Home / Commentary / Romans / Romans Chapter 12 / Romans 12:1

Romans 12:1 meaning

Paul is giving believers a picture of how pursuing God’s righteousness through faith should look. Righteousness means harmonious living or right living; the first ingredient for this harmony is sacrificial living.

In chapters 1-11, Paul is telling his audience of Roman believers how God’s righteousness is attained. He explains that it is not through the Law, as some competing Jewish “authorities” were arguing, but that it is through faith. Now, Paul is telling his audience what a life of righteousness through faith looks like; this is noted by Paul’s use of “Therefore,” saying that, because of what he had already made clear in Chapters 1-11 (that righteousness is attained by faith) here’s how believers ought to live. He begins with a strong call, urg[ing] you, brethren, by the mercies of God to live righteously.

First, Paul talks about sacrifice. We believers are meant to present [our] bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, to live sacrificially, doing what God asks of us, which is a way of giving worship, praise, and honor to God. Paul calls this sacrifice a spiritual service of worship. The word translated “spiritual” is the Greek word “logikos,” which can also be translated “logical.” It seems the idea is that—in light of what Paul has demonstrated about a life of righteousness—the only logical conclusion is for us to live life as a living sacrifice.

Why does this make sense, to live as a sacrifice? Without the preceding eleven chapters it would be very difficult to understand the notion that it is “logical” to empty ourselves for the benefit of others. But reflecting on chapters 1-11, life under the law is a life in slavery to sin. And although believers are justified in the presence of God solely on the basis of faith in Jesus, irrespective of our behavior, if we do not live a sacrificial life that follows Jesus’ example, we slide back into sin.

This means that we then suffer the consequences we have been delivered or saved from by Jesus’ resurrection power. Like someone being set free from prison, but choosing to remain in their cell. Instead of living in freedom, serving the purpose for which Jesus created us, we instead revert to slavery to sin. Slavery to sin leads to earthly condemnation; we suffer the effects of sin and death (or disconnection) as a consequence of refusing to live a spiritual life of sacrifice to Jesus. That is why living sacrificially is so “logical”, because it is living freely in Jesus, and it avoids slavery to sin.

When we present our bodies as a living and holy (set apart) sacrifice, for God to use, we are living a life of service to God, which is what we were created to do. So again, it is logical for creations to do what they were created to do. The word “worship” (latreian, λατρείαν) is found in the original text, and is certainly fitting so long as the reader understands “worship” the way the scripture uses it, rather than in the very limited way it tends to be used among church goers, to refer only to scheduled church services. For a Jew, like Paul, worship would include sacrifice.

Here we are pictured as being on the altar, sacrificed to God. That means our whole person is devoted to God. This is not just a church service attendance level of commitment. In Scripture, the word worship is very broad, and applies to any aspect of living where we are acknowledging God. One example is from Matthew 8:1-2:

“When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.’”

In this verse, the leper worships simply by acknowledging Jesus’s power. By living a sacrificial life where Jesus’ power flows out of us in service to the commands of Jesus, we are indeed worshipping with our lives each moment of each day.

Biblical Text

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.

Check out our other commentaries:

Proverbs 1:20-23 meaning
Wisdom (personified as a woman) shouts in public, beckoning all to hear and obey.......
Jonah 1:17 meaning
The LORD spares Jonah’s life by appointing a great fish to swallow him. Jonah spends three days and three nights in the belly of the......
Acts 4:31-37 meaning
God answers the believers’ prayer for boldness by filling them with the Holy Spirit. The church is united in heart and soul. The apostles continue......
Deuteronomy 8:7-10 meaning
Moses urges Israel to bless and thank God when they live a life of material abundance in the Promised Land. He exhorts them to choose......
Exodus 20:12 meaning
The 5th commandment speaks of respecting one’s parents.......

Additional Resources

Book Theme

The Apostle Paul writes to the world-renowned believers in Rome, the center of the world at that time, in order to answer a slanderous charge made to them against Paul and his message. Paul’s detractors claim his emphasis on faith overturns the law. Paul says that ” just living by the law” does not achieve personal justice before God, while “just living by faith” does. Paul then demonstrates what a just life looks like: harmonious living with Jesus as the leader. Paul also makes clear the choice a believer has: to walk in faith and the power of the resurrection and experience resurrection life, or walk in sin and unnecessarily experience the negative consequences.

Chapter Context

In Chapter 12, Paul shows that a life of righteousness or justice (living in harmony with God’s design) looks like a life that has been transformed spiritually. It looks like team harmony, like a human body, where every body part is doing what it does best as directed by the head (and a believer’s Head is Jesus.) In order to function like a body, it requires an active decision to love and honor others, while honoring Jesus as the One in charge. As the One in charge, it’s Jesus’ job to judge the world (not ours.)

Paul turns from defending against the slanderous attacks of competing Jewish “authorities” and begins an admonition to the world famous believers in Rome (1:8) concerning their pursuit of righteousness. Paul has comprehensively demonstrated that righteousness, which is harmony with God’s design, comes only through walking by faith in the resurrection power of Jesus through the Holy Spirit. He has also proven that his gospel message is “good news” about three deliverances: 1) being delivered from the penalty of sin, irrevocably placing us into the family of God when we first believe 2) being delivered from the presence of sin when we are taken to heaven to be with Jesus, and 3) being delivered from the power of sin in our daily walk, when we choose to walk by faith in the power of the indwelling Spirit.

Since most of our lives are spent between the time we first believed and the time we leave this earth, Paul has and will continue to emphasize the practical impact of the gospel on how we live daily. Paul has made it crystal clear why we ought to choose to walk in faith by the Spirit and enjoy the newness of life in the resurrection power of Jesus, rather than going back into the death and slavery of sin by following our sin nature. We want to walk in obedience because of the immense positive consequence from walking by faith (believing God’s way is true and best), versus the terrible consequences we get when we walk in sin (believing we know best). Paul has also clearly shown us how to walk in the resurrection power of Jesus, through the exercise of a heart of faith. Now Paul will give us some tangible illustrations of what righteousness looks like in everyday life.

Videos

View Romans on the Timeline