I am Jehovah your God. Be holy for I am holy. God repeated this mandate continually throughout the book of Leviticus. It amazes me, actually, how often the Lord reminds His people who He is as He "lays down the law," so to speak. Much of Leviticus is directed toward the priesthood, but in a span of three chapters in which the directions for holy living are given to the people of Israel specifically, God echoes this proclamation of who He is 25 different times.
It seems to me like He really wants to hit home the point that 1) He is holy and 2) He is God and lastly, 3) He wants us to be as He is.
If I had to pick one concept that stuck out to me through my reading of this book, it would be that holiness really matters to God. "Be holy for I am holy." This was neither a half-hearted statement nor a passing thought. This was the foundation and purpose for the law: our holiness. It is apparent as one reads through the book of the law that holiness is a matter of great importance to the Lord.
I think sometimes we can become so caught up in the grace of God that we forget the holiness of God. We are more apt to remember that Jesus didn't condemn the women caught in adultery than the fact that He commanded her to go and sin no more (see John 8:10-11). Yet both aspects are the truth of who God is and what He desires of His people. He is full of grace and compassion toward us in our shortcomings, but He wills that we leave our sin and live a life of holiness.
It matters to Him that we change. He loves us as we are, but He is not content to leave us there.
Now, as I explained in my previous post, we are free from this Old Testament law. Simply because it is beneficial for understanding doesn't mean it is binding. We are not required to live by the same conditions that God's people once did. Thank you, Jesus! However, the principles of holy living given in the law are still applicable to us today.Disclaimer: As we search the law for understanding, we must remember that God has not changed from the Old Testament to the New Testament. How we relate to Him has, but who He is has not. What was once important to Him still is, and what He once considered to be sin still stands. He is the same yesterday, today, and yes, even forever, (see Hebrews 13:8). We should keep this in mind as we continue.
Okay, so are you with me so far? Holiness is super important to God. The law helps us understand what holiness is. Thus, the law is beneficial.
So far so good? Sweet! (I'm assuming you said yes). Let us jump in, then, to discover the principles of the law and what they mean for us today.
Oh, by the way: The beauty of grace is that, as we dive in, we mustn't be concerned with our standing before God. We are free to read through a host of laws we assuredly don't follow, and we can be confident in the power of Jesus's blood to redeem us as if we always had. We are holy before the Lord- don't forget that He has made you new.
Leviticus begins with eight chapters that discuss protocol regarding different offerings unto God. These are the exciting chapters that talk about animal sacrifice, a little blood sprinkled here and there, removing fat from bones, etc. I could go into all the symbolism and how they all represent an aspect of Jesus and what He has done for us, but I'm currently more concerned with how they affect our walk of holiness because, however strangely, they do.
We no longer bring animals or food to an altar, but we can bring to God the best of our time, our devotion, our money, and our lives. God is worthy of our best, and He knows when we give Him less.
In my last blog I left you with questions about the purpose of the law to us now that it has been fulfilled through Jesus Christ. This is it, my friends: our holiness. Paul says that although through the works of the law no one shall be justified before God, "through the law is the clear knowledge of sin," (Romans 3:20). An understanding of the law will guide us into the holiness the Lord desires for our lives.
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Holiness principle one: God is worthy of sacrificing the best.
What struck me throughout the offerings is that God required His people to sacrifice an animal from their herd of cattle without blemish. Cattle was part of their livelihood, so it was a cost to them, and God wanted a perfectly pure sacrifice. He wouldn't accept the disabled cow that no longer plowed or the sick goat that was of no use. It was, by definition, a true sacrifice- they had to give up something that was of great value to them.
Not only this, but some of these sacrifices were to be made more than once per day. That's a lot of sacrifice! The principle here is that God is worthy of our best in every day, and we ought to give Him no less than best of what we have. We no longer make sacrifices to earn God's grace, but we sacrifice in response to grace because God, the glorious gift-giver, is worthy.
It matters to God whether we give to Him of our first fruits or if we give what we have left over. Do we give Him our time and attention before we get started with our day, or do we wait until after we've spent time accomplishing everything else under the sun? Do we offer Him money as soon as we receive the paycheck, or do we give to Him after we've bought all we wanted to? Do we allow Him to direct our lives, or do we give Him a small portion of our life wherein He can have a say? He deserves the first and the best, and that is what we should offer.
Don't bring God a sick goat; He deserves your best. Walking in this reverent generosity is holiness.
"He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who seeks to find his life shall lose it, but he who loses his life for My sake shall find it," (Matthew 10:38-39).
Holiness principle two: God is ruthless with sin, and so shall we be.
In Leviticus 12, God distinguishes between clean and unclean animals, stating those that are considered clean are able to be sacrificed and eaten without fear of defilement. The unclean animals, however, must be avoided at all costs.
The Israelites are commanded to literally shatter stoves or vessels into which any unclean insect may fall, and likewise must rid themselves of articles of clothing or sackcloth that becomes tainted. It is certainly drastic and seemingly unnecessary, yet it's not merely about a few flies falling in your water. The principle here is that sin will defile whatever it touches, and we are to be ruthless with it in our lives. Even sin the size of a fly has the power to destroy us from the inside out if we let it.
God didn't play games with sin, and neither should we. He didn't overlook even the smallest of unclean insects, though we tend to gloss over (and even justify) the "smallest" of sins such as lying, stealing, pride, worry (yes, worry), judgment, or disobedience. In our human perceptions we create a hierarchy of sin, failing to realize that every sin of every "size" defiles us just the same.
It doesn't matter if it's just a fly if it still contaminates your soul.
