June 17, 2025
“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 that good and acceptable and perfect will of God is”, Romans 12:1-2.
In the Old Testament, the Jews were to present animal sacrifices, among other offerings, to God. All of their offerings were to be the first fruits of the ground or unblemished animal sacrifices. They were not allowed to present to God any animal that was unwell, blemished, or not the best of the best.
In this passage, Christians are told to ‘present’ our bodies as ‘a living sacrifice‘ to God as part of our “reasonable service“ to Him. We are to die to our interests and live to advance the interests and agenda of God, not ourselves. In this way, we are a living sacrifice (an unbloody sacrifice) to God. After all, we have been bought with a price, and we are no longer our own. Jesus said if we save our lives, we will lose them, but if we lose our lives for His sake, we will find life.
The phrase “a living sacrifice” can be viewed as a metaphorical trade or exchange. We offer/present our lives/bodies to God by living a life of love, faith, repentance, and obedience to Him. In trade or exchange, God provides forgiveness, pardon, and grace to live a life pleasing to Him and for our well-being. In this salvation, God fully expects His saints to give him their sacrificial gift of repentance, followed by a life of holiness, which (after all that He has done for us) is really our reasonable service. Even the prodigal son did not expect more from his dad than (hopefully) being received into the household as a mere servant. And when his dad saw that his lost and dead son had returned in repentance and was also willing to live a ‘righteous life’, he was pardoned and restored to the family.
As a result of false teaching today, it seems that almost everyone thinks of God as being some celestial pushover who gives and gives, never expecting anything back. They seem to believe that God would never expect or demand anything in return from us, not even faithful obedience in return for His forgiveness, mercy, grace, and His many other gifts.
THE GIFT OF GOD?
Christian people need to understand that the gift of God is not our personal repentance or our personal faith. In other words, God does not give to us nor does He provide as a ‘gift’ to us, our ‘repentance’ or our ‘faith’. These are conditions which we must satisfy. God will not do it for us. Yet many Christians (high Calvinists) view repentance and even faith as gifts from God. And they mean that God initiates it while we are passive recipients. But faith and repentance are our acts, which come from our mind, will, and heart. The truly repentant Christian is filled with godly sorrow for their sins against God, which leads to their repentance and faith.
The gift of God is actually His love, mercy, and grace, which is His salvation, from the power of sin and the guilt of sin. He came to save us from sin, not in sin, as most Christians mistakenly believe. God came to save us from living in sin because the consequences of that are eternal death. The grace or favor of God, according to Titus 2:11-12, is for this purpose: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.” KJV.
Grace and salvation not only save us from the guilt and damnable consequence of sin, but also transform sinners into godly people “in this present world,” not in the hereafter, as most Christians mistakenly believe. True grace and true salvation are pretty much the opposite of what most evangelical Christians have been taught to believe. Most Christians think of grace as a license to sin and get away with it. Their idea of grace is a get-out-of-jail-free card. Sure, they may miss out on some rewards in heaven or have a lower rank in the Kingdom of God, but despite their ongoing unrepentant sinning, they will spend eternity in heaven. Theirs is an antinomian gospel, which leads to eternal death.
Faith and repentance are triggered or initiated by God’s work within us. This work is His drawing and calling us, not His decree. Repentance is brought to life by the power of the Holy Ghost, who convicts us of our many sins. That brings forth godly sorrow, which yields repentance from sin. Repentance is making the choice, and taking the action, of turning away from our evil path of living an ungodly life full of sinful indulgences to the straight and narrow path of godliness and righteousness. Repentance and faith are fruit from a good tree. The good tree brings forth godly fruit, such as godly sorrow, making amends, restitution, humility, confession, and obedience to the will and laws of God.
The gift of God has conditions (repentance from all sin and faith in Christ) attached to receiving it. The conditions do not alter the nature of the gift, but rather qualify those to whom the gift will be given. The conditions are lifelong conditions, not a one-time, momentary condition, as many Christians have been brainwashed into believing. They mistakenly believe that a momentary act of faith secures for them eternal salvation. It does not. Men and women must repent from sin and walk in righteousness. And then and only then, God will redeem them if they do not backslide into sin and disobedience. If you do not believe me, consider Ezekiel 18 and 33 in conjunction with this passage.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” John 5:24-29, KJV, emphasis added.
