Romans 12:1, 2
THE WORTHY SACRIFICE
If I were to ask you to give me a summary of the cross, including His sinless life, His death, His propitionary work on our behalf and His resurrection, I believe I would get some pretty informed responses, after all, the answers can be found in the creeds we profess and what we learn from God’s word as it is explained through the historic church.
However, if I asked you what it means to be a living sacrifice to God, the answer may not come as easily.
Each time we have communion, I pray these words on your behalf; “and here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto thee;….”
So, the question we must ask ourselves today is this; Am I a worthy sacrifice?
In the first eleven chapters of his letter to the saints in Rome, St. Paul laid out the most comprehensive theological treatise ever complied. He starts off by explaining that everyone, both Jew and Gentile are sinful and deserving of death.
He then explains that through faith in Christ, death can be overcome because Christ died in our stead, taking our sins to the cross with him.
St. Paul then tells the believers that even though they are no longer under the law, they will continue to obey the law because of the love the Father has for them.
The last main point driven home by St. Paul is that God is sovereign, choosing whom he will adopt, working all things together for their good, and in the end, glorifying them in his son.
It is now time for all that theological knowledge to be put to practical use.
After all, what good is it to have the head knowledge if it is not converted into the furthering of our own walk with Christ or advancing the kingdom of God on earth. Seminaries and pulpits are over run with scholars, theologians and ministers that can recite the bible front to back and explain every theological doctrine in Christianity, but do not believe a bit of it. St. James had something to say about teachers that many today should take to heart, “not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” James 3:1
Knowledge of God’s Word is useless if it is not put to practical use…..
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God.”
What Paul is saying is, “In light of all I have taught you thus far, I exhort you to do what I am asking.” When he adds, “by the mercies of God,” he is saying, “this authority comes not from me, but from God Himself.
After all that Paul has taught, the first thing he asks his readers to do is worship God properly; “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” V1
Let’s look at the term ‘living sacrifice’ before we move on. The first thing we notice is that it is an oxymoron. Sacrifice means ‘to kill’; so how can a sacrifice be living? Paul has already answered that question in chapter 6.
“….do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Rom.6:3, 4 NKJV
This gives us one of the answers to our initial question, am I a worthy sacrifice? If you are baptized into Christ Jesus, you may be a worthy sacrifice. This is the minimum requirement.
The first readers of the letter were converted Jews and they would have recognized that Paul was not getting rid of sacrificial worship, but changing it.
Under Old Testament laws they were obliged to “make” a sacrifice; under the new testament grace, they were obliged to “be” a sacrifice……”a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
What is God asking us for?
Let’s start of by looking at what He is not asking us for. He is not asking us for our gifts, talents, money, time, ideas, creativity or any other such thing. He already owns these things and expects us to be dedicating them to Him.
1 Chronicles 29:14 States; “For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.”
Being a living sacrifice is not giving God something that is already His.
Being a living sacrifice is the act of dedicating our lives to God, in a way that glorifies the Father as we surrender to the Son and allow ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit.
How do we do this? Paul answers the question in the next verse.
“Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”
It is so easy to follow the same paths that the world takes. We wonder down them so innocently, going along for the ride. All the while getting farther and farther away from the one who died for us so that we wouldn’t have to go down that road.
As we have been looking at the Truth Project over the past several weeks, we have seen how the lies of the world have lured us away from Christ. The lies are suttle, and they seem so non threatening, but they are leading to the destruction of souls and the crumbling of the foundation of society.
In his commentary on the same verse John Calvin wrote, “The world praises itself, and takes delight in it’s own inventions; but Paul affirms, that nothing pleases God except what he has commanded.” p455
St. John warns us in his first epistle; “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world---the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions---is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its’ desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” 1 John 2:15-17
To be a worthy sacrifice we must know what the good, acceptable and perfect will of God is. We must renew our minds by transforming our desires from worldly lusts, possessions and pride to the desire to please the triune God.
James Edwards wrote; “The renewed mind is the gift of grace to see ourselves, others, and the world from the perspective of the cross of Jesus Christ, which alone produces a hatred for our sins instead of delight in them, and a love for sinners instead of rejection of them.”
As we emerge ourselves in the love of God and His revealed word, we gain the desire not to be conformed to this world, but the desire to become like Christ. This does not happen over night, “but is a life long process by which our way of thinking is to resemble more and more the way God wants us to think. Moo
It is during this time of the church year that we are to search for those worldly desires that hinder our walk with God and our true spiritual worship of Him. God not only deserves, but requires us to hand our lives over to him when he has blessed us with his saving grace.
Jesus Christ was the perfect sacrifice for you. Now you must ask yourself, Am I a worthy sacrifice for Him. Amen