These two words, consecration and spirit are very little understood by the average Christian. I know this to be true, because I am average. As I begin to write on this challenging subject it is with much trepidation. The word consecration is defined by the secular world as; a solemn commitment of your life to some cherished purpose. I see lots of problems for the Christian in this simple definition, because it puts all the responsibility for the consecration of our spirit's on us, which has historically for me proved to be a very weak choice indeed. And I know I have tended to view consecration from this, a definition of my natural mans earthly perspective. The second difficulty I encounter here is making a good case for spirit, often seen as a nebulous word, which I have struggled with mightily to understand, and which has proven to be resistant to being boxed up with a pretty ribbon! But here goes my friends hold on tight we are in for a exciting ride and I hope a revealing one.
In the old testament times it was only the Priest who could enter in to the Holy of Holies Through the Vail in the Temple, so therefore it was not the Jewish people who were consecrated for this purpose, but a special representative, originally Aaron. He was marked for service as a High Priest consecrated by God. Now in these later days the Vail has been torn open, so we may have access to the very Throne Room of God, and the open door to this consecration [His presence] was made by the blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ. It was by His Representation of and for us we all became priests, when we received the Holy Spirit at our new birth. This is true consecration not of our work, but His. In order to serve Him in a way that is faithful to Gods economy it is imperative we discover how to live out this truth in our daily lives. In Matt.12:4 the ceremonial eating of the consecrated bread, [a Jewish tradition] a bread that is so sacred that it speaks of the presence of God [a theme also found in our Lords Table service] a Representative form of Him to be consumed. By this we may see this word consecration is not merely to be defined as a ceremony or personal decision, which might but aside a building or a alter or even a life for the use of God; no for us the people of the new creation, it is bound up in our positional presence in Christ, and that by faith only!
I think perhaps looking at the word constrained here as used in 2 Cor. 14-15, might serve to clarify consecration, as its meaning is brought into the lives of new testament believers by Paul's words on the actions taken in our stead by Jesus Christ. " For the love of Christ constrains us because we have judged this, that One died for all,[ therefore all died in identification and positionally with Christ]; and he died for all that those who live, may no longer live to themselves [consecration] but to Him who died for them [consecrated by His actions] and has been raised." The thing here is, that His love constrains us to take definitive action. In the original Greek this word constrained is defined thus; to press on from all sides; to one end, to forcibly limit, to confine to one object, within certain bounds, to shut up to one line or purpose, as a narrow walled road. As I look at the confining reality of this definition of how our consecrated lives can only by faith be held in our conscious understanding of Christianity as, a position we are in held there by Jesus Christ in the Fathers presence, I see I have much work to do! My friends lets go forward and learn together to accept this a most great and wonderful gift found in Him our object Jesus Christ.
" I exhort you therefore, brothers through the compassion of God to present you bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service" Rom. 12:1.. In the Hebrew language the word consecration means; " to have one's hands filled, signifying work, serving. When our hands are full we have room for nothing else. For the Priest Aaron it meant he must be totally immersed in the fact as to his mind/soul being dedicated to the service of the living God to enter into the Holy of Holies or he would die. This is the sense Paul is using here when he says "which is your reasonable service". God has called all His children to serve Him, we must be consecrated to that service by having the knowledge of our presence in Christ positionally, no room in our hands for any worldly thing or flesh natural habitation, as anything of us that functions in the old man is unacceptable to the Father. In The Fathers love He has paid the ransom with His Son's blood, shed to allow us to enter into a sanctified privilege, by His Son we have been consecrated, no longer a work or held to a legal standard as the old Testament Priest. It now is freely given by Grace to the new priest " bought with a price". Here is where our role in consecration comes in. Have we been touched by the magnitude of that offering, that scale of love, and recognized "your reasonable service" by striving to understand as much as we can of the position that places us in, and that we as Christians are contained and defined spiritually only in His Son? When we have by faith, in the words of scripture, which teaches that all we can ever be, is found in the Object Jesus Christ in Heaven before the Father, then we may accept the offer to serve and by His grace offer ourselves for service, fully consecrated
"He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit [with Him]" 1 Cor. 6:17. This is a most powerful statement. How does it apply to consecration? We are speaking here of the consecrated spirit; our spirit being defined as the mind of our new creation which is contained in our soul or personality implanted by Grace, which has been regenerated by God, positioned in His Son by our new birth and realized by The Holy Spirit in us, which makes us one spirit with Christ, a position of consecration by His power. I know, I might if asked, confuse consecration with sanctification and I must admit the concept is still difficult to grasp. But one thing I did discover by this writing is that my being consecrated to and in Jesus is by the Father, not something formed by my own decision making as in a purposeful sanctification or a volitional separation from worldly things or a methodology of making my old Adam self better. I think of a man on a dark path, he holds a light to show the way. The beam displays the next place on the path before him and he may step with confidence because of the light source provided by the lights power, showing him the illuminated path before him, where he should step. But it is the source of power which provides the means to maintain the way and he steps with a assurance of safety. When he arrives at his destination, he may then serve at that place because it was God's power, that provided the light to show him the way. He has entered by that light, and has been sanctified [separated] in a consecrated position, which is that of The Son.
"Do not present your body to sin as instruments of unrighteous; but present yourselves to God as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness" Rom 6:13. This is a urging by Paul to the Romans to realize who they are "alive from the dead," not a rule he is laying down not to sin. In our death, represented by Christ's on the cross we were sanctified [set aside] forever and also consecrated for ever. We just need to learn how we can live out that reality. The answer is by studying the Word of God! Consecration really means simply "abide" or to live in a truth. Miles Stanford put it like this. "When we accept Christ we become sons of God, because its in Him that our son ship is found. So that in receiving Him we are now associates in the Spirit to Him by representation, that is, His presence before God. Do not confuse consecration with sanctification. Consecration takes on a solemn sacred doctrinal meaning, where sanctification is to be separated or set aside from something. both are spiritual in there ultimate meaning for the Christian, but consecration as seen in the conscious mind does not call upon us to do anything, but rest in what God has already done. Unless we know that we have been sanctified in the Lord Jesus [positionally separated] we cannot respond in consecration with Him."
So my friends it once again comes down to identifying ourselves with Jesus in His death and Resurrection, and thereby we may realize our position with and in Him before the father. This will be accomplished by reckoning [count as true ] the Word of God, when it says. "As he is so are we". Take note, it does not say we shall- be as He is, but that we are right now, and He is in Heaven. Yes we will be as He is in Glory that is true, but the Bible says, "As He is, so are we in THIS world,"- not heaven, and we find ourselves there by faith only, in that position, as represented by Jesus, before the Father. We cannot be placed in a more lofty position, and it could not be any other place, there is no higher position, as He died to put us there to satisfy The Fathers Heart. The supreme act of consecration.
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