CONSECRATION PART I
  1. The basis of consecration - God’s purchase (I Cor. 6:19-20)
    1. Once a person is saved, he should consecrate himself to the Lord. To be saved without being consecrated is a very abnormal condition. When we consecrate ourselves to the Lord, we allow the Lord to gain us as our repayment to Him. However, we need to have a basis for whatever we do. The purchasing for example, is the basis upon which we move into a house to own it and live in it.
    2. When God therefore, demands that we consecrate ourselves to Him, it can not be without basis. In this matter, He has a very solid basis, that is, His purchase. He has already bought us (I Cor. 6:20). He can, therefore, demand that we consecrate ourselves to Him. Just like when you pay ten dollars for a certain merchandise, then you can demand that it be turned over to you and claim that it belongs to you. This demanding is based upon your purchase. The basis of consecration is exactly the same.
    3. God has bought us with a great price by His blood on the cross (I Pet. 1:19). God used this precious blood as the price (Rev. 5;9) to buy us, that we may belong to Him. Thus we are not our own but the Lord’s (I Cor. 6:19). It is now the Lord who has the right over us and not we.
    4. Following the Lord is not always exciting, and serving Him is not always pleasant. Therefore, we must strongly realized that we were bought by God, and that the right of ownership over us has been transferred to God. Thus, regardless of our condition we have to hand over ourselves to Him. When, we thus, realize the basis of our consecration, our consecration is stable and secure.
    5. Every time we depart from the position of consecration, we should feel that we are in the state of rebellion similar to that of Onesimus, the slave who fled from his master. And we should realize that not to turn over purchased merchandise to the buyer is lawlessness. Thus, not consecrating ourselves to the Lord for His use is to be guilty of the sin Satan committed against God - the sin of rebellion and lawlessness!
  2. The motive of consecration - God’s love (II Cor. 5:14-15)
    1. If the things which God purchased were inanimate objects, such as a chair or a garment, He could proceed directly to use them as He pleases. But what God has redeemed today are living persons, each with a mind, an affection, and a will. Although God has the legal right and basis to possess us, we may not be happy or have the heart to let Him have us. Therefore He must move our heart and give us the motive of love so that our consecration will be sweet and intense.
    2. Our consecration should be like the marriage relationship between husband and wife; a relationship that does not only rest on the basis of right, but the more on love. If our consecration has love as its motive, if our feelings have been touched by the love of God, the constraint of this love will cause us to consecrate ourselves willingly and happily to Him who died for us (II Cor. 5:14-15). He died for us because of His love, and His love is the motive for us to consecrate ourselves to Him.
  3. The meaning of consecration - to be a sacrifice (Rom. 12:1)
    1. The meaning of consecration is to be a sacrifice. A sacrifice is something set apart from its original position and usage and is laid on God’s altar, specifically for Him. In the Old Testament men offered dead sacrifices like bullocks and rams to the Lord. The principle is this: The bullock originally lived in a corral and was for plowing the field and drawing the carts. Now it is taken out from the corral and brought beside the altar. There is a change in its position. Then it is killed, placed on the altar, and consumed by fire to be a sweet smelling savor unto God. This is a change in its usage. Thus, this bullock becomes a sacrifice. After the bullock was offered as a sacrifice, it leaves the hand of the offerer and can no longer be used for his own advantage and enjoyment. All the sacrifices on the altar belong to God and are for His use and enjoyment. To put it simply, to be a sacrifice means to be offered to God for His use.
    2. In the New Testament we offer ourselves as a living sacrifice (Rom.12:1). There are also these two aspects: one is a change in our position, and the other is a change in our usage. Formerly we were in our own hands; now we are in the hands of God - a changed in position. Formerly we lived for ourselves and we were toward the world; now we are set apart solely for God - a changed in usage.
    3. In the Old Testament God required that His people offer the burnt offering (an offering burnt to produce a sweet savor) to Him daily for His food that He could be satisfied. This typifies that, in the New Testament we who belong to God should offer ourselves us a burnt offering daily to God for His satisfaction. To offer ourselves to the Lord is to be a sacrifice for His satisfaction.
  4. The purpose of consecration - to work for God
    1. The purpose of consecration is to be used by God, to work for God. But in order that we may work for God, we must first let God work.
    2. If the burnt offerings (bullocks and rams) were not thoroughly work out by God, that is, not consumed by fire, they would be raw and foul smelling and could never be acceptable or pleasing to God. Likewise, if we do not let God work first, our work and service will be raw, untempered, and foul-smelling. It can not please Him nor be accepted by Him. If ten persons work for Him without allowing Him to work first then these ten persons will end up quarreling and will be inevitably divided.
  5. The results of consecration
    1. First, we become slaves bought by the Lord, submitting to His authority in all things (I Cor. 7:22-23).
    2. Second, the Lord has our consent to freely mold us (Eph. 2:10; Isa. 64:8).
    3. Third, our members become weapons of and slaves to righteousness that we may be freed from sin, no longer being lorded over by sin, unto sanctification (Rom. 6:13-14, 19).
    4. Fourth, we become nothing, like ashes before men and become delightful, sweet savor to God typified by the offering of the burnt sacrifice in the Old Testament (Lev. 1:9). Hence, a truly consecrated man, is a man who has given up his future. He is like a bullock who has immediatiely cut off from all his previous relationships with people, matters, and things in the world after being offered as a burnt sacrifice to God. He no longer hopes to be famous both in the secular and religious world. He no longer hopes for himself in anything; all his hope is in God. His future, his hope is God. He lives purely and simply in the hand of God; he is what God wants to be and does what God wants him to do.