After the parenthetical word that explains in detail God's selection, this book, continuing ch. 8, speaks concerning the latter half of God's complete salvation in Christ. In this latter half, those who enjoy the first half of God's complete salvation are members one of another as the Body of Christ (v. 5). Furthermore, they have the living of the Body of Christ on the earth to express Christ in different localities (such as those enumerated in ch. 16) that the Triune God may be expressed in such a living, as taught in the five chapters of the holy Word in this section, which concern the various aspects of this living. The first half of God's complete salvation, revealed in chs. 1—8, is the procedure by which God achieves His purpose; the second half of God's complete salvation, revealed in chs. 12—16, is the purpose of God's complete salvation.

Or, beg.

See note Rom. 9:15^2c. In Greek the compassions referred to here are plural. God has had many kinds of compassion on us, as shown in His selecting us, calling us, saving us, and bringing us into His life that we may enjoy His riches and become His expression. Through these many compassions as the means and the motivating power, the apostle exhorted us to present our bodies to God for the fulfillment of His purpose.

For the church life, the life of the Body of Christ, to be realized, our entire being is needed. Thus, this chapter speaks concerning our body (v. 1), our soul (v. 2), and our spirit (v. 11). Our body must be presented to God for the Body of Christ.

In ch. 6 the members of our body are to be presented as weapons of righteousness (Rom. 6:13) for warfare and service. In this chapter, however, our bodies are to be presented as a living sacrifice for the church life. This sacrifice is living because it has life through resurrection; it is not like the sacrifices in the Old Testament, which were all slain. This sacrifice is also holy because, positionally, it has been separated unto God by the blood of Christ from the world and from all persons, matters, and things that are common; and because, dispositionally, the natural life and the old creation have been sanctified and transformed by the Holy Spirit with God's life and God's holy nature for God's satisfaction. Thus, this sacrifice is well pleasing to God.

In Greek, bodies here is plural and sacrifice is singular. This indicates that, although many bodies are presented, they become one sacrifice, implying that, although we are many, our service in the Body of Christ should not be many individual services, separated and unrelated. All our service should constitute one whole service, and this service must be unique because it is the service of the one Body of Christ.

Or, intelligent, logical, rational, in harmony with the highest reason.

Service in worship of God. See note Rom. 1:9¹. Before this chapter such a service is not mentioned with reference to believers other than the apostle. This indicates that the service of the believers is an issue of the growth in life described in the foregoing chapters. It indicates further that this service must be in the Body, the church. This corresponds with the types in Exodus and Leviticus, which show that the service of the priesthood rendered to God was not established until after the tent of meeting was built.

This means that we should not be assimilated by the world to the extent that we who have been separated from the world unto God have the same image as this age, not caring for the transformation of the Lord Spirit in us with God's essence to conform us to the Lord's glorious image (2 Cor. 3:18), which the Spirit carries out by moving and working in us through the divine life and the divine nature.

This age denotes the present, practical part of the world (see note Gal. 1:4^2c), that part which we contact and in which we live; whereas the world, the evil system of Satan (see note Eph. 2:2^1b), is the composition of all people, matters, and things outside of God, including religious as well as secular things, as in Gal. 6:14, where the world mentioned is the religious world of Paul's time. This satanic world is composed of many different ages, each having its own particular pattern, characteristics, fashions, styles, and trends. We cannot forsake the world without forsaking the present age that appears before us.

Transformation is the inward, metabolic process in which God works to spread His divine life and nature throughout every part of our being, particularly our soul, bringing Christ and His riches into our being as our new element and causing our old, natural element to be gradually discharged. As a result, we will be transformed into His image (2 Cor. 3:18), that is, conformed to the image of the firstborn Son of God as His many brothers (Rom. 8:29). Thus we will be suitable for the building up of His Body.

After presenting our body, we need to have our mind renewed. The renewing of the mind, which results from setting the mind on the spirit (Rom. 8:6), is the base for the transformation of our soul. Our mind is the leading part of our soul, and as it is renewed, our will and emotion automatically follow to be renewed also. To be renewed means that a new element is wrought into our being. This produces an inward metabolic transformation, making us suitable for the building up of the Body of Christ, which is the practice of the church life. All the virtues and the overcoming in chs. 12—16 also are the results of this transformation.

This refers to those who show mercy by sympathizing and rendering help. The showing of mercy is not a natural generosity but a quality formed by transformation.

Referring to the leading brothers in the church. In taking the lead the first quality needed is diligence.

Denoting those who give to supply the needy ones in the church and to take care of the church's practical needs.

The service of the deacons and deaconesses in the local churches. See Rom. 16:1, 1 Tim. 3:8-13, and Phil. 1:1.

