Quotes & Notes on:
Romans 12:1
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John Wesley's Notes:
I exhort you-St. Paul uses to suit his exhortations to the
doctrines he has been delivering. So here the general use from the whole
is contained in the first and second verses. The particular uses follow,
from the third verse to the end of the Epistle.
By the tender mercies of God-The whole sentiment is derived from Rom.
i.-v. The expression itself is particularly opposed to the wrath of God,
Ro 1:18. It has a reference here to the entire gospel, to the whole
economy of grace or mercy, delivering us from the wrath of God, and
exciting us to all duty.
To present-So Ro 6:13; 16:19; now actually to exhibit before God.
Your bodies-That is, yourselves; a part is put for the whole; the
rather, as in the ancient sacrifices of beasts, the body was the whole.
These also are particularly named in opposition to that vile abuse of
their bodies mentioned, Ro 1:24. Several expressions follow, which have
likewise a direct reference to other expressions in the same chapter.
A sacrifice-Dead to sin and living-By that life which is mentioned, Ro
1:17; 6:4, &c.
Holy-Such as the holy law requires, Ro 7:12.
Acceptable-Ro 8:8.
Which is your reasonable service-The worship of the heathens was utterly
unreasonable, Ro 1:18, &c; so was the glorying of the Jews, Ro 2:3, &c.
But a Christian acts in all things by the highest reason, from the mercy
of God inferring his own duty.
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge:
* beseech. Ro 15:30; 1Co 1:10; 2Co 5:20; 6:1; 10:1; Eph 4:1; 1Th 4:1;
5:12 Heb 13:22
* by the. Ro 2:4; 9:23; 11:30,31; Ps 116:12; Lu 7:47; 2Co 4:1; 5:14,15;
Eph 2:4-10 Php 2:1-5; Tit 3:4-8; 1Pe 2:10-12
* that ye. Ro 6:13,16,19; Ps 50:13,14; 1Co 6:13-20; Php 1:20; Heb 10:22
* a living. Ps 69:30,31; Ho 14:2; 1Co 5:7,8; 2Co 4:16; Php 2:17; Heb
10:20-22 Heb 13:15,16; 1Pe 2:5
* acceptable. Ro 12:2; 15:16; Ps 19:14; Isa 56:7; Jer 6:20; Eph 5:10;
Php 4:18; 1Ti 2:3 1Ti 5:4; 1Pe 2:5,20
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Adam Clarke's Commentary:
I beseech you therefore, brethren] This address is probably intended
both for the Jews and the Gentiles; though some suppose that the Jews
are addressed in the first verse, the Gentiles in the second.
By the mercies of God!]  By the
tender mercies or compassions of God, such as a tender father shows to
his refractory children; who, on their humiliation, is easily persuaded
to forgive their offences. The word 
comes from  compassion; and that from
 , to yield; because he that has
compassionate feelings is easily prevailed on to do a kindness, or remit
an injury.
That ye present your bodies] A metaphor taken from bringing sacrifices
to the altar of God. The person offering picked out the choicest of his
flock, brought it to the altar, and presented it there as an atonement
for his sin. They are exhorted to give themselves up in the spirit of
sacrifice; to be as wholly the Lord's property as the whole
burnt-offering was, no part being devoted to any other use.
A living sacrifice] In opposition to those dead sacrifices which they
were in the habit of offering while in their Jewish state; and that they
should have the lusts of the flesh mortified, that they might live to
God.
Holy] Without spot or blemish; referring still to the sacrifice required
by the law.
Acceptable unto God]  The sacrifice
being perfect in its kind, and the intention of the offerer being such
that both can be acceptable and well pleasing to God, who searches the
heart. All these phrases are sacrificial, and show that there must be a
complete surrender of the person-the body, the whole man, mind and
flesh, to be given to God; and that he is to consider himself no more
his own, but the entire property of his Maker.
