Are You Consecrated?

When God gave Moses the Law for the people of Israel, He gave many rules and regulations. Among those rules were the laws governing how a priest was set apart for his priestly duties. Before anything could be used for holy purposes, it had to be made holy itself, or consecrated.

Some Bibles translate it as sanctification, but it means the same. Consecration was the process by which something was set apart as holy for a special use. Just as all the items and furniture of the tabernacle had to be consecrated before being put to holy use (Numbers 7:1), so the priests, likewise, had to be consecrated.

The process of consecrating a priest is described in Exodus chapter 29.

1. By Washing (Exodus 29:4)
The priest would be immersed as part of the consecration process. After this washing, he need never be baptized again, but only wash his hands and feet each time before he entered the tabernacle or offered a sacrifice. (See Exodus 30:18-21) The idea of a ceremonial washing of someone or something as part of the consecration and cleansing process was not just for a priest’s ordination. (See also Exodus 19:10, Leviticus 1:9, Leviticus 13:54, Numbers 31:24).

2. By Clothing (Exodus 29:5-6)
After the washing, the priest would then be clothed in the priestly garments as described in the Law. He would be dressed in the linen tunic, put on the gold breastplate with the twelve jewels which represent the twelve tribes of Israel. He would put on the turban with the sacred diadem which read, “Holy to the Lord.” Then, he would be waring the sacred garments of the priest as prescribed by the Law.

3. By Anointing (Exodus 29:7)
Now that the priest was washed and clothed, he would be anointed with the special oil of the priesthood. This was a special recipe of oil (Exodus 30:23-24) that only the priest could use. It was sacrilegious for anyone else to use it, and if they dared, they would be punished with death (Exodus 30:32-33). This sacred oil would be poured on the priest’s head as part of the consecration process.

4. By Blood (Exodus 29:21)
After offering sacrifices according to the regulations, the blood would be placed on the right ear, right thumb and right big toe. Then, they would shower the priests with anointing oil and blood mixed together. This would consecrate the priest and his clothing. In fact, most thing were consecrated with blood (see Hebrews 9:19-22)

The Old Law is done away with (Colossians 2:14). You might wonder what relevance this information has for us today. The answer is EVERYTHING! Christians are priests of God today. The Bible teaches that the Old Law was a shadow or analogy of the New Covenant in Christ.

Colossians 2:17 says that the Old Law’s regulations were a “a shadow of things to come.” Hebrews 10:1 says, “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming— not the realities themselves.” Colossians 2:17 tells us that “the reality, however, is found in Christ.” Therefore, we realize that the Old Law’s ordinances about how a person becomes a priest, are an analogy of how we become priests today. The way they were consecrated and set apart as Holy is a shadow of how we are to be consecrated.

The Apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 2:5 that Christians are “like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” So, Christians are the true temple and true priests of which the Old Law was only a shadow.

Peter goes on to say in 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” But how do we become royal priests of God? We must consecrate ourselves for the priesthood the same way the Old Law commanded. We are washed. We are clothed. We are anointed. We are covered with blood. The Old Law’s regulations were shadows of the reality in Christ. How are you consecrated as a priest today?

1. By Washing
Before you can be cleansed of sin and enter the temple (the church) you must be washed. Hebrews 10:22 says “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” Therefore, to become a priest we are baptized in water (see Acts 10:47). As the preacher said to Paul in Acts 22:16, “Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’” There is a spiritual, not physical, cleansing that happens in Christian baptism (see 1 Peter 3:21-22). Paul said to the former sinners in 1 Corinthians 6:11 who were now priest of God, “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” We are sanctified and consecrated in our baptism as we wash our sins away.

2. By Clothing
Ephesians 4:24 tells us to, “put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Romans 13:14 commands us, “clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ!” But how do we clothe ourselves with Christ? How do we put on a new self? The Priest would put in the priestly garments, but how do we put on the fulfillment of those priestly robes, which is the Christ himself? Colossians 3:27 says, “for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” So the way we are clothed in Christ is to be baptized into Him.

3. By Anointing
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 says, “He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” We are anointed with the Holy Spirit. Anointing oil has often represented the Holy Spirit in the Bible (See 1 Samuel 16:13). And the anointing we receive today is not by the shadow of literal oil, like they did under the Old Law, but the reality of the literal Holy Spirit living within us. In this way, our washing is connected to our anointing, because they both involve the Holy Spirit. Titus 3:5 says, “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” So the Holy Spirit washes and anoints us at our water baptism when He is received as gift, as promised in Acts 2:38.

4. By Blood
Nothing is cleansed without blood to pay for sin. Hebrews 9:22-23 teaches that, “the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.” We must be sprinkled with Jesus perfect blood. Hebrews 12:24 says we have come “to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” The blood of sinless Jesus could do what Abel’s could not. It can save from sin. In this way, our washing is connected to our sprinkling of Jesus blood. Hebrews 10:22 says, “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” Notice, our hearts are sprinkled with the blood of Jesus as we are washed in the pure water.

The washing away of sins, being clothed with Christ, our anointing with the Holy Spirit, and being covered by the blood are all connected to our baptism. Have you become a priest? Have you been made Holy and set apart for His use in fulfillment of the shadow of the Law. Have you obeyed the reality found in Christ? Are you washed? Are you clothed? Are you anointed with the Spirit? Are you covered by His blood? Are you consecrated?

1 John 5: 6-8 “This is the one who came by water and blood— Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.