THE SECOND CRISIS IN CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE
02 -- CONSECRATION
Consecration is not sanctification; but is the human side of
sanctification. As the promise of sanctification is never given to sinners, so
the call to consecration is never given to sinners. The attitude of a sinner
being that of rebellion, he can simply surrender, and repent of his sins. But writing
to believers, the Apostle Paul said, "I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." (Rom. 12:1.)
Hence, we see that the call to consecration is to the "brethren;" the
incentive to consecration, "the mercies of God;" and the object of
consecration is, that they might be "transformed," and "prove
what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
Here is one reason why a person is not sanctified when
converted: the conditions are entirely different. A sinner must do one thing in
order to be converted, while a believer must do entirely a different thing in
order to be wholly sanctified. Indeed, it would be utterly impossible for a
sinner to present himself "a living sacrifice," seeing he is
"dead in trespasses and sins;" not until after the soul has been
quickened into newness of life can he present himself "a living
sacrifice." The struggle of the sinner, in his surrender of himself to
God, is to give up what is evil; the struggle of the believer in making his consecration
is to give up what is good: -- his time, his plans, his possessions, himself,
his all, to God.
Nor is an objective consecration sufficient. By an objective
consecration we mean a consecration or devotement to a certain work, as being
consecrated to the work of a deaconess, or the work of a missionary, or the
work of the ministry, There are multitudes of persons who are objectively
consecrated -- consecrated to certain lines of religious work, -- who,
nevertheless, are not wholly sanctified. The consecration necessary to entire
sanctification is rather, what may be termed, a subjective consecration. The
purpose of a subjective consecration is not, primarily, to do something for
Him, but rather to let Him do something for us. In other words, a person must
needs consecrate himself unconditionally to the Lord, for the express and
specific purpose of letting the
Lord completely purify and sanctify the soul; and not only
so, but when such consecration is made, and all is upon the altar, there still
remains one more step to be taken, to wit, the step of faith. Having fully met
conditions, faith must take God at His word, and believe that He doeth it. We
are "sanctified by faith." (Acts 26:18.)
Real consecration includes all we have, and all we ever will
have; all we are, and all we ever will be; all we know and all we ever will
know, for time and eternity; and is the pledge of an eternal "yes" to
all the will of God. It is not sufficient for a person to say, "I have
given up all I know," but must include all we do not know; all He may
reveal in the future. Such person can never reconsecrate. They who habitually reconsecrate
are simply playing at consecration and have never yet learned the real meaning
of consecration. But where a real death-bed consecration has been made, and the
last point yielded to God, so that there is a glad "yes" down deep in
the soul to all the will of God, faith becomes spontaneous, and the soul will
realize that the altar sanctifieth the gift. (Matt. 23:19.)
The minister who says that sanctification simply means
consecration, is either exceedingly ignorant on this subject, or else is willfully
mis-stating the case; he cannot consult any dictionary or lexicon of authority,
but what he will find that the word sanctification has the two-fold meaning:
consecration, or "setting apart," which is the human side; and
purification, making free from sin, and making holy, which is the divine side.
"Give yourself to God in all things, if you would have
God give himself to you."-- Upham.
The language of real consecration is,
"I am willing
To receive what Thou givest,
To lack what Thou withholdest,
To relinquish what Thou takest,
To suffer what Thou inflictest,
To be what Thou requirest,
To do what Thou commandest.
Amen."
