In this message we will still be in the book of Romans for the Body of Christ. So far, from the book of Romans we have picked up two main points: the organic union and the sonship for the Body of Christ. In this message we need to pick up another point after the organic union and the sonship. Chapter twelve begins with these words: “Present your bodies.” But do you think your body is okay for you to present to the Lord? In other words, what kind of body do you have? When you talk about presenting your body in chapter twelve, you have to go back to see what kind of body you have. By considering the entire book of Romans, you can realize what kind of body you have. Our body is first mentioned in 6:6. Before this verse, the book of Romans considers the body as a flesh. But in 6:6 the body is called definitely the body. But here it is not a good one, but rather the body of sin. Let us read Romans 6:6: “Knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with Him that the body of sin might be made of none effect, that we should no longer serve sin as slaves.” This verse indicates that when we are crucified with Christ the body of sin is unemployed; it loses its job. It has nothing to do. Why is the body unemployed? Because it is a body of sin and God would never employ a body of sin. When you present your body to God, are you going to present a body of sin? What kind of body shall you present?
Today in Christianity there are a lot of revival meetings. In many revival meetings an altar call may be given based upon Romans twelve, exhorting people to present their body. But I am afraid they do not consider what kind of body they have. Do they have a body good for presenting to God? What kind of body do you have? Is it a body without sin, or a body of sin? Because it is a body of sin, how could you present such a thing to God? It means a lot for Romans 12:1 to tell us to present our body to God. But you have to realize Romans 12:1 does not come until eleven chapters have been passed through. After eleven chapters have been concluded, the body which can be presented to God can be a living sacrifice. Of course, the body of sin can never be a living sacrifice to God.
Romans 7 also mentions our body. Let us read verse 24: “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?” This verse mentions the body of death. Which is better: the body of sin or the body of death? Of course, neither of these is good, but which is worse?
You have to see that sin is initial; death is ultimate. At the initiation, it is sin; at the consummation, it is death. Death comes out of sin. Sin brings forth death. No doubt the consummation is worse than the initiation. Sin is a kind of sickness, and death is a kind of dying. So the consummation is worse. You cannot say that one is better. Rather you would have to say one is bad and the other is worse. Sin in your body makes you very active. Sin energizes a sinner’s body to sin. It makes your body very active like a wild horse so that you can hardly bridle it. Many fallen people cannot bridle their body. Because sin energizes their body to such an extent, they cannot control it.
Death, on the other hand, does not energize; it weakens. Death weakens your body in keeping God’s word and in keeping God’s commandments. God’s commandment says that you should not be covetous, but when you try not to be covetous, something is within you weakening you. That something is death.
Our body was and still is a real problem. It has two things within it—sin and death. Sin causes the trouble, energizing you to do bad things, and death weakens you to the uttermost. Let me illustrate it in this way: after coming home from work you tell your wife that you are very tired. Even at the dining table you are so tired you cannot give a word of grace. So you ask your wife to speak a word of grace. You are too tired. But later when a telephone call comes, you are able to talk for a lengthy time. Once the phone call comes, something within you rises up to energize your tired body to talk on the phone for a long time. Yet when you needed to pray before the meal, something within you weakens you almost to the point of death. Sometimes the saints have felt so tired that they could not come to the meeting. They felt that they should stay home to rest. But they could testify even when they stayed home they didn’t rest. Rather, they did many things.
We have to see that these two things, sin and death, are all the time working within us. One energizes us to do the negative things, while the other weakens us in doing the positive things. Sometimes you may have told your wife you didn’t have the time or you didn’t have the energy to talk with her, but if you became angry with her you had sufficient energy to talk to her. This means you have death weakening you and you have sin energizing you. Both of these two are in our body. So the body is a body of sin and a body of death.
With such a body, what can you do to please God? Whatever this body does cannot please God; it can only please itself. A body of sin and death can do nothing to please God. After Romans 6 which mentions the body of sin, and after Romans 7 which mentions the body of death, you come to chapter eight. Chapter eight also mentions the body saying, “For if you live according to flesh, you are about to die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live” (v. 13). This indicates that all the practices of the body should be killed. Whether sin is energizing your body or whether death is weakening your body, the practices of your body have to be put to death. You have to kill the practices of your body by the indwelling Spirit. This verse mentions both the flesh and the body. It says if you live according to flesh you are about to die, but then it says you need to put to death the practices of the body. What are the practices of the body? That is flesh. These two matters, the flesh and the practices of the body, are synonyms. They are used interchangeably. The flesh equals the practices of the body, and the practices of the body equals the flesh. Of course to put to death means to mortify, to kill. So we have three verses with three different terms: the body of sin in chapter six, the body of death in chapter seven, and the body with practices in chapter eight. These three verses are very crucial, describing your body in such a manner. It is of sin, it is of death, and it is of practices that cannot please God and must be put to death.
Chapter eight also has another good verse concerning the body: “And not only so, but we ourselves also, having the firstfruit of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan in ourselves, eagerly expecting sonship, the redemption of our body” (v. 23). Once you realize that your body is a body of sin and death, you would groan and you would earnestly expect for your body to be redeemed. Once you realize that you have a body that can do nothing to please God, you would groan and you would expect to be redeemed. You can do nothing to help your body; your body needs redemption.