Your reasonable service.] Nothing can be more consistent with reason
than that the work of God should glorify its Author. We are not our own,
we are the property of the Lord, by the right of creation and
redemption; and it would be as unreasonable as it would be wicked not to
live to his glory, in strict obedience to his will. The reasonable
service, 
 of the apostle, may refer to the
difference between the Jewish and Christian worship. The former
religious service consisted chiefly in its sacrifices, which were
 , of irrational creatures, i.e. the
lambs, rams, kids, bulls, goats, &c., which were offered under the law.
The Christian service or worship is 
rational, because performed according to the true intent and meaning of
the law; the heart and soul being engaged in the service. He alone lives
the life of a fool and a madman who lives the life of a sinner against
God; for, in sinning against his Maker he wrongs his own soul, loves
death, and rewards evil unto himself.
Reasonable service, "a religious
service according to reason," one rationally performed. The Romanists
make this distinction between 
latreia and douleia, (or dulia, as they corruptly write it,) worship and
service, which they say signify two kinds of religious worship; the
first proper to GOD, the other communicated to the creatures. But
 douleia, services, is used by the
Septuagint to express the Divine worship. See De 13:4; Jg 2:7; 1Sa 7:3,
and 1Sa 12:10: and in the New Testament, Mt 6:24; Lu 6:23; Ro 16:18; Col
3:24. The angel refused  douleia, Re
22:7, because he was  sundoulos, a
fellow servant; and the Divine worship is more frequently expressed by
this word  douleia, service, than by
latreia, worship. The first is thirty-nine times in the Old and New
Testament ascribed unto God, the other about thirty times; and
worship or service, is given
unto the creatures, as in Le 23:7,8,21; Nu 28:18; yea, the word
signifies cruel and base bondage, De 28:48: once in the New Testament it
is taken for the worship of the creatures, Ro 1:25. The worshipping of
idols is forbidden under the word latreia, latreia, thirty-four times in
the Old Testament, and once in the New, as above; and twenty-three times
under the term  doaleia, in the Old
Testament; and St. Paul uses 
indifferently, for the worship we owe to God. See Ro 1:9,25; 12:1, Ga
4:8,9; 1Th 1:9; Mt 6:24. And Ludouicus Vives, a learned Romanist, has
proved out of Suidas, Xenophon, and Volla, that these two words are
usually taken the one for the other, therefore the popish distinction,
that the first signifies "the religious worship due only to God," and
the second, "that which is given to angels, saints, and men," is
unlearned and false.-See Leigh's Crit. Sacra.
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Family Bible Notes:
The mercies of God; those which he bestows in and through Jesus
Christ, as the apostle has exhibited in the former part of this epistle.
For he now proceeds to draw from the deep doctrines there unfolded
inferences of a practical nature. Present your bodies; as the priest
presented to God the bodies of the victims slain. A living sacrifice; in
contrast with the slain sacrifices of the Mosaic law. To present the
body to God as a living sacrifice, is to consecrate it, with the living
soul that inhibits it, to God's service. 1Co 6:15-20. Reasonable
service; a service of the spirit, in contrast with a merely outward and
bodily service. Compare 1Pe 2:5.
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1599 Geneva Bible Notes:
The fourth part of this epistle, which after the finishing of the
principal points of Christian doctrine, consists in the declaring of
precepts of the Christian life. And first of all he gives general
precepts and grounds: the principal of which is this, that every man
consecrate himself wholly to the spiritual service of God, and do as it
were sacrifice himself, trusting the grace of God. (a) By this preface
he shows that God's glory is the utmost goal of everything we do. (b) In
times past the sacrifices were presented before the altar: but now the
altar is everywhere. (c) Yourselves: in times past other bodies besides
our own, but now our own must be offered. (d) In times past, dead
sacrifices were offered, but now we must offer those which have the
spirit of life in them. (e) Spiritual.
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People's New Testament Commentary:
I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. The
depth of the riches of the divine mercy has been shown in the argument
of the preceding chapters, mercy for Jew and Gentile believers, and
mercy in prospect for all Israel. The argument is now ended; God's plans
have been explained, and the apostle appeals to those who have found
mercy, in the name of that mercy, "to continue in the goodness of God"
[Ro 11:22].
