Lord’s Day, Vol. 11 No. 30
Consecration
Romans 12:1-2 (KJV) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Consecrate yourself to God by offering your body to God. The word “present” means “to offer”. This is the word translated “to yield” in Romans 6:13 and 6:16. Offer yourselves unto God or yield yourself still to the world, the flesh, and the devil. Yielding of the body, its members as instruments for righteousness unto God.
Romans 6:13 (KJV) Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
This is the sacrifice that is holy, “unblemished”, “pure”.
Once we present ourselves – I beseech you by the mercies of God. It is only when we present ourselves then we know the will of God. It starts here. We do not appreciate the Word of God because our mind is not renewed. It is still worldly and carnal. But the body is the biggest hindrance. So, offer up your body and be renewed then you can understand and appreciate the will of God. All of this is recorded (OT) so that we know the works of the flesh, seeing how God judge sin in the flesh, and then we learn to deny ourselves.
Romans 6:16 (KJV) Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Offering yourself in the Lord’s service, the word “service” means “worship”. Offer yourself in worship to God, in the service of God.
Why? This body is temporal and has problem. The problem of sin. The body is carnal, fleshly and earthly. How to deal with this body? How to deal with this problem? Paul’s advice to offer up.
Romans 6:6 (KJV) Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
This consecration is expressed in Galatians 2:20 and 5:24 and in Ephesians 4:22.
Galatians 2:20 (KJV) I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Galatians 5:24 (KJV) And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Ephesians 4:22 (KJV) That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
Also, Ephesians 4:23-24 (KJV) And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
What does it mean to offer up as a living sacrifice?
It does not mean abstaining and punishing to curb bodily desires.
Martin Luther would punish himself by walking up the steps of the monastery on his knees, by the afflicting of his body. In Chinese: 苦行僧：三步一跪. This is not useful.
Paul called this body of death. Therefore, the best way out is to offer it up to the Lord. The flesh is like gravity, constantly there, pulling us down, till the day we part with this body. Even after becoming a believer for one hundred years, the flesh is still there!
What do you mean by offering the body? Paul uses the example of the Old Testament offering at the altar, the sacrifice is cut and offered up. It’s like cutting yourself. Cut it and let it burn – it means we have to really deny ourselves.
Romans 7:24 (KJV) O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
He describes the problem of sin in him.
Romans 7:18-20 (KJV) For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Romans 7:21-24 (KJV) I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
The biblical understanding is that body will always be against the Spirit. The way is to mortify it by the Spirit.
Luke 9:23-25 (KJV) And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?
Mark 8:35-38 (KJV) For whosoever will save his
life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
How? Experientially – in the situation of the flesh, the word of God will emerge in your mind. There will be a reminder.
This is the flesh, don’t fulfil the lust of the flesh or don’t comply. The moment when you decide to obey the reminder it is called walking in the Spirit.
Galatians 5:16-17 (KJV) This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
“Walk” means to make progress in your spiritual life. It is a command. We are to do so continuously. In short, we have to make a choice each time the Holy Spirit prompts us of the carnality of the flesh seeking to overwhelm us to say “no”! This verse is giving to us a promise that when you depend on the Holy Spirit, you will not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
You have been freed from the bondage of sin by your faith in Christ’s finished work. And He has given to you this freedom. Before your salvation, we are not able not to sin. After your salvation, you are able not to sin. And you have to exercise this choice for your spiritual benefit!
“Ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” when you choose holiness, when you choose sanctification, when you choose to make progress spiritually you will not fulfil the lust of the flesh. The sense of the tense is that you will not begin to fulfil the lust of the flesh.
It is volitional, it appeals to our will and our mind, and we have to exercise this freedom that Christ has given to us to say no to the flesh!
Illustration – You know the effects of gravity pull us to be earthbound. How does the hot air balloon overcome the gravitational force and enable it to fly? The same for the jet plane, the propulsion of air from the engine at high speed gives it the lift to overcome the forces of gravity to enable it to fly. The Holy Spirit is the hot air in the balloon that helps the balloon overcome the forces of gravity.
Learn to turn away and flee.
It is a tug of war – suppress/kill your flesh! (v18 cf. Rom. 8:13, Col. 3:5)
Galatians 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Romans 8:13 (KJV)
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Colossians 3:5-6 (KJV) Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
Mortify (put to death) therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
We shall explain what it means “to mortify”? It literally means put to death, kill. Figuratively, it means stopping the use of bodily members and functions for immoral purposes deadening, doing away with, cease completely (Colossians 3.5). The grammar of the word “mortify” in the Aorist Imperative signifies an action not begun. The exhortation is to begin immediately. Consecrate yourself!
