Living Sacrifices: Believers as Sanctified and Worshiping Ashes

This book presents an intertextual analysis of the term sacrifice, θυσία, used by Paul in Romans 12:1. How is the Old Testament intertext summoned by Paul to exhort the believers in Rome to live radically transformed lives?
We will first assess the meaning of the Hebrew terms related to sacrifice, in the socio-historical, literary, and theological framework of the Pentateuch. Through the Torah, God teaches his people how to enter a covenantal relationship with him.
We will uncover the intertextual links between Paul's understanding of sacrifice, and the Deuteronomic and prophetic tradition. Sacrifices that please God are not simply a ritualistic practice but a demonstration of obedience on the part of a heart wholly given to God.
We will then study how the sacrifice of Jesus and its important soteriological aspects are developed in the Letter to the Romans. We will focus on how Paul describes Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice, its purpose, and its relevance to the life of the believer.
Finally, this research aims to describe the relationship between Paul and his audience through the sacrificial metaphor in Romans. As living sacrifices, the believers are called to be "a holy nation and a kingdom of priests." This calling to be "living sacrifices" in Christ, offered to God by the Holy Spirit, is decisive. It transforms us into a charismatic community where ethnic and social barriers are abolished as we become one in Jesus.