Living Sacrifice to God
12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:1-2 NKJV
To sacrifice, in general, is to give something up for a cause or a person. With this in mind, the Apostle Paul is urging us to be righteous and holy. To give up the things of the world and to live our lives for Christ so that we can have eternal life. He calls it our “reasonable service”. Why, well because without the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made for us all, our souls would live eternity in hell so it is reasonable that we would want to serve the Lord.
Before Christ the Israelites were required to sacrifice a living animal for the forgiveness of sin. It is the blood that covers our sin. This type of sacrifice was done by the high priest yearly. He would atone for the nations sin on what is referred to as the Day of Atonement. See Leviticus 16.
Today we have the blood of Jesus Christ. Without Jesus it is impossible for man to fulfill the requirements of the law. This is the reason Jesus allowed His own crucifixion to happen. Jesus sacrificed His life one time for always for all of us. He was a man without sin, who gave His life for our sin so that we could stand righteous and holy before God and make it into heaven. His blood cleanses us and covers our sin. Isaiah 1:18 says “… though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow”.
The Garden Of Eden
At the beginning of our creation God gave us free will. The will to choose whether to obey His commandments or do what we want to do; do what our fleshly desires drive us to do.
What happened in the Garden of Eden? Eve saw that the fruit on the tree they were commanded not to eat of was good. By choice, she allowed Satan to convince her to go against the commandment of God and ignore the warning that they would surely die. Now she wasn’t there alone. Adam was also there and he didn’t stop her, rather he followed suit and ignored that commandment and the commandment to keep (protect it) the land.
God had given them everything, absolutely everything; they had to work for nothing. He had given them dominion over all the earth and the land fed itself. Yet still the lust of our eyes betrayed God. And so, as a God who can not lie, Adam and Eve had died spiritually. Their relationship with God was no longer the same because of their disobedience. Now they had to work the land given to them and now they could no longer stand righteous before God. Thus, sin entered into the world and man could no longer stand righteous before God. See Genesis 1 – 3.
Jesus laid down His life for us. That’s the ultimate sacrifice. Instead of saving his own life He chose the will of the Father. It is God’s will that none of us should spend eternity in hell, none of us should perish. Hell was made for Satan. It is God’s will that we repent of our sin and be joined with him forever. See 2 Peter 3:9.
No Greater Love
No one will ever love us as much as Jesus loves us. It’s because of this and the sacrifice He made that we ought to want to be a living sacrifice to God.
9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and [that] your joy may be full. 12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
John 15:9-15 NKJV
What Does Being A Living Sacrifice Look Like
So how do we become a living sacrifice? Well Romans 12:2 tells us that we should not be conformed to the world. That means don’t let the culture of today’s world dictate what is right and what is wrong or what is acceptable and what is not. Resist the desires of your flesh that would be displeasing to God.
The Apostle Paul said “to live is Christ and to die is gain”. See Philippians 1:21 I think that sums it up in a nut shell. To be a living sacrifice is to live a life pleasing to God. To live in the spirit of Jesus. Romans chapter 12 clearly defines what it looks like to for us.
Romans 12
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, [which is] your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what [is] that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think [of himself] more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, [being] many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, [let us use them]: if prophecy, [let us prophesy] in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, [let us use it] in [our] ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. 9 [Let] love [be] without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 [Be] kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. 17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but [rather] give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance [is] Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Rom 12:1-21 NKJV