To prophesy is to speak for God and to speak forth God under His direct revelation. Prediction may be included in prophecy, but it is not the main aspect of the prophecy mentioned here. Prophesying brings in God's revelation for the building up of the church, the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 14:4b). These three — prophecy, teaching (v. 7), and exhortation (v. 8) — are related and coordinate with one another. The one who prophesies speaks what he has received as a direct revelation from God. The one who teaches instructs others, not based on direct revelation but based on what the prophets have spoken. He who exhorts does so according to both the direct speaking under God's revelation and the teaching that is according to this revelation. These three kinds of speaking are for the building up of the Body. They minister the life supply to the saints that they may grow together by God's word.

The gifts are received according to the grace given to us and are a result of our experience of the grace of Christ. This grace is God in Christ as the divine element coming into our being to be our life for our enjoyment. When this grace comes into us, it brings with it the element of certain spiritual skills and abilities, which, accompanying our growth in life, develop into the gifts in life that we may function in the Body of Christ to serve God. The gifts in life here are different from the gifts mentioned in Eph. 4:8, which refer to the gifted persons given by Christ in His ascension to His Body for its building up. The gifts in life here are also different from the miraculous gifts mentioned in 1 Cor. 12 and 14. The gifts in life are developed by the growth in life and by the transformation in life mentioned in v. 2, out of the inward, initial gifts mentioned in 1 Cor. 1:7.

The purpose of God's salvation is to have Christ reproduced in millions of saints that they may become the members of His Body, not separate and complete individual units but parts of a living, functioning, coordinated, corporate whole. Although these parts have different functions, they are not detached from one another. Rather, they are "individually members one of another." Each member is organically joined to all the others, and each needs the function of all the others. All the members must be coordinated together to practice the Body life that is revealed in this chapter.

We are one Body in Christ, having an organic union with Him. This union makes us one in life with Him and with all the other members of His Body. The Body is not an organization or a society but is altogether an organism produced by the union in life that we have with Christ.

Function is for service in the Body of Christ (v. 1). In order to function, we must have life, the divine life for the divine expression.

Or, lowly things.

Since we are living not only before God but also before men, we need to take forethought for things honorable in the sight of all men.

God is sovereign. We should not avenge ourselves in any way but should leave the whole situation in the sovereign hand of the Lord, giving Him the ground to do whatever He likes.

I.e., esteem himself. If we are to have the proper church life, the first thing that must be torn down is the high esteem that we have for ourselves, that we may think so as to be sober-minded. This requires that our mind be renewed by having all the negative elements within it swallowed up by the life of Christ. Then we will esteem ourselves according to the faith that God has apportioned to us, that is, according to the measure of God's element that has been transfused into us.

In this chapter the will of God is that we whom God has chosen, called, redeemed, justified, sanctified, and conformed unto glorification in the preceding eleven chapters may be members one of another to have the living of the Body of Christ (vv. 3-5). The Body of Christ is the peak of God's divine revelation. The living of the Body is the issue and goal of the presenting of our bodies, the renewing of our mind, and all the life practices in the foregoing chapters.

I.e., see and discern. Based on the presenting of our bodies and the renewing of our minds, we will see, discern, and prove by testing that the will of God is to obtain a Body for Christ to be His fullness and expression.

Verses Rom. 12:9-21 and Rom. 13 show the normal Christian life that is the necessary base for the practice of the church life and that matches the church life. This life is described in five aspects:
1) toward others (vv. 9-10, 13, 15-16);
2) toward God (v. 11);
3) toward ourselves (v. 12);
4) toward the persecutor and enemy (vv. 14, 17-21);
5) in general, before all men (v. 17). A life that is complete and proper in these five aspects is a life of surpassing quality with an excellent issue.

A presented body, a transformed soul, and a burning spirit — all three are indispensable to a proper church life. After we have presented our body for the church life, it is very easy for us to fall into the opinions of our mind in our soul, which results in our being damaged in the church life; therefore, our soul, and particularly the mind of our soul, needs to be transformed. However, once our mind is transformed, we may easily fall into a negative and dormant state. At that time we must be burning in spirit that we may be stirred up and encouraged to go on in the church life in a positive way.

Lit., serving as a slave. See note Rom. 1:1².

Lit., Have fellowship with. This is to care willingly for the needs of the saints according to our ability. The apostle termed this kind of material care "fellowship," because in the sharing of material things the grace of the Lord's life flows among the members of the Body of Christ and is infused into them.

As Christians, we are under a blessing. Thus, we should not curse anyone but only bless. The Lord blessed us when we were His enemies (Rom. 5:10). In the same way, we should bless our enemies and persecutors.

To live a normal Christian life for the church life, we need a proper emotion that can rejoice or weep with others. Such an emotion is not a part of our natural life; it is the issue of life through transformation.