Charles Ellicott Commentary Romans 12

At this point, the Apostle turns from the speculative, or doctrinal, portion of his Epistle and begins a series of practical exhortations to his readers regarding their lives as Christians. In the first two verses of the chapter, he speaks of this in general terms, but then goes on to give a number of special precepts in no very distinct arrangement or order.

Therefore. We can well believe that the Apostle, having brought his argument to a climax at the end of the last chapter, would pause in his dictation and perhaps not resume it until another session. The one prevailing impression left on his mind, both by the argument just ended and by the whole previous portion of the Epistle, is a profound sense of the merciful and benevolent purposes of God, who, out of seeming evil, only draws forth the highest good. This sense is still strong with him, and he makes it the link of transition by which the earnest practical exhortations that follow are bound to what precedes. The sequence is as much one of feeling as of reasoning.

Your bodies. This is not merely an indirect expression for “yourselves,” but refers in the strict sense to “your bodies,” that is, the very part of you that is prone to be “an occasion of falling.” The Apostle takes the two main parts of human nature separately. In this verse, he deals with human bodies; in the next verse, with the “mind,” or the intellectual and spiritual faculties.

A living sacrifice. “How is the body to become a sacrifice? Let your eye look upon no evil thing, and it has become a sacrifice; let your tongue speak nothing filthy, and it has become an offering; let your hand do no lawless deed, and it has become a whole burnt offering. But this is not enough; we must also do good works: let the hand do alms, the mouth bless those who despitefully use us, and the ear always find leisure for the hearing of Scripture. For sacrifice can be made only of that which is clean; sacrifice is a firstfruit of other actions. Let us, then, from our hands, and feet, and mouth, and all our other members, yield a firstfruit to God” (St. Chrysostom).

The idea contained in sacrifice is that of dedication. We are to dedicate our bodies to God. But there is this distinction between the old Jewish sacrifices and the Christian sacrifice: the one consisted of dead animals, the other of the living man. The worshipper must offer, or present, before God, himself, with all his living energies and powers consciously directed to God’s service.

Holy, acceptable to God. The qualification required in the Jewish sacrifices was that they were to be unblemished, without spot. Likewise, the Christian’s sacrifice must be holy and pure in God’s sight; otherwise, it cannot be acceptable to Him.

Reasonable service. The English phrase is somewhat ambiguous. It might mean “a service demanded by reason.” Such, however, is not the sense of the Greek, but rather “a service of the reason,” that is, a service rendered by the reason. Just as under the old dispensation the mind expressed its devotion through the ritual of sacrifice, so now under the new dispensation its worship takes the form of a self-dedication; its service consists in holiness of life, temperance, soberness, and chastity.

Be not conformed . . . but be ye transformed.—Here the English is somewhat misleading. It would naturally lead us to expect a similar play upon words in the Greek. But it is not so; indeed, there is a clear distinction between the two different words employed. It is the difference between an outward conformity or disguise and a thorough inward assimilation. The Christian is not to copy the fleeting fashions of the present time, but to be wholly transfigured in view of that higher mode of existence, in strict accordance with God’s will, that he has chosen.

This world.—Not here the same word as that which is used, for example, in 1 John 2:15–17, but another, which rather signifies the state of the world as it existed at the Coming of Christ, as opposed to the newly-inaugurated Messianic reign. To be conformed to this world is to act as other people do, those who do not know God; in opposition to this the Apostle exhorts his readers to undergo that total change which will bring them more into accordance with the will of God.

By the renewing of your mind.—“The mind” (that is, the mental faculties, reason, or understanding) is in itself neutral. When informed by an evil principle, it becomes an instrument of evil; when informed by the Spirit, it is an instrument of good. It performs the process of discrimination between good and evil, and so supplies the data to conscience. “The mind” here is not strictly identical with what we now mean by “conscience;” it is, as it were, the rational part of conscience, to which the moral quality needs to be added. The “renewed mind,” or the mind acting under the influence of the Spirit, comes very near to “conscience” in the sense in which the word is used by Bishop Butler.

Prove.—As elsewhere, “discriminate, and so approve.” The double process is included: first, of deciding what the will of God is; and, secondly, of choosing and acting upon it.

What is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.—The “will of God” is here, not the divine attribute of will, but the thing willed by God, the right course of action. Are we to take the adjectives “good, and acceptable, and perfect” (with the Authorized Version), as in agreement with this phrase, or are they rather in apposition to it, “that we may prove the will of God, that which is good, and acceptable, and perfect”? Most of the commentators prefer this latter way of taking the passage, but it is not quite clear that the former is impossible, “that good, and acceptable, and perfect thing, or course of action which God wills.” “Acceptable,” that is to say, to God Himself.

Having thus stated the broad principle that is to govern the Christian's conduct, the Apostle now goes on to apply it to certain details; and first, his object is to secure the disposition among the members of the Roman Church that will best enable them to act with unity and efficiency.

Through the grace given to me—i.e., by virtue of his apostolic authority.

To every man that is among you.—A rather more pointed expression than simply “to you all,” meaning “to each one of you severally and individually.”

Not to think of himself . . .—There is a play on words in this phrase and those that follow, which is not, and can hardly be, preserved in English. The Greek is something like: “Not to be high-minded beyond what he ought to be minded, but to be minded to sober-mindedness.” Our words, “to be minded,” “high-minded,” etc., very nearly express the sense of the Greek, which is to have one’s thoughts and feelings habitually turned in a certain direction. This is brought out with emphatic repetition in the phrase “to be minded to being sober-minded,” i.e., to keep sobriety of mind constantly in view as the object or ideal towards which all thoughts and feelings converge.

According as God hath dealt to every man.—The standard of action that each Christian ought to set for himself should be in proportion to the measure of faith given to him by God.

He who has the strongest faith may assume the highest standard and offer himself for the highest offices, and so on down the scale. It is, however, essential that the estimate each man places on the strength of his own faith should be thoroughly single-minded and sincere, and not biased by self-love. The Apostle assumes that this will be the case.

Members in one body.—This figure of the body and the members is worked out more fully in 1 Corinthians 12:12–27.

On verses 4, 5:

In the church there must be a graduation, a hierarchy, a division of labour, every one doing that for which he is best fitted, just as in the body one member has one office assigned to it, and another another. All Christians, viewed collectively, make up one body, the unity of which is supplied by their relation to Christ. Viewed individually, they stand to each other in the same sort of relation as the different limbs and organs of the natural body, as foot and hand, or hand and eye.

In Christ.—Christ is the unifying principle in the Church, just as the personality or will is the unifying principle in man.

Every one.—A somewhat peculiar phrase in the Greek, not found in this form in classical writers, meaning “as individuals.”

Members one of another.—Strictly speaking, the members are called members in their relation to the body, and not in their relation to each other. We should say, rather, “fellow-members with one another.”