28 May 2024

WHAT DOES PAUL MEAN THAT WE MUST PRESENT OUR BODIES ROM 12:1?

By John Ollis

A very important key to living a victorious Christian life is shared by the Apostle Paul in Rom.12:1-2 NKJV​1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

AMP.N.T. I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.
2 Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].

PASSION. Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? I encourage you to surrender yourselves to God to be his sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship.
2 Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes.

MESSAGE here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

If you only read this verse in say the NKJV, you could interpret God just wants us to just present our body, but, GOD WANTS US BODY, SOUL, & SPIRIT.

God wants our Mind, our Will, our Emotions, our senses both physical and spiritual, that is our Seeing, our Hearing, our Touching, our Tasting and our Smelling.

I have been having some struggles of late, which I simply put down to “aging” I seem to start worrying a lot, and this stirs up my emotions, which sure caused me to lose my peace. So it has become a matter of concern and much prayer, and I believe the Lord has given me the answer, I shared it with a very dear Ministry friend who is also a Biblical scholar, and he believes that what I believe I have received is rooted in the Word of God, I am asking the Lord every day to STIMULATE all these areas in my life. I happened to check the dictionary for the fuller meaning of stimulate and found it means, to excite, to provoke, TO QUICKEN, in other words ask the Holy Spirit to work on all these areas that I may live a victorious, fruitful life.

So each day when I re-affirm Christ’s Lordship over my life, and present my body to the Lord. I am praying ,

Lord quicken my MIND, Phil.4:8 NKJV Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Lord quicken my WILL, that I will always say NOT MY WILL.. BUT THINE BE DONE.

Lord quicken my emotions, Ps. 51:12 NKJV Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

There are many Scriptures we could quote in our prayers.

With our senses, not only our natural but spiritual senses.

Lord quicken my Sight, that I will only look on those things that please you, and open my spiritual eyes as I read and meditate on Your Word.

Lord quicken my Hearing, not to listen to that which is wrong, and also that I may hear Your voice as as I seek you.

Lord, quicken my sense of Touch, and reach out more and more to touch you, like the woman who touched hem of Your garment.

Lord quicken my sense of Taste, let me pray as the Psalmist in Psalm 34:8 NKJV Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;

Lord quicken my sense of Smell, that I may know more of the FRAGRANCE OF YOUR PRESENCE IN MY LIFE.

James tells us, “We have not because we ask not, let us start asking specifically for these things, as we continually present our bodies a living sacrifice, speaking personally, it is working, I have created some bad habits in these areas, and I have failed but every day it is increasingly getting better.

This may be your experience in some of these areas, may this simple teaching help you and encourage you, as this is all part of God’s so great Salvation to us, and our inheritance NOW as a Believer, let is move up a level into greater blessing and victory and holiness.

Why don’t you try it, also feel free to comment