What does Paul mean when he says to present your bodies as a living sacrifice?
Presenting your bodies as a living sacrifice means voluntarily yielding the physical body—the flesh and blood believers operate in—to God as wholly acceptable. It is not law-keeping but a reasonable, logical, practical service, responding to the Holy Spirit's leading in life, testimony, and every area rather than conforming to the world's mold.
Les explains Paul's plea is rooted in the mercies of God: present your bodies, not your soul, but the body—the flesh and blood we operate in—as wholly acceptable unto God. That is your reasonable, logical, practical service. It is not done under a mandate of law or rules and regulations; instead, believers respond as the Holy Spirit leads them in their life of service, testimony, and everything. Les illustrates the word "conformed" by comparing it to hot jello poured into a jello mold: once it sets, it takes exactly the mold's shape. Foundry work does much the same with steel. Paul's analogy is, don't be poured into Satan's mold. Satan is the god of this world, and the whole world system is under his control. Coming away from that marks believers, and the world knows them. This is Paul's admonition of our own free will—not forced—so don't be molded according to this old world controlled by the wicked one. The opposite is to be transformed.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
More Questions
What does it mean to present your body as a living sacrifice?
Presenting your body as a living sacrifice means simply saying, 'Lord, here am I. Use me.'
What does Paul ask believers to present to God in Romans 12:1?
Paul beseeches believers by the mercies of God to present their bodies, not their soul, as wholly acceptable to God, which is their reasonable, logical, practical service.