In the Bible a sacrifice was an animal killed and offered to God. The sacrifice could be an acknowledgement, acceptable to God, that the man who made the offering (being typical of all men) was by nature a sinner and deserved the death he had himself inflicted on the animal. Some 'sin offerings' were burnt whole, but there were variations in the way sacrifices were made according to the circumstances.

The Passover (q.v.) was a special occasion when a sacrifice was offered and eaten at the beginning of each year to commemorate Israel's deliverance from Egypt. There were also many other occasions in the daily life of Israel both individual and communal, when sacrifices were offered. (See also OFFERING).
The offering of sacrifices by Israel came to an end in 70 AD, when the Temple at Jerusalem was destroyed, and God's people scattered throughout the world. The Temple rituals were replaced by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who was the one great sacrifice made by God for all mankind. Sincere faith in his atoning sacrifice opens up the way to forgiveness and salvation. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ is described by Paul as a Passover sacrifice: "…Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." (1 Corinthians 5:7, KJV).

By offering himself, Jesus became our sacrifice, and we are saved from death. "He [Jesus] did not enter [the Tabernacle] by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!" (Hebrews 9:12-14).

"But those [animal] sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins…. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest [Jesus Christ] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God." (Hebrews 10:3,11-12).

A sacrifice can also be something which we value, which is given to others or done for them, which is pleasing to them and to God, and is for their good. For example, the apostle Paul received a gift of money from the Philippian church to be given to the "poor saints at Jerusalem". He described this, thinking perhaps of the incense offerings in the Temple, as "an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God." (Philippians 4:18, KJV).

Pagan offerings were not made in this spirit. They were no more than gifts to placate the imagined anger of their dumb idols.

We are asked to give our lives in service as a sacrifice to God: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship." (Romans 12:1).