Sacrifices That Please God: Part 1 – Sacrifice of Self
Some Christian traditions teach that we can reduce our time in purgatory if we do certain acts of personal sacrifice and contrition. The problem is, this is not biblical. The sacrifice of Jesus’ life for our sins was sufficient to bring about reconciliation between God and humanity. We don’t have to flog ourselves or walk on our knees or doing anything to atone for our sin. We have a restored relationship with God because of Jesus work on the cross and it was sufficient. But there are spiritual sacrifices that we are taught to offer to God that are expressions of love for God and not our own efforts of payment for our sin. The apostle Peter tells us that Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, we offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. (1 Peter 2:5) The first spiritual sacrifice we make is giving our lives to Christ.