Should Christians fast?<\/a><\/p>\nThe only sacrifice in the New Testament is the dedication of one’s life to God. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God<\/em>” (Romans 12:1-2). The idea of giving up something, such as not eating chocolate for a month, is not what was considered a sacrifice in either the Old or New Testament. Nor is the denial of things like this required by God. “Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations–\u00a0 “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using–according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh<\/em>” (Colossians 2:20-23).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Question: Is it an obligation to fast and make sacrifices for God? Or is it just a holy week thing? If it is an obligation, how often are we supposed to do it? Answer: For fasting, see:\u00a0Should Christians fast? The only sacrifice in the New Testament is the dedication of one’s life to God. “I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[545,272],"class_list":["post-16374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-fasting","tag-sacrifices"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54979,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/all-christians-are-priests\/","url_meta":{"origin":16374,"position":0},"title":"All Christians Are Priests","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by David J. Riggs from\u00a0Catholic Teaching Examined A study of the New Testament reveals that all Christians are priests. Peter said, \"You too are living stones, built as an edifice of spirit, into a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ\" (I Peter 2:5; The New\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49772,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-i-need-to-prepare-myself-as-a-priest-to-fit-into-the-kingdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":16374,"position":1},"title":"Do I need to prepare myself as a priest to fit into the kingdom?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question regarding the practical application of royal priesthood in the upcoming kingdom of God. Recently I got to know one of the elders and preacher in the church. According to him, we are a royal priesthood (referring to I Peter 2:9) and the role of priest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15851,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/has-god-ever-accepted-a-defective-sacrifice\/","url_meta":{"origin":16374,"position":2},"title":"Has God ever accepted a defective sacrifice?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Has God ever accepted a spotted, unclean, defiled, blemished, blind, lame, or sick sacrifice? Answer: \"Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you\" (Leviticus 22:20). \"But if it has any defect, such as lameness or blindness, or any serious defect, you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88684,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/he-takes-away-the-first\/","url_meta":{"origin":16374,"position":3},"title":"He Takes Away the First","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Hebrews 10:9 says, \"\u2026He takes away the first that He may establish the second.\" What is the first, and what is the second? The first is the law of Moses and its system of animal sacrifices. Paul agrees in Colossians 2:11-16 that the old system with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4053,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-christians-fast\/","url_meta":{"origin":16374,"position":4},"title":"Should Christians fast? (Answer)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 12, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a friend who asked about fasting. All I could quote was\u00a0Matthew 6:16\u00a0and\u00a0Matthew 15:17-20. Can you tell me where it says that all food is good for you? I can't remember the passage. Also, could you explain Matthew 17:21? Does it mean you should fast? Is it something\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40134,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/regarding-god-as-holy\/","url_meta":{"origin":16374,"position":5},"title":"Regarding God as Holy","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Peter 1:13-19 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Peter charges all Christians to conduct themselves in holiness - I Peter 1:15-16 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We will not see God without holiness - Hebrews 12:14 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And knowing that this world will end and we all must face God - II Peter 3:11 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Holiness\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16374\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}