Shirley H. prayer warrior

We, as believers are giving our bodies, stones that are alive, to serve The Lord because of the Faith we have in Him. All believers have the privilege and responsibility of offeringspiritual sacrifices to God. 

Romans 12:1,2 "I beseech you therefore, 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."

We use our bodies to serve and obey God. We are set apart from the world. We use our minds to study God's word and be renewed and transformed to live a life pleasing to Our Lord.

Hebrews,13:15,16 "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of Praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and share for with such sacrifice God will be pleased"

Quoted from the New King James Version.

So in conclusion our faith causes us to study, give thanks and praise God and do good works. We sacrifice our body and our mind to God to mold this lump of clay, or stone as He sees fit.

March 10 2015 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

John Kennedy standing in God's grace and glory, shouting my praise!

“Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him” (Rom. 12:1 MSG). In answer to the question being asked, then, we offer “spiritual sacrifices” to God by continually praising Him (Heb. 13:15) for what He does for us – specifically in the new birth, which is what Peter is talking about when he writes the verse in question: “Your new life... your new birth... a life conceived by God... the Word that conceived the new life in you” (1 Pet. 1:22-25 MSG).

In 1 Pet. 2:1, he tells us to “drink deep of God's pure kindness” (MSG) – a reference to the fact that through Jesus Christ we have been “kindly forgiven, with the slate of [our] sins forever wiped clean” (Heb. 8:6 MSG) and that our “old sinful life has been wiped off the books” (2 Pet. 1:5 MSG). In this context we see that the phrase “living stones” – as opposed to dead stones – is referring to those who have received by faith this complete and eternal forgiveness and, as a result, also received a new birth into a new spiritual life.

All that is then required of us as “living stones” in a “spiritual house” is to constantly and continually praise God for the new life that He has given us, out of His pure kindness, through Christ Jesus. In order to be the “spiritual sacrifices” that God is now requiring, our praises need to be thanksgivings to Him for what He has done for us “through Christ Jesus” (1 Pet. 2:5 ESV): made us “holy and faultless and irreproachable in His presence” (Col. 1:22 AMP). 

“Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you'll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God” (I Pet. 2:5 MSG). God wants us to praise Him that in Christ, He now approves of us. “Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way” (Rom. 5:9 MSG).

Offering a “spiritual sacrifice... through Christ Jesus” – offering a Christ-approved life – can therefore sound like this: “Father, I praise You that through Jesus Christ You have made me holy and faultless and irreproachable in Your presence.” Or this: “Thank You, Father, for forever wiping clean the slate of my sins and that my old sinful life has been wiped off the books!” Or simply this: “Praise God, I'm CHRIST-APPROVED!”

Again, the reality of the new birth is not only that our sins are forgiven but that we are also made “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4), “of the heavenly calling” (Heb. 3:1 KJV), of the Holy Spirit (Heb. 6:4), “of the inheritance of the saints in the light” (Col. 1:12 KJV). We are not only justified but also glorified: “And those whom He justified, He also glorified [raising them to a heavenly dignity and condition or state of being]” (Rom. 8:30, cf. Heb. 2:10). So we see that it is in the new birth that God “is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly...” (Eph 3:20 AMP). To constantly and continually acknowledge the reality of our new birth and spiritual lives in Christ is to worship God “in spirit and truth (reality)” (John 4:24 AMP.)

Offering such “spiritual sacrifices” will not only cause you to “continue to stay with and in the faith [in Christ]” (Col. 1:23 AMP); it will also cause you to answer the call of God on your life: “You are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you – from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted” (1 Pet. 2:9-10 MSG). All you have to do is go around exclaiming, “I was nothing and now I'm something, I was rejected and now I'm ACCEPTED... CHRIST-APPROVED!” – and “be ready to give a logical defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet 3:15 AMP) – “which is Christ in you, the hope of GLORY” (Col. 1:27 KJV).

February 08 2018 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Jack Gutknecht ABC/DTS graduate, guitar music ministry Baptist church

The answers given so far are good. I would like to add that the people we win to Christ also are sacrifices for His acceptance (Romans 15:16). 

Romans 15:16 says, "to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit."

It is done through the Holy Spirit. We can't win them through the power of the flesh or our own winsomeness. It has to be done through Jesus Christ.

November 09 2023 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report