Paul first encourages believers to be a “living sacrifice” to God, and then he tells them why. He calls it a “reasonable service.”

Many reasons could be given as to why it is “reasonable.” They certainly would start with the fact that we do not deserve it; and secondly, God did not have to put His Son on a Cross for us.

God could have let all of us simply go to Hell and pay the price we deserve for our sins. After all, we are told that “the wages of sin is death” (Ro. 6:23).

In love, God sent His Son to redeem us by dying on the Cross for us. Then, He made salvation as a gift through faith (Eph. 2:8,9) and did not make us earn it. In fact, He rejects all attempts to make us pay for it – or even part of it. Once faith is put in Christ for salvation, all our sins are forgiven and erased.

We should also consider being a “living sacrifice” because He put us into His family and made us joint-heirs with His Son, Jesus Christ (“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ,” Ro. 8:17).

God’s redemption of us also includes eternal life with Him, the removal of sin from our natures when we see Him in glory, and a perfect and sinless world in the future. What more could He have done to make His gift of salvation wonderful?

Considering all these things and more – it certainly is reasonable! He will not make you make that decision, but it should also be mentioned that He adds “abundant life” and blessing to those who make that choice!

Many Christians are living a nearly joyless Christian life because they believe that their salvation depends on their enduring to the end. They may be working hard to resist some sins but also know that other ones may be present.

Their lives could be changed by understanding that we are saved by faith in what Jesus Christ did for us on the Cross. It is not based on what we have done or do now. He died for us because we could not pay the price for our sin and still escape the fires of Hell. What a wonderful gift of salvation we have received.

What Jesus did on the Cross puts the believer into the family of God. When Jesus cried from the Cross: “It is finished,” He meant that everything necessary to give us a full and complete salvation was accomplished.

As Christians, we could not begin to merit anything from God – nor can we ever keep ourselves saved. Sin is still present with us. Jesus one-time death on the Cross and resurrection is forever sufficient for any need you or I will ever have. He not only saves us, but our text verse shows that He also keeps us.

We cannot consistently hold onto Him, so He holds onto us – and we cannot escape out of His hands – or His Father’s (John 10:28,29). Because of His power to hold us in salvation and give us eternal security – we can have joy and sleep well at night. Praise His Name!

People are often tempted to think that God works and acts the way we do – but He does not. He is not human – in the sense of having a changing and fallible nature such as we have. Although He came in the flesh, He was and still is 100% God.

It is for this reason that He never has a need to repent, which means to change His mind. He knows all things from the beginning of time to the end of it. The Bible tells us that “his word is settled in Heaven” (Ps. 119:89), therefore it never needs updating.

The only time that it might be said that God will repent in the Bible, is when man turns from their sinful ways. While in their sin – God promises to judge the sinner and send them to Hell when they die – if they do not repent and turn from their wicked ways.

In Jeremiah 18, there are two verses that make this plain. Verse 8 says: “If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.” The opposite is also true, as can be seen in verse 10: “If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.”

God’s judgment against sin is sure – whether it be against an individual or a nation. It may not come immediately – but it will come if there is no repentance.

The same is true in salvation. If a sinner does not turn away from sin in their heart – there is no salvation. Christ died to pay for the sin of every human, but if they choose not to repent and trust in Christ as their only Savior, their damnation is sure.

This is why the Bible says: “behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (II Cor. 6:2). Turn from sin and come to Christ today while there is time.

From cover to cover, the Bible teaches that all people are sinners (Romans 3:10). As such, they cannot please God enough to merit salvation – no matter what they do.

Romans 8:7,8 makes this truth abundantly clear: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Since all the sinner does is displeasing to God, there must be a turnaround place at some point. Sin brings damnation – even just one (Romans 6:23). When the sinner realizes that all he does is condemning him, he wants to discover what does please God. Naturally, when people realize this, they usually start trying to live a better life and keep the Ten Commandments.

The change of mind is a form of repentance. But this kind is not the kind that saves. They must also repent of trying to save themselves by establishing their own goodness (righteousness).

Yes, Biblical repentance first involves a change of mind toward sin. But it does not end there. Being saved also means you stop trying to save yourself and put your faith in Christ alone to save you. He is the Gift of God for our salvation. He paid the debt we all owe because of our sin. Don’t reject God’s free Gift.

Once you trust Christ to save you, He changes the life and enables you to live for Him. No other religion can do this. It is because of Christ’s death and resurrection power to forgive and save that He commanded the disciples, in Luke 24:47: “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

Have you repented and trusted Christ to save you?

This is a powerful verse, along with the two verses before it. In these verses, Paul deals with the argument about people thinking that you can lose your salvation.

In verse 26, he points out that if Christ’s death on the cross was not sufficient to guarantee you a place in Heaven, then Jesus would have to die more than once. Of course, that is not going to happen. God knew what is necessary to get us to Heaven

The truth is, if it depended on us to ensure our salvation – none of us would be saved. Also, we would not need a Savior, either. We are all still sinners, even though saved. Hopefully, as you grow in Christ, you should be sinning less and less.

Among Jesus’ last words on the Cross, He said: “It is finished!” This simple phrase meant that our redemption had been accomplished once we merely believe on what He did for us. Nothing needs to be added to it, and nothing can be added to God’s perfect redemption. The only qualification for salvation is found in Acts 16:31: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

Because of what Jesus did for us, we can know that we have eternal life. In simple faith, those looking to go to Heaven one day by trusting Jesus alone, will find that when He comes back – He will not have a record of any of our sins since salvation with Him – thus guaranteeing our salvation.