A Living Sacrifice - The Conclusion

This post is the conclusion of what has turned into a four part series or study on "A Living Sacrifice". It's been very revelational to me and I recommend that if you haven't already read the previous three postings on the subject, please do so before reading this one or you will miss the context of how we got to this point and possibly miss the message. Thank you for your indulgence.


     Fifth, is the building stage and the most dynamic. Not unlike an athlete or anyone who becomes serious about developing any area of their lives. The early stages were putting the foundation in place, learning and implementing the fundamentals. (Oh my Lord, help me to say what I’m about to say correctly.) The Old Testament was laying the foundation, preparing the way, even as John the Baptist came to prepare the way for the Messiah. The Old Covenant set the stage with the laws and the examples to reveal the character of God. Jesus came, God in the flesh, poured the concrete in the foundation and put up the frame work by instituting the church, “upon this rock I will build my church” Matt. 16:18; Isaiah 28:16, “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation…;” Ephesians 19:22, “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of Gods household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”


     Jesus is the head cornerstone and we are the building; this is the static example (solid, unmoving, secure). Jesus is the head and we are his body, this is the dynamic example (moving, a living organism, ever growing). The Old Testament, the Torah, the law was static, that is, unmoving. A foundation has to be dug deeply and is set in concrete to make the building thereon, secure. Hence, Jesus came not to abolish the foundation, the law, but to complete it (Matt. 5:17-18; Luke 4:16-21). In Romans chapters 9-10 we can gain further insight into what Jesus meant by “fulfillment”. In fact, Romans 10:4 states, “Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.” Jesus sealed it.


     At the appointed time, at the fulfillment of time, after the foundation was dug out, flattened and well prepared, Jesus came to solidify it and institute the direction or outline of the building. Any building that does not have a sure foundation will crumble; like the parable Jesus gave of the house that was built on the sand versus the one that was build on the rock. Paul also used this analogy of building in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. In verses 9-15 Paul writes: “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ…”

     This principle of laying the foundation and building on it is ancient and applicable to all areas of our lives. It’s not until the foundation is in place can we build properly. I realize I’ve seemingly diverted a bit from the original topic of us being living sacrifices and how to be acceptable and pleasing sacrifices. But bear with me, I believe it will all come together. As the law was static, unmovable and ritualistic, in a similar fashion, we as habit forming beings, once we’ve developed some of the spiritual habits or disciplines must now build on them dynamic buildings – thoughtful, unique, creative buildings. God wants to interact with each of his unique sons and daughters on a daily basis to impact the world around us. The foundation is Christ, the Word which we build into our lives daily through the study (not just the reading) of God’s word (2 Tim. 2:15). Then he, God, through his Holy Spirit wants to direct us throughout the day according to his will.

     So we lay the foundation through obedience and love. As every stone is unique, so will be the way we approach or set in place the foundation of daily prayer and study of his word. Some will rise early, some a little late. Some will do so before breakfast, some after breakfast. Luke 5:16 says, “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” I wasn’t able to find if it was his custom to do so in the early mornings or throughout the day. The bottom line is that if Jesus often withdrew to pray, so ought we. We are encouraged to “pray without ceasing” with all kinds of prayers. That’s the dynamic part of being in the body of Christ. Our foundation is Christ. We awake and lay ourselves as a sacrifice on the altar before the day begins and continue to do so as the day unravels by following his commands and direction through out the day.

     How is your sacrifice? Is your sacrifice holy and pleasing? Is it thoughtful and reverent? As we go throughout the day are we walking in love and forgiveness towards those we work with and interact? Are we serving out of love for God or out of ambition for self? (Phil. 2:3; Col. 3:17-24)

A True Fast - A True Sacrifice:
“…Day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves and you have not noticed?’”


“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?”


“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-when you see the naked, to clothe him and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”


“If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.” (Isaiah 58:2-11) This Old Testament passage shows you the heart of God and the type of sacrifices that please him.

“Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world” dear friends, “but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” through the Word of God. “Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)

Food for thought and living.

The Lord be with you. Happy Resurrection Day!

A Living Sacrifice - Part 3

Is Your Sacrifice Holy and Pleasing?
(Please consider reading the previous posts on the subject before continuing with this one. Thank you for your indulgence.)

“…offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1)

“Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.” (Ps. 24:3, 4)

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.” (Ps. 119:9)

“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.” 1 John 3:2, 3)


     In Part 1 on this topic I touched on the fact that God was very specific in laying out the laws of Israel in reference to sacrifices that would be acceptable and pleasing unto him. Under the new covenant, he is equally specific but in a different way. We are under grace and he doesn’t expel us from the family of God or judge and kill us outright if we violate this principle of a holy sacrifice (The immediate death of Ananias and Sapphire were extreme examples to the early church to set the tone of the seriousness of holy sacrifices before God). If it wasn’t for God’s grace we’d all be dead. The law was our teacher (See Part 1 and Part 2 for relative passages as well as 1 John chapter 3).

