I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
All Commentaries on Romans 12:1 Go To Romans 12
Thomas Aquinas
AD 1274
953. Having shown the need for virtues and the origin of grace [n. 97], here the Apostle teaches how grace should be used, a subject pertaining to moral instruction. And he does two things in this regard. First he sets out a general moral teaching; Second, he descends to more particular questions related to the recipients of his letter, around the middle of chapter 15 at [verse 14; n. 1163] I myself am assured. And regarding the first, he does two things. First, he teaches how one should use grace to be a perfect man; Second, how the perfect man should sustain the imperfect, in chapter 14 there [verse 1; n. 1081] at Now as for the man who is weak. Concerning the first, he does three things. 471 First he offers instruction about that perfection of life relating to the sanctity by which we a man serves God; Second, relating to righteous dealings with one’s neighbor, in chapter 13 at [verse 1; n. 1016] Let every soul; Third, relating to that purity a man must preserve within himself, around the end of the thirteenth chapter at [verse 11; n. 1060] And knowing this. Regarding the first, he does two things. First he admonishes that a man should present himself holy to God; Second, he teaches how one should use the gifts of God’s grace that make one holy, there [n. 968] at For I say, by the grace. First he teaches how one should present himself to God as regards the body; Second, as regards the soul, there [n. 965] at And be not conformed. 954. Regarding the first, he does two things [n. 957]. First he leads them to heed what he has taught, and this in two ways [n. 956]. First on his own account, when he says, I beseech you therefore, brothers, as though to say: God’s judgment were described as beyond all comprehension, and his ways as beyond all investigation, and so I beseech you, brothers, that you heed that you have been taught. 955. Now he resorts to beseeching them for three reasons. First, to show his humility: "With supplication speaks the poor man," the one who puts no trust in his own wealth, and on this account attempts to compel men to good deeds not by what belongs to him but by what belongs to God. For to beseech [obsecrare] is to call on sacred things as witnesses [ob sacra contestari]. 472 31 Augustine, City of God, book 10, chapter 5. Second, to move his readers more by asking than by fear, than by commanding as one in authority: "Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you" (Phm 8-9); "You who are spiritual, instruct such a one in a spirit of gentleness" (Gal 6:1). Third, out of reverence for the Romans, to whom he wrote: "Do not rebuke an older man but exhort him as you would a father." 956. Next he leads them to heeding on God’s account when he says, by the mercy of God, that mercy by which you are saved: "According to his mercy he saved us" (*** 3:5). And so when we consider God’s mercy we should do what we have been taught: "Should you not have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?" (Matt 18:33). Or it could mean by the mercy of God, i.e., in virtue of the apostolic authority mercifully entrusted to me: "I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy" (I Cor 7:25). 957. Secondly, he gives the admonition when he says: present your bodies as a living sacrifice. Here it should be noted that, as Augustine says in the tenth book of The City of God,31 a visible sacrifice offered outwardly to God is a sign of an invisible sacrifice, whereby one offers himself and all he possesses for God’s service. 958. Now man possesses three goods. First, he has the soul, which is presented to God by humble devotion and contrition: "The sacrifice acceptable to God is a contrite spirit" (Ps 51:17). 473 Secondly, a man has external goods, which he presents to God by giving alms: "Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God" (Heb 13:16). Thirdly, a man has the good which is his own body. In regard to this he says: present, i.e., to God, your bodies, as a spiritual sacrifice. Now an animal offered to God was called a sacrifice [hostia], either because it was offered for victory over enemies [hostium] or for protection from enemies [hostium] or because it was offered in the entrance [ostium] of the Tabernacle. 959. A person can present his body to God as a sacrifice in three ways. First, when he exposes his body to suffering and death for God’s sake, as it is said of Christ: "He gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (Eph 5:2); and as the Apostle says of himself: "Even if I am to be poured as a libation upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I rejoice" (Phil 2:17). Secondly, when he weakens his body by fasts and watchings in the service of God: "I pommel my body and subdue it" (I Cor 9:27). Thirdly, when he uses his body to perform acts of righteousness and of divine worship: "Present your members to serve righteousness for sanctification" (Rom 6:19). 