WE continue where we left off in Principles of Spiritual Growth at Chapter 9, Consecration – “The Way Up, Is Down.” Reading on, we are in an area of discussion where caution is needed, because there are assumptions that can lead one adrift. However, as my Pastor has pointed out on several occasions, we can appreciate the teaching of a particular author in one area, even though he might be off the mark in another. This is why being grounded in the fundamentals is so important; why our Standards of the Faith hold such significant place in keeping us on track as we read, study, and learn from others of whom we may differ in some areas of thought and practice.
“In essentials unity, nonessentials liberty, in all things charity” – RM
HAVING said that, here are a couple of things to note before we look to today’s consideration. The book of Romans is often called the Christian’s constitution, and that it is in many ways. Each chapter builds on the next the case for our liberty from sin and freedom to live as we ought in Christ. Next, central to that liberty is our union in and with Christ. – Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed (John 8:36). That freedom is total, even though not always realized – freedom from the stain of sin, power of sin, and condemnation of sin. This liberty is tied to our union and identification to Christ. These things are often summed up and referred to as Identification Truths.
THE author mentions these “Identification Truths” and the connection they have with the historic Keswick Conferences, with a right inference of warning. He also mentions how the centrality of the Cross, and our identity to that completed work of Christ upon it, has been glossed over by many in the Church. I believe that is true in many ways, to which I will have more to say in the next posting.
SO, with that lead in, we will finish Chapter 9 in Principles of Spiritual Growth, titled Consecration.
With highest regards in Christ,
Joe
Neh. 8:10; Isa. 30:15; Jas. 1:2
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Chapter 9—Consecration …. conclusion
“Yield [present] yourselves unto God, as … alive from the dead” (Rom. 6:13). “This is the true place of consecration. For believers to ‘consecrate themselves to God’ ere they have learnt their union with Christ in death and resurrection (identification) is only to present to God the members of the natural man, which He cannot accept. Only those ‘alive from the dead’—that is, having appropriated fully their likeness with Him in death—are bidden to present their members as instruments unto God” (JPL).
“God asks us to present our bodies as living sacrifices to Him (Rom. 12:1). Until we have done this there is nothing else we can do. Notice this exhortation comes after Romans six. There is a reason for this order—crucifixion comes before consecration. Uncrucified self refuses to be consecrated. This is why so many people with all sincerity walk down the aisles again and again, consecrating uncrucified self to God” (H. D.).
This is why the identification truths must be carefully and thoroughly presented, ultimately understood and their reality entered into. We cannot even get as far as consecration without them! Many feel that identification is an “emphasis,” an interesting subject ministered at a few Deeper Life Conferences and Keswick Conventions. But these truths are not peripheral, they are foundational. “The sixth of Romans is not an aspect of the truth, but the foundation truth upon which every believer must stand to know anything about victory” (DF). “All the (identification) truths we have learned about the cross, of our death with Christ, our death to sin with Him, of our conformity to death like the grain of wheat falling into the ground to die, are preparatory to the overcoming life. They are the foundation of, and fundamental to it” (JPL).
“A careful study of all the Epistles of Paul will show that they are written on the basis of the cross set forth in Romans six—the fact that God consigns the old fallen Adam-life to the cross, and has nothing to say to it. God deals with all believers on the ground—‘In Christ you died.’ But the Church of Christ, as a whole, ignores this fact. It treats the fallen creation (self-life) as capable of improvement, and the meaning of the cross bringing to death the old Adam race as fallen beyond repair, is thus nullified” (DF)
