Title: A Living Sacrifice
Last week we spent the duration of the chapter dealing with the issue of qualification. We decided that Paul makes an appeal to his readers in 12:1 based on four criteria:
1. A personal appeal
2. Based upon the weight of his previous arguments in Romans 1-11.
3. An appeal to other believers
4. An appeal based upon the fact that God has already shown us mercy.
Today we will look at the second half of 12:1 to determine exactly what Paul is calling us to do. We will answer the question: “What IS a living sacrifice?”
There are two components to Paul’s challenge to us
I. “…present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God…”
We are called by Paul to “present our bodies as a living sacrifice.” This statement itself is a bit ironic…how can a sacrifice be living? By definition, a sacrifice, as we see it in the Bible, is something destined for death, destined to appease the wrath of God by spilt blood.
But Paul turns that concept on its side when he suggests that we aim to become a living sacrifice. For we know that Jesus was the final fulfillment of the blood sacrifice, so we can rule out any thinking along the lines of our service and our blood, sweat, and tears earning us favor with God.
In fact, what Paul really says here is this: Because of Christ’s death, you need to give Christ your life.
And is this not the essential Gospel message? Because of Christ previous and unsolicited sacrifice, we need to turn our lives over to him, to become “living sacrifices” unto his Kingdom. And how is this done? I could wax poetic for hours about this, but before answering this question, let us look at the qualifications of this living sacrifice, for Paul tells us two things that we should consider in our “living sacrifice” to God.
1. Our sacrifice ought to be Holy.
What does this mean? The intention of our sacrifice cannot be about ourselves. It has to be selfless. Our sacrifice must be an expression not born of our own desire, but rather a reflection of the Holy Spirit’s life inside of us.
We’ve all been there. We’ve all done things that people around us have applauded us for, but we knew our intention was not purely selfless. We has some small ulterior motive that was more about ourselves than about service to the kingdom.
God tells us he is much more interested to see what we do in secret, what we do when nobody but God is watching.
Years ago in my ministry I was involved in a situation where there was a dire financial need for a group of people and their fellowship. The need was serious, and it was immediate. If God was going to act, it was going to have to happen quickly. I shared the need with a few people in as general a way as I could, trusting that if God wanted to move, he’d speak to the hearts of those involved.
Sure enough, a few days later, a individual approached me with a very, very large sum of money, large enough that I was uncomfortable, and felt I may have misled or misrepresented the need. I found myself wanting to talk this person out of giving such a generous gift.
And then something very interesting happened. This person told me they had only one request, and that was that they didn’t want anyone else but myself to know who given the money. There was to be no attention, no recognition. I was only supposed to announce that by the mercy of God the need had been met.
The person said, “this was not mine to begin with…who am I to keep the Lord’s blessing from others?”
A living sacrifice. A Holy sacrifice. A selfless sacrifice.
2. Acceptable to God
What does this mean? Our sacrifice has to be something that God will accept. And how do we know what he will accept and what he will reject? My answer is quite simple: He will accept what is Biblical, and reject that which is not.
Many times we do things that are more than acceptable to those around us, but not to God. Think of the person who is so involved in the ministry that they quickly earn the respect and admiration of those all around them in the church, but they are not giving their wives, or their children the proper attention and love they need at home.
Think of the cliche of the “Pastor’s Kids” who are wild and reckless in their youth in an effort to repel against their parents. Is it possible that at least part of the reason for this is because Dad was more interested in impressing his flock than tending to the needs of his people?
When I was in my first year of seminary. Dr. Robert Stein, a grizzled theologian and author looked at our class and said, “Who among you are married?” About 80% of the class raised their hand, including myself, a newlywed of about 2 months. Then he looked us all right in the eye and said something I will never forget.
“My class is going to be very, very difficult. But if you get an A in my class, but only get a “C” from your wife, you are really getting an “F”.
Getting an A in Robert Steins New Testament class would instantly earn you the respect and admiration of your classmates, and, going into the final I was very close to achieving this. And the last night I had to study for the final was my wife’s birthday.
I remember what Dr. Stein said. Mary and I went out dinner that night. And I got a B for the semester with Dr. Stein. And I’ve never regretted it.
An A from Dr. Stein would have been acceptable to many people, but not to God. I would have placed my responsibilities as a student above my responsibilities as a husband, and this would not have been acceptable to God.
II. “…which is your reasonable service…”
I touched on this a bit last week and will close with this challenge. Is their anything unreasonable about Paul’s request that we present our very lives as sacrifices to God? Well, to answer that, we have to assume that God is fair. And not fair as humans see it…(it’s not fair that 9/11 happened!)
But fair as a morally perfect, just, and omniscient God sees it (There is a time for every season, a reason for every purpose under Heaven)
According to God’s word, here are some highlights that we can know about what God has done for us.
1. Created us in his image. (Favor among all creatures)
2. Even after the fall desired communion with us.
3. Covenanted with our ancestors to ensure a route to His favor.
4. Gave us the Law so we’d know what God wanted from us.
5. Gave us the prophets so we’d know when we’d gone astray.
6. Gave us His Son to die that, despite our sin, we may live.
7. Gave us the Holy Spirit to direct and guide our hearts toward holiness.
8. Gave us prayer that we might commune with Him.
9. Gave us scripture that we might be able to state #1-#8.
10. Even when we reject his son, gives us grace that their might be time for us to turn our lives to Christ.
I am compelled to tell you this morning that presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God is more than a reasonable request. In fact, we should not just present our bodies, but our very existence, and we should do so with joy.
For the more we understand of God, the more we understand what, exactly, he has already done for us. And now we are given this opportunity to give back. How foolish we’d be to not honor God with the lives he’s given us.