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This lesson is concerning consecration. Every person should enter through the gate of consecration as soon as he is saved in order to walk the way of consecration. We will consider seven aspects of consecration.
Salvation is the beginning of a person’s spiritual life, not the conclusion. When a person is saved, he is saved once and for all; his salvation is eternal. However, being saved is merely a spiritual birth, a person’s spiritual beginning.
In the Old Testament, when the Israelites held the passover in Egypt, God told them to count that month as the first month, the beginning of the year. Even though it was not the first month of the year, they changed their calendar because God wanted them to consider the passover month as the beginning of the year. Once a person is saved, he has a new beginning before God. This is a new day in life. A person’s physical birth is the day on which he was begotten by his parents. His spiritual birth is the day he was saved and regenerated. Therefore, salvation is a beginning, not a conclusion.
After a beginning, there should be a continuation. This continuation is to present oneself to the Lord. Consecrating oneself to the Lord is the continuation of salvation.
There is a clear type of this step in the Old Testament. Exodus 12 is a record of the Israelites keeping the passover. In chapter 13 God required the children of Israel to sanctify their firstborn unto Him because they were saved through the passover. Whoever is saved by God should belong to Him. In other words, a person should offer himself to God as soon as he is saved. We should never think that our initial salvation is a conclusion. We should be clear that it is only a beginning. After being saved, we need to go on step by step. The first step is offering oneself to God.
A believer who wants to walk the way of the Lord, grow in life, and allow God to work thoroughly in him needs to offer himself to God. He needs to offer himself to God in order to enjoy all the riches in God’s salvation.
As soon as we are saved, God places us on His way so that we can follow Him. In order to follow Him, we need to give ourselves entirely to Him. We should say, “From now on I want to be led by You. I will no longer walk my own way; instead, I want to walk Your way. I will no longer decide for myself in any matter; I want You to lead me in everything. I put myself completely in Your hands to let You plan and determine every step of my way. I do not want to choose my own way. I put myself in Your hands; take me and lead me on.” In order to receive God’s leading, we need to have a definite consecration. The Lord cannot guide us if we do not entrust ourselves into His hands.
Once we are saved, there is another life in us that needs to grow. We need to give this life the opportunity to develop so that it can grow daily. Therefore, our emotion must be handed over to the Lord, our mind must be touched by the Lord, and our will must surrender to Him. Then the life in us will have an opportunity to develop. Every living organism needs a good environment in order to grow properly. Suppose we place one baby chicken in a good environment and another in a poor environment. The one in the good environment will grow to be big and strong, and the other will be small and weak. This also applies to plant life. If two trees are planted at the same time in different environments, the one in the good environment will grow tall, and the one in the poor environment will be stunted. The difference in their growth is mainly due to the environment.
All believers receive the same life of God. However, some experience much growth in life even though they have only been saved for one or two years. There are also those who have been saved for many years but who have little growth in life; rather, they seem to be withered and old. This is because some people consecrated themselves to the Lord immediately after they were saved. Thus, the life within them had an opportunity to develop. The others kept themselves in their own hands instead of offering themselves to the Lord. They did not give the Lord’s life an opportunity to develop in them. A thorough consecration to the Lord activates the function of the life within us, making it lively and strong and causing the sense of life to become sensitive. Before consecrating ourselves, we did not feel it was wrong to do certain things. After consecrating ourselves, however, the sense of life causes us to feel that these same things are wrong. Before our consecration we were confused, unable to discern what was of God. But after a thorough consecration, the function of the inner law of life is immediately manifested. Whenever we touch anything that is not of God, the law of life within us operates to give us the feeling that this is not of God; it is apart from God. Similarly, when we touch something of God, this law of life manifests its function, giving us the deep feeling that we have touched something that is pleasing to God. Therefore, the manifestation of the law of life and the growth of the sense of life enable the life in us to grow gradually.
A person who wants God to work in him must be consecrated. God has much work to do in us. Although we are saved, we still need God to work in us. The Bible says that we, the believers, are living stones. God desires to use these living stones to build His spiritual house, His dwelling place. These stones need to be dealt with by God. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are God’s masterpiece, a very special part of God’s work in the universe. God desires to work His nature, disposition, thinking, desires, wisdom, and all His virtues into our being. God works in us so that we can be conformed to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29).
