A Living Sacrifice (22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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The first eleven chapters of Romans focus on St. Paul’s theology of salvation, where he discusses humanity’s need for salvation, and God’s provision of that salvation in Jesus Christ. In chapters 12-16, he changes focus to discussing how Christians are to live in light of these truths. The “therefore” (Gk. οὖν) in Romans 12:1 has often been interpreted as introducing the bridge between these two sections of Romans, connecting them and grounding the latter part in the former.

In these two verses, Paul gives two distinct commands. The first is to present one’s body as a living sacrifice to God. This command underscores the fact that, having been redeemed by Christ, we no longer belong to ourselves, but to Him. Thus, every thought, word and action of our lives must reflect this reality. As he relates elsewhere: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)

The second command is to not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of one’s mind. As a corollary of belonging to Christ, we must not act like we still belong to the world. In His intercessory prayer for His followers, Jesus prayed that believers would be in the world, but not of it (John 17:6-16). Likewise, St. John teaches that we must not love the world nor the things of world, or else the love of God would not be in us (1 John 2:15-17). Thus, we must purge ourselves of any worldly influence still lingering in our minds. In so doing we may know God’s good and acceptable and perfect will.

By living according to these commands, we detach ourselves from the world, conform ourselves to Christ, and become pleasing to God. Although we do not accomplish this perfectly in the present life, we should strive to come closer to it every single day.

J. Luis Dizon