A Living Sacrifice

We are admonished by the Apostle Paul saying, “I beseech you brethren by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God which is your reasonable service. 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).

This is a profound statement. How can man who is regarded as having a heart which is “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” and with a mind that is enmity against God, and which is not subject to God’s law, and neither could it ever be” present his body a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God (Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 8:7)?

With regards to man’s status, the Apostle Paul said, “I know in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me” (Romans 7:18-20).

At one point in time in man’s history the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever,” the Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” He also saw that, “The imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 6:3,5; 8:21).

So, the big question is, how can one present this body of sin to God in a holy, acceptable manner?

The good news is, “God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so, He condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4).

At Christ’s death, He created in Himself a new man from both Jews and Gentiles so that, “He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. He made peace through the blood of His cross, and reconciled us in the body of His flesh through death, so as to present us holy, and blameless, and irreproachable in God’s sight” (Ephesians 2:15-16; Colossians. 1: 19-20).

We were begotten by Him at His resurrection as children of the last Adam, the spirit man from heaven in righteousness and true holiness, with a new heart and mind which is now subject to His law. Spiritual life begins at conception just like physical life. The spiritual conception took place at the resurrection of Jesus Christ, when He became the begotten Son of God (1Peter 1:3; 1Corinthians. 15: 45; Acts 17:28-29; Ephesians. 4:24; Ezekiel. 36:26-27).

We no longer need to be so hostile to God. “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30).

To be continued

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