For us, the saved persons, to consecrate ourselves is a positive reaction to the Lord’s salvation. Since we have enjoyed the Lord’s great and free salvation, we spontaneously desire to repay the Lord. When we consecrate ourselves to the Lord, we allow the Lord to gain us as our repayment to Him.
1)“You are not your own...For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body” (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
The basis of our consecration to the Lord is that, since He bought us with His blood as a price (Rev. 5:9), we have become His purchased slaves. We who believe in the Lord and who are redeemed and bought by the Lord are the purchased slaves of the Lord; we are not our own, but the Lord’s. It is the Lord, not we, who has the right over us.
2)“For whether we live, we live to the Lord, or if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom. 14:8).
Since we who are redeemed and bought by the Lord belong to Him, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. This is the basis on which we consecrate ourselves to Him for His use.
1)“For the love of Christ constrains us, having judged this, that One died on behalf of all; therefore all died; and He died on behalf of all, that those who live may no longer live to themselves, but to Him who died for them and has been raised” (2 Cor. 5:14-15).
We consecrate ourselves to the Lord because His love confines and constrains us. His love compels us so that we cannot help but consecrate ourselves to Him. Since He died on our behalf, we all died; therefore, there is no need for us to die. Furthermore, He died that we may have His life to live to Him. Such love constrains us and compels us to love Him and consecrate ourselves to Him. This consecration is our gratitude for and repayment of His great love. His buying us with His precious blood to make us His purchased slaves is the basis on which we consecrate ourselves to Him. He died for us because of His love, and this love is the motive for us to consecrate ourselves to Him.
1)“I beg you therefore, brothers, through the compassions of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice...which is your most reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1).
When we consecrate ourselves to the Lord, we present ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice, unlike the people in the Old Testament who offered dead sacrifices to the Lord. As a living sacrifice that has been presented, we are holy, that is, we have separated ourselves unto the Lord for His use, and we are well-pleasing to God, satisfying His heart’s desire.
2)“Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a sweet savor unto me...two lambs of the first year without spot day by day, for a continual burnt offering” (Num. 28:2-3).
In the Old Testament, God required that His people offer the burnt offering to Him daily for His food that He could be satisfied. This typifies that, in the New Testament, we who belong to God should offer ourselves as a burnt offering daily to God for His satisfaction. The difference is that the Old Testament people offered dead sacrifices, whereas we offer living sacrifices. Although the nature of the two are different, their significance is the same, that is, to be God’s food for His satisfaction. To offer ourselves to the Lord is to be a sacrifice for His satisfaction. What matters is not what we do for the Lord, but that we satisfy Him. This is the real significance of our consecration to the Lord.
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