desires that God outlaws. Second, Paul describes the extent to which we are to go by saying our sacrifice is to be “holy.” In other words, we are to pursue the holiness of God, seeking to emulate Christ in all we do. Third, our sacrifice is to be “acceptable to God.” Other biblical translations render the word acceptable as “pleasing.” We please God by heeding and obeying His will expressed in His commands. God was pleased when the Jews brought their sacrifices properly, and He is equally pleased when we die to ourselves and live for Him as He has called us to do.