These two natures in us are completely opposite. One will pull us down and the other will build us up. Before we are born-again, there is no struggle because there is only one nature in us, the depraved nature. But after we come to faith in Christ, the Holy
Spirit lives within us. When we yield to the flesh, we quench or choke the Holy Spirit, we cannot produce fruit. When we are tempted, what does the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:13 (KJV) There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
God will always provide a way to escape. We have to make a choice not to succumb to sin but cry out to Him for help.
Illustration – Remember Peter, when he saw Jesus walking on water, by faith, he stepped into the water and walked. As long as he looked to Jesus and not allowed the environment to frighten him, he had a victory, he walked on water. When he began to sink, what did he do? He cried out to Jesus, Lord save! And Jesus immediately stretched out his hand to hold him. Did he make a long prayer? No, but a sincere cry for help and he continues his walk. It is the same for us in the Christian life. It is a supernatural life, sustained by the power of the Holy Spirit. But we must take the step like Peter to walk and see how Jesus sustains him.
It is dependence on the Holy Spirit that gives the victory (Galatians 5:19).
Galatians 5:18 (KJV) But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
If you are being led by the Holy Spirit, we depend, rely on, trust, cling to, and have God as your sufficiency and not depend on our own strength – our own efforts of fulfilling the law, we will have victory.
When we do all these, the fruit of the Spirit’s life will be manifested in us – that is summarized by “LOVE”.
One writer said well, “This love is not a separate quality, distinct from the other virtues…[it’s] a perfect expression of all of them combined.”
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love.” (Galatians 5:22)
When we choose to walk in the Spirit and depend on the Holy Spirit to help us, we will have victory. We will be a vessel unto honour fit for the Master’s use – 2 Timothy 2:19-21 (KJV) Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.
Galatians 5:22-25 (KJV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
John 13:34-35 (KJV) A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Almost as soon as the false apostle had left the faithful eleven, comes the injunction “love one another”. Immediately after the sad announcement that He would leave them soon, the commandment is given, “love one another”. It is called a new commandment, not because it had never been given before, but because it was to be more honoured, to occupy, a higher position, to be backed by a higher example than it ever had been before. Above all, it was to be the test of Christianity before the world.
“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another.”
Sign of a spiritual man is temperance – Discipline, self-control. I put my body under subjection – self-control. The Apostle Paul is deeply aware of how the flesh in him can destroy his ministry.
1 Corinthians 9:27 (KJV) But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Not that he will lose his salvation, but he disqualifies himself from the prize that Jesus will give to him! Paul says as a born-again Christian, you have been freed from the bondage of sin. You can choose not to sin but you are not! That is why you are not growing. This flesh of ourselves is our ever-present enemy.
This indulgence in the world and the ways of the world is choking out the life that the Christian ought to live. And unless we know it well and learn how to overcome and kill it, we are not going to bear any spiritual fruit. He keeps reminding himself with the help of the Holy Spirit not to fulfil the lust of the flesh. I always discipline my body, your spiritual growth always expresses itself in your self-discipline. This is the mark of a spiritual man.
There are two portions – (1) will (2) do. The surrendering is the “will” part. The “will” come about only when the heart (emotion) and the mind (reasoning) synchronize. Unless we would do righteously and serve God, He is not going to bless us. The moment you obey the prompting of God’s Word, the Spirit will enable you.
The spiritual man is always asking the Holy Spirit for help, through prayer. The mind needs to have the knowledge to make an informed decision – this is the world, this is the flesh, this is the devil at work, be careful! Mind – reason and understanding. The word of God can enter your mind without entering your heart. The word of God cannot enter into your heart without first entering into your mind. Understand and reason must clear first but the heart might not desire it. If the mind rejects it then the heart cannot accept it. If the mind rejects it then the heart will also reject it.
Heart – when the heart love and like and embrace it. The will comes in when the heart is synchronized. Renews the mind so that your understanding, reasoning, and values agree with biblical truth. If the mind doesn’t agree we can never love it. The “will” has two portions. Only when heart and mind are synchronized. Therefore, Paul says, “Present yourself first”. Romans chapter 1-11 tells of the problems we are facing. The New Testament tells us that we are endued with power from on high to serve with joy, not a legalistic service, not compelled. Delivered from the law, we live by grace. All the hindrances come from the body. You cannot become what you should be because of the sinful nature of the flesh in you, the world that tempts you and forces you into its mould, and the devil seeks to cause you to fall. God did not save the body, the sinful nature did not become better. The body will be destroyed and go to earth, God did not save this body.
The good news is that He gives us greater power, the Holy Spirit, that can suppress the body. This is the blessing of the Holy Spirit. We are endued (strengthen) by the power from on high, we may have an overcoming life, overcoming enemy, the world, the flesh, able to love and forgive, able to serve, able to testify, that is why we are witnesses (2 Corinthians 4:13-18). Amen.
Yours lovingly,
Pastor Lek Aik Wee