March 28
“I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.’” (Romans 12:1)
My favorite preacher is John MacArthur, hands down. I love how he doesn’t pull any punches, how he preaches the Word clearly and in depth, and how he honors and exalts the Lord and makes it all about Him. I have listened now more than a half a dozen times to his sermons on Romans 12:1-2. Excellent messages, and I highly recommend that you download and listen to them (free of charge) at www.gty.org. I will try to highlight and do justice to some of his excellent points below.
MacArthur opens by telling of an encounter he had with a woman who was frustrated with her spiritual life and the lack of victory over sin in her life. She explained that she had made great attempts in various ways to “get all she could from God,” that is, she listened to and followed various teachings on getting special blessings and gifts of the Spirit, had a variety of such experiences such as speaking in tongues and being “slain in the Spirit,” but she felt defeated in her day to day life. He said he made the point to her that that was her problem, that she was trying to get more from God but what she really needed to do was give herself completely to Him as a sacrifice. He makes the point that the key to spiritual victory is not getting all you can from God but giving all you have.
He reminds us of what Peter said in 1 Peter 2:5 that believers are being built up as “a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” We are every bit as much priests as the Aaronic priests and Melchizedek. We can offer praise and thanks to God, our petitions and prayers, of our substance, and when we serve others. In Psalm 51:17 we read that the sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite heart. There is one supreme act of worship that every believer must do, and that is to offer ourselves fully to God as a living sacrifice.
To give ourselves totally and fully to the Lord is the necessity, but this is different from what is purported to be necessary for Christian living being taught today. It is not a matter of getting more from God or thinking better of ourselves. It is to give ourselves fully and completely to the Lord. Most Christians don’t get this far. We flirt with the world, we dabble in sin, we hold for ourselves selfish desires and selfish ambitions. Few Christians fully give themselves completely and fully to the Lord, day by day.
Romans 12:1-2 is the supreme and only logical act that results from salvation. The four elements that are included in presenting ourselves to God as a supreme sacrifice is our soul, our body, our mind, and our will. A redeemed soul is the first requirement; he is speaking to believers who are saved that are able to offer themselves to God. Unbelievers cannot offer any sacrifice acceptable to God. The soul must be redeemed for any sacrifices to be meaningful.
To be continued…