Monday, November 12, 2007

What-if-a-cation?

We had a great class yesterday at church where we discussed the 10 commandments that God gave to the nation of Israel through Moses. We didn't even talk about the 10 specifically as we focused on the need for the law... why did/does God give us "laws"? Why do we have laws in our culture? Is God punishing us or protecting us? Does this create captivity or freedom? If the law defines our sin, then what is the importance of recognizing that we are sinners? How does recognizing our sin help us understand the nature of God?... or what Jesus did for us?

Obviously, there was some riveting conversation. Through it all, we talked about how God "consecrated" Moses, and then Aaron, setting them apart for meeting with God on Mt. Sinai. We talked about what consecration means which led to wondering what the difference was between consecration and sanctification. Is consecration a state of being set apart whereas sanctification is the process of being consecrated? Are they tied that tightly together? Are they much different?

I took it upon myself to "ask the experts" and committed to bringing some insight back to the class next Sunday. I will also ask the experts to post their comments on this blog as well. If you have thoughts on this, please share with the rest of us.

1 comment:

Nogah said...

sanctify - from Old French, "saintifier"; really, recon as holy.

Cosecrate - Latin "consecrare", to make sacred, or set apart.

Very close in meaning, but with more a sense of OUR action in consecration; i.e., to "recon as" v. "make" sacred or holy.