Since we are not dead material, like wood or stone, God needs to have our consent before He can work in us. We are living. God will not have a way to work in us if we do not agree. God will never force us. He is a patient God; He can wait. Although He is willing to work in us, He will not proceed if we do not give our consent. He will wait until we are willing. It is true that He desires to break us, but He first needs to obtain our consent. If we say, “God, I am here, willing to be broken by You,” He can begin to break us. It is a pity that many believers have never consecrated themselves or agreed to let God work in them. They may have been saved for five, ten, twenty, or even thirty years, but there is very little of God’s work in them because they do not allow God to work. In order for God to work in us, we need to come before Him on our knees and say, “I know that You chose me and saved me because You want me to become good material for Your building. You want to do Your good works in me so that I can be conformed to the image of Your Son for the accomplishment of Your masterpiece in the universe (2 Tim. 3:17; Eph. 2:10). I agree with Your work in me. I welcome You to work in me. I offer myself to You and commit myself into Your hands. My consecration is not only for You to lead me but also for You to do a thorough work in me.” Brothers and sisters, this is a thorough consecration. Consecration is, in fact, our consent.
The blessings that we enjoy in God’s salvation are so rich! God Himself, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are our portion. Christ’s death and resurrection, His glorification, His obtaining authority over all things in heaven and on earth, and His transcending over all enemies are our portion. We gained all these at the time we were saved. However, in order to enjoy these blessings, we must be consecrated.
If we have never offered ourselves to the Lord, we have no way to enjoy the Triune God even though He dwells in us. We will also be unable to experience the Lord’s mysterious death and glorious resurrection, and the Holy Spirit will have no way of leading us into these experiences. Although we have ascended with Him and are seated together with Him in the heavenlies, we will still be earthy people in our practical living if we are not consecrated. Although the Lord’s victory is our portion, we will remain in our failures if we do not offer ourselves to Him. The Lord has received authority over all things in heaven and on earth, and this authority has also been given to us. However, in order to enjoy and experience this authority, we must be consecrated. If we do not give ourselves to the Lord and stand together with Him, we will have His authority in position but not in experience or reality. Everything that the Lord accomplished for us is ours; however, in order to experience them, we must be consecrated.
Throughout the ages those who have spoken concerning spiritual experience paid much attention to the matter of consecration. Brother Andrew Murray, who mainly spoke concerning abiding in the Lord and fellowshipping with the Lord, said that in order to experience abiding in the Lord and fellowshipping with the Lord, one must be consecrated. In The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, Hannah Whitall Smith said that if a believer wants to lead a happy life, he must be consecrated. George Müller, who spoke concerning faith, said that if one wants to have a living faith, he must consecrate himself to the Lord. There are others, who advocated gaining the power of Pentecost, who said that a person must consecrate himself in order to gain the power of Pentecost. There are also people who said that learning how to pray and becoming praying persons require consecration.
These statements are all true because consecration is a gate, a door. If we do not enter through this gate, we will remain outside; we will be unable to see and partake of the rich contents inside. When we go to a hospital, a school, or even our own home, we must enter through a door. Wherever we go, we need to enter through a door. Consecration is the gate to experiencing all the riches in God’s salvation. Whoever has not entered through this gate cannot practically experience the riches of God’s salvation.
Every believer has received God’s love, which is great. Romans 5:5 says that the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Second Corinthians 5:14 says that the love of Christ constrains us. We deserved to die and perish. However, the Lord died for us. The love that caused the Lord to die for us constrains us. It would be difficult for any Christian who meditates on this love not to be touched or constrained by this great love of the Lord. We cannot but respond to this moving and constraining love. Our response is spontaneous. The love of God constrains us inwardly when He requires something of us. The love of God leads us to answer God’s requirement, saying, “I am willing to offer myself to You. Even though I have nothing but my dreadful self, all I can do is offer myself entirely to You.” Presenting ourselves to God in this way is a response to His love.
