[Songs in the Night - June 30]
The very God of peace sanctify you wholly. I Thessalonians 5:23
THERE is a certain difference between the words
sanctification and consecration, though they are sometimes
used almost interchangeably.
The word consecrate
has the thought of surrender.
Consecration is a
definite step, taken at a certain moment.
It is the
yielding up of the will and of all to God.
Whoever has
not thus definitely surrendered his will, himself, to the
Lord, has never made a real consecration.
We believe
that there is no step more necessary to be seen
clearly by God's professed people than this one, and
none more necessary to be made plain to others.
The
word sanctification not only has in it the thought of
this definite and complete consecration at the beginning,
but also takes in the entire process of transformation
of character and preparation for the kingdom.
It
progresses throughout the Christian course until the
character is fully developed and ripened, and it must
then be maintained until the end of the way. Z'16-99 R5876:6 (Hymn 196)