Text: Romans 8:5-13
Memory verse:
“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.”
Romans 12:1 NKJV
Have you ever heard someone said this about a person who died, “He fought against death till the last moment”? That simply means, he didn’t want to die. This is similar to the struggle between the natural and the spiritual life. The two cannot co-exist, for one must give way to the other. The natural life works to kill the spiritual life in order to live and thrive. Likewise, the spiritual life wants to mortify the natural life.
“For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” (Gal 5:17).
The flesh, that is, the natural life, doesn’t obey God nor can ever obey Him. “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” (Rom 8:7).
Rather, the natural life, fleshy life or carnal mind, lives in disobedience to God and in opposition to the life of the spirit. Whereas, the spiritual life, that is, the spirit, longs to obey God and to please Him. This means that, every man does not naturally feel like obeying God and submitting to His word. However, when, by the enabling grace of God, you break pass that feeling to obey God and to yield to His word, that becomes a spiritual sacrifice. To break pass that contrary feeling, the spirit has to put the flesh to death (Rom 8:13; Gal 2:20). Thus, it is a sacrifice because that will cost you something and will involve death. Something is a sacrifice because it no longer lives.
“Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” (Col 3:5).
According to our memory verse, your body becomes a living sacrifice when you willingly sacrifice your natural desires to give room for the spiritual life to please God. The phrase, ‘living sacrifice’ is metaphorical. A sacrifice is something that is dead, so, how can something be dead and yet living? It means, being alive in the spirit but dead to the flesh; being alive to righteousness but dead to sin; and being alive to God but dead to the world.
The devil wants to enslave you in the flesh and to fight against every of your attempts to live in the Spirit. This is because, he knows that he can easily defeat you at the natural realm. As a believer, your body has been redeemed from the slavery of the devil and of sin to live in righteousness. Your body should therefore be yielded to God as His temple and your members as instruments of righteousness (I Cor 3:16; Rom 6:13).
Friends, willingly offering your body as a living sacrifice is your most rational act of worship. It is like the whole burnt offering in the old covenant, which is well pleasing to God. Receive grace to break the dominion of sin in your body and to daily put to death your fleshy desires.
Prayer points
1. Father, I willingly offer my body to You as a living sacrifice and let it be well pleasing to You in Jesus name.
2. Father, I receive Your grace to daily put to death the fleshy desires in me and to yield my members as instruments of righteousness in Jesus name.
Today’s declarations
1. I have victory over the devil, because, by grace, I daily and willingly yield my body to God as a living sacrifice.
2. Offering my body to God as a living sacrifice is my most reasonable service and rational act of worship.
Contact: pastor@thf.org.ng