“Who Is for Whom?” ~ ✨
The Apostle Paul teaches those who are in Christ to “put down the self” (2 Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 3:10). Putting down the self is the most difficult lesson for anyone of any faith to learn and to practice skillfully.
The “self” is sin. Sin entered the world through the “self” manifested by the first Adam (Romans 5:12). The last Adam (Jesus) came, laid aside His original form of God, took on the form of a servant, humbled Himself, became obedient to the point of death, offering Himself as a sacrifice to abolish sin (Philippians 2:6-8; Hebrews 9:26).
What does Paul mean when he instructs Christians to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1)?
This sharing will revolve around the “living sacrifice.” It includes two components:
1. The quality of the born-again person—the whole person, including spirit, soul and body, surrendered to God for transformation; this includes will and personality.
2. The service of the Lord’s disciple—to be done according to the gifts of the Holy Spirit; including determination, ability, and action.
Let’s first discuss the sacrifices in the Old and New Covenants. Sacrifices offered to God in the Old Testament era required selecting unblemished, choice of livestock. The high priest offering the sacrifice was himself a sinner, and the sin offering he made once a year did not bring about forgiveness, but was a reminder of sin to the Israelites each year (Exodus 30:10; Hebrews 9:7; 10:3-4, 11). In the New Testament era, Christian believers, through the Lamb of God who offered Himself once as an atoning sacrifice, receive forgiveness of sins and become holy (Hebrews 9:11-12; 10:10, 12, 14). In other words, God does not accept a sacrifice that is not clean or holy. Both Old and New Testament scriptures remind us: “Be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44; 1 Peter 1:16).
Regarding what Paul said about “presenting your bodies as a living sacrifice”, my understanding is that if we read this together with what the Apostle Peter said about those chosen to be a royal priesthood (i.e., those reborn of God), it refers to the priest offering himself as a sacrifice and presenting the parts of his body as instruments of righteousness to God (Romans 6:13). Jesus, the high priest in the order of Melchizedek, went ahead as a forerunner, offering Himself as a sacrifice to abolish sin (Hebrews 6:20; 9:26). Christians offer themselves as sacrifices to proclaim the excellencies of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9); this is the living sacrifice.
Now that we are in Christ, we are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). We ought to live according to God’s will, becoming a fragrant living sacrifice offered to God. This living sacrifice is how we overcome the accuser by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony, not loving our lives even unto death (Revelation 12:11). Presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice is not something done once a year, nor once a month, nor even every Lord’s Day; it is something to be done daily, carrying out the good works God prepared in advance for us (Ephesians 2:10).
As for those who only attend worship services on Sundays, or church prayer meetings, or Bible study groups, etc., but on other days still drift along in darkness—are they the people Paul referred to as those who “present your bodies as a living sacrifice”? From the teachings of these two great apostles, we know that since we are already God’s people, a holy nation, the worldview of this age should no longer be our worldview. The worldview of God’s people is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, serving Christ daily to please God and gain human approval (Romans 14:17-18). A life still pursuing the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes is not a holy life; for these things are not from the Father but from the world. Whoever loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15-16). The Lord taught His disciples: “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24)
If we live according to God’s will, the path we walk will certainly be the narrow road, not the broad road where all paths lead to Rome. The Lord said: “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14). In this world, everyone’s end is death (with very few biblical exceptions and those who will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air), but everyone’s outcome is different. For example: some will die a second death and be thrown into the lake of fire, others will receive eternal life and be led into a better home, and still others, though having the status of children, may have no position in the Father’s house.
The Lord instructs us that before the great tribulation approaches, many will fall away, lawlessness will increase, and the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved (Matthew 24:7-13). I wonder, if believers only care for pleasure, refusing to face trials of faith, not seriously equipping themselves, when future suffering comes, where will they find the strength to endure to the end? I carefully ponder the teachings recorded in Matthew 7:12-13, 21 and Matthew 24:13.
