In what attitude towards God does entire consecration place the soul?
In the attitude of an obedient spirit. In personal consecration to God, there is the vital principle, or germ of all obedience. Obedience is not so much in the outward act as in the state of the will. This is reasonable and scriptural. Submission, or consecration, has respect to the will, and is manifested in exterior action, and external action is the outcome of the interior principle of obedience. Hence all true obedience has prior existence in the human heart, in an obedient spirit. By self-abandonment to God, we come to the attitude of obedience, in which the soul asks, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" -- "Speak. Lord: thy servant heareth." This submission implies a sweet complacency in God, and a desire and delight to do his will. This obedient spirit, or attitude of the will, with faith in Christ for purity, carries the whole train of the affections toward God, as,
In the attitude of an obedient spirit. In personal consecration to God, there is the vital principle, or germ of all obedience. Obedience is not so much in the outward act as in the state of the will. This is reasonable and scriptural. Submission, or consecration, has respect to the will, and is manifested in exterior action, and external action is the outcome of the interior principle of obedience. Hence all true obedience has prior existence in the human heart, in an obedient spirit. By self-abandonment to God, we come to the attitude of obedience, in which the soul asks, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" -- "Speak. Lord: thy servant heareth." This submission implies a sweet complacency in God, and a desire and delight to do his will. This obedient spirit, or attitude of the will, with faith in Christ for purity, carries the whole train of the affections toward God, as,
"with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness." Hence the whole soul is brought under the saving virtue of Christ's blood.
While there is a distinction between consecration and faith, it must not be forgotten that they sustain a mutual and natural relation to each other. Submission is a fruit of faith. A belief in certain truths lies at the foundation of all consecration. Salvation from a disobedient attitude toward God, through submission, or the committal of all to God, is by faith; and very much of the faith which actually saves a man is called into exercise by a full surrender to God. How can man evince a fuller trust in God than by a solemn surrender of himself and all he has to him?
The acceptance of God's will, and the committal of the heart to Christ and to the admitted claims of truth, is the very essence of love, and is the substance and fulfilment of the law. Christ said, "This is the love of God, that ye keep his commandments;" and, "Love is the fulfilling of the law." Love to God is not a mere transient emotion, but a state of will and affection, and is inseparable from genuine faith. "Faith which works by love and purifies the heart." Let it ever be remembered, that love to God is an abiding, general preference of the will, or a state of will underlying our whole moral activity, and determines all its particular acts to the one end of obeying and pleasing God. Love in the entirely sanctified soul becomes a disposition, or character.
While there is a distinction between consecration and faith, it must not be forgotten that they sustain a mutual and natural relation to each other. Submission is a fruit of faith. A belief in certain truths lies at the foundation of all consecration. Salvation from a disobedient attitude toward God, through submission, or the committal of all to God, is by faith; and very much of the faith which actually saves a man is called into exercise by a full surrender to God. How can man evince a fuller trust in God than by a solemn surrender of himself and all he has to him?
The acceptance of God's will, and the committal of the heart to Christ and to the admitted claims of truth, is the very essence of love, and is the substance and fulfilment of the law. Christ said, "This is the love of God, that ye keep his commandments;" and, "Love is the fulfilling of the law." Love to God is not a mere transient emotion, but a state of will and affection, and is inseparable from genuine faith. "Faith which works by love and purifies the heart." Let it ever be remembered, that love to God is an abiding, general preference of the will, or a state of will underlying our whole moral activity, and determines all its particular acts to the one end of obeying and pleasing God. Love in the entirely sanctified soul becomes a disposition, or character.
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