FAVORITE BIBLE PASSAGES NUMBER 2 – Romans 12:1 and 2
Another of Paul’s deep insights into the nature of the Christian faith and the life corresponding to it is found here in the twelfth chapter of his letter to the Church in Rome. In the previous chapters he has just completed a review of everything Christ has done for humankind and now he turns to what this should mean for those who live in the family of believers. Everything hinges on the particle, therefore. In Paul’s view, the Christian life is a response to everything God in Christ has done for humankind. The character of Jesus’ life and death provide the pivot point, the basis, for living a life dedicated to embodying that character.
On the basis of God’s mercy exhibited in the life of Jesus, Paul implores believers to commit themselves as a “living sacrifice” which is now the Christian’s form of worship. No longer does God seek “dead sacrifices”, as in the Jewish faith, but now a “living sacrifice” is deemed the appropriate form of worship, involving both mind and heart. The point of this pivotal passage is to emphasize the clear contrast between Old Testament worship patterns and those of the new faith. Lives living for the glory of God, “living sacrifices” have replaced the dead sacrifices of the Old Testament religion. As the familiar King James translation has it, “present your bodies as a living sacrifice”, rather than as a dead one, so that your whole nature will be transformed, and you will know how to worship God.
Paul follows his description of this deep pivot point of the Christian life with a lengthy list of how this new life is to be expressed. The emphasis all the way through this list is upon positive moral character rather than on simply obeying the letter of the Law. Indeed, Paul waxes quite eloquent when describing some of the “dos” and “don’ts” of the new life in Christ. This description of Christian morality is explicitly contrasted to the common understanding of proper moral behavior in that day. Then all behavior was judged by fulfilling “the law”, which of course put the focus on external behavior. Paul is here calling for a radical change from this way of determining. He stresses the quality of “internal” character as displayed in both attitude and action.
In this chapter Paul walks a difficult line between a legalistic view of moral behavior and the new moral life as seen in Jesus Christ. These are not easy issues in which to discern the will of God, and we may not agree with everything Paul says, or with his particular application thereof, but his positive and inclusive spirit sets the tone for his exploration of proper Christian moral behavior. It is difficult, if not impossible, to read this passage in the context of its times and fail to feel Paul’s deep concern for how Christians should live their new life in Christ. At the same time, however, it is amazing that Paul, a converted Pharisee, would ever have such progressive ideas about morality.
He clearly did an about face on many things, like including uncircumcised Jews into the Christian fold, and promoting the place of female believers throughout the church. In this passage he is clearly struggling to find a middle way between a strong Jewish legalism and a more open, flexible approach to morality. His approach seems to be one of taking each possible issue one at a time even though this at times may seem problematic. Still, Paul’s insistence on an open freedom and lack of legalism in Christian ethics comes out in this passage loud and clear.