Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Rom. 12:1-2.
What makes a sacrifice acceptable is not whether it is dead or living but that it is spotless and meets the requirement of God. Under the Aaronic priesthood, animals sacrificed had to pass the test of spotlessness. Under Christ’s priesthood, Jesus Christ passed the test as the spotless Lamb of God and He is standing in for every one of us.
What God sees is not our dark spottiness but Christ’s spotlessness. Without Christ’s atoning sacrifice, none of us could offer himself and be accepted by God. Because of what Christ did for us, we are urged to offer our bodies as living sacrifices – be pure and submit humbly to God.
The blood of Christ will continue to be applied on us for we still sin in one way or the other; but that blood is not available for willful sins of those who claim to know Him (Heb.10:26). The point is that we cannot willfully practice sin if indeed we have been transformed and renewed in our minds and our passion is to live and do only what is good and pleasing to the Lord. That is where you and I need to be all the time.