We are to be merciless with the sin in our lives, and we ought to shatter any vessel that harbors it. Don't dare drink out of the cup of pride that says, "I'm better than him because..." nor the cup of worry which says, "What if...?" Surely sin has tainted your drink, and even a drop will defile you from the inside out.
Walking in such fierceness toward sin is holiness.
"And if your eye stumbles you, cast it out; it is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into Gehenna," (Mark 9:47).
Holiness principle three: God doesn't purify sin; when sin is present, He brings in the wrecking ball.
Though similar in ways to point number two, I thought this concept was especially important to add. In Leviticus 13-14, God gives instructions on how to deal with leprosy. Much of this, I believe, is practical, yet also symbolic in many ways regarding sin. What I find fascinating is what God says about leprosy that has spread to clothing and housing.
There is a process of isolation to go through when a house or cloth is suspected to be infected by leprosy, which is an attempt to remove the infection from the item and observe whether it is still unharmed. However, when the appointed time passes and it is clear that the clothing or house is tainted by leprosy, the clothing is burnt and the house is broken down (and its pieces of stone are thrown outside the city).
I think there is something to be said about the way God utterly destroys what has been infected. The principle is that sin must be mercilessly destroyed and cast out of our lives lest it corrupt our very foundation. We ought not build around sin with a wall of "good stones" and think that will cause the infection to be stifled. You can not build a solid house on a tainted foundation.
To me this looks like harboring "stones" of greed, lust, jealousy, pride, hate, and bitterness in the houses of our hearts and believing they won't contaminate the others around them. I assure you, a stone of kindness will quickly be squashed by even a pebble of jealousy. We must cast out these stones and tear down the house we've built with them. No house will stand with such sin in its walls.
Now, as humans we may fall prey to these emotions from time to time, but we must not build with them. There is a difference between stumbling and accepting. We may stumble, but we do not accept nor justify the sin.
Ridding our lives of sin-infested stones is holiness.
"Therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach in a high wall, bulging out and about to collapse, whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant," (Isaiah 30:13).
Holiness principle four: God has appointed us to walk in purity and be separated from the ways of the world.
Chapter 18 begins the section of Leviticus that details holy living for God's people. These three chapters (18-20) focus on purity and living differently than the wicked people who had inhabited the land before them. Listed here are mostly examples of what they are not to do, and one command in particular stuck out to me.
"...nor shall a garment made of two kinds of material come upon you," (Leviticus 19:19). I think this one entices me because it is so weird. I mean, what's the big deal? Well, the big deal is that it isn't about the fabric at all. The principle here is that we are to be pure; not mixed in with the world and its customs, but wholly as God designed us to be. You see, God is not offended by me if I wear a shirt that isn't 100% cotton, but He is displeased when I live my life partly in the culture of the world and partly in the culture He constituted.
God desires us to walk in purity in all aspects, and He doesn't want our character nor our lives to be assimilated with the world. I believe this is so important because as Christians we can be deceived to think we must be "relevant" to get our message across. We think we must blend in with the culture so people will listen and hear the truth. Yet we misunderstand that the church is most effective when it is least like the culture (you can see that to be true all throughout church history). It is holiness- not as perfection, but as difference- that draws people in and causes them to question.
We are not meant to look like the world- we were called as Christians to stand out. It is vital, both to God and to His message, to walk in this purity. We must not blend ourselves, in even the most insignificant ways, with the world.
Do we?
Do we avoid things such as drunkenness, sexual immorality, demoralizing music and shows, drugs, and idolatry, or do we engage in these things either unknowingly or to prove some sort of point that Christians can still be "cool?" I suppose we could debate about which of those are actually sinful, yet let us be in agreeance about one thing: none of them are life-giving nor do they set us apart from the world.
It is holiness, by definition, to be set apart from the ways of the world.
"Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect," (Romans 12:2).
I could go on and on about what further instruction we could find in Leviticus, but the point is this: God is God, He is holy, we are to be holy as He is, and the law in the Old Testament is not disqualified from helping us be so.
One last thing I would like to point out is that holiness is not about perfection. The definition of holiness is to be set apart for a specific purpose and regarded as sacred (which means to be reverently dedicated to a purpose). So really, it's not about being a great person or being a perfect witness for Christ. None of us can be that within our own power, anyway. We need the grace of God to change and be changed- no amount of holiness ever originates within ourselves.
Holiness is about being set apart and being dedicated. Walking in holiness is about being so devoted to the Lord, that it becomes our joy to walk in His ways that will bring Him glory and delight. God doesn't ask us to be perfect- He knows we aren't and won't be! What He asks of us is to be holy, to be different, to walk in His ways and not our own.
"Be holy for I am holy." We don't have to be perfect, friends. We just have to be different.
Lastly, on top of all of this we must have humility. If we do not have humility, nothing else we do will matter to the Lord. We must walk in humble holiness, or all will be lost. After all, it's not our own strength that produces within us holiness, but the endless grace of God.
"The greatest test of whether the holiness we profess to seek or to attain is truth and life will be whether it produces an increasing humility in us. In man, humility is the one thing needed to allow God’s holiness to dwell in him and shine through him. The chief mark of counterfeit holiness is lack of humility. The holiest will be the humblest." -Andrew Murray.
Excellent points about living holy. Mary you have pointed out some key principles in living a life devoted to God. When I was reading this it shed light on how we can stay on the narrow way. Yes, God wants our very best and learning to sacrifice personal desires only comes from humbly following His will. The more we give ourselves and walk away from sinful encounters the closer we draw to Christ. And then Christ shields us from the evil one. Holiness is meaningless until we surrender ourselves to the care of God. Thanks for helping me better understand the actions I need to take.
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