Committed Christians see themselves as slaves.

It may sound shocking, but Christ is in the slave trade business. Satan has mankind enslaved (Romans 6:17–18). Jesus purchases the devil’s slaves and makes them His own. The asking price is high—He has to pay with His own blood (Acts 20:28).

In return, He asks every follower to become His willing servant. Note Paul’s words: “. . . yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. . . . God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness” (Romans 6:13–18).

What does it mean to be Christ’s slave? We must give ourselves entirely to be used as He sees fit. Jesus said that we are to love God with all the heart, and with all the soul, with all the mind, and with all the strength (Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30). The Corinthians “first gave their own selves to the Lord” (2 Corinthians 8:5). As King Ahab said to Behadad, we say to God: “I am thine, and all that I have” (1 Kings 20:4). Paul said that we “are not [our] own” but “are bought with a price: therefore we must “glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20; cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:23).

If Paul were writing today, he might say that we are 24/7/365 Christians. This doesn’t mean that once we come to Christ we have to sleep on a cot in the church foyer and eat lunch in the fellowship hall. It means that we are always available to serve Christ. Some people have jobs that are 24/7, at least for a little while. That does not mean that they are at the job 24 hours a day. It means they have committed to work any time they are needed that week—day or night. They could receive a phone call at any hour, and they would drop everything and go. Christians are available, on call, all the time, anytime.

Committed Christians see themselves as crucifixion victims.

The only way to be freed from sin’s grasp is to die. Paul saw this death as coming by a crucifixion: “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin” (Romans 6:6–7). “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). Tradition tells us that Peter was crucified and that ten of the other eleven original apostles died a martyr’s death.

Jesus well knew what crucifixion meant. William Barclay notes that when Jesus was a boy of about eleven years of age, Judas the Galilean led a rebellion against Rome. He raided the royal armory at Sepphoris, which was only four miles from Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth. Roman vengeance was swift. The town of Sepphoris was burned to the ground; the women and children were sold into slavery, and two thousand men were crucified on crosses, set in lines along the roadside as a warning to any who revolted against the Empire. Jesus is asking those who are serious about being His disciples: Are you prepared to die if you’re my disciple?

Committed Christians see themselves as sacrifices (Romans 12:1–2).

Paul is urgent in trying to get the message across. He begins, “I beseech you,” which literally means, “I implore you,” or “I beg you” (12:1). A little later he writes, “For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.” (Romans 14:8). Death to self is not an option, nor is it a one-time event that happens at the time of conversion. It is a major part of the process in becoming able to follow Him. Paul admitted that death to self must be administered on a daily basis: “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31).

Present[1] in Romans 12:1 means to “provide; yield” and was used of sacrifices or of things consecrated to God. One meaning is “to place beside or near; to set at hand; to place a person or thing at one’s disposal.” It was a technical term for presenting the Levitical victims and offerings. An Israelite who brought his animal offering to be sacrificed laid it in the hands of the priest. He surrendered all rights of ownership, and any plans he had for the animal’s future use. It was to be used for the glory of God.

In contrast to the priests who offered up dead animals as sacrifices, Christian priests climb onto the altar of life with the intent to be the sacrifice. We offer our lives, words, worship, and deeds (1 Peter 2:5, 9; Revelation 1:6; 5:10). It might be easier to offer ourselves physically once than to live an entire life of sacrifice, but all must live the sacrificial life every day (James 1:27; Matthew 25:31–46; John 13:1–17; Luke 10:25–37).

There are three things that God wants us to present Him.

We must give God our bodies (Romans 12:1). Before we came to Christ, we used our bodies for sinful pleasures and purposes, but now that we belong to Him, we use them for His pleasure and purposes. The Christian’s body is God’s temple because the Spirit dwells therein (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). It is our privilege to glorify Christ in our body.

We must give God our minds (Romans 12:2). “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). The world wants to control our minds, but God wants to transform our minds. If the world controls our thinking, we are conformers; if God controls our thinking, we are transformers.

Giving God our minds involves purity of heart (Matthew 5:8). It also involves ceasing to worry. Solomon said, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5–6). A reporter interviewed a widow who had successfully raised a very large family. In addition to six children of her own, she had adopted twelve others, and through it all had maintained stability and an air of confidence. When asked the secret of her outstanding accomplishment, her answer was surprising. She said, “I managed so well because I’m in a partnership!” “What do you mean?” he inquired.

The woman replied, “Many years ago I said, ‘Lord, I’ll do the work and You do the worrying.’ And I haven’t had an anxious care since.”