Romans 12:1 says, “I exhort you therefore, brothers, through the compassions of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice.” This is the constraining of God’s love and His requirement on us. With this love we should respond to God and say, “I have no way to repay Your love; any repayment is beyond me. I can only present myself to You.” When someone expresses his love for us, how can we not respond? Dear saints, we have received such a great love from God. How can we not respond to God’s love?
Offering ourselves to God is also to grant Him the right that He deserves in regard to us. First Corinthians 6:19-20 says that we are not our own because we have been bought with a price. This price is the precious blood shed by the Lord on the cross. The Lord has bought us with His blood. Since the Lord has purchased us, He has authority over us and we belong to Him, just as we own whatever we pay for.
Questions of use are never a factor in regard to the material things we own. This, however, is not the case with those who have received grace. Although God has purchased us, He can be prevented from enjoying His right over us if we disagree with His use of us. Therefore, it is necessary for us to consecrate ourselves. Consecration is our allowing God to have the right that He deserves. We need to say, “Lord, since You bought me with a price, I do not belong to myself; I am Yours. I yield all authority to You. I am Your bondslave. From now on You have authority over me, and I give myself to You forever. I do not want to run away or be unlawful, just as Onesimus was unlawful when he ran away from his master (Philem. 15-16). Therefore, I present myself to You; I give myself to You.”
Romans 14:7-8 says, “None of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself; for whether we live, we live to the Lord, and whether we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore whether we live or we die, we are the Lord’s.” We each belong to God. We belong to God not only while we are living but also after we die. We need to consecrate ourselves to God as an acknowledgment of His authority over us and as an indication that we allow Him to have the right that He deserves. Our consent to God’s authority over us is because of His constraining love and because of the price He paid to purchase us. Every new believer should indicate such willingness before the Lord.
Although our consecration to the Lord is for Him to use us to satisfy His wishes, we must first become a sacrifice before we can be for God. We cannot be for God unless we have first become a sacrifice. Becoming a sacrifice is a major step in consecration. It is possible for us to appear consecrated yet not be a sacrifice. There are three important points to being a sacrifice.
Once an offering is presented as a sacrifice, its position is changed. It has lost its former position and is now on the altar. No matter if it is a lamb or a bull, once it is offered as a sacrifice, its position is changed. It was formerly with the flock or the herd; it is now on the altar.
Once an offering is presented as a sacrifice, its function or use is also changed. Formerly, a lamb or bull was used by people in the world, but once it is placed on the altar, it can no longer be used by them. It is now for God’s enjoyment. Therefore, an offering that is presented as a sacrifice experiences not only a change in position but also a change in use. Hence, consecration is not merely a matter of uttering a few sentences of prayer; consecration is to present oneself as a sacrifice. The result of this kind of consecration is that our position and use are changed. Formerly, we were in the world; now we are on God’s altar. Formerly, we lived for our family, wife, husband, children, parents, and the world; now we live for God.
We all know that a sacrifice is not something common. Before being offered as a sacrifice, any object is common. Once it is offered as a sacrifice, however, it is separated. Thus, once a person consecrates himself, he is separated unto God; he is a living sacrifice presented to God. His position is changed, and his use is changed as well.
Everything that is presented as a sacrifice must pass through the process of God’s dealings, especially if it is presented as a burnt offering. The sacrifice spoken of in Romans 12:1 focuses on the burnt offering. In order for a bull or a lamb to be presented as a burnt offering, it must be slaughtered, flayed, cut into pieces, washed, laid on the altar, and consumed by fire until it becomes a heap of ashes. A sacrifice that is burnt to ashes has been thoroughly dealt with; even if there are further dealings, it will remain a heap of ashes. At this point the sacrifice is a sweet savor for God’s enjoyment.
