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9/10 Reading Portions: 2 Samuel 4-5; 1 Corinthians 15; Ezekiel 13; Psalms 52-54
Psalm 54:6
With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to You; I will give thanks to Your name, O LORD, for it is good.
SACRIFICE
There are many offerings commanded in the book of Leviticus: burnt or consecration offerings, grain offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, trespass offerings, etc. Burnt offerings, peace offerings, and offerings of thanksgiving, however, were offered voluntarily; that is, of one’s own free will. I’ve heard some over the years attempt to use the freewill offerings to justify their belief that fallen man has a free will to choose salvation. This is the acme of foolishness, especially when we consider the content of Psalm 53. It specifically states,
They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. Psalm 53:3
Surely, we have been given a reasonable mind and a will to determine whether we can put ketchup on a hotdog (yes, horrifying, I know), or wisely garnish a dog with mustard and onions; nevertheless, concerning spiritual matters, a man or woman can only freely choose according to his or her nature. If one is fallen, reprobate, and unredeemed, he or she can only make worldly or fleshly choices. If one is saved by God’s grace, and thus a new creature in Christ (2 Cor 5:17), he or she can make godly or heavenly choices, while worldly or fleshly temptations continue to press against our wills (Gal 5:17). As all sacrificial offerings were ordained to show the perfection, completion, and supremacy of Christ’s sacrifice, the freewill offering was likewise ordained to illustrate Christ’s laying down His life freely for our salvation (John 10:18). And now, because of the Christ’s perfect, powerful, substitutionary atoning sacrifice, each time we freely offer thanksgiving to God (1 Thess 5:18), and each time we offer ourselves as a living sacrifice unto God in Christ (Rom 12:1), we bear witness to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, for it is good.
We love for Jesus first lov’d us,
We give because He gave
His life to save us from the dust
And raise us from the grave.
