Overview of: RomansToday's Reading:
Romans 12:1 – 14:23
"Life Together as Christians"
Focus Verses: Romans 12:1-5
1 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 true worship. 2 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. 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
Insight:
The NIV (New International Version) translation of Romans 12:1-2 says: "offer your bodies as living sacrifices." The TNIV (Today's New International Version) has been revised to read: "offer your bodies as a living sacrifice." This revision is consistent with the NAS (New American Standard) translation of the same verses: "present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice."
So, is Paul's exhortation in these verses for individuals or for the church? I think the answer is, "Yes." We are to offer our bodies (plural) as a sacrifice (singular). The church (the body of Christ) is made up of individuals, and so we should think of Romans 12:1-2 in both ways. This becomes clear when we read the verses in the context of the chapter, but can be lost as we hear the verses quoted in isolation from their context (especially in the NIV and The Message).
Response and Action:
As an individual, I am to offer myself as a living sacrifice. As a church, we are to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice. The sacrifice and worship I offer to God must be in both my personal walk with Christ and my corporate walk with Christ. Both personal devotion and Christian community are essential to understanding God's good, pleasing, and perfect will.
O God, help me to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love others as I love myself. Give me a heart that is devoted to you, and a life that is devoted to Christian community. Help me/us to be shaped by you and to honor you. Help me/us to experience and share your grace with each other. Make me/us a testimony of your goodness. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.
Old Testament for Today: Psalm 116:17
17 I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the LORD.
In Context: Psalm 116
Proverb for Today: Prov. 18:24
"One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."
Recommended Reading:
The Pursuit of God in the Company of Friends
by Richard Lamb
