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Written by Mackenzie Lancaster
Romans 12:1-2
“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. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing, and perfect will.”
These verses are kind of heavy. They carry a lot of meaning that can be a little hard to determine when read all at once. But there’s no doubt that Paul is calling his readers to action, starting off the statement with “I urge you.” This is more than just encouraging or suggesting action; this is expressing a need for immediate action.
Next, Paul continues by saying, “in view of God’s mercy,” some versions say “in light of God’s mercy,” this is a continuation of the theme of the first eleven chapters in Romans, where the focus was on the mercy of God in many different aspects. But the rest of what Paul has to say all depends on God’s mercy. The act of us offering ourselves as living sacrifices would not be possible without God’s act of mercy in sending His Son to die for us, making us able to have a relationship with Him, and allowing us to actually be a perfect, living sacrifice.
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The cocoon disintegrates and the butterfly is free to spread her wings and begin anew. The old is gone; the new has come.
Romans 6:1-4
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
The newness of life, as promised in Romans 6, is filled with promise, hope, purpose, and a fresh start. It is the more pleasant aspect of our transformation process. However, it is impossible to have new life without death.