Jesus makes it abundantly clear that only those whose faith and repentance produce deeds worthy of the same will inherit eternal life. Those people, including Christians, who refuse to stop their sinning will experience a resurrection of damnation. This message is not accepted or believed by most professing evangelical Christians, I fear. They are continually taught that all Christians continue to sin until they die. They forget that Jesus told the man he healed earlier in this same chapter in verse 14, “sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.” This guy was infirm for 38 years, yet if he didn’t stop sinning, Jesus promised him something worse would happen to him. That is explained later in this chapter in the verses above. The worst that awaits the impenitent is damnation.
“That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:21, KJV. When sin reigns in a person’s life, the result is eternal death. But if the grace of God reigns in a person’s life, there will be righteousness (not sin), and the result will be everlasting life. I do not know how it could be any clearer.
“But God be thanked, that ye were (not ye are) the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” Romans 6:17-18, KJV, emphasis added. I often wonder how it is that an honest Christian could read passages like these, and there are many of them, and come away thinking that ongoing sin is the expected result of becoming a child of God. The one who commits sin is born of the devil and not of God, see 1 John 3:6-9.
In John 3:16, we are told that the gift of God is everlasting life. In Ephesians 2:8-10, we are told, “For by the grace of God are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” The typical Christian understanding of this passage is that the gift is also faith; however, that is not the case. The gift is God’s grace in salvation via His mercy. Our part or responsibility is to believe or have faith.
We are back to the principle that God has His part and we have our part, which is anathema to most evangelical Christians. The “exchange or the trade” is that if we repent and believe (become a living sacrifice), then God will show us His mercy and grace and save us. And unless you are a hyper-Calvinist, you agree because you believe faith is the one condition that we must meet to be saved. You will notice that verse 10 says we are his workmanship created unto good works. What are those good works? Is living in constant and continuous sin a good work/job? Who can seriously believe that? Most Christians actually do believe that, for they think that Christians sin in thought, word, and deed every day, and if not every day, they still believe that Christians live in frequent habitual sin.
As I have already mentioned, God’s gift of salvation comes with conditions attached to its receipt. The conditions do not change the fact that it is a gift. In exchange for this gift of salvation, humanity must “present themselves a living sacrifice”. This is achieved when genuine repentance is proven and verified by deeds of righteousness and continual obedience. And when these conditions are met, God reciprocates with His mercy, forgiveness, salvation, and grace.
“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”.
The ‘world’ refers to our culture, mindset, and values that oppose the Word of God. We are not to conform to these things. Christians are to be driven by something higher and better. Our actions, character, desires, purpose in life, and what we value most are to be shaped by God, not the world system. Christians are to be transformed (the word for metamorphosis), which means a complete and total change at the heart, and definitely not a superficial change. It is like being born again.
This is done by renewing our minds through the words of truth in the Bible. But what happens when Christians do not know the word of God or are deceived into believing things that are not actually biblically accurate or true? When this happens, there is a complete breakdown.
- Christians become conformed to this world system and what it values,
- They do not renew their minds based on the word of truth,
- Christians are not transformed; they continue to think and act like the ungodly,
- They do not present themselves as a living sacrifice dedicated to doing God’s will,
- Christians continue to reflect the values and behaviors of the godless world system,
- They do not reveal God in their lives.
When Christians are taught that their “faith in Christ” is consistent with the ongoing commission of sin in their lives (disobedience), you know for sure that there is a complete breakdown. Look around, and if you care to see, you will notice how carnal and worldly evangelical Christians are. There is little power in the American evangelical church system. It has many of the right words but lacks the power of godliness and is satisfied with the form of godliness without the substance. Form over substance is an apt description of the situation.
We are to present ourselves as a living sacrifice. Each day, we are to deny ourselves and put God and His agenda ahead of our own. Are you a living sacrifice to God, your Savior?
