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. (2) 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

The letter to the Romans was written by the apostle Paul to the Christians in Rome. Chapter 12 – and our verses today- begins addressing the application in our lives of the doctrine Paul taught in the preceding Chapters (1-11) which cover justification by faith alone in Christ alone and sanctification resulting in salvation. It is made crystal clear that salvation has nothing to do with human merit or efforts but are a result of the mercies of God. We know the why and now Paul is teaching the how.

I came across this quote while researching the context and meaning of verses 1-2 in Romans 12 – “living sacrifices have a way of crawling off the altar”. This reasonable service Paul exhorts his readers to accomplish means that such commitment is both continuous and progressive – Paul is referring not only to our bodies but our minds – reasonable service means the nature of such service is that worship rendered by the mind. This requires consecration of ourselves to God. Not only are we to worship the God of such mercy, but there must be a holiness of life which means we are to live in this world but not of this world. Paul is saying that the mass of mankind is considered in opposition to the people of God and the renewal of mind of the faithful is not just a mere external change but one that arises from a change of heart.
The end of verse two means that Christians should know, delight in and practice whatever is good and acceptable to God – the moral will of God as revealed in the Bible. These verses introduce the sections to follow that deal with Christian conduct. Our relationship to God in Christ is foundational and governs all our behavior; we are to behave as we believe.