THE CALL TO HOLINESS…

LEVITICUS 19:1-2: “The Lord spoke to Moses: [2] “Speak to the entire Israelite community and tell them: Be holy  because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” CSB

OBSERVATION:  God has called His people to be holy.  They are to be separate and distinct from the culture around them.  This HOLINESS was marked by both their moral practices and their everyday activities.  LEVITICUS chapter 18 deals with the call to moral purity and gives guidelines for the proper exercise of sexual norms within the community of faith.  LEVITICUS chapter 19 deals with practical HOLINESS concerning their daily interaction with others in every area of life.

While there are some cultural applications in these instructions the majority of the instructions are expressions of God’s heart that transcend culture.  They express the moral standards of a holy God that still stand today.  They are reinforced by the teachings of the New Testament and are applicable to the Christian believer.

1 Peter 1:13-19: “Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be sober-minded and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. [14] As obedient children,  do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. [15] But as the one who called you is holy,  you also are to be holy in all your conduct; [16] for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.   , [17] If you appeal to the Father who judges impartially according to each one’s work,  you are to conduct yourselves in reverence during your time living as strangers. [18] For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life  inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold,  [19] but with the precious blood of Christ,  like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb.” CSB

In the Old Testament, it was the blood of the sacrifice that separated the nation of Israel from the nations that surrounded them.  They were God’s covenant people and were called to live by a new standard, a standard of HOLINESS.  When Jesus taught in the synagogues, and when the Apostles taught in the early days of the church, they did not have the New Testament as we do today.  They taught from the sacred books of the Old Testament.  When Peter called believers to be holy in all of their conduct he naturally was referring to the HOLINESS code of the Old Testament.

Today, it is the precious blood of Jesus Christ that calls us to be separate from a culture that has rejected God in heart and practice.  We are not our own.  We have been bought out of sin to live in the newness of life God has called us to.  Notice, the HOLINESS code of Leviticus 18-19 does not simply deal with the attitude of our heart.  It deals very practically with our sexual purity and our actions towards others.  It is the essence of loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and loving our neighbor as ourselves.  The Apostle John teaches the same thing in his epistles.

1 John 3:23-24:  “Now this is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he commanded us. [24] The one who keeps his commands remains in him, and he in him. And the way we know that he remains in us  is from the Spirit  he has given us.”CSB

1 John 5:3-4: “For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden,  [4] because everyone who has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.” CSB

So often New Testament believers dismiss or are ignorant of the teachings of the Old Testament.  They fail to understand that these are the Scriptures Jesus came to fulfill and the ones He taught from.  Without knowledge of the Old Testament, they cannot rightly divide the Word of Truth in the New Testament.  This is evident in the slippery slope we see taking place in many mainline denominations and churches today.

If there ever was a time to rediscover the moral heart of God it is today.  We are not talking about works righteousness.  We are saved by grace through faith – alone!  We are talking about life transformation and a pathway that loves God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and our neighbor as ourselves.  Love is not love – undefined or redefined.  Love is the cross of Jesus Christ and His shed blood calling us to be transformed by grace through faith, in the power of the Holy Spirit, into the image and nature of Jesus Christ.  We are called to be holy for He is holy.  We are called to come out from this culture and live as lights shining brightly, as the salt of the earth.

When I read these chapters in Leviticus, when I read the Beatitudes in Matthew, when I meditate upon the whole counsel of God in the Scriptures, I am brought to repentance.  I see how I fall short but I also hear the call of God.  He died to destroy the work of the enemy and to transform my life.  His Word, the whole counsel of His Word is a light that shines brightly upon the pathway of life and guides me in the call to be separate from a broken and dying world.  It is the Spirit of God who empowers me to walk in this transformation!

2 Corinthians 3:17-18:  “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. [18] We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at, the glory of the Lord  and are being transformed  into the same image  from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.” CSB

Heavenly Father, pour out Your Spirit upon me today.  Help me to walk in the pathway of righteousness for Your Name’s sake.  Transform me into the image of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Help me to be holy – as You are holy!

Psalms 23:1-3: “The Lord is my shepherd;  I have what I need.  [2] He lets me lie down in green pastures;  he leads me beside quiet waters.  [3] He renews my life; he leads me along the right paths for his name’s sake.” 

In Jesus’ Name!