BE YE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY
by Nikita Harris
West End Bible Fellowship
Atlanta, GA
Recently I’ve been studying the Book of Leviticus. Leviticus is one of the least read books of the Bible. At first glance it appears to be excruciatingly boring. But Leviticus is a fascinating book for those who take the time to study it.
Leviticus is filled with laws: laws about sacrifices; laws about holy days; laws about illnesses; laws about uncleanness; laws about what to eat and what not to eat. But when you get right down to it, Leviticus is about how everyday human beings can live in close proximity to a holy God.
In Exodus, which precedes Leviticus both chronologically and in its position in the Bible, God met with the people of Israel at Mt. Sinai and gave His laws to them. Shortly after this, He gave Moses instructions for building a tent, a tabernacle, for Him, to be placed in the midst of the tents of the people of Israel.
God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, was moving in, in a sense, with the Israelites!
This meant that there were going to have to be some changes made in the way the Israelites conducted their lives. In Leviticus 11 we see the bottom line of what God was asking of them.
Leviticus 11:44-45
11:44 For I [am] the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I [am] holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
11:45 For I [am] the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I [am] holy.
God wanted nothing less than holiness from His people. He is a holy God, and he demanded nothing less from His people Israel. This seems like an impossibly tall order to fill, doesn’t it?
It is ironic that this passage occurs at the end of one of the most ridiculed chapters in the Bible! Leviticus 11 is the chapter that deals with the dietary laws that God gave to Israel. Whenever someone wants to make the point that the Bible is an unreasonable or ridiculous book, they invariably go to Leviticus 11 and point out that God prohibits the eating of shellfish and other such things.
But here God explains His reasons for specifying what His people could and couldn’t eat. God wanted His people to be clean right down to the food they ate. God created all animals, and He knows what purpose He created each one for. He did not want his people eating carnivores or scavengers, and He took the time to show His people how to tell which animals were okay for them to eat, and which were not.
To much of the rest of the world, this looks like foolishness. For God’s people, though, this was part of keeping yourself clean enough to live in close proximity to a holy God.
In Leviticus 19, God again announced that He wanted His people to be holy.
Leviticus 19:1-2.
19:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
19:2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God [am] holy.
God goes on to explain that part of living a holy life is dealing with the people around you in a godly way.
Leviticus 19:11-14.
19:11 Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.
19:12 And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I [am] the LORD.
19:13 Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob[him]: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
19:14 Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I [am] the LORD.
Stealing, cheating and lying are all contrary to living a holy lifestyle. Notice that no distinction is made between what one does personally, or in business, or in government. Cheating or robbing your neighbor, or even delaying the payment of an employee or someone who has done work for you, are also identified as examples of unholy living.
Cursing a deaf man or tripping a blind man may seem like practical jokes, albeit cruel ones, to some; but God identifies these also as examples of ungodly living. Even if a person has no way of knowing you have wronged them, doing wrong to them is still ungodly.
Being holy also includes staying away from occult or spiritual activities forbidden by God.
Leviticus 20:6-8.
20:6 And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.
20:7 Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I[am] the LORD your God.
20:8 And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I [am] the LORD which sanctify you.
Today such things as séances, horoscopes and psychic readings are regarded by many as harmless entertainment. But God sees these activities as going to another god for counsel or help. He considers this “whoring” (verse 6), the equivalent of a married person going to someone outside their marriage for sex. Neither doing business with other gods nor engaging in spiritual activities forbidden by God has any place in a holy life.
Leviticus 20:22-26.
20:22 Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out.
20:23 And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.
20:24 But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I [am] the LORD your God, which have separated you from [other] people.
20:25 Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shallot make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.
20:26 And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD [am] holy, and have severed you from [other] people, that ye should be mine.
God’s people were not to be like everybody else. They were not to act like the people around them, to worship like them, or even to eat like them. They were set apart by and for God; they were to live their lives God’s way.
Deuteronomy 7:1-3.
7:1 When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
7:2 And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, [and] utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them:
7:3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
God commanded the Israelites to utterly destroy the Canaanite nations that dwelled in the land that He gave them. This seems cruel and evil to us. It looks like genocide, and we are tempted to sit in judgement of God because of it.
But God was explaining a deadly reality to Israel. One critical thing that will bring their nation into judgment by God and cause Him to destroy it is the worship of other gods. And the number one way this sin will enter their nation is by way of the survivors of the people of the land who are allowed to live among them and teach them their ways; the very things that caused God to destroy them. God’s people will have to choose between the lives of the Canaanites and their own lives.
In the end, the Israelites failed to destroy the people of Canaan, and ended up worshipping their gods. This led, centuries later, to the almost complete destruction of the nation by God in judgment.
God made it clear to Israel that He did not choose them because of any merit on their part.
Deuteronomy 7:6-11.
7:6 For thou [art] an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that [are] upon the face of the earth.
