Consecrated to Him

For the past nine blogs I have been sharing
The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee.
If you have missed any, go back because
each one builds on previous blogs.

The study has now brought us to the point where
we will discover the true nature of consecration.

"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal
body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof:
neither present your members unto sin as
instruments of unrighteousness; but present
yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead,
and your members as instruments of
righteousness unto God.
(Rom 6: 12,13 KJV)

The operative word here is 'present' which occurs
five times in verses 13,16,19. Paul is not speaking
of the 'Old Nature' with its instincts, resources,
natural wisdom, or strength given to the Lord for
His use. No, he says, 'present yourselves unto
God, as alive from the dead.' For what is here
refers not to the consecration of anything
belonging to the old creation, but only that which
has passed through death to resurrection. When
I really KNOW I am crucified with Him, then
spontaneously I reckon myself dead (verses 6,11);
and when I KNOW that I am raised with Him from
the dead, then likewise I reckon myself 'alive unto
God in Christ Jesus. (verses 9,11)

Death has cut off all that cannot be consecrated to
Him, and resurrection alone has made consecration
possible. Presenting myself to God means that
henceforth I consider my whole life as belonging to
God. (Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life)