But now in chapter 12:1 the emphasis is a little different: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.” This new appeal for consecration is made to us as “brethren,” linking us in thought to the “many brethren” of chapter 8:29. It is a call to us for a united step of faith, expressed in terms of the presenting of our bodies as one “living sacrifice” unto God. 

   This is something that goes beyond the merely individual, for it implies contribution to a whole. The “presenting” is personal but the sacrifice is corporate; it is one sacrifice. Intelligent service to God is one service. We need never feel our contribution is not needed, for if it contributes to the service, God is satisfied. And it is through this kind of service that we prove “what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (chapter 12:2), or in other words, realize our part in God’s eternal purpose in Christ Jesus. So Paul’s appeal “to every man that is among you” (12:3) is in the light of this new divine fact, that “we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and severally members one of another” (12:5), and it is on this basis that the practical instructions follow.

   The vessel through which the Lord Jesus can reveal himself in this generation is not the individual but the Body. True, “God hath dealt to each man a measure of faith” (12:3), but alone in isolation man can never fulfill God’s purpose. It requires a complete Body to attain to the stature of Christ and to display his glory. Oh, that we might really see this! 

The Normal Christian Life - Watchman Nee