There is no other way for thee that I know but to present the body
whereof thou complainest (which is the beast to be sacrificed) _a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God_. And this shall be thy rational
service whereby this thy body will be put, as thou desirest, into the
imitation of Jesus Christ, who said his Kingdom was not of this World.
Be not thou then _conformed_ to it, but be _transformed_ by the renewing
of thy mind; which renewed mind is to have dominion over the body, that
so thou mayest prove, both in body and mind, what is the perfect Will of
God, and accordingly perform the same with and by his grace operating
in thee. Whereupon the body, or the _animal life_ would, being thus
offered up, begin to die, both from without and from within. From
_without_, that is, from the vanity and evil customs and fashions of the
World; it would be an utter change to all the parts thereof, and to all
the pageantry, pride, ambition, and haughtiness therein. From _within_
it would die as to all the lusts and appetites of the flesh, and would
get a mind and will wholly new for its government and management; being
now made subject to the Spirit, which would continually be directed to
God. And thus thy very body is become the temple of God and of his
Spirit, in imitation of thy Lord's Body.