"What is a living sacrifice?" – 19th February 2017

“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.”(Romans 6:12).

The dictionary defines sacrifice as “anything consecrated and offered to God.” We can learn where Paul says in Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service.” Paul’s admonition to the believers in Rome was to sacrifice themselves to God. This was not as a sacrifice on the altar, as the Mosaic Law required the sacrifice of animals, but as a living sacrifice. Then the question arises as to how do we consecrate and offer ourselves to God as a living sacrifice?

Under the Old Covenant, God accepted the sacrifices of animals. But these were just a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. Because of His ultimate, once-for-all-time sacrifice on the cross, the Old Testament sacrifices became obsolete and are no longer of any effect. We can learn this from Hebrews 9:11-12, “But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.”

Therefore for those who are in Christ by virtue of saving faith, which is the only acceptable worship is to offer ourselves completely to the Lord. Under God’s control, the believer’s yet-unredeemed body can and must be yielded to Him as an instrument of righteousness which is in view of the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus for us, this is only “reasonable.” We can learn this from Romans 6:12-13, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.”

What does a living sacrifice look like in the practical sense? The following verse helps us to understand this. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”(Romans 12:2). We are a living sacrifice for God by not being conformed to this world. The world is defined for us as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. We can learn this from 1 John 2:15-16, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.”

All that the world has to offer can be defined as these three things. The lust of the flesh includes everything that appeals to our appetites and involves excessive desires for food, drink, sex, and anything else that satisfies physical needs. Lust of the eyes mostly involves materialism, coveting whatever we see that we don’t have and envying those who have what we want. The pride of life is defined by any ambition for that which puffs us up and puts us on the throne of our own lives.

But one will wonder how can believers NOT be conformed to the world? We need change from what we were to what we desire to be. To be “transformed by the renewing of our minds.” We do this primarily through the power of God’s Word to transform us. We can get a better understanding when we hear,

read, study, meditate and memorize God given teachings from the bible. We need to hear which develops faith as stated in Romans 10:17, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” When we read and take it to heart, we are blessed as stated in Revelation 1:3, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.”

We need to study because it gives us clarity instead of simply being a resounding gong. We can learn and examine the importance of studying the bible when we read Acts 17:11, “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” We also need to memorize Gods teachings in our hearts so that we will be constantly reminded when we stray from His teachings. We can learn this from Psalm 119:9-11, “How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. 10 I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. 11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” We need to meditate on Scripture because it help us to stray strong without allowing our minds to wither and whatever we do will prosper. We can learn this from Psalm 1:2-3, “…but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night.3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.”

The Word of God, ministered in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, is the only power on earth that can transform us from worldliness to true spirituality. In fact, it is all we need to be made “complete and thoroughly equipped” for every good work that we are called upon as Christians through the scriptures! We can read in 2 Timothy 3:16,”All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…”. The end result is that we will be “able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” as stated in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” As Christians we must bear in mind that it is the will of God for every believer to be a living sacrifice for Jesus Christ.