NO SACRIFICE, NO VICTORY!

Therefore, I exhort you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – living, holy, and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  Romans 12:1

Romans 12:1 holds the key to victorious Christian living. Therefore refers back to chapters 1-11 where Paul meticulously rehearses how the Lord can take a lost sinner headed for hell and justify him freely by His grace through faith and trust in Jesus alone (Romans 3:24; 8:1, 35, 38-39).  Paul’s plea to us is that in light of God’s mercies, it should only be natural for us to sacrifice our all to Him out of thankfulness and love.  Present means to “place beside for a purpose, bring a sacrifice, and make yourself available.”  The tense of that verb is actually once for all.   Just what kind of sacrifice does God desire of us?  He demands the total sacrifice of our bodies.  Our Lord also desires a living sacrifice unlike the dead Old Testament animal sacrifices.  Our living sacrifices must be holy, set apart from sin to Him alone (Romans 1:7).  Our daily lives should reflect our name and calling (1 Peter 1:15). Our bodies are now “a sanctuary(actually the Holy of Holies) of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19).

Finally the sacrifice of ourselves to God is the only wise thing to do (Matthew 16:25).  Too many professing believers are happy with their “ticket to heaven” and basically telling God “Thanks!  I’ll see You when I get there!”  Is this the victorious Christian life?  No!  Each of us needs to yield our lives to God and serve Him with our all.  Just think of what God could do in and through us if we all would give ourselves totally to Him!  Let’s all take Romans 12:1 to heart – “NO sacrifice, NO victory”!

Bob Kulp