960. Moreover, one should recall that the offering sacrificed to God had four features. First, the thing offered was to be sound and unimpaired; hence Malachi 1(:14), "Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished." And this is why he says living, i.e., that the offering we make 474 32 Proprie autem sanctitas dicitur per respectum ad Deum, inquantum scilicet homo servat ea quae sunt iusta, quoad Deum. to God of our body be living by faith formed by love: "The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God" (Gal 2:20). Note here that a natural sacrificial offering previously alive was killed and immolated to show that death as yet ruled the human race so long as sin reigned, as was said above (Rom 5:12ff). But this spiritual sacrificial offering is always alive and increasing in vigor, in accord with John 10(:10), "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly," because sin has now been removed through Christ; unless we say that the sacrificial offering of our body is something alive to God through the righteousness of faith but is dead to the desires of the flesh: "Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you" (Col 3:5). 961. Secondly, the sacrificial offering presented to God was sanctified in its very immolation. Hence it is written: "Every man of your race who, having an uncleanness, approaches these things that are consecrated, and that the children of Israel offer to the Lord, shall perish before the Lord" (Lev 22:3). Therefore, he adds holy, made so by the devotion with which we bind our bodies to the service of God: "Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I the Lord your God am holy" (Lev 20:7). Now "holiness" in the proper sense bespeaks a relation to God, insofar as one does what is righteous before God.32 962. Thirdly, when the sacrifice was consummated, it was described as a sacrifice pleasing and acceptable to God: "The priest shall burn the whole on the altar as a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the Lord" (Lev 1:9). Hence, he says: 475 33 This phrase is omitted from Mark 9:49 in modern critical texts of the New Testament and so does not appear in modern English translations. pleasing to God, by reason of a right intention: "That I may be pleasing to God in the light of the living" (Ps 56:13). 963. Fourthly, in the preparation of the sacrifice, salt was added: "You shall season all your offerings with salt" (Lev 2:13); "Every victim shall be salted with salt" (Mk 9:49).33 Now salt signifies a wise discretion; hence he says: "Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt" (Col 4:5). Hence, he continues: your spiritual worship [your reasonable service], i.e., be discreet in presenting your bodies to God as a sacrifice whether by martyrdom or abstinence or any other righteous work, because "all things should be done decently and in order" (I Cor 14:40); "The king’s honor loves judgment" (Ps 99:4). 964. The righteous man is related one way to internal acts, by which He serves God, and another way to external acts. For a man’s good and his righteousness consist mainly in the internal acts, by which he believes, hopes and loves. Hence it says in Luke 17(:21), "The kingdom of God is within you." For it does not consist principally of interior works, as is said below in chapter 14(:7), "The kingdom of God is not food and drink." Hence, internal acts stand as an end sought for its own sake, whereas external acts, in which our bodies are presented to God, stand as means to the end. No limit is set on something sought as an end; rather, the greater it is the better it is. But on what is sought as a means to an end, a limit is set in accord with its proportion to that end. Thus, a doctor seeks as much health as possible, but he does not give as much medicine as he can; rather, he limits it to the amount required for restoring health. 476 Similarly, a person should set no limit on his faith, hope and love; rather, the more he believes and hopes and loves, the better he is. Hence it is stated in Deuteronomy 6(:4), "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." But in external acts a discreet limit is imposed by the requirements of love. Hence Jerome says: "Does not rational man lose his dignity, if he chooses to fast and watch at the expense of his bodily health or incur the marks of madness or sadness from singing the Psalms and office?" 965. Then when he says, do not be conformed and so on, he explains how one should present himself to God as regards the soul. And first he forbids conformity to the age, when he says do not be conformed to this age, i.e., to things that pass with time. For the present age is the measure of things that slide past in time. And a person is conformed to temporal things when he clings to them with love: "They became detestable, like the things they loved" (Hos 9:10); "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from this world" (Jas 1:27). The one who imitates worldly lifestyles is also conformed to this age: "I testify in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do" (Eph 4:17). 966. Secondly, he tells them to reform their minds inwardly, when he says: but be reformed by the newness of your sense. 