s come in and
take up His abode, He will _keep_ His dwelling place "clean." This
"cleansing" of which we have been speaking is one of the steps into the
Blessed Life; but there is not much likelihood of any one living the Life
unless they first take the necessary steps into the Life. It is a Life of
Purity, and it is lived, as it is entered upon, by faith in the Son of God;
hence the name by which the Spirit-filled Life is sometimes called--the
Life of Faith.

CHAPTER XII.

_CONSECRATION: WHAT IS IT?_

The second step that must needs be taken by those of us who have been
living without the Fullness, before it can be obtained, is Consecration,
a word that is very common and popular; much more common and popular, it
is feared, than the thing itself. In order to be filled with the Holy
Ghost one must first be "cleansed," and then one must be "consecrated".
Consecration follows cleansing, and not _vice versa_. Intelligent
apprehension of what consecration is, and of what it involves, is
necessary to an intelligent consecration of oneself.

_1. Sanctification._

Consecration is another word for sanctification. Many people have a
confused idea as to what sanctification really is. It must be borne in
mind that we are not considering the theological term sanctification, but
the use of the New Testament word "sanctify," "sanctification." No one
would confound "consecration" with "cleansing," and yet many confound
"sanctification" with "cleansing." To "sanctify" is to purify, to cleanse,
to make holy, they tell us. But the idea of purification, of cleansing,
of separating from sin, is not in the N. T. word "sanctify" at all. "The
very God of peace _sanctify_ you wholly" (I Thess. v. 23). That does not
mean "purify" you, separate you from sin, as a glance at two other
passages, in which the same word occurs, will show. "For their sakes I
_sanctify_ Myself" (John xvii. 19). "_Sanctify_ in your hearts Christ as
Lord" (I Pet. iii. 15, R. V.), where it cannot mean purify, separate from
sin. In these passages its true meaning is very apparent--to "set apart
for a holy use," to "separate to God," to "consecrate." To "cleanse" is
to separate _from_ sin, but to "sanctify" is to separate to God, to set
apart for God that which has already been separated _from_ sin. We cannot
set apart to a holy use (consecrate) that which is not cleansed. Hence we
see why it is that "cleansing" must precede sanctification or consecration,
"