I Peter 2:4-5 NKJV – Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.“
– one of the fundamental duties of a priest is to offer sacrifices on an altar
Romans 12 :1-2 NIV – ”Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 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.“
– God does not demand your body as a living sacrifice
– Paul begs Christians by the mercies of God to present their bodies as a living sacrifice to God.
– Your body as a living sacrifice should be holy.
– Your body as a living sacrifice must be acceptable to God. Genesis 4:3-4 ( Cain and Abel)
– Offering your self as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God is your reasonable service (true and proper worship)
Paul’s admonition to the believers in Rome was to sacrifice themselves to God, not as a sacrifice on the altar, as the Mosaic Law required the sacrifice of animals, but as a living sacrifice. The dictionary defines sacrifice as “anything consecrated and offered to God.” As believers, how do we consecrate and offer ourselves to God as a living sacrifice?
How to offer an acceptable offering of a living sacrifice.
1. Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world. Romans 12:2
Conform:
comply with rules, standards, or laws.
– The world is defined in 1John 2:15-16
– We are a living sacrifice for God by not being conformed to this world.
– the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. All that the world has to offer can be reduced to 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.
2. Renew your mind for Godly transformation to happen in your life. Romans 12:2b
3. Prove what the will of God is for your life. Romans 12:2c
4. Be sober minded. Romans 12:3
5. Behave like a Christian. Roman 12:9-21,
6. “Enter through the narrow gate. Matthew 7:13-14
Shalom! Rev. Ron
Virtuous Living 