Charles Spurgeon Commentary Romans 12:1

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, [which is] your spiritual service." — Romans 12:1 (ASV)

I beseech you therefore, brethren,

Paul is a calm reasoner. He is a bold starer of truth, but here he comes to pleading with us. I think that I see him lift the pen from the paper and look round upon us, as, with the accent of entreaty, he says, "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, by God's great mercy to you, his many mercies, his continued mercies." What stronger plea could the Apostle have? I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God.

By the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Though he beseeches you to do it, he claims a right to it. It is only your reasonable service. Do we need to be entreated to be reasonable? I am afraid that we do sometimes.

And what are we to do? To present our bodies to God, not our souls alone, to make real, practical work of it. Let this flesh and blood in which your body dwells be presented to God, not to be killed and to be a dead sacrifice, but to live and still to be a sacrifice, a living sacrifice to God, holy and acceptable to him.

This is reasonable. God help us to carry it out.