     Thank God for his grace and mercy. Thank God for Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb of God. This week we are celebrating Easter or Resurrection Day. We are celebrating what Jesus did for us on the cross and yes, every Sunday we celebrate Resurrection Sunday. However, as I’ve been reviewing this topic of God wanting us to be “living sacrifices,” God’s expectation is that EVERY day, in view of His mercy, that we pick up our cross and give our lives as living sacrifices. We are no longer our own, we were bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:19, 20), not just on Sunday or Saturday, whichever day you set aside as holy unto God. EVERY day is his and to be set aside for him. We are now sacrificing our lives daily. Every day, as the temple of God, for now he dwells in temples not made of hands but our bodies, therefore, every day is his. What was being foretold by the rituals and sacrifices of old, are now fulfilled in Christ and to be lived out every single day in our lives. God wants us to be holy and acceptable sacrifices not just on Sunday or Saturday, but every day. (Please do not take this to mean that I am advocating in any way that we need not still keep a day of rest. The new heaven and new earth has not yet come when the lion and the lamb will lie down together and we will realize the day of complete rest. Everything is still pointing to a time that is still yet to come 1 Thessalonians 4:4:13-5:11; Isaiah 11:6-11.)

     Now how can we offer ourselves as sacrifices that are holy and pleasing, for God will not accept just any sacrifice. We are encouraged to examine ourselves (2 Cor. 13:5). Some believe that they are guaranteed entrance into the kingdom of God as long as they have at one point confessed with their mouths and believed in their hearts that God raised (Christ) from the dead, (they) are saved (Romans 10:9, 10). The word of God is true. However, I recommend that you juxtapose that passage with all the other passages such as Matt. 7:21 wherein Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven“ or Hebrews 12:14, “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” God is not mocked. (Gal. 5:13-6:9) There are numerous scriptures that warn and instruct us on holy living which flows out of love and obedience to the Word of God – several of which I’ve already referenced in this study.

     How does your sacrifice measure up? Do you think God is pleased? Do you think based on scripture that your daily sacrifice (for the most part) honors or reverences God? After all, as Paul said, “it is our reasonable” or “spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1) Are we consecrating ourselves, our sacrifice, every day through prayer and the Word of God? Are we walking in obedience to his Word and his will? Because it’s continuous, it’s a little more challenging. Because it’s living, it’s dynamic and not static. It’s easier to be religious and ritualistic in our obedience, that is, to go through the motions thereof than to engage with every part of our being via a dynamic, responsive relationship with God. What do I mean by that? As human beings we naturally develop habits- some good and some bad, but nonetheless, we are habitual creatures. Some of us do the same thing every day of our lives without thinking and hate change.

     We sit in the same pew every Sabbath or Sunday. We drive the same route to work everyday. We’re habitually early or habitually late. We have to have our coffee or tea before work… We wake up and say a couple prayers, maybe read the Bible, maybe not, depending on our habit. We pretty much say the same prayers or type of prayers daily – we have our various daily routines for during the week and different routines on the weekend. Some are good, some are not so good. We should examine ourselves in light of God’s Word and prayerfully discern which are good and godly habits that lead to spiritual and personal growth and which are not and put them before the Lord.

     It took me years to change some of my habits. For example I wanted to be able to get up at 5:00 am every morning for a time of prayer and study before I left for my office. It took me about 4-5 years before I was able to consistently do that. (I’m a late owl.) The Holy Spirit is still dealing with me years later on getting to bed by 11pm. It’s the hardest thing for me to do, even harder than it was to train myself to wake up at 5am in the morning. I had to train myself to drink more water and eat more fruit until it became a habit. I believe we go through the following conscious stages in our spiritual and personal development: 1) Awareness, 2) Decision-making, 3) Habit-forming, 4) Ritualistic or routine and 5) Building Stages.

     First, you have to become aware of what you’re doing and what needs to be done.

     Second, you have to make some prayerful decisions. Do you need to change, do you want to change and if so, what will you change and how.

     Third, is the habit forming stage – applying the “how to”. In the case of my drinking more water, I would eat something very sweet that made me want to drink water to dilute it. I hated apples, but I found I could eat them with peanut butter. After a while I didn’t need the sweets to drink the water or the peanut butter to eat the apples. Those are just a couple simple examples. It took me much longer to train my body to get up at 5am after going to bed at 12 or 1:00 am and it’s taking me what seems like a life time to work on going to bed by 11pm. (I’m a work in progress.)

     Fourth, is the ritualistic stage. After awhile some of the habits we consciously or unconsciously develop become routine. We do them automatically without much thought or emotion. Sadly, that’s how some of us treat things of the spirit, that’s how we become religious. We go through routines and rituals without engaging our minds and emotions. We jump up in the morning, and like we would pour a cup of coffee and grab a bagel as we run out the door to work, we thank God for the day or pray for a couple minutes, read a Psalm or a Proverb, a devotional book reading or anything to suffice our conscience that we read something Bible related and we’re on our way. Is this truly an acceptable sacrifice? It’s a start however.

(To be concluded in Part IV on Living Sacrifice)