Be Consecrated To The Truth – John 17:17 (Day 5)
5 years ago Evangelical Ministry 0
“Consecrate them to the truth, your word is the truth. Some translation say sanctify them in the truth, ….”
To consecrate means to sanctify, to purify, to set aside for, to separate them for yourself, to be dedicated to God, to become God’s holy people, make them holy.
In John 18: 36-38, Jesus said to Pilate, “My kingdom does not belong to this world…” “You are a King then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” “Truth,” said Pilate! “What is truth?”
Our topic says, “be consecrated to the truth,” and the word of God is the truth. “Your word is the truth.” And Jesus is the word (John 1:1, 14), therefore, Jesus is the truth. Hence, our topic could be considered to be the same as being consecrated to Jesus, the Holy Son of God.
Who are those to be consecrated, to be set apart? All those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. This is first done by an initiation into God Almighty through Jesus Christ in baptism, then followed by ones lifestyle that is lived all through in accordance with the will of God.
This water baptism is to show that one has repented and is ready to live a holy life, as was introduced by John the Baptist (Mk 1:4, Act 13:24). The second aspect of baptism is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Jesus came not just to approve the baptism of water but to baptize His followers also with Holy Spirit and Fire (Mt 3:11). It is this second type of baptism that guarantees that one has been sanctified.
He is the Spirit of Truth (Jn 16:13). He is the one that indwells in man, sanctifies him, sets man apart for Himself. That is why Jesus said that “all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice” (Jn 18:37b).
To stand for truth means to stand on the part of God, on the part of Jesus. To join with Jesus to fight for the truth, to fight for justice and fight injustice, to hate falsehood, hate hypocrisy, etc.
In Ex 19:3-7, God called the Israelites and set them apart for Himself, so long as they obey Him and keep His covenant. In Jn 17:17, Jesus has prayed for you to the Father to set you apart for Himself, in the new covenant. It is a call for holy living.
Meditation
Read 2 Cor 6:14-18 and meditate on the content so that you can find out why you must separate yourself from the world so as to properly consecrated to the truth.
