1 ¶ Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear
children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ
also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
In ancient religions a sacrifice was propitiation to a god
for transgressions. It appeased the deity. In Christianity, however, the only
worthy or meet propitiation was God sacrificing Himself in human form for our
sin. Christ is the propitiation for our sin. We could not satisfy God’s
judgment on our own so He did it for us.
Christ’s sacrifice for us to God was the only satisfactory sacrifice
and offering to Himself and He purchased our redemption with His own blood
because He loved us.
Acts 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to
all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed
the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Hebrews 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but
by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption for us.
Hebrews 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify
the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
Revelation 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful
witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the
earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Something which could not be accomplished eternally, once and
for all, by animal sacrifices.
Hebrews 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of
bulls and of goats should take away sins.
The believer is to sacrifice himself daily to God, to become
a living sacrifice.
Romans 12:1 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.
Surrendering your flesh, your mind, and your spirit to God’s
will is our reasonable service, translated from the Greek word from which we
get our word, “logical.”
It is only reasonable for the Christian to surrender
completely to the one who purchased him or her with His own blood. It is not
just acts of faith you do or acts of devotion, it is how you live your life
from day to day. We are to follow the admonitions that Paul has given us in
this marvelous letter to the Ephesians and take them to heart. We are to walk
in love toward our brothers and sisters in Christ.
What every human organization tries to accomplish by customer
service seminars and sensitivity training imposing a culture from the outside
the local Christian church can only accomplish by letting the Holy Spirit work
from the inside as they fill themselves with God’s words in His Book which John
Chrysostom first called, “O Biblios!.”
Christianity was never meant to be, in actual practice, a
religion of the “Big Event.” It is a day to day humbling of oneself to God and
letting Him speak to your spiritual heart through His words in His Book. Our
lives then become a sweet smelling sacrifice to Him. Let Him speak to you, wait
on the Holy Spirit, be sensitive to His urgings and leading. I want to feel in
my heart every day that dialogue, that relationship with Christ through the
Holy Spirit that dwells in me. I want to feel God working on me, setting me
apart for His service, every single day, sanctifying me.
John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is
truth.
The practice of your faith is…
James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and
the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and
to keep himself unspotted from the world.
The proof of your faith is…
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is
no law. 24 And they that are Christ’s
have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in
the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of
vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
The source of your faith is….
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
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