True Consecration

[WordSword]

Though the word “sanctification” has been often described as some type of process or progression, Scripture always presents it in its completed sense at the time of rebirth (same for righteousness and justification). Its general meaning is the same for holy and “consecration” (OT term), of which all three are perpetual one-time occurrences included with salvation, e.g. redemption. The general thought of consecration in the OT was to be set apart for God by your doing. If consecration was instructed in the present dispensation it would only involve the work of the Spirit, for all things godly are by the Spirit—in the life of Christ.

1 John 4:17 (“as He is”) is in reference to the spiritual position of believers in the above attributes of the Lord Jesus; 1 John 3:2 (“we shall be like Him”) is in reference to the physical condition of believers at His “appearing” (2Tim 4:1; Rom 8:23), along with of course the final absence of that which impedes perfect fellowship with God—the sinful human nature! The Son’s present position before the Father is also our present position (soon our present condition). I say “present” because our eternal presence with Them is as certain as though we are in Their presence now.

NC

 

 

 

 True Consecration

 The Lord Jesus is in glory, and I am united to Him in spirit in all His beauty and perfection. I am also left in this world to be for Him down here. The same One who has gone up there is the same One who is down here in His saints (via the Spirit of course and is how all those reborn are in one another—NC). Up there I am in all His perfection in the Holiest, sustained there in all the sweet savor of the One whom the Father has taken up.

This we surely all know, otherwise we do not have the sense of our acceptance with the Father. So it says, “As He is,” not as He was. “As He is, so are we.” It does not say that we shall be as He is, but that we are at this moment. It is perfectly true that I shall be like Him in the glory, but that is not what this passage says. It is, “As He is, so are we, in this world”—not in heaven. The thought is that we cannot be placed in any higher position; and any place except that one up there would neither be commensurate with the work He has wrought, nor satisfy the heart of the Father for me.

My apprehension of the Lord Jesus in glory at the right hand of the Father determines my expression of Him down here. See how it comes out in Paul. He says that he sees the Lord Jesus; that he has to do with Him where He is: “With open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image (via the “new nature” which is “after the image of Him that created him – Col 3:10—NC) from glory to glory”; and so he adds, “bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.”

In Romans 12 we read, “I beseech you therefor brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” People read this, and fancy that they are giving God something; but this is not the fact at all. In Romans 7 you find that you have a new life, a new nature, but you have also with it a very unpleasant guest, which ultimately causes you to cry out, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me?”

I long to subdue the flesh, and who does this for me? Why, Christ. “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” I say to Him: I was a sufferer from this noxious guest, but now I have got deliverance; and as it is You who have done it, I present my body to You, which is the least I can do. I give You nothing but an empty house, and You may make the most of it. “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, hoy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable (not legal) service; and be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed.” It is not reformation, it is “transformation.” I find my deliverance in Christ, and now I would present my body to my Deliverer; but that body is only an empty vessel, one which He must fill Himself, and His filling is consecration.

Hence consecration is not that I have given Him anything, for I have nothing to give. People talk about consecrating themselves, their talents, their property, and so on, and I know is a certain sense what they mean; but the fact really is, that I put aside everything in me which would hinder the expression of Christ flowing out of me, that the life of Jesus may be made manifest in my body.

For this Paul prays in Ephesians 3, “that Christ may dwell in your hearts”: the true force of the word is domicile. That He may so dwell there that we “may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height” of our Father’s own favor—the full scope of blessing; “and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.” Christ is that fullness, having Him thus dwell in the heart is real consecration.

- J B Stoney

 

 

Excerpt from MJS devotional for Feb. 13:

“The great secret of the Christian life is found in ceasing from self, in which the power of the Cross manifests itself in us.” – A M

http://www.abideabove.com/hungry-heart/

[missmuffet]

Question: "What does the Bible say about consecration?"

Answer: In the Bible the word consecration means “the separation of oneself from things that are unclean, especially anything that would contaminate one’s relationship with a perfect God.” Consecration also carries the connotation of sanctification, holiness, or purity.

The importance of being consecrated or pure in our relationship with God is emphasized in an incident in the book of Joshua. After forty years in the wilderness, the children of Israel were about to cross over the Jordan River into the Promised Land. They were then given a command and a promise: “Joshua told the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you’” (Joshua 3:5).

The people of God were commanded to bathe and change their clothes; the married couples were to devote themselves wholly to the Lord (1 Corinthians 7:1-6). The significance of this command was that in ancient times water was considered a luxury and wasn’t used often for personal hygiene. The bathing and changing clothes symbolized making a new beginning with the Lord. The picture here is that sin is defilement (Psalm 51:2, 7), and we have to be cleansed before we can truly follow God.

Upon consecrating themselves, the children of Israel were assured of God's promises. The Lord promised that He would do amazing things among them (Joshua 3:5). Just as He opened the Red Sea to deliver them from their Egyptian bondage, He would open the Jordan River and take them into the Promised Land. In fact, this was just the beginning of the miracles God would perform for them in the conquest of the Promised Land. It’s no wonder the psalmist declares, “Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples” (Psalm 77:13-14).

Another good example of consecrating oneself is that of David upon confessing his sin of adultery. He bathed and changed clothes before he worshiped the Lord (2 Samuel 12:20). This same imagery is also used in the New Testament (Colossians 3:5-14; Ephesians 4:26-27).

The Bible tells believers to be a holy people, separate from the world: “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:17). Being consecrated is a critical component in our relationship to God and to those in the world. Paul tells us, “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. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:1-2).

In other words, as true believers in Christ, the act of consecration involves our lives being a living sacrifice to Him; we are totally separated from the defilement of the world. Each day, we are to live out our lives as a “holy” and “royal” priesthood to the glory of God, for we are now God’s people (1 Peter 2:9-10).

https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-consecration.html

[WordSword]

3 hours ago, missmuffet said:

In other words, as true believers in Christ, the act of consecration involves our lives being a living sacrifice to Him; we are totally separated from the defilement of the world. Each day, we are to live out our lives as a “holy” and “royal” priesthood to the glory of God, for we are now God’s people (1 Peter 2:9-10).

Hi MM, and thanks for your involved reply! Amen, we are completely set apart by God from all that is enmity with Him, and even though the closest one is within (old man), He never again regards us after this sinful nature (Rom 8:9).