Offer Yourselves As Living Sacrifices

For in a way, our duty as a priestly people is even greater than it was for Israel. We know the Name above every name, Jesus Christ. We know the incredibly high price that He paid, to clear away our sin and secure our salvation. Our motive for sacrifice has been multiplied greatly!

Just listen to the words of Romans 12, “I beseech you therefore… by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifices, holy, acceptable to God” (v 1). Notice what Paul says in that passage. He knew that the age of temple worship was completely finished at the death of Christ. But see how God still calls us—believers in Jesus—to a life of sacrifice: everything we are, everything we have, presented to the LORD. And we do this, Paul says, “by the mercies of God.” We’re moved by his mercy in Jesus Christ, we’re stirred up by his sacrifice, eager to present our offerings, acceptable to God.

2) the guidelines by which they’re offered: Out of the book of Leviticus, or out of all the law of God, there’s probably one principle that stands above the rest. We find it in the LORD’s word in 11:44, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” Because of the LORD’s perfect separateness and moral purity, He expects that his people be holy too. He is “set apart” from all stain of sin, and so we ought to be as well.

The LORD showed the Israelites just how complete this holiness needed to be. The many laws in Leviticus, together with those in Exodus and in Deuteronomy, give the outline of an entire life of purity: purity with reference to bodily health, daily food, personal relationships and conduct—and of course, purity in connection to official worship.

Over 125 times in this book, the people are warned not to become ceremonially unclean, and they’re exhorted to use the means of purification that God has provided. And it all went back to God’s character: “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

As just one example of the need for holiness, we have these laws regarding offerings. In Israel, a sacrifice could be given for any number of different reasons: some spoke of the worshiper’s gratitude to the LORD, or the worshiper’s desire for fellowship with God, or for the worshiper’s need for atonement from sin. But whenever an offering was presented, for whatever occasion, it needed to meet these criteria.

Earlier in Leviticus God speaks about this, but in our passage it’s made explicit: the worshiper was to be pure, and so his sacrifice was also to be pure. It’s stated repeatedly, beginning in verse 19, “You shall offer of your own free will a male without blemish from the cattle, from the sheep, or from the goats.” Then a bit later, to explain what sort of blemish is meant, “Those that are blind or broken or maimed, or have an ulcer or eczema or scabs, you shall not offer to the LORD” (v 22).

What was the point? In short, the quality of an offering reveals the quality of the heart, reveals whether it’s dedicated to the LORD, or not. So whenever a person brought his gift to the tabernacle, he was to bring an animal that had value to him; he was to give a gift he might’ve used himself. After all, it costs little to give away something that’s second-rate, or something you won’t really miss. But to give up the first and best portion, to give up what is useful—that’s a true sacrifice; it’s a holy sacrifice! By making this kind of offering, the people showed they wouldn’t withhold from God even that which was near and dear. By this, they’d show how much they valued being (and staying) in relationship with Him.