The second stage of the experience of life usually begins with consecration. Many Christians wait until they are consecrated before they abide in Christ, have fellowship with Christ, and thus enjoy and experience Christ. We can say, therefore, that the first experience of the second stage of spiritual life is consecration.
In a normal condition these two experiences, salvation and consecration, are closely related. A saved person should be a consecrated person. Once a person is saved, he should consecrate himself to the Lord. To be saved without being consecrated is a very abnormal condition. Our gospel work must be done strongly to such an extent that people will immediately consecrate themselves as soon as they are saved.
Concerning the experience of consecration there are five main points: the basis of consecration, the motive of consecration, the meaning of consecration, the purpose of consecration, and the result of consecration. These five points include all the content of consecration. We come now to look into this experience of consecration according to these points.
The first main point is the basis of consecration. On what basis must we consecrate ourselves to God? On what basis does God require us to consecrate ourselves to Him? We need to have a basis for whatever we do. For example, when we move into a house and live in it, it is because we have paid a price and rented or bought it. This renting or purchasing is the basis upon which we live there. When a creditor takes action to obtain payment of debt from someone, it is because the other party is indebted to him. The debt is the creditor’s basis for seeking payment. Our God is one who is most legal and one who acts most reasonably. All His doings are legal and have a basis. He cannot obtain something in the universe without paying a price, and He also cannot demand something from us without a basis. When God, therefore, demands that we consecrate ourselves to Him, it cannot be without a basis. In this matter, He has a very solid basis, that is, His purchase. He has already bought us. He can, therefore, demand that we consecrate ourselves to Him.
First Corinthians 6:20 says: “Ye were bought with a price.” Our consecration is based on this purchase of God. For instance, you may go to the Gospel Bookroom and see a great number of books on display, but you cannot help yourself to any of them, because you have no basis for doing so. But if you pay three dollars for one of the volumes, then you can demand that the book be turned over to you and claim that it belongs to you. This demanding is based upon your purchase. The basis of consecration is exactly the same. How can God demand that we consecrate ourselves to Him? The reason is that He has bought us. Some think that the reason for consecrating ourselves to God is because God has created us. This is not right. Consecration is not based on God’s creation; it is based on God’s purchase. In Exodus 13:2 we see that after the Passover, God commanded the Israelites, saying, “Sanctify unto me all the first-born.” The reason for this command is that all these first-born were redeemed by God through the death of the lamb. They were bought by God with the blood of the lamb. To purchase is to acquire the right of ownership. When God has bought us, He then has the right of ownership, that is, He has a basis to demand that we turn ourselves over to Him to belong to Him. The basis of consecration, therefore, is God’s purchase.
God has bought us with none other than the precious blood shed by His beloved Son on the cross (1 Pet. 1:19). How great “a price” (1 Cor. 6:20) is this precious blood! God used this precious blood as the price to buy us, that we may belong to Him.
We may further ask, From what did God buy us? Some think that God has bought us from the rule of Satan, or that God has bought us from the bondage of sin, or that God has bought us from the world. But these concepts are not in accordance with the truth. To purchase a thing implies the recognition that the original right of ownership is legal; therefore, one must use the legal means-purchasing-to obtain that right of ownership. The rule of Satan, the bondage of sin, and the usurpation of the world are all illegal. God never admits that these are legal. It is not necessary, therefore, for God to purchase us with a price from Satan, sin, and the world. Satan, sin, and the world seized us by illegal means, captured us, and dominated us. God saved us from these by the saving work of the Lord at the cross. In this aspect, therefore, it is salvation and not purchase.
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