Consecration in the Bible

Consecration is the act of being set apart wholly for God, devoted to His purposes and separated from anything that defiles. The clearest New Testament summons appears in Romans 12:1, where Paul appeals to believers to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is their reasonable worship. Consecration is therefore not a one-time religious ceremony but a continual, deliberate yielding of the whole self to the Lord. The Old Testament roots this idea deeply in the call to holiness. In Leviticus 20:7 God commands, 'Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy, for I am the LORD your God,' and Leviticus 11:44 grounds that holiness in God's own character: 'Be ye holy; for I am holy.' First Peter 1:16 carries the same command into the church age, showing that consecration flows from the unchanging nature of God rather than from human achievement. To be consecrated is to mirror, however imperfectly, the holiness of the One who redeems us. Consecration also carries the expectation of fruitful service. Second Timothy 2:21 teaches that whoever cleanses himself becomes a vessel unto honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. Holiness and usefulness are joined; the cleansed life is the equipped life. In Exodus 19:6 Israel is called a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, a corporate consecration that the church inherits as it represents God to the world. Finally, consecration prepares us to encounter God's power. In Joshua 3:5 Joshua tells the people, 'Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.' Setting ourselves apart is the doorway through which God's mighty works often come. Consecration is both gift and discipline, worked in us by grace yet pursued by daily obedience.