What is consecration?

To consecrate is to set apart for God. The Hebrew verb qadash means to make or declare holy,¹ and the New Testament word for presenting oneself to God is paristemi, to place at someone's disposal.² Eli Brayley gave the plain sense: "Here is the meaning of the word consecration: set apart for the Lord's use."³ E. M. Bounds gave a fuller definition: "Consecration is the voluntary set dedication of one's self to God, an offering definitely made, and made without any reservation whatever."⁴

In the Old Testament

Priests, altars and vessels were set apart for God's service, and what had been consecrated was no longer for common use. The idea was also applied to people offering themselves. When David gathered materials for the temple he asked, "Now who will volunteer to consecrate himself to the LORD today?" (1 Chronicles 29:5). Consecration was to be willing.

A living sacrifice

The central New Testament text is Paul's appeal: "Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship" (Romans 12:1). Three things stand out. It is addressed to brothers, to people already saved. It rests on God's mercy, set out in the eleven chapters before it, so that consecration answers grace and does not earn it. And it concerns the body, the actual life a person lives with hands, eyes and tongue. A. W. Tozer said, "Consecration is not difficult for the person who has met God."⁵

Giving back what is his

Consecration begins with the question of ownership. Paul writes, "You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). David prayed at the temple offering, "everything comes from You, and from Your own hand we have given to You" (1 Chronicles 29:14). Andrew Murray built a sermon on that verse. He said, "I have nothing but what actually and definitely belongs to God."⁶ And of the giving: "It is our privilege and honour to give back to God what we receive from Him."⁶ He opened his addresses on absolute surrender with the words, "God claims it from us."⁷

An act of the will

Strong feeling at a meeting is not consecration, though it may accompany it. F. B. Meyer said, "Consecration is not the act of our feelings but of our will."⁸ J. R. Miller carried it further: "Consecration is not a feeling -- it is a life."⁹ It is also more than activity. Bounds warned, "Consecration is much more than a life of so-called service."⁴ The churches of Macedonia are the pattern: "they gave themselves first to the Lord" (2 Corinthians 8:5).

Set apart from the world

What is given to God is taken out of other hands. Brayley said, "Once we are dedicated we then must be separated."³ Paul's next sentence in Romans says the same: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2). The believer is to "present the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness" and no longer to sin (Romans 6:13). This is not withdrawal from ordinary life. It is a change of master within it.

Without reserve

The point of difficulty is usually one thing held back. Jesus said, "any one of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:33). L. E. Maxwell asked, "O hesitating believer, are we not ready to sign away our rights and reserves for all coming days?"¹⁰ Christ "died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was raised again" (2 Corinthians 5:15).

Consecration and sanctification

The two are related and distinct. Dougan Clark put it in a sentence: "Consecration is our own act; sanctification is God's act."¹¹ Samuel Logan Brengle agreed on the need: "Of course, men must be consecrated -- that is, given up to God -- in order to be sanctified."¹² But he warned against stopping there: "So, sanctification is the result not only of giving, but also of receiving."¹² His picture was Elijah on Carmel. The prophet built the altar and laid the sacrifice on it, and then "the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the sacrifice" (1 Kings 18:38). The offering was Elijah's part. The fire was God's. Paul prays, "may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely" (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

The holiness and Keswick movements often taught consecration as a definite crisis after conversion. Reformed writers have agreed that wholehearted dedication is every Christian's calling while questioning whether it should be taught as a second, once-for-all experience. Both hold that it must be lived out daily.

An act of faith

Because God must do what the believer cannot, consecration involves trust. Murray said, "Consecration is an act of faith, a part of the glorious life of faith."¹³ Brengle said, "Waiting on God empties us that we may be filled."¹² A. B. Simpson saw it as an exchange in which the believer gains far more than he gives: "Consecration is taking Jesus fully in exchange for our own miserable lives."¹⁴

Here am I

Isaiah's call shows the order. He saw the Lord and said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined." His lips were touched with the coal and he was told, "your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for." Only then did he hear the question and answer, "Here am I. Send me!" (Isaiah 6:5-8). Cleansing came before service.

The pattern of Christ

Jesus said of himself, "For them I sanctify Myself, so that they too may be sanctified by the truth" (John 17:19). He set himself apart to the Father's will, all the way to the cross. The believer's consecration follows his: "I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20).

A vessel for the Master

Brayley said, "Consecration is the key to all spiritual success."³ Paul describes the result: "if anyone cleanses himself of what is unfit, he will be a vessel for honor: sanctified, useful to the Master, and prepared for every good work" (2 Timothy 2:21).