Only Proper Worship Will Do

March 13th, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Romans 12:1 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.

Having established that Paul’s exhortation in his appeal is urgent for believers in Christ in view of God’s mercies, Paul will now put forth the urgent command which is to worship God with one’s body. Now this would have seemed odd to the Gnostics of the day and others who believed that the material body was evil and only the spirit within the body was good. These folks believed that the flesh was a tomb for the spirit and that it could never worship God.

Paul, however, said, plain and simple: “Present your bodies a living sacrifice… to God.” The verb in this context means “to offer; to present; to bring.” Now the body to be brought to God must be brought by the person himself, and what he brings is not simply his own skin and bones but his entire being which is simply a logical response to God’s mercies. The body brought to God is described as a “sacrifice” with three adjectives describing the sacrifice: “living” (an adjectival participle), “holy,” and “acceptable” to God. No dead ritualistic worship, no stolen or insignificant monies, and nothing that would not be acceptable to an earthly king! Whereas OT sacrifices were brought to the priest alive and subsequently slain on the altar, the NT sacrifices continue to live, perpetually worshiping God in view of His mercies. Like the OT priesthood, those saved by faith are a holy priesthood whose calling is to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 2:5; Rev. 1:6; 5:10).

The word for “sacrifice” (Gr. thusia) in v. 1 is the same word used for the offering that Mary offered for Jesus after He was born in Luke 2:24, and it is the same term used in Ephesians 5:2 for Christ who offered Himself as an offering on man’s behalf. In Romans 12:1 it is used of the life of believers as a self-offering to God. Whereas Hebrews 13:15 speaks of Christians giving God the sacrifice of praise, Romans 12:1 speaks of the sacrifice of the person himself. That person is to be “holy,” a term that speaks of a life separate and unstained from the world and “acceptable” to God. This term in the NT is used almost exclusively of deeds that are pleasing to God or Christ (cf. Phil. 4:18; 2 Cor. 5:9; Eph. 5:10; Col. 3:20; Heb. 13:21). Similarly, in Titus 2:9 slaves are to conduct themselves in a way that is acceptable to their masters. When believers realize that they are not their own but wholly and completely belonging to God through Christ, they become living sacrifices and thus offer their lives and their conduct as spiritual worship.

In Genesis 4:1-5, both Cain and Abel presented offerings to God for worship, for even Cain had regard for his Creator. But, sadly for Cain, God was not pleased with his worship, gazing upon Abel’s sacrifice but having no regard for Cain’s. Though their offerings are unknown, what is known is that nothing less than the best from God’s people will be acceptable to God.

Food For Thought
Many Christians today are frustrated by their inability to have victory over sin in their lives. Instead of feeling victorious over personal sins, they feel defeated by them. Some give themselves to things like charismatic theology, attempting to speak in tongues, be prophesied over, or be slain in the spirit, as it were. Some who dabble in these are persuaded by internal emotional revival and believe they are cured. But these practices are selfish and merely attempt to tap into the Almighty for personal gain. Spiritual victory and true joy, however, are not found in trying to get all we can from God but in giving all that we are and all that we have to Him. Attending Bible conferences, seminars, and church studies are good in and of themselves, but unless one’s heart is bent on giving more to God rather than receiving more from Him, these activities will only produce greater frustration, for victory is found in offering service to God.