Posts Tagged ‘living sacrifice’
Gloria Copeland — Offer Yourself
Posted by admin | Filed under Gloria Copeland, Kenneth Copeland
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).
This scripture in Romans 12 is talking about crucifying the flesh, as is Galatians 5:24-25: “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” We are admonished to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. We are to lay aside our own natural desires in order to fulfill God’s desires. The Wuest translation of Romans 12:1 says we are to “place [our] bodies at the disposal of God….”
According to the Bible, then, this is only our reasonable service—though it might seem an unreasonable demand to some. Why is it our reasonable service? Because Jesus gave His body as a living sacrifice for us. We have been bought with a price, and we are to glorify God in our bodies and in our spirits (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
The Greek word translated Lord means “master” or “owner.” Jesus became your new owner the moment you made Him the Lord of your life. Most Christians want to be born again but will not allow Jesus to be Lord in their lives. They want to continue to walk in the darkness of this world, when they could be walking in the light of God.
“[The Father] has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love” (Colossians 1:13, amp). We have been transferred into the kingdom of God and are to place our bodies and minds under His authority, allowing the Holy Spirit to teach us how to live under the dominion of God.
This sacrifice of our bodies is to be a holy and well-pleasing (acceptable) sacrifice. The Greek word thusia, translated sacrifice, denotes “the act of offering.” We are to make an offering of our bodies. We are the offering God desires. He wants to change our bodies from a dedication to worldliness to a dedication to godliness.
How do we do this? We are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. W.E. Vine says the word renew means “the adjustment of the moral and spiritual vision and thinking to the mind of God.” We are to adjust our thinking to the mind of God. The Holy Spirit teaches us to think like God thinks and to act like God acts. As we do this, the outward expression of our bodies will begin to match the inward expression of Jesus. We will begin to walk in the good and well-pleasing and perfect will of God. Offer yourself as a living sacrifice to God. Lay down your own desires in order to fulfill His desires.
This is not an unreasonable thing for God to ask. It is only your reasonable service, because you have been bought with such a precious price. Jesus purchased you with the crucifying of His own flesh, and shed His own blood to redeem you. He became a living sacrifice for you. The least you can do is give your body to Him, for you are not your own. (See 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.)
There is a decision to be made. Are you going to serve your own interests or the Lord Jesus? I believe you are going to decide to offer yourself as a living sacrifice. And when you do, you’ll find you don’t have to fight the war between your flesh and spirit, but your spirit, controlled by the Holy Spirit, will stop the war! As you obey the Holy Spirit, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus will make you free from the law of sin and death.
