The Body as a Sacrifice

The Body as a Sacrifice

“I exhort you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.” Rom. 12:1.

Just as you previously presented your bodies to serve sin, so you must now present your bodies to serve righteousness. Then you will have “your fruit unto sanctification, and the end, everlasting life.” Rom. 6:22. “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” Rom. 6:12.

People live for the well-being of the body. They are anxious for what they shall wear and eat. There are no limits to what their bodies desire. A lot of lusts dwell in that body. However, Paul exhorts us not to obey them; yet only a few people are obedient to this exhortation, and the body is worn out in the service of sin because it wants to enjoy its lusts. Thus the spirit of man, which God let dwell in him, is permeated by sin, and people are dead to God’s workings. It is an empty and cruel life.

You fill your spirit with whatever you give your body to. We can hear that from those who live in sin. After they have gone out and lived according to their lusts, we can hear them talking next day about the things they did with their bodies. Then they experience it once more in their spirit. Whatever we have done today is not gone and forgotten tomorrow. “I sinned yesterday, but it won’t affect me today.” Not at all! I bear in my spirit today whatever I gave my body to yesterday. Now we understand that those who commit sin cannot have fellowship with God, because He can only have fellowship with us through the spirit He let dwell in us, which He desires jealously. Jas. 4:5.

If such a person is to have a connection with God, he must acknowledge all the sin in which he has lived. Then God makes him alive again by forgiving all his trespasses. Col. 2:13. Then his spirit is made alive to God’s workings; however, that person must also consider himself dead to the workings of his body. The passions that dwell in his body must be crucified. Therefore we read, “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness.” Rom. 8:10. Now sanctification can begin.

By presenting his body in the service of sin a person gets a sense for earthly things. His spirit is being filled with sin and impurity. Sin is present in the various circumstances of his life because his thoughts are influenced by his lusts. I have met old people who have lived in sin. Their bodies have become so weak that they can no longer present it in the service of sin, but they sit there and enjoy the sins of their youth. They sit there, condemned in their conscience, yet trying to ignore it. However, their spirit is so permeated by what they have lived in that they cannot think of anything else. Nothing would come of it if they wanted to read the Bible or pray to God because they cannot free their mind from earthly things.

Just as you have presented your body in the service of sin, so you must now present it in the service of righteousness, and then you will have your fruit unto sanctification. You must present your body in the service of righteousness in order to enter into a life of sanctification. By crucifying the lusts my body is sacrificed to God’s workings through my spirit. It is no longer allowed to live in pleasure, but it must now do God’s will. I re-live in my spirit whatever my body has done. Then I am filled with the fruits of righteousness that are worked by Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:11), and the result is sanctification. My spirit is made alive. Just as I previously had a sense for earthly things by living according to my lusts, so I now get a sense for heavenly things by living for righteousness. Through the various circumstances that meet me in life, I now think of purity, love, patience, and truth. I am partaking of the divine nature that was promised. 2 Pet. 1:4.

Having a knowledge of God is not the same as being filled with God’s will. I am filled with God’s will only after my body has done God’s will. Therefore Paul says, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” 1 Cor. 9:27. He could have knowledge and even preach to others, but still be disqualified. He had to discipline his body—for it wanted to live in pleasure—and so present it in the service of the knowledge he was preaching. Only then did he partake of sanctification and become qualified. Therefore faith without works is dead. The tree is known by its fruits. A person proves what he is by what he does with his body. If a person speaks ever so piously and sounds ever so upright, but his body is subject to sin, he is a sinner.

You cannot serve God unless your body is a sacrifice. Therefore Jesus says that we shall not fear those who can kill the body but can’t kill anything else. If we fear, it is because of something that can happen to the body. When we read about the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11, we can see that their bodies had to suffer. Their bodies had to be sacrificed, and so they gained the victory. They were sawn asunder, were beaten, and wandered around in sheepskins, etc. When Paul proclaimed the whole counsel of God, his body became a sacrifice. He was stoned, scourged, in hunger; he froze, and he was in night watches, etc. These were manifest sufferings he could mention, but what about all the hidden things he could not mention? He prayed without ceasing for the churches; he exhorted each and every one night and day. In all these things his body had to be offered up. John saw those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus—they had neither worshiped the beast nor received his mark; they were alive again, and they reigned together with Jesus as kings and priests for a thousand years. All of them had presented their bodies as a sacrifice. We, too, cannot do a spiritual service unless our bodies are sacrificed; neither can we partake of sanctification in any other way. All those who are willing to offer up their bodies are invincible. Give your body as a sacrifice according to God’s promptings, and nothing will be impossible for you.

Many people pray to God and say, “Make me Your servant; use me, lead me,” etc. But when they get up from their knees, they can feel the demands from their body, and so they follow their lusts. It doesn’t matter how much they pray; they will never become servants unless they present their bodies as a sacrifice. They have to get off the couch and never mind coffee after dinner and an eight-hour sleep. Rainy weather, cold, long distances, what people say—all those things mean nothing. Give your body, and God will work in you. He will use you, and you will be His servant, and you don’t even have to pray to Him about it many times over. Perhaps you believed that being a servant of Christ meant to have a halo around your head, have a pious appearance, be a good speaker, and read the Bible. But Paul says, “Share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God.” 2 Tim. 1:8. You think if you were sent out, then you, too, would become a servant of the Lord; then others would really see what you could do. However, if you are not a servant of the Lord where you are, then you won’t be one either if you go somewhere else. And if nothing happens whether you are sent out or not, it is because you do not want to sacrifice your body. You are making provision for the flesh so that the lusts are awakened. Rom. 13:14. Your body is so rested and satisfied that you have your hands full trying to keep the lusts in check. The result is that your mind cannot rest in God so that you can receive revelations. You are smart enough to think of something you can preach about or to repeat something you have heard others say, but it does not come from the sanctuary; it does not have the capacity to grow. Jer. 23:28. You should rather rise early, chop wood, work with your body until you are tired, and then your lusts will not be so strong. Then you can perhaps meditate on the law of the Lord and receive revelation. 2 Thess. 3:7. Then our labor for the Lord will bear much fruit.

It is blessed to meet older people who have sacrificed their bodies to do God’s will. They have a spirit that is alive with divine content, filled with the fruits of righteousness and God’s wisdom as well as rich experiences. You cannot say to them that they should come along on a trip, because their bodies are worn out, yet their spirits are alive and flexible. They cannot walk long distances any more; they can barely come to a meeting unless they are driven or carried, as tradition says about the apostle John. But their words are weighty. It is heavenly to sit and listen to their instruction. Their presence is not a reminder of death or about a past life one would rather forget. It testifies about life and incorruption while they are waiting for the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven who will transform their lowly bodies that they may be conformed to His glorious body. Phil. 3:21.

May no one deceive himself. Each one will receive the things done in his body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 2 Cor. 5:10.