Cylchgronau Cymru

THE WELSH ' CALYINISTIC METHODIST RECORD. DECEMBER, 1852. THE LIVING SACRIFICE. The apostle Paul opens the practical part of his epistle to the Romans with this urgent appeal: " I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." We might corroborate it by numerous similar exhortations: " What, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? for ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." " The body is not for fornication, but for the Lord." And again, "Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I, then, take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? God forbid." All these, involve, in in a slightly modified expression, the same idea—the duty of employing the body in the service of God. It is called a sacrifice in allusion to the sacrifices of the Jewish Church. That which was appointed by God to be devoted to him was called a sacrifice. Under the former dispensation, the Jews were required to manifest their obedience by numerous observances— by external sacrificial rites; but under this new dispensation, the body, in a full and complete dedication of all its powers to his service, as a proof and product of the dedication of the soul, is the only sacrifice required. A holy fife is now the acceptable sacrifice of faith. It must be a living sacrifice. Living, in allusion to the Jewish sacrifices, which were presented alive at the altar; living, in opposition to those sacrifices, for in order to the perfecting of them and the rendering of them acceptable to God, they were slain by the priest and consumed by the sacred fire of the altar; living, also, in opposition to that which had died of itself, which might not be eaten by the Jew, much less offered in sacrifice to God. But it must be living in a superior sense: a body inspired with . 2k