This evil world is full of temptation and sin. Paul helps believers understand how we can live for God. Christianity is not based on pride in what we can do, but entirely on God's mercy to forgive us. Paul had already expressed the reverse of this when he said, "Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness" (Romans 6:13). Our bodies are the totality of what we have to offer. We live in our bodies. The body enfolds our emotions, our mind, our thoughts, our desires, and our plans. Thus, the body represents the total person. It is the instrument by which all our service is given to God. In order to live for God, we must offer Him all that we are, represented by our body. The word offer has also been translated "give," "yield," or "present." If our bodies are at God's disposal, He will have our free time, our pleasures, and all our behavior. In other words, we turn over all we do and think to His moral order. |