It is a pity that many Christians are “willing” to consecrate themselves to God but are unwilling to be dealt with by Him. They are like bulls or lambs that have not been slaughtered, flayed, cut into pieces, washed, or consumed by fire. They remain untouched and unchanged; they remain entirely natural. Only those who have been dealt with by God are for God. Only after God has dealt with us in this way can our service be in resurrection, no longer a natural service. Only after we have been dealt with by God in this way can our work be in resurrection and a sweet savor unto Him. Many people today love the Lord zealously. Although they have consecrated themselves to God, they still have a very strong natural flavor. This is because they are unwilling to be stripped by God; they have not allowed God to consume them. They cannot be used by God because their self is unchanged. God cannot use their bad qualities nor even their good qualities because these qualities are still natural. A person can be used by God only when he has been dealt with by God, just as a sacrifice must be slaughtered, flayed, cut into pieces, washed, and burned to ashes until its appearance is completely changed. At this point his position, use, and appearance have all changed, and he has become a heap of ashes. In the eyes of men these ashes are nothing, but to God they are a sweet savor. Only this kind of person can be for God and can be used by God to satisfy His wishes.
We now need to consider the practice of consecration, that is, how to practice consecration.
Consecration is a gate, and we must be determined to enter through this gate. Consecration is entering through a gate. We cannot regard this as a doctrine. A person who has not consecrated himself is outside of the gate. Only a person who has consecrated himself is inside of the gate. Therefore, we need to enter through this gate with determination.
We need to have thorough prayer in which we confess our sins and hand ourselves over to God. The sins, mistakes, contamination, and corruption that we sense before God need to be confessed one by one. All that we are, all that we have, and our everything then need to be handed over to God. We cannot casually and generally say, “God, I consecrate everything to You.” This is insufficient. We need to thoroughly hand everything over, item by item. We need to hand ourselves over to the Lord. We need to hand over our wife, husband, and children to the Lord. We also need to hand over our education, career, future, and everything to the Lord. This is similar to a merchant selling his business. He hands over everything of his business, including furniture and stock, to the buyer. We should have this type of prayer alone before God. For some Christians, consecration is like a second salvation. Therefore, the more thorough it is, the better.
Consecration is not only a gate but also a path. In all spiritual matters we must first step inside the gate and then walk on the path. The principle in the Bible is not to walk on the path and then enter through the gate. The biblical principle is that we first enter through the gate and then walk on the path (Matt. 7:13-14). This is the God-ordained order. Therefore, after we enter through the gate of consecration, we must continue to walk on the path of consecration. Although entering through the gate is once and for all, walking on the path requires a continual renewing, a daily consecration. Numbers 28 and 29 show a type of consecration. God charged the Israelites to offer the burnt offering daily. They had to daily offer the burnt offering in the morning and in the evening. They could not say that they had offered a sacrifice yesterday and therefore did not need to offer one today. Consecration, like eating, is a daily matter. Furthermore, the Israelites had to present burnt offerings on every Sabbath, at the beginning of every month, and during every feast. They also had to present an offering at other important times. This shows that after we have entered through the gate of consecration, we need to consecrate ourselves before God every morning. The first thing we should say after we get up every morning is, “Lord, I place myself in Your hands again this morning.” At night when the day is over, we should go before Him again and say, “I give myself to You again.” When we need to do specific things, we need to say, “Lord, I present myself to You once again.” Whether we are going to study, teach, take up a post in the government, give a message, or visit the brothers, we should first present a burnt offering, consecrating ourselves to God. Even if we want to see a movie, we should first kneel down before the Lord and say, “Lord, I am a consecrated person. I want to see a movie, but I acknowledge my consecration to You!” Once we acknowledge our consecration in this way, we will be clear whether we should go to see the movie or not. When we are about to quarrel with our spouse, we should acknowledge our consecration first. Once we do this, we will know whether we should quarrel or not. Therefore, we need to live a life of consecration practically. Consecration is not only a gate but also a path. After entering through the gate, we need to walk on the path.
