“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”
Romans 12:1 (NIV)
The Pharisees in our Lord's day and the Jews in Hosea’s day were confused about how mercy and sacrifice work together.
The beauty of this verse in Romans is the simple and very clear explanation as to how mercy and sacrifice are to work together in a Christian’s life.
Paul has spent the first 11 chapters of Romans expounding on our need for God’s mercy, on God’s provision of divine mercy through our Lord Jesus Christ, and on the wonderful benefits that we enjoy in this mercy bought for us by Christ Jesus, and so he asks us to keep this mercy in view, to meditate on in, to live in its reality, to daily seek mercy from God and thank God for His mercy. As we keep this mercy in view our heart will prompt us to worship God, and so Paul instructs us to worship God with our bodies as living sacrifices. Begin with our minds being renewed in terms of how we view ourselves relative to others. Then be sure that we are truly loving others and not just pretending to. This should be our understanding of how mercy and sacrifice intersect in a Christians life. We are to meditate on how great God’s mercy to me is, and then as my heart worships Him, offer Him all that I am, expressed in new attitudes towards others and concrete practical expressions of humble love and mercy to those around me.
Mercy first - sacrifice second is true and proper worship.
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