PRESENT THE BODIES
Here we find the apostle “beseech[ing]” the believers to present their bodies. He could have ordered them, but he would rather beseech, since this is something that must be carried out willingly; otherwise, it is useless. Let us note, however, that he does not ask them to present their spirits or their souls, but only their bodies.I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. (Rom. 12. 1)
is this so? Here we can see the important position the body occupies. To present the body is something “acceptable to God.” Although God does not communicate directly with man through the body, but takes the spirit as His dwelling place, He nonetheless does not despise man’s body. The spirit occupies the first place, but the body has its rightful position too.
Without doubt, a man ought to let the Holy Spirit have the preeminence in whatever he does; nevertheless, this does not mean that he can neglect the body. Once we have seen how God emphasizes the intuition, communion and conscience of the human spirit, we are tempted to fall prey easily to imagining that God does not care about the body, that the body has no other function than to hurt us, and that if our life in the spirit is strong and full of power we can totally ignore this outward vessel. However, God’s view is quite different. Though He does stress the life in the spirit, He nonetheless affirms that the salvation provided by His Son must reach to this outward vessel as well. Salvation is less than effective if it fails to touch the body.
Furthermore, the presenting of the body is in actuality the presenting of all because the body here represents the whole being. Since the believer’s spirit has already become attuned to God, it has no need to be offered up again. On the other hand, his soul and body are not yet in perfect harmony with the life of God, and hence must be offered up. Though only the body is mentioned here, it actually includes the soul, for our present body is closely knit with the soul. The Bible calls it “a natural body,” 1 Corinthians 15. 44 in the original terming it a “psychical” or “soulical body.” Thus, in presenting the body, a person presents all that he naturally possesses. We notice here that God’s purpose is not confined to just our inward man, it also includes our outward man. It is true that in this matter of communion with God, the outward man is absolutely useless, since such communion is carried on in the inward man. Nevertheless, in other matters the importance of the outward man cannot be overlooked; else the Holy Spirit would not have issued here such a call for it to be offered up.
What is really meant by presenting the body? It means to live for the Lord as well as to work for the Lord. To understand this, we must know what the body is. It is very different from the spirit in one area; that is to say, the body is bound by time and place whereas the spirit is not. The body is outside, so it has a special relationship to outward things. In presenting the body, we naturally offer up time and place and every contact with the natural world. Hence, it means nothing less than to live and work for the Lord.
Now of these two aspects, to live for the Lord is more primary. Many consider working for the Lord as living for the Lord, not recognizing there is a vast difference between the two. People are able to work for the Lord and still not live for Him; whereas all who live for the Lord will work for Him too. To live for the Lord signifies that not a single moment is reserved for self-seeking, but that a believer’s entire time is given to the Lord (though not necessarily working for the Lord). The Holy Spirit is now calling believers to present their bodies in order to live for the Lord.
Now let us look at the entire verse, portion by portion. “Brethren”—this is spoken to believers. “By the mercies of God”—presenting the body is due to the mercies of God. It is because of all the gracious dealings and love of God that the body will be presented. This agrees with the words of 2 Corinthians 5. 14-15: “the love of Christ constrains us; ... that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again.” What is this presenting the body for? As “a living sacrifice.” A sacrifice is usually dead, but God wants our bodies to be a living sacrifice. In the Old Testament time, the bodies of the sacrifices were laid on the altar slain. Today God calls us to present our bodies alive to Him as a sacrifice. This denotes our living as though dead. As long as we shall live on earth, we present ourselves as sacrifices already dead. And this kind of sacrifice is “holy, acceptable to God.” Due to the mercies of God, this is our “spiritual service.”
Let us see that God has already secured His place within us, now He asks us to present the outward to Him. He has already begun to dwell in our spirit, in our inward man. He now waits for us to present our bodies—our outward man—to Him too. Since we live by Him, He expects us to live for Him. The spirit being renewed, our tabernacles of flesh should also be wholly committed to God. Thus this renewed spirit will have a willing body to cooperate with it in living and working for God. And this is God’s good pleasure.