God accepts every sacrifice that is presented to Him. He even accepts a sacrifice presented to Him by mistake. God burns every sacrifice that is placed on the altar. To accept is to burn. Therefore, we should not be concerned with whether God will accept our sacrifice but only with whether we are consecrated. God accepts every consecration. Even if our consecration is not completely sincere, it will eventually become real; a partial consecration will become a full consecration. Whoever puts himself on the altar cannot run away from it. God accepts whatever we put on the altar. Therefore, we should believe that our consecration has been accepted by God. We will be accepted as long as we consecrate ourselves to God. We also need to be aware of Satan’s cunningness. He either tries to hold people back so that they will not consecrate themselves, or he causes those who have consecrated themselves to doubt God’s acceptance of their consecration. Once a person consecrates himself to God, Satan always whispers in his ear, “Your consecration is not solid, not thorough, not pleasing to God; it has no value and is insignificant. Your consecration is meaningless.” Satan makes us doubt our consecration. He always works in these two ways. Therefore, we need to guard against his schemes and reject his words. We must stand on the ground of our consecration and say to him, “Even if our consecration is not thorough, and even if it is not fully genuine, God has accepted it. God does not question the things placed on the altar. God accepts them all.”
The experiences of many Christians confirm this. Many people consecrated themselves to the Lord when they were young. Afterward, they began to love the world and became prosperous. After ten or twenty years God still called them back to the ground of the consecration they made in their youth. Even though they had long forgotten the consecration made in their youth, God did not.
Jacob’s consecration in Genesis 28 was a kind of bargaining. He said to God, “If You will be with me and keep me in this way that I go and give me bread to eat and garments to put on, so that I return to my father’s house in peace, then You will be my God.” In other words, if God would not keep him, not give him food, not give him clothing, and not bring him back to his father’s house in peace, he would not take Him as his God. Jacob’s consecration had conditions. When Jacob went to Paddan-aram and stayed there for twenty years, he completely forgot his consecration. God, however, not only took care of his food and clothing but also gave him two large camps. Although he returned home in an imposing manner with two large camps of wives, children, cattle, rams, and servants, he had forgotten about his consecration. But God had not forgotten. When Jacob was living in Shechem, God came to him and told him to arise and return to Bethel. God wanted him to return to Bethel, the place of his consecration. Man can forget his consecration, but God never forgets. Jacob’s consecration in Genesis 28 was not completely sincere and proper. Our consecration is probably much better than his. His consecration was an attempt to bargain with God. Nevertheless, God did not reject Jacob’s consecration. God remembered it. Thus, once we consecrate ourselves, God counts it and accepts it.
Once a man presents himself to God, he is in the hands of God. God can wait ten, twenty, or even fifty years for him. In God’s eyes, ten years are about the same as twenty years. Eventually, God will gain him. After more than twenty years, God told Jacob, “Go back to Bethel to set up an altar for Me. I am the One who appeared to you when you were running away from your brother. You made a vow and consecrated yourself to Me there. You need to go back to the ground where you first consecrated yourself.” Therefore, the Bible and the experiences of the saints show that God always accepts a person’s consecration.
No one can revoke his consecration. Anything that has been presented on the altar cannot be taken back. Leviticus 27 reveals that any offering a man presents to Jehovah is holy. He may not exchange or substitute either a good one for a bad one or a bad one for a good one, but if he attempts to substitute an animal for an animal, then both it and its substitute are holy (v. 10). Whatever is offered on the altar cannot be taken back or exchanged because God has accepted it forever. Likewise, when a person consecrates himself to God, the consecration is irrevocable.
A person who has consecrated himself is different from a person who has never consecrated himself, just as a person who is married is different from a person who has never been married. Even a person who is divorced has no way to annul the fact that he has been married. Similarly, a person who has consecrated himself is still consecrated, even if he falls, fails, or stumbles. Such a person is still different from someone who has never consecrated himself. Likewise, a consecrated person who has fallen and failed is different from an unconsecrated person who has fallen and failed. Our first experience of receiving God’s grace is salvation; our second experience is consecration. A sinner needs to be saved, and a saved person needs to be consecrated. A person in the world needs to be saved to become a Christian. After becoming a Christian, he needs to consecrate himself in order to walk the way of the Lord, to live the life of the Lord, to let the Lord work in him, and to enjoy the riches of God’s salvation. Only in this way can he be a proper Christian to enjoy the blessings that God has prepared in Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters, consecration is a gate. We need to enter through this gate with determination. Consecration is also a path. After we enter through the gate of consecration, we need to walk on the path of consecration, renewing our consecration daily and continually. Moreover, once we consecrate ourselves, we need to believe that our consecration has been accepted by God and can neither be revoked nor altered.
