So, the other day I was preaching on John 17; Jesus’ prayer that we ‘may all be one’. I was interested in the focus on holiness which, in a sense, precedes it yet must be integral to the unity. I noticed, though, that the CiW 1984 book uses, for this passage the NEB (at least, I think it does. I don’t have an NEB, so it was a process of deduction) which has the following translation of verse 19:
And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth.
whereas the NIV has:
For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
Now, I know there are far more interesting things in this passage than the choice of the words consecrate and sanctify, but it interested me, and this is my blog, so there! Also, I know that these words occur, just as significantly, in the verses immediately preceding this one. But it was there that the word caught my eye.
Of course, being the scholar that I am in order to look and sound impressive, I turned to my Greek New Testament (very kindly given as an ordination present by a parishioner – this particular version has an excellent feature; every word which appears 30 times or less in the NT is translated and parsed at the foot of the page on which it appears! Here’s a link – it’s the 2nd item on the page). The Greek word is άγιάζω(hagiadzo), which stems from the ’standard’ Greek word for holy, άγιος (hagios). The translation I’m offered for hagiadzo is as follows:
to separate, consecrate; cleanse, purify, sanctify; regard or reverence as holy
Well thank you, William D. Mounce. You’re a lot of help.
Somehow, I’ve managed to get through two degrees with no better dictionary than The New Penguin English Dictionary. Presumably penguins speak quite good English. But that was my next port of call. Thus I discovered that ‘consecrate’ means:
1 to make or declare (a church, etc) sacred by a solemn ceremony. 2 to prepare (bread and wine used at communion) to be received as Christ’s body and blood. 3 (usu+ to) to devote (one’s life) to a purpose with deep solemnity or dedication. 4 to ordain (somebody) to a religious office, esp that of bishop. 5 to make (something) inviolable or venerable: customs consecrated by time.
whilst ’sanctify’ means:
1 to set (something) apart for a sacred purpose or for religious use. 2 to free (somebody) from sin. 3 to give moral, social, or religious sanction to (something). 4 to make or declare (something) productive of holiness or piety: Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it – Bible.
Now, of course, there’s not an enormous amount of difference between these definitions. That’s probably because they’re very similar words. But, and I don’t really know if this comes across in the definitions, to me, and, it would appear, to Hermione (the reader of this blog who is neither Marcus, nor related to me) there is the possibility for a subtle distinction between the two, which would make me favour sanctify over consecrate in this verse. You see, it feels as if to consecrate is something that we do, whilst to sanctify is something God does.
That may or may not be a valid divergence between the words, but either way, it raises the question; what is our part in our being made holy?
I know that holiness comes in two parts, as it were, justification and sanctification, and that the first is entirely God’s work in our lives. But what about sanctification. Of course, there are holy choices to be made, but then that’s true for our justification, too. We choose to accept Jesus or not, and that determines whether we are justified or not. So what about sanctification? What about being/becoming holy?
The whole Todd Bentley thing. Someone who was ordained alongside me mentioned how, having watched some of it (which I haven’t as I don’t have Sky), noticed that in all the testimony time about what God had done for these people, along with the amazing, astounding, perfectly possibly God-instigated healings, no-one ever said anything like; “God has really encourage me to be holy” or “God has given me His heart for the poor”. Which I think is sad (but doesn’t lead me to a conclusion about the whole thing either way).
So, holiness. Sanctification and consecration. I’m confused. What about you?
Wow! Well, I have no idea what your religious background is… but, I too am confused with sancitification and consecration. I decided to see if I could find an answer online and came across this blog. They seem to be synonymous, but if so, why are there 2 different words…? hmmm… I guess it really doesn’t matter so much, as long as we strive to be holy…
Indeed! Striving to be holy is one of the most important ways in which we can be obedient to God (who said ‘Be holy, for I am holy’). What I wonder is (although I would guess it’s not all that important), what is God’s role in our becoming holy, and what is our role?
I really like this blog~ thanks brotha!
Bless you!