477 34 Sensus here translates the Greek word nous, best rendered "mind"; the Nova Vulgata has mentis. Man’s sense is here called his "reason," because with the senses man forms judgments about what is to be done.34 When man was created, this sense was sound and vigorous: "He filled their hearts with sense, and showed them good and evil" (Sir 17:7); but by sin it was corrupted and, as it were, grown old: "You have grown old in a foreign land" (Bar 3:10). As a consequence, it lost its beauty and charm: "From the daughter of Zion has departed all her charm" (Lam 1:6). Therefore, the Apostle tells us to be reformed, i.e., to take up again that beauty and elegance which the mind once had. This is accomplished by the grace of the Holy Spirit. If a person does not share in this grace, he should desire to do so, and if he does share in it, he should desire to progress in it: "Be renewed in the spirit of your minds" (Eph 4:23); "Your youth shall be renewed like the eagle’s" (Ps 103:5). Or, interpreting in another way, be renewed in your outward actions in the newness of your sense, i.e., in the newness of grace, which you have received in your mind. 967. Thirdly, he gives a reason for this admonition when he says: that you may perceive what is the will of God. Here it should be noted that just as a person with a diseased palate misjudges the taste of foods and sometimes recoils from the tasty but approves the disgusting, whereas a person with a healthy palate judges tastes correctly; so a person whose affections are corrupted by conformity to worldly things misjudges the good, whereas a person whose affections are upright and sound, his sense having been renewed by grace, judges the good correctly. 478 That is why he said: Do not be conformed to this world, but be reformed by the newness of your sense, namely that you may prove, i.e., know by experience: "Taste and see that the Lord is sweet" (Ps 34:8). What is the will of God, by which he wills that you be saved: "This is the will of God, your sanctification" (1Thess 4:3). That will is good, i.e., he wills that we will the honorable good and by his precepts leads us to it: "I will show you, O man, what is good, and what God requires of you" (Mic 6:8). And acceptable, inasmuch as what God wills that we will is pleasant to a well-disposed person: "The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart" (Ps 19:8). Indeed, what God wills is not only useful for attaining our end but also perfect, uniting us, as it were, with the end: "You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt 5:48); "Walk before me and be perfect" (Gen 17:1). God’s will is experienced as good, pleasing and perfect by those who are not conformed to this age, but are reformed in the newness of their sense. On the other hand, those who continue in their oldness, being conformed to this age, judge that God’s will is not good but burdensome and unprofitable: "Wisdom seems very harsh to the uninstructed" (Sir 6:20). 968. Then when he says, For I say, by the grace that is given me, he teaches how God’s gifts should be used. First, he teaches this in regard to gifts that are not common to all, such as the graces freely given [gratia gratis data]; secondly, in regard to the gift of charity, which is common to all, there [verse 9; n. 983] at love without pretense. In regard to the first he does two things. 479 First, he teaches in general how one ought to use gratia gratis data; secondly, he follows this up in the parts, there [verse 6; n. 976] at having gifts. Concerning the first, he does two things. First he sets out the instruction; second, he gives the reason for it, there [verse 4; n. 972] at For as in one body. 969. In regard to the first he does three things. First, he warns against excess, saying: I have encouraged you to be renewed by the newness of your sense, but you should do this in moderation, for I say, i.e., I command, by the grace of the apostleship and the apostolic authority given to me: "When they perceived the grace that was given to me among the Gentiles" (Gal 2:9); "to me, the least of all the saints, this grace was given" (Eph 3:8). Every one among you, because it is profitable to every one: "I wish that all were as I myself am" (I Cor 7:7). This, I say, I command: not to be more wise than it is necessary to be wise, i.e., no one should presume, relying on his own sense or wisdom beyond his limitations: "Be not wiser than is necessary" (Ec 7:16); "I have not walked among great things, nor among marvels above me" (Ps 131:1). 970. Secondly, he exhorts them to a middle course, saying but be wise unto sobriety, i.e., I direct you to be wise commensurate with the grace given to you. For although sobriety implies a measure. And although the word taken in its proper sense has to do with drinking wine, it can be used in regard to any matter in which a person should observe a due measure: "Training us to live sober, upright and godly lives in this world" (*** 2:12). 480 971. Thirdly, he teaches how the middle course should be gauged when he says: and this, I say, as God has divided, i.e., distributed, to each one the measure of faith, i.e., the measure of his gifts, which are given for the building up of the faith: "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" (I Cor 12:7). For God does not give such gifts the same to all, but distributes different ones to different persons: "There are varieties of gifts" (I Cor 12:4). Nor does he give them equally to all, but to each according to a definite measure: "Grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift" (Eph 4:7). That is why the Apostle, thinking with sober judgment according to this measure, said: "We will not boast beyond measure, but will keep to the measure of the rule by which God has measured out to us" (2 Cor 10:13). To Christ alone has the Spirit been given without measure, as it says in John 3(:34). God gives not only the gratia gratis data according to a measure, but even that faith which works through love. Hence the apostles said to Christ: "Lord, increase our faith" (Lk 17:15).
