“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”
– Romans 12:1
WHEN MOST PEOPLE THINK about worship, visions of churchgoers singing with outstretched arms come to mind. To be sure, this image of worship is a foretaste of the glory to come when people from every tongue, tribe, and nation will be gathered in exultation around the risen King (Revelations 7:9-17). But this corporate understanding of worship is not the only one the Bible describes.
There is another understanding that is more individual and personal and contemplative. And, where many Christians tend to see worship narrowly defined as an activity that involves singing at church on Sunday morning, the Bible seems to view worship more broadly defined as a smell. Yes, you read that correctly—a smell! Or more precisely, worship is “the fragrance” of our lives.
What are the implications of this view of worship? Well, the most obvious is this—worship becomes something that we do continually instead of just on a specific day and time. When we wake up in the morning, go to work, clean the dishes, and tuck the kids in bed, we have the opportunity at those simple times to express our worship to God. Also, worship is no longer strictly tied together with music. My worship of God can include glorifying Him through teaching the Bible to my kids, focusing on the biblical character of God, treating coworkers with love and respect, calling a friend in need, or appreciating God’s creation. Worship now becomes something that we do with our lives instead of just with a song.
As we examine the pivotal verse in Romans 12:1 on worship, we will find that God’s definition of worship is often very different from our preconceived ideas. Let’s see the prerequisites that God desires before our lives becomes a “pleasing aroma” to Him:
“Therefore…”
Paul begins Romans 12:1 with an especially important word: therefore. This simple word forces us to look backwards. Consider this simple statement: There is a deer on the road; therefore, apply the breaks. The reason we should apply the breaks is plainly stated before the word therefore—a deer on the road. In a similar manner, when Paul exhorts us to worship God in Romans 12:1, the reasons for our worship are stated before the word therefore. So what are the biblical foundations and motivations for our worship?
To find out, let’s briefly consider what Paul wrote in the first eleven chapters of Romans. Here is a small taste of some of the rich and passionate truths which Paul writes:
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” (Romans 1:18)
“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)
“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” (Romans 3:23)
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:6-11)
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)
In these early chapters, Paul gives us some of the richest theology of the entire Bible. He painstakingly reveals God’s mercy through profound doctrines such as the depravity of man, man’s condemnation under The Law, Jesus Christ’s fulfillment of the righteous demands of a holy God, salvation by grace through faith alone, and sanctification of the saints. Paul passionately demonstrates that our faith is not based on the whims of a fallen humanity; but instead, it is securely grounded on a solid spiritual foundation based on God’s mercy.
That is the context of Romans 12:1. Our worship of God is solidly based upon theology. Although these doctrines which reveal God’s mercy are not easy to understand—one can spend a lifetime studying these mighty truths—there is, nevertheless, a treasure chest full of spiritual jewels to be found from mining these theological grounds. And Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, carefully unearths these precious truths so that our love for Jesus would grow stronger, deeper, and richer.
So back to our question: What does the word therefore reveal to us about worship? Simply this—the word therefore underscores that our worship of God is a response to something that God has first done for us. Worship is not something that we create out of a vacuum or even out of our own desires. It is always a response to a deeper knowledge of God’s mercy. The obvious observation here is that, before we can fully comprehend the meaning of worship, we need to understand those doctrines that establish God’s mercy—we need to know the Bible (and especially those truths given in the first eleven chapters of Romans). Then, once these great doctrines have been planted deep in the soil of our hearts, God can begin to grow these seeds into a garden (and life) of authentic worship.
There is an unfortunate trend, however, in some churches to overlook the importance of strong doctrine in lieu of a strong music ministry. We all want to jump headstrong into worshipping God with our singing without first contemplating on the Person who we are singing to. To put it another way, we want to jump to Romans 12:1 before considering chapters 1 through 11. This sad situation would be like a boy telling a girl I love you only after their first date. Think about this awkward circumstance: how would a girl in that predicament respond to such a rash declaration of affection? If she was a sensible person, she would protest by saying, “You love me? You don’t even know me! How can you tell me that you love me if you haven’t spent any time getting to know who I am? You don’t know my family, values, childhood, fears, interests, dislikes, goals, or passions!” In this particular situation the words I love you were devoid of any real substance or power because the boy’s knowledge of that girl had no substance. Something similar can be said of our worship of God. When we worship God, we are in essence expressing our adoration for Him. But unless we seek a biblical understanding of who God is and what He has done, the words I love You will probably be devoid of any significant meaning. Before we can worship Him, we must first know Him. And that knowledge of Him has been lovingly and carefully given in the first eleven chapters of Romans.