That you present your bodies a living sacrifice. The Jewish dispensation
with its sacrifices was ended; it closed when Christ, "our passover"
[1Co 5:7], was offered for us. But a new order of sacrifice has come in.
We should give ourselves. As the victim on the altar was surrendered
wholly to God, so our bodies with all their members should be
consecrated to his service; not as slain, but as "living sacrifices." We
do this when they become the temple of the Holy Spirit, and are used to
serve God.
Reasonable service. The consecration of the body to God is not an
outward act, like the sacrifice on the altar, but an act of the mind, or
reason; hence "a reasonable service."
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Robertson's Word Pictures:
Therefore (oun). This inferential participle gathers up all the
great argument of chapters Ro 12:1-11. Now Paul turns to exhortation
(parakalô), "I beseech you." By the mercies (dia tôn oiktirmôn). "By
means of the mercies of God" as shown in his argument and in our lives.
See 2Co 1:3 for "the Father of mercies." To present (parastêsai). First
aorist active infinitive of paristêmi, for which verb see Ro 6:13, a
technical term for offering a sacrifice (Josephus, Ant. IV. 6, 4),
though not in the O.T. Used of presenting the child Jesus in the temple
(Lu 2:22), of the Christian presenting himself (Ro 6:13), of God
presenting the saved (Eph 5:27), of Christ presenting the church (Col
1:28). Bodies (sômata). So literally as in Ro 6:13,19; 2Co 5:10 and in
contrast with nous (mind) in verse Ro 12:2. A living sacrifice (thusian
zôsan). In contrast with the Levitical sacrifices of slain animals. Cf.
Ro 6:8,11,13. Not a propitiatory sacrifice, but one of praise.
Acceptable (euareston). "Well-pleasing." See on "2Co 5:9". Which is your
reasonable service (tên logikên humôn latreian). "Your rational
(spiritual) service (worship)." For latreia, see on Ro 9:4. Logikos is
from logos, reason. The phrase means here "worship rendered by the
reason (or soul)." Old word, in N.T. only here and 1Pe 2:2 to logikon
gala (not logical milk, but the milk nourishing the soul).
Albert Barnes' Commentary:
I beseech you. The apostle, having finished the argument of this
epistle, proceeds now to close it with a practical or hortatory
application, showing its bearing on the duties of life, and the
practical influence of religion. None of the doctrines of the gospel are
designed to be cold and barren speculations. They bear on the hearts and
lives of men; and the apostle therefore calls on those to whom he wrote
to dedicate themselves without reserve unto God.
Therefore. As the effect or result of the argument or doctrine. In other
words, the whole argument of the eleven first chapters is fitted to show
the obligation on us to devote ourselves to God. From expressions like
these, it is clear that the apostle never supposed that the tendency of
the doctrines of grace was to lead to licentiousness. Many have affirmed
that such was the tendency of the doctrines of justification by faith,
of election and decrees, and of the perseverance of the saints. But it
is plain that Paul had no such apprehensions. After having fully stated
and established those doctrines, he concludes that we ought therefore to
lead holy lives; and on the ground of them he exhorts men to do it.
By the mercies of God. The word by--(dia)--denotes here the reason why
they should do it, or the ground of appeal. So great had been the mercy
of God, that this constituted a reason why they should present their
bodies, etc. See 1Co 1:10; Ro 15:30. The word mercies here denotes
favour shown to the undeserving, or kindness, compassion, etc. The
plural is used in imitation of the Hebrew word for mercy, which has no
singular. The word is not often used in the New Testament. See 2Co 1:3,
where God is called "the Father of mercies." Php 2:1; Col 3:12; Heb
10:28. The particular mercy to which the apostle here refers, is that
shown to those whom he was addressing. He had proved that all were by
nature under sin; that they had no claim on God; and that he had showed
great compassion in giving his Son to die for them in this state, and in
pardoning their sins. This was a ground or reason why they should devote
themselves to God.
That ye present. The word used here commonly denotes the action of
bringing and presenting an animal or other sacrifice before an altar. It
implies that the action was a free and voluntary offering. Religion is
free; and the act of devoting ourselves to God is one of the most free
that we ever perform.
