A Living and Holy Sacrifice I. Introduction A. We preach the message of the Bible, that all must follow the plan of salvation B. Hear, Believe, Confess, Repent, Be Baptized C. Yet after baptism, what then? 1. What are we to do after baptism? 2. Be faithful? But how? D. We may say, "love God and your neighbor," and that is very true (Matthew 22:37-40) 1. now, one may ask, how do we show love? E. Romans 12:1-2 provides for us in two sentences exactly what we are to do after baptism 1. present ourselves a living and holy sacrifice 2. conform not to the world, but be transformed by renewing of mind F. Let us now examine these verses to gain understanding of how we are to live II. Romans 12:1- Living and Holy Sacrifice A. A Living and Holy Sacrifice 1. What do we think of when we think of a sacrifice? a. Old Testament: offering of animals upon an altar b. Jesus as the sacrifice for our sins 2. From Webster: to suffer loss of, give up, renounce, injure, or destroy especially for an ideal, belief, or end 3. We use this word often in this sense- we give up something; because of a sacrifice, we suffer loss 4. Therefore, we are to "suffer loss" for God! 5. Unlike animals, however, who are sacrificed but once, we must continually sacrifice ourselves for God B. Why? 1. Jesus suffered loss for our sake- Philippians 2:5-11 2. We should attempt to demonstrate our love for Christ by doing what He did- give sacrifice! 3. If we sacrifice now, we will receive reward later, as Christ did a. emphasized by Jesus- Matthew 13:12 C. How? 1. Sacrifice comes in many forms, essentially, anytime you give up something for Christ 2. Discussion of verse 2 for later-- attitudes and habits 3. We sacrifice with time a. we only spend about 2% of our time in worship b. we spend 63% of our time eating, working, and sleeping c. is 2% enough for God? d. visiting those in need- James 1:27 e. being with brethren- Hebrews 10:25 4. We sacrifice with our material possessions a. example of early church- Acts 2:44-45; Acts 4:36-37 b. we have been commanded to give- 2 Corinthians 9:6-11 i. how are we giving-- out of our excess or of our best? ii. Widow: Mark 12:41-44 iii. Are we as the Jews of Malachi 1:7-8? D. We have seen that there are many ways to "sacrifice," but all ways point to one thing: we must forsake things to follow Christ, since He forsook so much for us E. "Spiritual service of worship" 1. This phrase is a complicated one in Greek a. logikhn latreia in Greek, literally, "rational service" b. Yet, with 1 Peter 2:2, idea of "rational" as referring to "spiritual" c. latreia, while referring to ministration, is worship, and is used to describe the Levite ministrations in the Temple (Romans 9:4, Hebrews 9:1) 2. The best translation would be "the worship of the soul" F. Our sacrifice, then, is our "spiritual" worship! 1. We have been told to worship God in spirit and in truth: John 4:24 2. We have gathered here today to perform the "acts of worship," as we call them 3. What good are these acts without the "worship of the soul?" 4. Will God be satisfied with our exterior actions? Isaiah 1:11-17 5. In order to please God, we must perform this worship of the soul, within and without the assembly, and hold it in great esteem III. Romans 12:2: Do Not Be Conformed, but Transform! A. After making the statement in Romans 12:1 to be a sacrifice, he then goes on in verse 2 to describe what this sacrifice will require B. "Do not be conformed to this world" 1. first portion is what to avoid- conformity to the world 2. What is conformity? Webster: to give the same shape, outline, or contour to : bring into harmony or accord 3. Conformity is then the process of shaping yourself in the form of the "world" 4. What is the "world?" Surely not literal-- John 2:15-17 a. the "world" is then all forces in opposition to God 5. How is this done? a. we do not perform the actions of the world b. we act as John has said, light in the darkness (1 John 1) c. Read Matthew 5:13-16 d. We are to bring our Christianity into the world, not the world into Christianity e. Therefore, I do not bring secular education into Christianity, but vice versa f. I do not bring my business to Christianity, but my Christianity into my business environment g. I do not bring entertainment into Christianity, but Christianity into entertainment h. Essentially every relationship we have must be guided by this bar-- we do not accept what is not of God, but bring God into those things which are not of Him C. What is the alternative to "conformity?" D. "Transformed by the renewing of your mind" 1. What does this mean? 2. Transformed: Gk metamorphosis a. seen in caterpillar to butterfly b. a complete change 3. Renewing: Gk anakainosis: means "renew, renovate, complete change for the better" 4. Therefore, as opposed to being a part of the world, we are to make a complete change for the better E. What changes? 1. Galatians 5:16-24: having the fruit of the Spirit, forsaking the deeds of the flesh 2. Imitating Christ a. back to Philippians 2: humble ourselves, esteem everyone higher than ourselves, be willing to do anything for each other b. 1 John 3:16- He loved us by dying for us, we should be willing to die for each other c. is there a greater sacrifice than one's own life? 3. Live for the benefit of others a. 1 Corinthians 10:24 b. we should strive diligently to make sure that we care less of ourselves than we do for our brethren F. Many, many other changes should occur in one's life, yet they may all be summed up in the agape love- self-sacrificial love G. We must then forsake those things of the world and hold fast to the things that are of Christ IV. Conclusion A. We can see from the Scriptures that we must perform the "plan of salvation" B. And there is much more: we must love, and with sacrificial love C. We sacrifice by virtue of what is seen in Romans 12:1-2 1. we must forsake our desires for the benefit of others 2. we must sacrifice time and money 3. we must not be similar to the world 4. we must transform ourselves into a child of God D. In order to work for this regeneration, you must first obey God E. If you have not done so, or if you have not been the sacrifice you need to be and desire our prayers, please come to the front as we stand and sing