The bottom line is this: knowing God’s mercy always precedes worshipping God. This precise order is critical. However, many people get this relationship all mixed up. They mistakenly believe that their worship of God somehow earns them God’s mercy. And despite the Bible’s clear teaching on this subject, many churchgoers are still attempting to win over God’s mercy by piety, devotion, and contrition. This is completely wrong thinking! Paul wants us to clearly understand that our worship is the result of God’s mercy. Our worship is a natural outpouring of a thankful and tender heart. Our worship depends on God’s initiation!
“I urge you brothers…”
Throughout the book of Romans, Paul is “urging” his reader. He is contending for the faith, correcting wrong theological beliefs, exhorting a fuller appreciation of our salvation, and encouraging his listener towards a deeper love for Jesus Christ. We too should follow in Paul’s loving and careful handling of the gospel, and share in his passion for this precious message. We should “urge” each other onward towards Christ.
Sometimes, however, it is admittedly difficult to feel this passion and urgency for the gospel. In the comforts of a modern lifestyle, it is easy to wallow in the entanglements of a cozy existence. Like a pig in cool mud, sitting in our private styes seems more appealing than the uncertainty, and sometimes dangers, that come with the pastures of the gospel. This is the daily temptation of the contemporary western church.
But there is a deeper message here. Within this heartfelt plea and “urging”, Paul is reminding us that our worship of God involves our active participation. Although worship unquestionably depends on God, there is an understanding in Paul’s plea that worship requires our response. It is not a passive activity. We are called to actively worship God with every ounce of our being.
“In view of God’s mercy…”
Our worship of God is intimately linked to a deep love and wonder of Jesus Christ and his breathtaking sacrifice on the cross. As Charles Wesley puts it, “Amazing love! How can it be? That Thou my God should die for me?” Intellectual knowledge of the gospel, although vitally important, is not enough to move us to a true and living worship. We need the heartfelt conviction that what we hold in our hands is the greatest cherished treasure that has ever existed. These doctrinal truths cannot simply sit in our minds like bits of random trivia—they must seer our hearts and compel us to marvel at God’s amazing love.
Paul illustrates this point clearly in the early chapters of Romans. Here Paul explains in exquisite detail how our salvation is not secured by our own efforts and works, but solely by faith in Jesus Christ’s atoning work on the cross. Our justification, in other words, is a gift freely given by God. Some people from the Roman church, who probably thought this doctrine was too good to be true, then asked the next logical and practical question—if my salvation has nothing to do with me working for it, then why shouldn’t I just keep on sinning (Roman 6:15)? This question is actually both disturbing and fascinating at the same time! What is particularly interesting is that this question actually reveals more about the questioner than it does about Christian theology. Although we may have strong desires and temptations to sin, our esteem and treasuring of this magnificent gift from Jesus needs to overwhelm us so much that our desires to sin, although still present, will not master our lives. Here on this earth, our bodies will perpetually be the battleground between our good and evil desires. In the end, however, our desire and love for Jesus because of what he has done for us on the cross should win out over all other desires.
What this question really reveals is that this questioner is living a life where the intellectual facets of Christianity are simple practicalities and have not transformed into heartfelt joy, tenderness, and thankfulness. This person knows the facts of Christianity, but possesses no feelings for Christ. That could prove spiritually and mortally fatal since, as the Bible mentions, even the devil believes in the right facts.
“To offer your bodies…”
From the Genesis account of Cain and Abel, we are reminded that God desires the very best of our lives—not the leftovers. However, Romans 12:1 expands on what God truly desires from us—not only the best of our lives, but the consecration of our entire life. Not only the transformation of our deeds, but also the transformation of our thoughts. Not only a portion of our tithe, but also the willing relinquishment of all materialistic idols from our lives. True worship demands the sacrifice of our entire body—not just our eyes, ears, arms, or legs. It demands our whole life—not just our Sunday singing.
In Chinese culture, there is a strong belief that the demonstration of thankfulness for a gift needs to be of the same or greater worth. If someone gave me, for instance, a long-held family heirloom as a gift, I dare not show my appreciation in a flippant way. Now consider this: how do we thank Someone who willingly went to the cross in our place? The only appropriate response of gratitude that we can offer to God, who did not hold back from us even the life of His own Son, is an offering of our entire life. Holding back even a sliver of our lives would seem ungrateful.
