A Living Sacrifice – A Guided Self-Study
God expects his people to be completely holy by consecrating both our mind and body to Him. We must yield our body to Christ so that He can have free reign to work through us. The Apostle Paul wrote, “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.” (Romans 12:1). Since Christ’s shed blood atoned for our sins once and for all under the New Covenant, we must strive to live Holy and offer our body as a living sacrifice to Christ.
In this guided self-study, you will be given Bible scriptures comparing the atonement sacrifices under the Old Covenant to Christ’s perfect sacrifice under the New Covenant. Read each scripture carefully and consider the notes and definitions provided below. Think about what each scripture means for you and how applying the principles therein can enrich your walk with Christ.
Definitions
Acceptable: Worthy of acceptance. Satisfactory.
Holy: To be holy is to be free of impurity. To be consecrated and devoted to God.
Holiness: The manifestation, in personal conduct, of being holy.
Living: Having life. Being in active use or function.
Reasonable: Not extreme or excessive. Within sensible limits.
Sanctify: To be set apart. To separate from a profane life to a consecrated use. To devote self wholly to God and to his service. We must be sanctified to be fit for God’s holy use.
Wholly: Completely, entirely, and exclusively. Not divided. A complete entity.
The Old Covenant
Read:
- Leviticus 19
- Leviticus 26
- I Peter 1:1-3, 18-23
Under the Old Covenant, people were to sanctify themselves to be completely holy. To accomplish this, they were to redeem themselves from sin through the blood of slain animals. God instructed them, “Ye shall, therefore, sanctify yourselves. Ye shall be holy, for I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:44). They could not accomplish this task and, therefore, failed repeatedly.
God wanted the Israelites to be physically and spiritually pure. They were commanded to be holy by:
- Separating themselves from unclean animals. Leviticus 11:44-47
- Employing acceptable hygiene and health practices. Leviticus 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
- Refraining for sexual immorality and dishonesty. Leviticus 17
- Living morally. Leviticus 18-19
- Forsaking idol worship. Leviticus 18-28
Sacrifices
The Israelites were to atone for sin through sacrifices. They were instructed by God to offer the following sacrifices:
- Burnt Offering for individual atonement for sin. Leviticus 1:1-17
- Grain Offering to express gratitude to God. Leviticus 2:1-16
- Peace Offering to express the desire to fellowship with God. Leviticus 3:1-17
- Sin Offering to purify from uncleanness, ceremonial and otherwise. Leviticus 4:1 - 5:13
- Trespass Offering to repay God for taking that which belonged to him. Leviticus 5:14 - 6:17
Under the Old Covenant, the people offered the life blood of dead animals to God, while they themselves lived immoral, ungodly lives. God could not use them to witness to the other nations. God grew weary of this passive religion and sacrifices offered by spiritually dead people.
Redemption Through Holiness
Read:
- Isaiah 1:10-28
- Isaiah 58:1-3
Under the Old Covenant, the people were required to be ceremonially clean in order to atone for sin. In other words, they had to perfect holiness first before they could be redeemed. Perfection was accomplished through sacrifices and feasts. The problem was that the sacrifices and feasts were often performed half-heartedly and hypocritically. The people performed them as a matter of routine and did not examine their heart to see if they were living in accordance with God’s law. This “flesh centered” version of holiness failed as its practice became ritualistic.
The New Covenant
Read:
- John 3:16
- Acts 2:38
- Romans 6:1-14
- Romans 12:1-2
- I Corinthians 6:19-20
- II Corinthians 7:1
- I John 2:15-16
Under the New Covenant, God wants his people to be spiritually and physically pure - just as He did under the Old Covenant. However, under the New Covenant, our sins are cleansed by Christ’s shed blood. We were redeemed by the blood of Christ and, therefore, must strive to live a holy life. This represents a drastic change from the Old Covenant. Rather than offer dead animals as a sacrifice to obtain redemption, we are to give ourselves completely to God by surrendering our heart, mind, and body to the will of God.
Body
- Refuse to let sin reign in your body: Romans 6:12-14
- Our body is the temple of God: I Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19-20
- Possess your vessel: I Thessalonians 4:1-17
- Keep your body under control: I Corinthians 9:27
- Control your tongue: James 3:1-13
- Put on the whole armor of God: Ephesians 6:11-20
Mind
- Our wisdom is in God: I Corinthians 3:18-23
- Focus your mind in tune with God’s will: Romans 12:2-16
- Put on the mind of Christ: Ephesians 4:23-32
Heart
- Our heart should be fertile to receive the Word of God: Matthew 13:1-23
- We should be pure in heart: Matthew 5:8
- Open your heart to wisdom: Proverbs 2:1-11
- Trust in the Lord with all your heart: Proverbs 3:5
- Increase its knowledge: Proverbs: 18:15
- Allow the fruits of the spirits to abound in your heart and root out the lusts of the flesh: Galatians 5:16-26
Conclusion
Read:
- II Corinthians 7:1
- Ephesians 1:4
Our goal is to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. What this means is to give your whole self to God totally: body, mind, and heart. Doing so will allow Christ to use you in His service. Choose Jesus today!
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God bless!