Your bodies. The bodies of animals were offered in sacrifice. The
apostle specifies their bodies particularly in reference to that fact.
Still the entire animal was devoted; and Paul evidently meant here the
same as to say, present YOURSELVES, your entire person, to the service
of God. Comp. 1Co 6:16; Jas 3:6. It was not customary or proper to speak
of a sacrifice as art offering of a soul or spirit, in the common
language of the Jews; and hence the apostle applied their which
Christians were to make of themselves to God.
A living sacrifice. A sacrifice is an offering made to God as an
atonement for sin; or any offering made to him and his service as an
expression of thanksgiving or homage. It implies, that he who offers it
presents it entirely, releases all claim or right to it, and leaves it
to be disposed of for the honour of God. In the case of an animal, it
was slain, and the blood offered; in the case of any other offering, as
the firstfruits, etc., it was set apart to the service of God; and he
who offered it released all claim on it, and submitted it to God, to be
disposed of at his will. This is the offering which the apostle entreats
the Romans to make; to devote themselves to God, as if they had no
longer any claim on themselves; to be disposed of by him; to suffer and
bear all that he might appoint; and to promote his honour in any way
which he might command. This is the nature of true religion.
Living. (zwsan). The expression probably means, that they were to devote
the vigorous, active powers of their bodies and souls to the service of
God. The Jew offered his victim, slew it, and presented it dead. It
could not be presented again. In opposition to this, we are to present
ourselves with all our living, vital energies. Christianity does not
require a service of death or inactivity. It demands vigorous and active
powers in the service of God the Saviour. There is something very
affecting in the view of such a sacrifice; in regarding life, with all
its energies, its intellectual, and moral, and physical powers, as one
long sacrifice--one continued offering unto God. An immortal being
presented to him; presented voluntarily, with all his energies, from day
to day, until life shall close, so that it may be said that he has lived
and died an offering made freely unto God. This is religion.
Holy. This means, properly, without blemish or defect. No other
sacrifice could be made to God. The Jews were expressly forbid to offer
that which was lame, or blind, or in any way deformed, De 15:21; Le 1:3;
3:1; 22:20; De 17:1. Comp. Mal 1:8. If offered without any of these
defects, it was regarded as holy, i.e., appropriately set apart, or
consecrated to God. In like manner we are to consecrate to God our best
faculties; the rigour of our minds, and talents, and time. Not the
feebleness of sickness merely; not old age alone; not time which we
cannot otherwise employ; but the first rigour and energies of the mind
and body--our youth, and health, and strength. Our sacrifice to God is
to be not divided, separate; but it is to be entire and complete. Many
are expecting to be Christians in sickness; many in old age; thus
purposing to offer unto him the blind and the lame. The sacrifice is to
be free from sin. It is not to be a divided, and broken, and polluted
service. It is to be with the best affections of our hearts and lives.
Acceptable unto God. They are exhorted to offer such a sacrifice as will
be acceptable to God; that is, such an one as he had just specified, one
that was living and holy. No sacrifice should be made which is not
acceptable to God. The offerings of the heathen' the pilgrimages of
Mohammedans; the self-inflicted penalties of the Roman Catholics,
uncommanded by God, cannot be acceptable to him. Those services will be
acceptable to God, and those only, which he appoints. Comp. Col 2:20-23.
Men are not to invent services; or to make crosses; or to seek
persecutions and trials; or to provoke opposition. They are to do just
what God requires of them, and that will be acceptable to God. And this
fact, that what we do is acceptable to God, is the highest recompense we
can have. It matters little what men think of us, if God approves what
we do. To please him should be our highest aim; the fact that we do
please him is our highest reward.
Which is your reasonable service. The word rendered service--
(latreian)--properly denotes worship, or the homage rendered to God. The
word reasonable, with us, means that which is "governed by reason;
thinking, speaking, or acting conformably to the dictates of reason,"
(Webster) or that which can be shown to be rational or proper. This does
not express the meaning of the original. That word (logikhn) denotes
that which pertains to the mind, and a reasonable service means that
which is mental, or pertaining to reason. It stands opposed not to that
which is foolish or unreasonable, but to the external service of the
Jews, and such as they relied on for salvation. The worship of the
Christian is that which pertains to the mind, or is spiritual; that of
the Jew was external. Chrysostom renders this phrase, "your spiritual
ministry." The Syriac, "that ye present your bodies, etc., by a rational
ministry."
