¹⁵ Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.

Priests as we now are (Rev 1:6, 1 Peter 2:9), we join in the ranks with Christ, the new and exceedingly superior High Priest. However, since He has already submitted the once-for-all-time, sufficient and acceptable offering of His own life for us, there is no longer any need for further sacrifices for sins (10:26). What then do we, as believer-priests bring to offer to God?

Peter tells us that we are to “offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). Our passage today says one of those sacrifices is “a sacrifice of praise to God.” This is praising and thanking God verbally for His grace to us; it is the “fruit of lips.” To be sure God knows the thankfulness of our hearts, but there is something about verbalizing it with our mouths that carries a greater sacrifice. This is similar to verbalizing our faith in Christ (“…if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord…” Romans 10:9). The seed of God’s word spoken to us “in these last days” (Heb 1:2) has taken root and now the fruit is evident in our words of praise to God. We “offer up the sacrifice of praise,” that’s what a believer priest does today.

Notice that this offering is “through Him.” By this we understand that the focus of our attention should be on the Lord Jesus Christ. This does not pit the second person of the Trinity against the first, but rather, in praising Christ, we are praising the Father “through” Him.

There are also other sacrifices that we as believer-priests can bring to God. In Romans 12:1, we “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” In Philippians 2:17, Paul gives us the example to follow, “I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith.” Such is the life of ministering the gospel of Christ. He writes of “ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” (Ro 15:16). Both his service, and the resulting salvation of Gentiles are considered sacrifices to God. These are the things we bring to God as believer-priests: our bodies, our life-service for Him and new believers.

Yes, God has given us so much in our salvation and the relief from works-based religion through His grace. We now have something to give back to Him. These are the spiritual sacrifices acceptable to Him (1 Peter 2:5).

Lord, I praise You for Your grace as demonstrated in the sacrifice of Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I bring to You the sacrifice of my body and my life, and I pray, the offering up of new believers to You.