For the Gentiles, returning to the ways of the Creator demands embracing a completely different perspective on life. Worshipping idols means subjecting yourself to fear and sacrifice, with a whole host of taboos to avoid and codes to follow. In many ways your life is made subject to the idols. The idea that all of life is a gift of one true God which he created for the sole purpose of his own glorification as Creator is something completely new. Because returning to the Creator necessitates a totally different perspective on life, it also necessitates a radically different behaviour. Paul describes this complete transformation of foundation as follows: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect
(Romans 12:1–2).
In Romans 9:4 Paul had mentioned that the Israelites not only enjoyed the special privileges of the law and the promises, but also the worship.
Although Gentiles often groped in the dark about what the idols actually wanted from them in return for acting favourably toward the worshipers, Israel lived in the full light of God’s favour. This people knew exactly how the Lord wanted to be served. In Romans 12:1, Paul uses that same word, worship
(latreia) once again. The Gentile Christians now also have their opportunity to worship the Creator.
Furthermore, in Romans 12:1 Paul uses the word logikos (wrongly translated as spiritual
in the ESV) to characterize their worship as rational, well-considered.
That this is his intended meaning is clear from the following sentence (Romans 12:2) in which he urges the readers to renew their minds. He uses the word nous, which can be rendered as mind,
heart,
thought,
or disposition,
all of which indicate a conscious change or renewal as a result of which the readers will themselves discern what is the will of God.
When worship is well-considered, you can also rationally deduce what is good and acceptable and perfect
(Romans 12:2).
In a world full of idols which the readers of this letter in Rome encountered daily, this rational religion would be completely alien. When you worship idols, you have to rely on intuition or on enigmatic signs that become visible when you examine a liver or entrails. Magic is irrational. This is because while idols do make themselves felt, they do not reveal themselves. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is completely different. He has revealed his compassion not only in his Word but has also displayed it faithfully. He has made himself known. His mercies from the past and the present, as well as those yet to come (see Romans 11:30–36) constitute a healthy point of departure for the well-considered service of God (Romans 12:1). These mercies are revealed and apparent. They were made known to the patriarchs and in the law (Romans 9:4–5), and now they are made known in the gospel (Romans 1:3–4, Romans 1:16–17). The worship of God is not founded on magic, but on listening and thinking it through (Psalm 119:1–176). It is a logical
worship, not an irrational one. This was true for Israel and it is now also true for the Gentiles who have returned to their Creator.
Contrary to the claims of the British Methodist scholar C.K Barrett1 the word logikos does not mean internal
as opposed to external,
but rather well-considered
in contrast with intuitive, irrational.
That Paul is not just speaking about an internal or spiritual worship is apparent from the fact that he speaks about a sacrifice of one’s body.2,3
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.