We may learn from this verse,
(1.)that the proper worship of God is the free homage of the mind. It is
not forced or constrained. The offering of ourselves should be
voluntary. No other can be a true offering, and none other can be
acceptable.
(2.) We are to offer our entire selves, all that we have and are, to
God. No other offering can be such as he will approve.
(3.) The character of God is such as should lead us to that. It is a
character of mercy--of long-continued and patient forbearance--and it
should influence us to devote ourselves to him.
(4.) It should be done without delay. God is as worthy of such service
now as he ever will or can be. He has every possible claim on our
affections and our hearts.
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Jamieson-Faussett Brown:
That if thou shalt, &c.--So understanding the words, the apostle is here
giving the language of the true method of justification; and this sense
we prefer (with CALVIN, BEZA, FERME, LOCKE, JOWETT). But able
interpreters render the words, "For," or "Because if thou shalt," &c.
[Vulgate, LUTHER, DE WETTE, STUART, PHILIPPI, ALFORD, Revised Version].
In this case, these are the apostle's own remarks, confirming the
foregoing statements as to the simplicity of the gospel method of
salvation.
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus--that is, probably, "If thou shalt
confess Jesus [to be] the Lord," which is the proper manifestation or
evidence of faith (Mt 10:32; 1Jo 4:15). This is put first merely to
correspond with the foregoing quotation--"in thy mouth and in thine
heart." So in 1Pe 1:10 the "calling of believers" is put before their
"election," as that which is first "made sure," although in point of
time it comes after it.
and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised--"that God raised"
him from the dead, &c.--(See on JFB for Ro 4:25). In Ro 10:10 the two
things are placed in their natural order.
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Spurgeon Commentary:
As the pious Jew presented a bullock or a lamb upon the altar, so
consecrate ye your whole selves unto the Lord, to live and to die for
him. This is his due, and ought to be rendered to him.
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William Burkitt's Notes:
Observe here, 1. The apostle's loving and courteous compellation,
brethren: so he calls the believing Romans. They were brethren by place
and nation, and brethren by religion and profession: eodem sanguine
Christi conglutinati, cemented together by the blood of Christ, and by
the bands of love.
Observe, 2. The manner of the apostle's exhortation: it is by way of
obsecration and entreaty, I beseech you, brethren. It imports great
lenity and meekness. The apostle did not want authority to command, but
uses such humility as to entreat. The minister's work and office is not
only to be a teacher, but a beseecher. He must not barely propound and
recommend the doctrines of the gospel to his people's understanding, but
must endeavour to work upon their wills and affections to embrace and
entertain them. The understanding is the leading, but the will the
commanding, faculty.
Observe, 3. The exhortation itself: Present your bodies a living
sacrifice. Present your bodies, that is, dedicate your persons, devote
yourselves, your whole man, soul and body, to the service of God and his
glory. Christians are priests, or a royal priesthood; they offer up
themselves in sacrifice unto God, as a whole burnt-offering.
Observe, 4. The properties of the Christian sacrifice: it must be
voluntary; present yourselves. It must be a living sacrifice, an holy
sacrifice, a reasonable sacrifice; otherwise it will find no acceptance
with God.
Observe, 5. The argument or motive which the apostle makes use of, to
persuade persons to present and give up themselves to God and his
service, and that is drawn from the mercies of God; I beseech you,
brethren, by the mercies of God.
Learn thence, That the mercies of God, revealed in the gospel, are the
most proper, powerful, and effectual argument, to persuade with, and
prevail upon, sinners, that have not given up and devoted themselves to
God, to do it; and those that have done it, to do it more and more: I
beseech you, by the mercies of God, that ye present yourselves, &c.
