55 Bible Verses about Sacrifice

But he heard it, and said, "It is not well people but the sick who have to have the doctor! You must go and learn what the saying means, 'It is mercy, not sacrifice, that I care for.' I did not come to invite the pious but the irreligious."

For while the Law foreshadowed the blessings that were to come, it did not fully express them, and so the priests by offering the same sacrifices endlessly year after year cannot wholly free those who come to worship from their sins. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to offer these sacrifices, because those who offered them, having once been purified, would have had no further consciousness of sin? They really only serve to remind the people annually of the sins they have committed, read more.
for bulls' and goats' blood is powerless to remove sin. That is why the Christ, when he was coming into the world, said, "You have not wished sacrifice or offering, but you have provided a body for me. You never cared for burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin! So I said, 'See, I have come! as the Book of the Law says of me, O God, to do your will!' " At first he says, "You never wished or cared for sacrifices or offerings, or burnt-offerings or sacrifices for sin"??ll of which the Law prescribes??9 and then he adds, "See, I have come to do your will!" He is taking away the old to put the new in its place.

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me. The life I am now living in the body I am living by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by this mercy of God, to offer your bodies in a living sacrifice that will be holy and acceptable to God; that is your rational worship. You must not adopt the customs of this world but by your new attitude of mind be transformed so that you can find out what God's will is??hat is good, pleasing, and perfect.

It is Christ's love that controls me, for I have become convinced that as one has died for all, all have died, and he died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again.

I know and as a follower of the Lord Jesus I am convinced that nothing is unclean in itself; a thing is unclean only to the man who regards it as unclean. For if your brother's feelings are hurt by what you eat, your life is not governed by love. You must not, by what you eat, ruin a man for whom Christ died. The thing you have a right to do must not become a cause of reproach. read more.
The Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of uprightness, peace, and happiness through the possession of the holy Spirit. Whoever serves Christ in that way pleases God and gains the approval of men. Let us, therefore, keep before us whatever will contribute to peace and the development of one another. You must not, just for the sake of food, undo the work of God. It is true, everything is clean, but it is wrong for a man to hurt the consciences of others by what he eats. The right thing to do is to eat no meat at all and to drink no wine or do anything else if it hurts your brother's conscience. For your part, you must keep the faith you have to yourself, as between God and you. He is a happy man who has no fault to find with himself in following the course that he approves, but the man who has misgivings about eating, and then eats, is thereby condemned, for he is not following his convictions, and anything that does not rest on conviction is wrong.

About food that has been offered to idols, it is true, as you say, that we all have some knowledge on that matter. Knowledge gives people airs; love is what builds up character. If a man thinks he has acquired some knowledge, he does not yet know it as well as he ought to know it. But if a man loves God, God is known by him. read more.
As to eating things, then, that have been offered to idols, we all know that no idol has any real existence, and that there is no God but one. For supposing there are so-called gods in heaven or on earth??nd indeed there are plenty of such gods and lords??6 yet for us there is just one God, the Father, who is the source of all things, and for whom we live, and just one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom everything was made and through whom we live. But it is not everyone that has this knowledge; for some, through being long accustomed to idols, still eat meat that has been sacrificed to them as really offered to an idol, and their consciences, being oversensitive, are troubled. But food is not going to affect our standing with God. We are none the worse if we do not eat it, and none the better if we do. But you must take care that this right of yours does not prove a hindrance to the overscrupulous. For if somebody sees you, who are intelligent about this matter, attending a dinner in an idol's temple, will not he, with his sensitive conscience, be led to eat meat that is offered to idols? For this overscrupulous brother, for whom Christ died, is ruined by what you call your knowledge. But in sinning against your brothers in this way and wounding their too scrupulous consciences, you are really sinning against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat makes my brother fall, I will never eat meat again, rather than make my brother fall.

Therefore, my dear brothers, have nothing to do with the worship of idols. I appeal to your good sense. Make up your minds about what I say. Does not the consecrated cup which we bless mean that in drinking it we share in the blood of Christ? Does not the bread that we break mean that in eating it we share in the body of Christ? read more.
Because there is one loaf, we, many as we are, are one body, for we all share the one loaf. Think of the Israelites' practices. Do not those who eat what is sacrificed have divine fellowship at the sacrificial altar? What am I saying then? That there is any such thing as being offered to an idol, or any such thing as an idol? No, but that what the heathen sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot eat at the table of the Lord and at the table of demons. Or are we trying to arouse the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he is? We are free to do anything, but not everything is good for us. We are free to do anything, but not everything builds up character. No one should look after his own advantage but after that of his neighbor. Eat anything for sale in the meat market without raising any question, as far as conscience is concerned, for the earth and everything in it belongs to the Lord. If one of the heathen invites you to his house, and you wish to go, eat whatever is served, without raising any question, as far as conscience is concerned. But if someone says to you, "This meat has been offered in sacrifice," let it alone, on account of the man who told you and his conscientious scruples; his scruples, I say, not yours. For why should my liberty of action be limited by another's scruples? If I give thanks for what I eat, why should I be denounced for eating what I give thanks over? So whether you are eating or drinking or doing anything else, do it all to the honor of God. You must not be hindrances to Jews or Greeks or to the church of God either, just as I for my part try to please everyone in all I do, not aiming at my own advantage, but at that of people generally, in order that they may be saved.

And so Jesus too, in order to purify the people by his blood, suffered death outside the city gate. Let us, therefore, go out to him, outside the camp, sharing the contempt that he endured, for we have no permanent city here on earth, but we are in search of the city that is to come. read more.
In his name let us continually offer praise as our sacrifice to God??he utterance of lips that glorify God's name. But do not forget to be helpful and generous, for that is the kind of sacrifice that pleases God.

One of the scribes came up and heard them arguing. He saw that Jesus had answered them well, and he asked him, "Which is the first of all the commands?" Jesus answered, "The first one is, 'Hear, Israel! The Lord our God is one lord, and you must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul, your whole mind, and your whole strength.' read more.
And this is the second: 'You must love your neighbor as you do yourself.' No other command is greater than these." The scribe said to him, "Really, Master, you have finely said that he stands alone, and there is none but he, and to love him with one's whole heart, one's whole understanding, and one's whole strength, and to love one's neighbor as one's self is far more than all these burnt-offerings and sacrifices."

Then I saw standing in the center of the throne and of the four animals and of the elders a Lamb which seemed to have been slaughtered. He had seven horns and seven eyes; these are the seven spirits of God, which are sent on errands to all parts of the earth. He came and took the roll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. When he took the roll, the four animals and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each with a harp and gold bowls full of incense, that is, of the prayers of God's people. read more.
Then they sang a new song: "You deserve to take the roll and open its seals, for you have been slaughtered, and with your blood have bought for God men from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation, and have made them a kingdom of priests for our God, and they are to reign over the earth." Then in my vision I heard the voices of many angels surrounding the throne, the animals, and the elders, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying in a loud voice, "The Lamb that was slaughtered deserves to receive power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing." Then I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, underneath the earth, and on the sea, and all that they contain, say, "Blessing, honor, glory, and power to him who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever!"

We know what love means from the fact that he laid down his life for us; so we also ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

For while the Law foreshadowed the blessings that were to come, it did not fully express them, and so the priests by offering the same sacrifices endlessly year after year cannot wholly free those who come to worship from their sins.