Consecration or Salvation?

“And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will (continue to) serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15 NKJV)

Paul’s Burden

We read in Romans 12, a verse written to the Saints in Rome by the Apostle Paul, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:1-2 NKJV).”  For the Saints (the believers) in Rome, the Apostle Paul was begging them to consecrate themselves to the Lord and not be conformed to this world.  I take it that means that all Christians who are saved (Saints) are NOT consecrated as living sacrifices.

The Danger–Don’t be a Solomon

Our verse today from Joshua is often taken as an exhortation to trust the Lord in salvation.  However, at least for Joshua, it was not an exhortation to trust the Lord as he had demonstrated his faith when he and Caleb wanted to enter the land that the Lord had promised them in spite of the giants in the land.  He became the general that led the children of Israel after crossing the Jordan river so that they could possess what they had been promised.  But nationally, a lot of the people were not true believers.  Jude the brother of James and the half brother of the Lord says, “But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe (Jude 1:5 NKJV).”

It would be nice if the people who had been saved physically had all been saved spiritually, and if this exhortation by Joshua was simply designed to teach a new generation about the Great God who had saved them so that they too would trust in the Lord.  That does not seem to be the sense of the passage.  I believe that many who had been “saved” physically were still worshiping foreign gods while crossing the desert.  Even Rachel, Jacob’s beloved wife, had her father’s idols with her when she left Haran with Jacob.  It appears that people who claimed to be worshippers of Jehovah often were not and the same is true of those who claim to be worshippers of the Lord Jesus.  In some cases they may actually be true worshippers of the one true God but because of friends and political considerations, fall back into the worship of that which God detests as Solomon did.

The Age of this Society

I personally believe that we who have actually had a time when we “repented and believed”  still need to be reminded of our need for consecration after salvation.  We are confronted by a religious world that has become extremely confusing.  In many cases the popular religious movements of our day are far removed from Biblical principles.  It is time for each of us to realize that we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds because it is easy to be conformed by the deceitfulness of the age of this society in which we live.  According to Ephesians 2: 2, we walked according to the course (age) of this world (society) before we were saved.  That influence is still there after we are saved.  

Continuing What We Started at Salvation

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could truthfully say like Joshua, as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.  And yes, I think he meant he would continue to serve the Lord since he had already served Him for years.

Bruce Collins

Meditation for the week of August 16, 2026

If you would like further conversation about the issues in these meditations, contact me at collinsbd@yahoo.com and I will try to accommodate you with a virtual Bible Study.