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Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary:
The apostle having closed the part of his epistle wherein he argues
and proves various doctrines which are practically applied, here urges
important duties from gospel principles. He entreated the Romans, as his
brethren in Christ, by the mercies of God, to present their bodies as a
living sacrifice to Him. This is a powerful appeal. We receive from the
Lord every day the fruits of his mercy. Let us render ourselves; all we
are, all we have, all we can do: and after all, what return is it for
such very rich receivings? It is acceptable to God: a reasonable
service, which we are able and ready to give a reason for, and which we
understand. Conversion and sanctification are the renewing of the mind;
a change, not of the substance, but of the qualities of the soul. The
progress of sanctification, dying to sin more and more, and living to
righteousness more and more, is the carrying on this renewing work, till
it is perfected in glory. The great enemy to this renewal is, conformity
to this world. Take heed of forming plans for happiness, as though it
lay in the things of this world, which soon pass away. Do not fall in
with the customs of those who walk in the lusts of the flesh, and mind
earthly things. The work of the Holy Ghost first begins in the
understanding, and is carried on to the will, affections, and
conversation, till there is a change of the whole man into the likeness
of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness. Thus, to be
godly, is to give up ourselves to God.
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Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole
Bible:
It is to surrender ourselves to God, and so to lay a good foundation.
We must first give our own selves unto the Lord, 2Co 8:5. This is here
pressed as the spring of all duty and obedience, Ro 12:1-2. Man consists
of body and soul, Ge 2:7; Ec 12:7.
(1.) The body must be presented to him, Ro 12:1. The body is for the
Lord, and the Lord for the body, 1Co 6:13-14. The exhortation is here
introduced very pathetically: I beseech you, brethren. Though he was a
great apostle, yet he calls the meanest Christians brethren, a term of
affection and concern. He uses entreaty; this is the gospel way: As
though God did beseech you by us, 2Co 5:20. Though he might with
authority command, yet for love's sake he rather beseeches, Phm 1:8-9.
The poor useth entreaty, Pr 18:23. This is to insinuate the exhortation,
that it might come with the more pleasing power. Many are sooner wrought
upon if they be accosted kindly, are more easily led than driven. Now
observe,
[1.] The duty pressed--to present our bodies a living sacrifice,
alluding to the sacrifices under the law, which were presented or set
before God at the altar, ready to be offered to him. Your bodies-- your
whole selves; so expressed because under the law the bodies of beasts
were offered in sacrifice, 1Co 6:20. Our bodies and spirits are
intended. The offering was sacrificed by the priest, but presented by
the offerer, who transferred to God all his right, title, and interest
in it, by laying his hand on the head of it. Sacrifice is here taken for
whatsoever is by God's own appointment dedicated to himself; see 1Pe
2:5. We are temple, priest, and sacrifice, as Christ was in his peculiar
sacrificing. There were sacrifices of atonement and sacrifices of
acknowledgment. Christ, who was once offered to bear the sins of many,
is the only sacrifice of atonement; but our persons and performances,
tendered to God through Christ our priest, are as sacrifices of
acknowledgment to the honour of God. Presenting them denotes a voluntary
act, done by virtue of that absolute despotic power which the will has
over the body and all the members of it. It must be a free-will
offering. Your bodies; not your beasts. Those legal offerings, as they
had their power from Christ, so they had their period in Christ. The
presenting of the body to God implies not only the avoiding of the sins
that are committed with or against the body, but the using of the body
as a servant of the soul in the service of God. It is to glorify God
with our bodies (1Co 6:20), to engage our bodies in the duties of
immediate worship, and in a diligent attendance to our particular
callings, and be willing to suffer for God with our bodies, when we are
called to it. It is to yield the members of our bodies as instruments of
righteousness, Ro 6:13. Though bodily exercise alone profits little, yet
in its place it is a proof and product of the dedication of our souls to
God. First, Present them a living sacrifice; not killed, as the
sacrifices under the law. A Christian makes his body a sacrifice to God,
though he does not give it to be burned. A body sincerely devoted to God
