We had a great class yesterday at church where we discussed the 10 commandments that God gave to the nation of Israel through Moses. We didn't even talk about the 10 specifically as we focused on the need for the law... why did/does God give us "laws"? Why do we have laws in our culture? Is God punishing us or protecting us? Does this create captivity or freedom? If the law defines our sin, then what is the importance of recognizing that we are sinners? How does recognizing our sin help us understand the nature of God?... or what Jesus did for us?
Obviously, there was some riveting conversation. Through it all, we talked about how God "consecrated" Moses, and then Aaron, setting them apart for meeting with God on Mt. Sinai. We talked about what consecration means which led to wondering what the difference was between consecration and sanctification. Is consecration a state of being set apart whereas sanctification is the process of being consecrated? Are they tied that tightly together? Are they much different?
I took it upon myself to "ask the experts" and committed to bringing some insight back to the class next Sunday. I will also ask the experts to post their comments on this blog as well. If you have thoughts on this, please share with the rest of us.
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3 comments:
sanctify - from Old French, "saintifier"; really, recon as holy.
Cosecrate - Latin "consecrare", to make sacred, or set apart.
Very close in meaning, but with more a sense of OUR action in consecration; i.e., to "recon as" v. "make" sacred or holy.
My take on it is that sanctification is when God sets something apart for His use; consecration is when WE set something apart for God’s use. We wouldn’t say that we sanctified the building, but we might say that we consecrated it for use as a meeting place.
Bob Roby
I think Bob is pretty close to the mark here (lawyers are always good at definitions! :-).
In the New Testament, the Greek word “Sanctify” literally means a degree of completeness, with the possible implication of purpose or result — ‘completely, totally, entirely, wholly.’ Typically, we understand from scripture that this is something that God does in our lives – that we’re in the ongoing process of “sanctification,” of being made whole and complete by God and the work of the Spirit in our lives. Also, when the bible speaks of “the sanctified,” in the plural or in reference to a group of people, the language is referring to people who belong to God, and as such constitute a religious entity — ‘God’s people.’ Again, the implication here is a group of people who are set apart for a purpose, which is our relationship with God and living for and in Him. That’s something God does for and to us by His work and equally important is that it’s this work of God’s that gives us our identity as individuals and as a church.
The word “consecrate” both in the Hebrew and the Greek is similar, but a little different. When something is consecrated, it’s more like an offering or a sacrifice – setting something apart as sacred before God. Often scripture will speak about the bread which was set out as an offering in the presence of God in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple. This was bread that was “bread offered to God,” or consecrated bread. So the old hymn got the usage right when it said, “Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord, to Thee.” It’s asking God to allow the bread, a building (piggybacking on Bob’s comment), or even our lives to be an offering to him or something that we give back to and set apart for him.
Hope that helps to some degree.
Seth Hinrichs
Being challenged in your noteworthy HiStory class that day Steve, I've since found a description of the difference between consecration and sanctification, as explained in the profound work of Oswald Chamber's, "My Utmost For His Highest", which parallel's Bob and Seths' insights:
"We must never allow anything to interfere with the consecration of our spiritual power. (see John 17:15&16). Consecration (being dedicated to God's service) is our part; sanctification (being set apart from sin and being made holy) is God's part. We must make a deliberate determination to be interested only in what God is interested. The way to make that determination, when faced with a perplexing problem, is to ask yourself, "Is this the kind of thing in which Jesus Christ is interested, or is it something in which the spirit that is diametrically opposed to Jesus is interested?"
Thank you your faithful leadership Steve!
Denise Thomas
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