The Pulpit Commentary — Romans — Section 351

The vigorous understanding of St. Paul preserved him from that sentimental form of re.ligion which many, professing to be his followers, h~ve adopted and ::vlvc,cated. It will not do to treat men, to regard ourselvc~, as poeseeHm~ only a spiritual nature. We havo body as well as soul. r:i;h~ most ethereal _and ecstatic spiritual experiences d0 not prove a man to ~e a true Chnst1an: God 1eq~1r~s that oody, soul, and spirit should oo consecrated to him. For the bodily nature 1s mtended to express and wanifest the character, the spiritual life, the true man. If the spirit be renewed and purified, the effect of this Divine work within will be apparent in the outer life. Thus it is that the new creation, which is the work of the Holy Spirit, extends to the whole nature and life. The body, therefore, shares in the death unto sin, and in the new life unto righteoueness and holiness. The body is consecrated to him who has redeemed the body as well as the soul; and its members are employed a.s weapons or instruments, not of sin, but of righteousness. It cannot be supposed that the apostle intends us to understand that bodily service alone is sufficient. Nothing would have been more alien from hie whole teaching, or from the spirit of the New Testament, than such a doctrine. Obrist has taught us that worship, in order to being acceptable, must be in spirit and in truth; and St. Paul himself has assured us that bodily exercise profiteth nothing, that circumcision availetb nothing, but a new creation. In presenting our bodies unto God, we offer the praises of our lips and the service of our hands. The body is the instrument of toil. The Christian's daily activity is consecrated to his redeeming God; and this is so, whatever be the employment to which Providence has called him. The body is also the agent of spiritual ministry. .Accordingly, the Chris- tian's special efforts to do good, his teaching and preaching, his ministering to the wants of his fellow-men and relieving them from their sufferings, his evangelistic journeys in order to seek the lost and to proclaim the gospel,-all are instances of his consecration of the body as well as of the soul to his redeeming Lord. III. Remark that SUCH PRESENTATION ON THE PA.RT 01!' THE CmuBTLC'r IS BEGABDED A.B BA.ORIFICE. From a study of the religions of mankind. we learn that the sacrifices. alike of the heathen and of the Jews, may be r~aarded as (l) offering, a.nd (2) propitia- tion. Now, as far as expiation, propitiation, is concerned, we, a.s Christians, know that there has been one, and only one, real and acceptable sacrifice of this kind-the sacrifice of himself offered to the Father by our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the substance of which all that went before was merely the shadow, and which can neither be repeated nor imitated. But as far as the tribute of thanksgiving, adoration, and obedience is concerned, we are taught that this is to be offered to God continually (Heb. x:iii. 15, 16). It is in this respect that all Christians are priests unto God; all, irrespc.:t.!,e of the position they hold in the Church, or the special services they render in the con,,,arega- tions of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Jewish sacrifice, which this perpetual ofieri.ng most closely resembles, is the burnt offering, which the Hebrew worshipper brought to Jehovah as the expression of his personal devotion and consecration to Heaven, as the public declaration that he owed everything to the Lord. and that he withheld from him nothing which he possessed. In like manner Christians present their bodies-their whole nature and life--to him who gave himself for them. "Ye are not your own; ye are bought with· a price; therefore glorify God with your bodies, which are his." Of this sacrifice, in which all Christiaus unite, the apostle reminds us that it PJ=SSes three qualities. 1. It is living. The sacrifices which the Jews offered were either living oreatures, or substances which by their naiure ministered to life; and in offering such gifts the worshipper wns presenting a symbol of his own life. But ordin:u-y :Sacri- fices were slain; the life was consumed in the offering. The Chri~tian's life is nc't forfeited in being presented to God. Yet in the presentation there is l>vth death rui.d life. It has been said, "There is in every sacrifice a death, and in this sacriti.:e a death unto sin, out of which there arises a new life of righteousness unt0 fu>d. Thus the living sacrifice is that in which, though the nntnral life is n0t hst, a new life of holiness is gained." What a privilege is ours, who are expected to bring unto _God. not the bodies of brute animals, not the blood of bulls and goats, but 0ur own ooJ.1es- onr very selves, our living nature-and gratefully and willingly t0 lay this :sacrilke upon the rutar of God I 2. Je is holy. The n.niml\ls which were presented under the Mosnio oconomy were, Recording to the prescribed regull\ti0ns, t0 be free from blemish. 'l'bia was doub~eee 1111 ordinance hlt81ldtd io impreSB upon the mind of the wonhippcr 850 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS. [(m. :s:n, 1-21.