is a living sacrifice. A living sacrifice, by way of allusion--that
which was dead of itself might not be eaten, much less sacrificed, De
14:21; and by way of opposition--
"The sacrifice was to be slain, but you may be sacrificed, and yet live
on"
--an unbloody sacrifice. The barbarous heathen sacrificed their children
to their idol-gods, not living, but slain sacrifices: but God will have
mercy, and not such sacrifice, though life is forfeited to him. A living
sacrifice, that is, inspired with the spiritual life of the soul. It is
Christ living in the soul by faith that makes the body a living
sacrifice, Ga 2:20. Holy love kindles the sacrifices, puts life into the
duties; see Ro 6:13. Alive, that is, to God, Ro 12:11. Secondly, They
must be holy. There is a relative holiness in every sacrifice, as
dedicated to God. But, besides this, there must be that real holiness
which consists in an entire rectitude of heart and life, by which we are
conformed in both to the nature and will of God: even our bodies must
not be made the instruments of sin and uncleanness, but set apart for
God, and put to holy uses, as the vessels of the tabernacle were holy,
being devoted to God's service. It is the soul that is the proper
subject of holiness; but a sanctified soul communicates a holiness to
the body it actuates and animates. That is holy which is according to
the will of God; when the bodily actions are so, the body is holy. They
are the temples of the Holy Ghost, 1Co 6:19. Possess the body in
sanctification, 1Th 4:4-5.
[2.] The arguments to enforce this, which are three:--First, Consider
the mercies of God: I beseech you by the mercies of God. An affectionate
obtestation, and which should melt us into a compliance: dia twn
oiktirmwn tou yeou. This is an argument most sweetly cogent. There is
the mercy that is in God and the mercy that is from God--mercy in the
spring and mercy in the streams: both are included here; but especially
gospel- mercies (mentioned Romans 11.), the transferring of what the
Jews forfeited and lost by their unbelief unto us Gentiles (Eph 3:4-6):
the sure mercies of David, Isa 55:3. God is a merciful God, therefore
let us present our bodies to him; he will be sure to use them kindly,
and knows how to consider the frames of them, for he is of infinite
compassion. We receive from him every day the fruits of his mercy,
particularly mercy to our bodies: he made them, he maintains them, he
bought them, he has put a great dignity upon them. It is of the Lord's
mercies that we are not consumed, that our souls are held in life; and
the greatest mercy of all is that Christ hath made not his body only,
but his soul, an offering for sin, that he gave himself for us and gives
himself to us. Now surely we cannot but be studying what we shall render
to the Lord for all this. And what shall we render? Let us render
ourselves as an acknowledgment of all these favours--all we are, all we
have, all we can do; and, after all, it is but very poor returns for
very rich receivings: and yet, because it is what we have, Secondly, It
is acceptable to God. The great end we should all labour after is to be
accepted of the Lord (2Co 5:9), to have him well-pleased with our
persons and performances. Now these living sacrifices are acceptable to
God; while the sacrifices of the wicked, though fat and costly, are an
abomination to the Lord. It is God's great condescension that he will
vouchsafe to accept of any thing in us; and we can desire no more to
make us happy; and, if the presenting of ourselves will but please him,
we may easily conclude that we cannot bestow ourselves better. Thirdly,
It is our reasonable service. There is an act of reason in it; for it is
the soul that presents the body. Blind devotion, that has ignorance for
the mother and nurse of it, is fit to be paid only to those dunghill-
gods that have eyes and see not. Our God must be served in the spirit
and with the understanding. There is all the reason in the world for it,
and no good reason can possibly be produced against it. Come now, and
let us reason together, Isa 1:18. God does not impose upon us any thing
hard or unreasonable, but that which is altogether agreeable to the
principles of right reason. thn logikhn latreian umwn--your service
according to the word; so it may be read. The word of God does not leave
out the body in holy worship. That service only is acceptable to God
which is according to the written word. It must be gospel worship,
spiritual worship. That is a reasonable service which we are able and
ready to give a reason for, in which we understand ourselves. God deals
with us as with rational creatures, and will have us so to deal with
him. Thus must the body be presented to God.
- The Fourfold Gospel:
(No comment on this verse).
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