By Derek Prince
Be encouraged and inspired with this extract from a Bible-based teaching by Derek Prince.
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Paul says,
“I urge you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”
What impresses me about the Bible is that it’s so practical. It’s so down to earth. It’s not super spiritual. We’ve been confronted with all this tremendous theology of the preceding chapters. And where does the application start? It starts with our body. The first thing that God asks is that we present this body of ours to Him, a living sacrifice.
You might say, “Well, I thought the body wasn’t so important, that it was really the soul that was important.” But God is very practical. You see, if there’s a glass of water standing on the table and I say to you, “Please hand me that glass,” what am I getting? I’m getting the vessel and its contents. How could you ever give me the water without the glass?
And that’s what God is saying to you. He wants the vessel, the body, and its contents. And as a matter of fact, you really can’t give God the contents unless you give Him the vessel. So God wants you, the vessel, and its contents.
God says it’s to be a living sacrifice. What does that mean? It’s contrasted with the sacrifices of the Old Testament where animals were offered in sacrifice, killed, and placed as dead bodies on the altar of God. God says, “I want your body in just, just as much, just as completely on My altar as that Old Testament sacrifice, but there’s one difference. I don’t want your body dead. I want it a living sacrifice.” You see how very down to earth God is? He says, “It’s your body I want. And when I have your body, I have you.”
When you place your body on God’s altar, it becomes holy. It’s sanctified. It’s set apart to God. But that is an act that you have to make. It must be your decision to make your body totally available to God.
What does that mean in practical terms? It means that you’ll go anywhere that God sends you. You’ll do anything. It may be a desert, may be a city, may be a mountain. You may be washing dishes, you may be preaching, you may have a salary, you may have no salary. You’ve renounced all those decisions to God. You’ve simply handed over your body to Him and said, “Here it is, God. I trust You to do what You desire and please with my body.” That’s presenting your body to God.
Then there’s a result that follows in the mind. In the next verse of Romans chapter 12, that’s verse 2, Paul says this:
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove [find out and experience] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
When you present your body, strange though it may seem, a change takes place in your mind. You begin to think in a different way. God says your mind is renewed. And then, when your mind is renewed, you prove, you find out for yourself what the will of God is.
And Paul uses three words to describe the will of God, all of which are beautiful and exciting. He says it’s good, it’s acceptable, and it’s perfect. You’ll notice there’s a progression. As you begin to discover God’s will, you discover it’s good. God always wants what’s good for His children, never what’s evil. The further you go, you discover it’s acceptable. It’s what you really want, too. And then you come into full understanding, it’s perfect. It covers every area of your life. It meets every need. There’s nothing that isn’t provided for, for your good, in the perfect will of God.
But bear in mind, it’s only as your mind is renewed that you can find out the will of God. You see, typically, religion works from without. It starts trying to change man from outside. But God works from within. He says, “When I can begin to change your mind, then you’ll change. Your whole way of life will change. And I’ll be able to reveal to you My will, which is good, acceptable, and perfect.”
Now, I want to explain to you why God can only reveal His will to our mind after it’s been renewed. Before God makes this change in our mind, the mind that we have by our old, fleshly nature is not something that can receive the will of God. In Romans chapter 8, verse 7, Paul says this:
“The carnal mind is enmity against God.”
I think it becomes obvious that a mind that’s at war with God cannot receive the revelation of the will of God. And if you’re really going to find the fullness of God’s plan for your life, you have to ask yourself, “Am I willing to let that old soul life go? Am I willing to stop thinking in those old ways—I want, I think, I feel? Am I willing to let God change me from within by renewing my mind?” That’s a decision you have to make.
Continue your study of the Bible with the extended teaching, to further equip and enrich your Christian faith.
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