Surrender and Consecration

Article 8 of 13 in the Walking with Jesus Series

How much of your life actually belongs to God? Most Christians would say they have given their lives to Christ. But honest reflection often reveals that we have given Him some things while quietly holding others back - our plans, our relationships, our financial security, our reputation, our sense of control. Consecration is the act of releasing that grip. It is the decision to place the whole life, not just the parts we are comfortable surrendering, into the hands of God. And it is one of the most important and most misunderstood steps in the journey of faith.

Romans 12:1 is one of the most comprehensive calls to consecration in all of Scripture. Several things stand out.

First, the appeal is based on the mercies of God - not on duty or fear. Paul is saying: in light of everything God has done for you (the subject of Romans 1-11), this is the only reasonable response. The word translated "reasonable" is the Greek logikos, from which we get "logical." Consecration is not an extraordinary act of heroism. It is the logical response to the gospel.

Second, the sacrifice is living. Under the old covenant, a sacrifice was killed. Under the new covenant, the sacrifice is a life that continues to be offered - day by day, in the ordinary circumstances of living. The altar is not a dramatic moment of crisis. It is the daily choice to live for God rather than for self.

Third, it is the body that is presented - meaning the whole person, the physical, practical, daily self, not just the spiritual or interior life. Consecration is not a private spiritual experience that leaves the outward life unchanged. It is the offering of the whole person: time, energy, relationships, resources, ambitions, and plans.

The supreme example of consecration is Jesus Himself. In the Garden of Gethsemane, facing the cross, He prayed:

This is the prayer of consecration in its purest form. There was a genuine human preference - a desire that the cup might pass. But the will was surrendered to the Father. Not My will, but Yours. And through that surrender came the salvation of the world.

Paul describes the same principle in Galatians:

The crucified life is the consecrated life. The self that insists on its own way has been put to death. The life that remains is lived by faith in the Son of God.

Jesus described discipleship in terms of cross-bearing:

The word "daily" is important. Consecration is not a one-time transaction. It is a way of life. The cross is not merely a symbol of suffering. In the first century, it was the instrument of execution. To take up a cross was to walk toward death - to surrender the right to one's own life. Jesus is describing a discipleship that involves the death of self: the willingness to let go of personal ambition, comfort, and reputation for the sake of following Him.

Most people resist full consecration because they are afraid of what God might do with a life that is completely surrendered to Him. They imagine that if they give God everything, He will send them somewhere they do not want to go, take away the things they love most, or require something of them that they cannot bear.

This fear misunderstands the character of God. The One to whom we are asked to surrender is not a tyrant looking for an opportunity to make us miserable. He is a Father who loves His children and whose plans for them are good:

The person who holds back from full consecration is not protecting themselves. They are depriving themselves of the best that God has for them.

There is a paradox at the heart of consecration: the life that is fully surrendered to God is the most free life there is. The person who is clinging to control of their own life is actually enslaved - to anxiety, to the fear of losing what they are holding, to the exhausting work of managing outcomes that are ultimately beyond their control.

The person who has placed everything in God's hands is free from all of that. They can hold the good things of life with an open hand, enjoying them as gifts without being enslaved to them. They can face uncertainty without terror because they know that the One who holds their life is trustworthy.

• "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Romans 12:2, KJV)
• "Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, KJV)
• "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31, KJV)
• "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21, KJV)
• "Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." (Psalm 37:5, KJV)

"Consecration is a one-time decision." Luke 9:23 says to take up the cross daily. Consecration is renewed every morning. The person who made a dramatic surrender at a revival meeting twenty years ago but has not renewed that surrender since is not living a consecrated life. It is a daily posture, not a past event.

"Consecration means becoming a missionary or a minister." God calls some people to full-time ministry. But consecration is not primarily about vocation. It is about the orientation of the whole life toward God, whatever the vocation. The farmer, the teacher, the businessperson, and the parent can all live fully consecrated lives. The question is not what you do but for whom you do it.

"If I surrender everything, God will take away the things I love." Psalm 84:11 says God withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly. The things that God takes from a consecrated life are the things that are harming it. The things that are genuinely good, He gives and sustains. The surrendered life is not the impoverished life. It is the enriched one.

"I can't consecrate myself - I'm not good enough." Consecration is not the offering of a perfect life. It is the offering of the life you have. The prodigal son did not clean himself up before returning to his father. He came as he was. God receives the consecration of an imperfect life and begins to transform it from the inside out.

1. Take an honest inventory. What are the things in your life that you have not yet placed in God's hands? Name them specifically. Your career plans? A relationship? Financial security? Your reputation? Your children? Bring each one before God.

2. Make a deliberate act of surrender. Not a feeling, but a decision. Bring those things before God and say, in effect: these are Yours. I hold them as a steward, not an owner. I trust You with them.

3. Renew it daily. Do not expect a single dramatic moment to settle the matter permanently. The consecrated life is maintained by the daily choice to keep the hands open rather than clenched. Begin each day with a fresh surrender.

4. Trust the character of God. The fear of surrender is overcome by a growing knowledge of who God is. The more clearly you see His goodness, His faithfulness, and His love, the easier it becomes to trust Him with everything.

1. Read Romans 12:1-2. Paul says presenting your body as a living sacrifice is your "reasonable service." What does it mean that this is reasonable? What has Paul described in Romans 1-11 that makes this response reasonable?

2. Read Luke 9:23-25. Jesus says that the person who tries to save their life will lose it, and the person who loses their life for His sake will save it. How have you seen this principle work out in your own experience or in the lives of others?

3. Read Galatians 2:20. Paul says "I am crucified with Christ." What does this mean practically? What does it look like to live a crucified life in the ordinary circumstances of daily life?

4. Read 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Paul says we are "not our own" because we have been "bought with a price." How does this understanding of ownership change the way you think about your time, your body, your money, and your decisions?

5. Is there something specific that you have been holding back from God? What would it look like to place that specific thing in His hands this week?

• Growing Through Faith - Article 7 in this series
• Living the Christian Life Daily - Article 9 in this series
• Joyful Service and Witness - Article 12 in this series

Primary passages: Romans 12:1-2; Luke 9:23-25; Galatians 2:20

Supporting passages: Psalm 37:5; Psalm 84:11; Jeremiah 29:11; Luke 22:42; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Philippians 1:21

Recommended reading:

• Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, Chapter 5: "Consecration" (Review and Herald, 1892)
• Andrew Murray, Absolute Surrender (1895)
• Jim Elliot, The Journals of Jim Elliot, ed. Elisabeth Elliot (Revell, 1978)

Do you have a question about surrender or consecration? Ask it here - your question may become our next article.

This article was adapted from the themes presented in the classic devotional book Steps to Christ. To access the original book, please click here.