“And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:4-5 NASB1995)

I am amazed continually at how many people these days are believing that faith in Jesus Christ is just forgiveness of all sins and the promise of eternity with God in heaven when they die, based solely on a verbal profession of faith in Jesus Christ, with no death to sin and no walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands required of them. And they believe that their profession of faith in Jesus Christ now gives them a new identity in Christ which overcomes all of their deliberate and habitual acts of sin against God.

Yet, all throughout the New Testament Scriptures we are taught by Jesus Christ and by his New Testament apostles that faith in Jesus Christ, if it is genuine biblical faith, must result in self-denial, death to sin, and walks of obedience to God and to his commands in surrender of our lives to him. And we are taught that if we profess that Jesus is our Lord but we don’t do what he says, but sin and disobedience to God are what we practice, that we don’t have forgiveness of sins, and we don’t have eternal life with God.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Acts 26:18]

But what does this passage of Scripture teach us? If we are those of genuine biblical faith in the Lord Jesus, which is gifted to us by God, and which is persuaded of God, and which is not of our own doing, so we don’t get to make it up to please the flesh, then we are living stones being built up as a spiritual house for a HOLY priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ. We are the body of Christ, his church, for the purpose of honoring God with our lives and for spreading the truth of the gospel.

For to be holy means to be different from (unlike the) world of sin because, by faith in Jesus Christ, we are now being transformed by God into the likeness of character of Jesus Christ, as we cooperate fully with his work of grace in our lives and we do what he says we must do, as his followers. And to be a “holy priesthood” has to do with us being ministers to one another within the body of Christ in encouraging one another in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord, and it includes us praying for one another, too.

And the spiritual sacrifices that we are to offer up to God are those of humble and contrite hearts, in denying self, dying to sin, and following Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands. It is in giving our lives to God to be his to be used for his purposes and for his glory in being his servants and his messengers, in ministering to one another within the body of Christ, and in taking the message of the gospel of Christ to the people of the world. But we should make sure that “the gospel” we are spreading is the true gospel.

And collectively we are the church, the only true church, the universal body of believers in Jesus Christ who have died with Christ to sin and who are now walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands in holy living. And all of us are necessary to the proper working of this body of Christ. And so God has assigned us all our body parts (our ministries), and he has gifted us with Spiritual gifts to be used within the body of Christ to minister to one another in encouraging one another to live holy lives, pleasing to Jesus Christ.

For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

Fit for Service

An Original Work / October 5, 2011
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Holy Spirit, come within us.
Cleanse our hearts,
and from sin free us.
Make us holy vessels fit
for service to the King.
Fill us with Your love and power.
Anoint us within this hour
To be living witnesses
For Jesus Christ, our King.
Our praise to Him bring.

Father God, our heart’s desire,
Come and speak to us in power.
Revive our hearts to obey You;
Live for You always.
May we love and serve You only,
Walking with You;
Not a phony.
May we always tell the truth,
And show integrity.
Your true servants be.

Jesus, Savior, sanctify us.
Purify our hearts within us;
Be transformed into Your likeness,
Holy unto You.
May we always listen to You
Speaking Your words
Now within us.
May we heed Your counsel to us;
Follow You today.
Do all that You say.

Spiritual Sacrifices Acceptable to God
An Original Work / April 11, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love