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 your true and proper worship. 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. 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. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

The idea of sacrifice was very familiar to first-century people and was a part of daily life for both religious Jews and pagan Gentiles under Roman rule. The pagan would sacrifice to one or more of the many gods of the Roman pantheon for a good harvest, for rain, for the general appeasement of Gods, for victory, for blessing, for fertility, and for the general honor of Rome, among many more pressing reasons. The Jew would also sacrifice to the one God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This sacrifice could be a lamb, a dove, or even olive oil. Paul presents a novel and foreign idea in today's passage to both Jew and Gentile: the idea of a living sacrifice, which presents a new and striking image in the mind of the reader. The sacrifice is living because it is brought alive to the altar, and the sacrifice remains living because it is not killed but stays alive at the altar. This was a strange idea to all readers, but it is what God desires: not for you to bring a sacrifice apart from you, but for you to bring yourself and present your own body as a living sacrifice. The standard for sacrifices made to God under the New Covenant is not any less than the standard under the Old Covenant. When we offer our body, God intends it to be a holy and acceptable sacrifice, which it will be if brought with a right, renewed heart. This renewed spirit happens at Salvation, and in this way, the following living sacrifice is holy and acceptable.

An ancient Greek never thought of presenting his body to God. This would be a foreign concept to them as well as the Jewish people. They thought the body was so unspiritual and disposable that God didn’t care about it. Paul shows here that God is concerned about our bodies, and in 1 Corinthians 6:20, Paul reminds the church in Corinth and even us today that God has bought our bodies by paying a steep price. God would never buy something that was worthless. This section of Scripture follows Paul’s usual pattern of a strong doctrinal section followed by practical advice, or exhortations, for Christian living. Paul begs Christians everywhere to live a certain way in light of what God did for them. We do this because of the mercies shown to us by God, which have been described in the previous 11 chapters. God has not only commanded us to respond in this way, but he is also the one who makes this response even possible. In other words, we could never present our bodies as a living sacrifice if not for God revealing to us and giving us the spiritual power to live it out. This way of living sacrificially is described as being our reasonable service. The ancient Greek word for reasonable is "logikos" and can also be translated as “of the word." Reasonable service is a life of worship according to God’s Word that is logical and reasonable and makes perfect sense when we think about it. The sacrifice of an animal was reasonable service, but only for the one bringing the sacrifice, not for the sacrifice itself. The sacrifice had no choice in the matter. But under the New Covenant, we have a choice, and we have far greater mercies, so it is reasonable to choose to offer a far greater sacrifice, and what is greater than offering our whole self to God? This sacrifice is done by resisting conformity to the world, embracing the transformation, and renewing your mind, which comes only from Jesus Christ. Spiritually speaking, our bodies are brought to God’s altar. It is best to see the body here as a reference to our entire being. Whatever we say about our spirit, soul, flesh, and mind, we know that they each live in our bodies, and this is what Paul is referencing. When we give the body to God, the soul and spirit go with it. It is all or nothing, and a living sacrifice is a conscious choice for 'all.'

Even today, we can live out this idea of daily presenting our bodies to God. This simply means that God wants all of us, not just our work, and we can choose to hand over the Lordship of our whole life to him. A typical Christian today may do all kinds of work for God but never give Him Themselves. They wrongly believe that as long as the right work is completed, God is pleased, but this is not the case. To bring the body into submission to God is a sacrifice because this is not what the body or flesh naturally desires, but we choose to bring the body into submission anyway. We may wonder how to do this. How do we live not conformed to this world but transformed by the power of Christ? The answer, as Paul explains, is by the renewing of your mind, which does not happen all at once and does not happen automatically at the moment of salvation. The renewing of the mind is a process separate from the renewing of the spirit that will continue your entire life. It is a daily decision to die to yourself and instead take up the cross and be clothed in Christ. The ancient Greek word for transformed is "metamorphoo," describing a type of metamorphosis. The same word is used to describe Jesus in His transfiguration in Mark chapter 9. This is what Jesus desires for you! The only other place Paul uses this word for transformed is in 2 Corinthians 3:18, saying, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." For Paul, this transformation and renewing of our minds takes place as we behold the face of God, spending time in His glory. As we are transformed on the inside, the proof becomes evident on the outside, as others can see what the good and acceptable and perfect will of God is through our choice to become a living sacrifice. The main point within this entire passage is that becoming a living sacrifice is not a bonus version of super Christianity; it is reasonable and expected of all who follow Jesus.