“As living sacrifices…”
The life of a sacrifice is a life “poured out.” It is a life given completely for someone or something else. Although the biblical concept of animal sacrifice seems foreign to us, the reality is that we make sacrifices for those thing that we hold most dear in our hearts all the time. If we truly want to see what or who is central in our lives, all we have to do is to examine how we are sacrificing our time, money, and energies. A sports addict will sacrifice his time to watch more sports, a shopaholic who worships clothing will sacrifice her money to buy more clothing, and a businessman who worships money will sacrifice his energies to make more money. Those things that control the affections of our hearts will also demand the resources of our lives. But God calls us to sacrifice our lives for something much more valuable and beautiful than the materialistic idols that control our lives. Just as Jesus Christ offered his entire life as a sacrifice for the redemption of mankind, we too are called to take on our cross daily as a consecration back to God Himself. Jesus’ sacrifice was given for the atonement of sins. Our sacrifice is given as a thanks offering back to God. Although our sacrifice does nothing to purchase our pardon, atone for sins, or instill in us any sort of saving righteousness, it does do one very important thing: confirms our love for the loving King.
Finally, we must remember that being a sacrifice is also a call to suffer. There will be pain as we lay our lives before the alter. Implied in Paul’s exhortation are submission and trust. Although we may not understand the trials and suffering that God will call us to, we still submit to His perfect will for our lives and we trust in his goodness and love.
“Holy and pleasing to God…”
The Christian church is so caught up nowadays in saving the sinners (justification) that often we forget that God also calls us a life of victory over sin (sanctification). The problem with this shortsighted view of our faith is that we becomes hypocrites. In other words, we preach to the non-Christian the importance of receiving the “forgiveness of sins,” and yet, our lives show no evidence of overcoming the “power of sin.” In fact, many of us still play a dangerous game of “toying” with our sins. We teeter precariously on that thin edge because we still find some aspects of our past sinful life secretly fascinating; not realizing, of course, that we are not playing a quiet game of marbles—we are actually playing a frightening game of spiritual Russian roulette. In the end, the only person who will find this activity entertaining are those who like to witness the bloodying of God’s children caused by the bullet of sin.
Of course, before one can begin the process of extinguishing sin, Paul makes it abundantly clear that we must first become saved. In other words, justification precedes sanctification. However, as with the first century church, the problem is that most Christians are content to simply stop growing once they become saved. But true worship demands much more! We must enter into the process, guided by God’s Spirit, of becoming holy. We must make war with our sins—providing no treaties or accommodations! God takes sin very seriously, and so should we. In Leviticus 19:2, God says, “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.”
In fact, without us becoming holy, our worship is just lip service. Without some outward display of “fruit,” there is no inward confirmation that our branch is truly grafted to the Vine. Although good “works” will never justify us before God, a life without any outward expression of change is also a life that was likely never truly saved (John 15:1-17). In the end, such a lukewarm life will be “spit out” of the mouth of God (Revelations 3:1-16).
“This is your spiritual act of worship.”
The words that we use in daily language are powerful. In particular, how we define certain words will have a profound impact on how we live our lives. Do we, for instance, define a family in pragmatic terms as a loose conglomeration of people who, by mutual association, gain personal and social advantages? Or, do we define family in spiritual terms as a God-ordained people who are called to love and serve each other regardless of personal differences and circumstances.
Here is another example: how do we define marriage? Is it pragmatically defined as a pairing of two people so long as that pairing remain beneficial? Or is marriage a sacred union consecrated by God as a representation of God’s unwavering commitment to His people?
By defining these words by either pragmatic or spiritual terms, we will define our lives. Do you see the point that I’m trying to make? Our definition of words have a radical effect on how we treat others, find ultimate purpose, and determine the locus for morality.
The question we face now is this: how do we define worship? Do we define it pragmatically as singing songs on Sunday? Or do we define it spiritually as something much bigger? I can see why it is easier to define worship pragmatically. With all the spiritual requirements found in Romans 12:1, it’s a wonder if any of us ever actually worships God. God’s definition is more encompassing, demanding, and personal. Thankfully, God helps us even in the worship of Himself.
In the hymn Take My Life And Let It Be, the underlying message is a simple plea—Father, make my life a fragrant aroma for You! I can’t do it on my own…
