Bible Studies

Present Your Bodies A Living Sacrifice Part Two

by Doug Laird 
04/27/23
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Present Your Bodies a Living Sacrifice

Part Two

Picking up where we left off at the end of Part One…

Nominal Christians will fall short of “finishing the course,” becoming unproductive in their walk with the Lord (1). They remain saved, but will not receive a full reward (2).

Does this mean that we are not to enjoy any of the things and activities and that life here on Earth has to offer?

Absolutely not! In fact, providing that our activities do not involve sin, it is when and where we are engaged in secular activities at home, work, school, and play, while interacting with others sharing the same experience or activity, that we are called to be Christ's ambassadors.

It is when we conduct ourselves “in a worthy manner” while in the midst of our daily activities that we establish common ground with other people. This is what will provide the prepared disciple with 1Pet. 3: 15 opportunities to glorify God by ministering to the spiritual needs of others.

Eph. 4: 1 is not talking about just doing “a” daily good deed. It is referring to a 7/24 lifestyle.

Keep in mind that as an advancing disciple, we are under constant observation. One can do many good deeds, but it will be the occasional slip-up that people will remember and the devil will exploit. Now, let’s move on by taking a look at a few examples of how a Church Age believer’s physical body can become a daily, living sacrifice.

Note that to be a sacrifice, it requires that we refrain from engaging in some activities that we would otherwise desire to do, in order to complete the work that He has in mind.

Work?

I thought that we are saved by grace, and not by works.

We ARE saved by grace. The works associated with post salvation discipleship are not for the purpose of obtaining or retaining salvation. They are for the purpose of glorifying and serving God, by serving other people (3).

Our bodies as a whole…

As of the moment that we are born again, our physical bodies become the temple of God (4). How we present our bodies, and what we do while in our bodies, should reflect this principle. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body (1Cor.6: 19, 20 NASB).”

Our eyes…

We make our eyes a living sacrifice to glorify God when we choose to look at things that edify us, and by NOT looking at the things that the devil can use to plant the seeds of evil.

Our ears…

We make our ears a living sacrifice by choosing to listen to the things that edify, and by choosing not to listen to the things that the devil can use to plant the seeds of evil (5).

Our tongues…

We make our mouths a living sacrifice when we use it to praise God, to pray, to evangelize, and to edify fellow believers, and by not using it to gossip or to destroy other people (6).

Our feet… We make our feet a living sacrifice when we use them to go to places that God would have us go, and not to go (or leave) places where God does not want us to go or to remain (7)

Our private parts…

We make our private parts a living sacrifice when we reserve and enjoy their usage within the boundaries of heterosexual marriage (8).

Our hands… We make our hands a living sacrifice when we use them to do the deeds that God would have us do, and by not using them to do the deeds that pleases our fallen nature and or the devil.

In some cases, our physical body parts (eyes, ears, hands. feet) have a corresponding part in our soul structure. The eyes of our soul take in and store away the images of what our physical eyes see. The ears of our soul take and “tape record” what our physical ears hear. The feet of our soul, mentally go where our thoughts take us. The hands of our soul carry out it's desires.

While on Earth, human beings are trichotomous creatures, having a physical body, a soul, and a spirit. What impacts one, impacts the remaining two, as well (9).

Since the Fall of Man, we come into this world with a physically alive body, a soul that will never cease to exist, and a spirit that is in need of regeneration. This regeneration is the Work of God that automatically takes place the moment that one is born again (10).

When born again believers leave this world, they leave their physical bodies behind, and go to Heaven where they will have an interim body until, what theologians call the Rapture, takes place. When the Rapture takes place, believers in Heaven receive their physical bodies back, but in resurrected form. Believers, who are physically alive on the Earth when the Rapture takes place, instantaneously have their physical bodies transformed into resurrected form, and gather together with the Lord and the departed believers who return with Him.

But until then, what believers on Earth do while in their physical bodies impacts the quality of their post salvation spiritual life here on Earth, and impacts what their eternal experience is going to be like.

Rather or not any given Church Age believer’s heavenly experience will include the rewards and privileges that are reserved for advancing disciples, is a choice that each one makes on a daily basis while here on Earth.

When those who have rejected the unadulterated Gospel Message leave this world, they leave their bodies behind, as well. But instead of finding themselves at home with the Lord, they will find themselves in the Torments of Hades, with nothing to look forward to but the Eternal Lake of fire (11).

Nothing that is done (or not done) to the bodily remains of a departed soul does anything to benefit the departed soul, nor do such things assist or prevent God from doing what He has in store for them in Eternity future.

There is not one departed soul in a funeral parlor, funeral service, cemetery, or urn, etc.; only one’s bodily remains in various stages of decomposition.

The grave is NOT the resting place where a departed soul “rests in peace.” The resting place for departed Church Age believers is in Heaven where Jesus had gone to prepare a place for them. There they will consciously be, until the Rapture takes place.

There is no resting for the departed soul of an unbeliever; only torment (12).

Note that during the Old Testament dispensation, touching a corpse or a grave defiled the person doing so (13). 

In closing, consider divine viewpoint and the consequences of using our bodily parts to please oneself or to do evil, instead of using them to glorify God through daily sacrifice.

“There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him. Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers (Proverbs 6: 17-19 NASB).”

“Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. Make sure that your character is free from the love of money… (Heb.13: 4, 5 NASB).”

The day we leave these bodies behind, is the day the window of opportunity to present our bodies a living sacrifice closes for all of Eternity.

End of Part Two

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(1) 2Tim.4 the: 7/Mark 4: 19 (2) Romans 8: 1/1Cor.3: 15/2John 1: 8 (3) Eph. 2: 8,9 (4) 1Cor. 3: 16 (5) Luke 8: 18/Matt. 11: 15/ 2Pet.3: 18/Matt. 7: 24-27 (6) James 3: 5-10 (7) Proverbs 3: 6/Psalms 119: 101, 105 (8) Heb.13: 4 (9) 1Thess. 5: 23 (10) John 3: 5, 7/Titus 3: 5 (11) Rev. 20: 13, 15 (12) Isa. 48: 22/Luke 16: 24 (13) Numbers 9: 11, 13, 14, 16)