Those children of God willing to present the parts of their bodies as instruments of righteousness should ask the Heavenly Father for the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13). The Holy Spirit distributes gifts to each one individually as He wills (1 Corinthians 12:11). From biblical teaching, we should know that gifts are not something people create or discover for themselves, nor are they hereditary. A person cannot receive anything unless it is given to them from heaven (John 3:27). Every good gift we have comes down from above. According to Paul’s teaching, gifts are the measure of faith God apportions to each person (Romans 12:3). The Holy Spirit manifests Himself in each person. According to the measure of faith given, each person performs different ministries, exercises different functions, serving Christ both inside and outside the church.
When the heart and strength for service rests upon each member belonging to Christ, regardless of each person’s function, they must care for one another. Every member has its function; service is not limited to those with official positions. Moreover, service is not about serving a position, but about members serving one another in Christ. Precisely for this reason, the parts of the body that seem weaker are indispensable. God has arranged the body, giving greater honour to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other (1 Corinthians 12:23-25). Besides service within the church, the Lord said the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Therefore, we should ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest field (Matthew 9:37-38).
“Faithfulness” is an important factor in God’s use of people. Moses in the Old Testament was a servant called by God Himself, faithful in all God’s house (Hebrews 3:5). Paul in the New Testament was a servant called by the Lord Christ Himself, also because of his faithfulness (1 Timothy 1:12). For God gave us not a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7). Moses’s forty years in the wilderness, Paul’s over thirty years traveling to the ends of the earth—they were able to endure to the end because of their faithfulness and the spirit, not of fear, given by God, to carry out His will. Regardless of our age, background, or ability, we are the body of Christ, and each one of us is a part of it, serving Christ and bearing witness to God’s word (1 Corinthians 12:27).
When God called Moses, he was an 80-year-old man. He tried to use his lack of eloquence as an excuse to decline God’s call. God arranged for Moses’s brother Aaron to be his spokesman… As it was in the past, so it is today. The church of Christ is the body of Christ, composed of each member. It is fitting for the church, united with Christ, to present this body as a living sacrifice, glorifying God (Hebrews 2:10).
Paul also reminds us to be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone (Romans 12:17) and to find out what pleases the Lord (Ephesians 5:10). His words contain rich wisdom and echo his call for believers not to conform to the pattern of this world (Romans 12:2); because, like the Lord, we do not belong to the world. If believers still do what is right in everyone’s eyes, if they still live according to the flesh, then they still belong to this world and are not those whom God has sanctified and set apart by the truth (John 17:16-19).
I will conclude with this example. When Moses and the Israelites reached the Desert of Paran, Moses sent twelve spies into the land of Canaan. After forty days, the twelve spies returned with luscious fruit, confirming that the land God promised truly flowed with milk and honey. However, the Israelites, afraid of not being strong enough against the people of the land, refused to go up and attack them. At that time, only Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” For details, see Numbers Chapter 13.
What I want to highlight is that God commended Caleb and said he had a different spirit—the spirit of “wholeheartedly following God.” God brought Caleb into the land he had explored, and God gave his descendants that land as an inheritance (Numbers 14:22-24). As for that generation, twenty years old and upward, who did evil in God’s sight after coming up from Egypt, they perished during the forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Of that generation, only Caleb and Joshua, who followed the Lord wholeheartedly, entered the land God promised (Numbers 32:11-13).
We are chosen people in Christ, with a different spirit—a spirit of wholeheartedly following the Lord Christ, not this world. In the future, when the Lord returns, those who follow Him wholeheartedly and remain faithful unto death will be the children led into glory by the author of our salvation, entering this better home. This home is the place the Lord promised, prepared in the Father’s house for disciples who faithfully love God and love their neighbours as themselves. In the Father’s house, they are not only members by identity but also by position.
Psalm 143:8 expresses David’s heart longing for God:
“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.”
May we all pray like David, seeking God’s face every morning, knowing the way we should go, becoming a fragrant living sacrifice pleasing to God in this generation!
Finally, I also conclude with this poem:
“Who Is for Whom?” ✨
Who are you
Who am I
For whom do we live
Busily rushing
Endlessly searching
For whom do we toil
Who knows for whom
Then knows who is for whom
✨✨💖 ~
en yan hua fang 