Our Consecration In The Pursuit Of God

Today, consecration is often misjudged as baseless and unnecessary in the pervasive hyper-grace Christian culture we live in. To some degree, this is not unconnected with the spread of moral liberalism in the church.

The design of the gospel is to bring the believer into a deeper relationship with God. This is a progressive, life-long experience, and not a single ‘calendar event’.

And more critically, it’s a journey that calls us to consistently dedicate our lives to God.

But the question remains; “How can broken vessels like us ever please and serve a holy God?” We can (and do), if the ground of our ‘living and serving’ is our justification by grace through faith in Christ alone, not our works.

The indispensability of sanctification for Christian growth

Our journey of faith only begins when we acknowledge and repent of our sins, accept the sacrifice of Christ for our salvation and commit to a lifelong walk of obedience to God — Acts 3:19, Romans 10:9.

But our salvation is only the first of many graces in Christ. Sanctification isn’t an exclusive experience of the apostles but an indispensable gift of grace for all true followers of Jesus.

It is the act of being made holy, purified and freed from the power of sin.

That’s why sanctification is not an incidental, one-off event, but a crucial, progressive growth in holiness and love for Jesus.

But understand that…

Our sanctification is not as a result of our good deeds, but is entirely the work of grace on God’s part in willing and yielded hearts.

God is the One making us holy, and the outworking of anything good in us is a response of that inward purification — 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24.

Our requisite consecration in the pursuit of God

To consecrate our lives to God is to devote our all to His holy purpose.

I think the issue lies in the very question posed i.e. our separation of spiritual graces as if some where optional. If we must go deep with God, we mustn’t stop at the experience of salvation.

Our consecration to God (not to a denominational creed!) is our personal expression of worship and devotion to Him.

If God owns us by creation and redemption, our consecration in prayer, maximum obedience, self denial, service and personal sacrifice demonstrates our commitment to His Lordship over us — 2 Samuel 15:15, Leviticus 20:26, Matthew 16:24, 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.

Our requisite consecration is a fundamental part of our Christian faith and walk with God, as is our initial salvation and progressive sanctification experiences — Romans 12:1-2, 1 Chronicles 29:5.

The more we yield ourselves in devotion to Christ, the more we know and experience Him.

The place of consecration

The call of God on our lives is never about our convenience. God always asks of us what is necessary for our ultimate good but may sometimes be difficult in the present.

We cannot serve God faithfully on the altar of our own convenience. If we must go far with God, convenience makes no sense.

The Cross that brought us saving grace was not convenient for Jesus.

That requires we come to a place of absolute surrender to God’s will; a place of devotion to His holy purpose. That’s the place of consecration.

Don’t miss the latest episode on my podcast: EP69: 6 Tips on Becoming Single Minded. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotify or anywhere you get your podcast.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash