“For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has become His counselor?”
“Or who has first given to Him
And it shall be repaid to him?”
For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)
What a beautiful passage this is! Paul is truly pouring out praise here. I find it interesting that he follows this glorious passage with the following:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1)
The key term in Romans 12:1 is “therefore”. Paul is basically saying, “because of how glorious our God is, do this…” As a pastor I once knew often said, “If you are reading the Word of God and see a ‘therefore’, you need to figure out what it’s there for!” In this case, it is there for a reason why we should willingly be a “living sacrifice”; why we should not “be conformed to this world”.
Why do we not 'go with the flow' of the world? Because we do not belong to this world, but to the Kingdom of a Holy God. Why do we sacrifice and treat our bodies as holy temples? Because the Spirit of our glorious God and Savior dwells there.
That's why!