7:7 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye [were]the fewest of all people:
7:8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
7:9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he [is] God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
7:10 And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.
7:11 Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.
The key to living a holy life is obedience to God’s word. God promised Israel that if they did what He told them to do, He would reward them richly.
Deuteronomy 28:1-2.
28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe [and]to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
28:2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
It’s sobering to see the high and holy standard which God called Israel to live by. But Israel is not alone in being called to be holy. In the Church, God has called out from among both the Jews and the Gentiles, or non-Jews, a people for Himself. And, as with the Jews, God expects for His people to be like the holy God who called them.
I Peter 1:13-16.
1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
1:14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
1:15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
We’ve seen what holy living looked like for Israel. But what does it look like for us in the Church?
Romans 12:1-2.
12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service.
12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
We are told in Romans 12 that God wants two things from His people. He wants us to live holy loves outwardly, where people can see; and He wants us to live holy lives in our hearts and minds, where nobody knows what’s going on but ourselves and God. It is as we are transformed on the inside by the renewing of our minds that we live holy lives outwardly.
As with the Jews, holy living in the Church involves not only our relationship with God, but with other men and women as well.
Romans 12:9-13.
12:9 [Let] love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
12:10 [Be] kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
12:11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
12:12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
12:13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
In short, God wants us to walk in love one toward another.
Romans 13:8-9.
13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
13:9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if [there be] any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
For Israel, holy living was necessary because God’s dwelling place was in their midst. For the Church, holy living is necessary because we, as the body of Christ, serve as the temple of God.
I Corinthians 3:16-17.
3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that]the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which [temple] ye are.
Holiness was always part of God’s plan for His people. Even before God made the heavens and the earth, He chose us and called us to be holy.
Ephesians 1:3-4.
1:3 Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly[places] in Christ:
1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
II Timothy 1:8-9.
1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
1:9 Who hath saved us, and called [us] with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
God sent His son Jesus Christ to walk perfectly before Him and die in our place on the cross not just to obtain eternal life for us – which he did! – but also to present us to God as holy in His sight.
Colossians 1:19-22.
1:19 For it pleased [the Father] that in him should lawfulness dwell;
1:20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, [I say],whether [they be] things in earth, or things in heaven.
1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in[your] mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
We are set apart by God for His purposes. We are to live our lives in obedience to Him, as men and women who are holy to Him. We don’t do this by trying to live our lives in accordance with a bunch of rules and regulations. Instead, we start with the inside, with our minds, and bring them into subjection to Christ. Then we work our way out.
Colossians 3:1-2.
3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Your “affections” are your thoughts. We begin by setting our minds, our thoughts, on things above, on the things that pertain to God and Christ, not on things of the earth. God didn’t want Israel living like everybody else. He doesn’t want us, who are in the Church, thinking like everybody else!
One key thing we need to come to understand is our identification with Christ, our union with him, in his death on the cross, and in his righteous walk.
Colossians 3:3-4.
3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
3:4 When Christ, [who is] our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
When Christ died on the cross in our place, we are counted as having died with him. Whoever we used to be before we were saved has been legally put to death in the person of Jesus Christ. And the life of perfect obedience that Christ lived is counted as our obedience to God. God has made us righteous in Christ, even though by our own works we were unrighteous.
However, our old self is still very much alive. Our old thoughts, our old attitudes, our old habits are still trying to run our life. What are we to do about this?
Colossians 3:5-9.
3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
3:6 For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
3:7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
We are to put to death those elements of our old self that are trying to live through us. They died legally with Christ. Now we are to treat them like they are dead.
God wants us to put off our old self, with it’s sinful ways, and put on a new self.
Colossians 3:10-11.
3:10 And have put on the new [man], which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
3:11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond [nor] free: but Christ [is] all, and in all.
What is this new self, or “new man,” that we are to put on?
When we received Christ as our Lord, we receive the spirit of God. It is this spirit of God in us that makes us sons of God.
Romans 8:14-17.
8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
The “new birth” is not just a figure of speech. We who are Christ’s have something in us that wasn’t’ there before. The spirit of God is now an integral part of us. And it is that spirit in us that addresses God as “Abba,” or “Daddy.”
Now that we have the spirit of God, we have, in effect, two wills. Our old self is as much a rebel against God as it always was. The spirit of God in us, on the other hand, always wants to do our Father’s will. The result is a civil war inside ourselves.
Galatians 5:16-18.
5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
5:18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Our flesh, or our old self, earnestly desires one thing, while the spirit of God in us, or our new self, earnestly desires something entirely different. The two are in conflict with each other, keeping us from consistently walking righteously on the one hand, and keeping us from consistently sinning – and keeping us from enjoying our sin! – on the other hand.
The solution to this dilemma is to walk in the spirit: to deliberately choose to walk in accordance with the spirit God has given us. This is walking in newness of life.
Colossians 3:12-17.
3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also [do] ye.
3:14 And above all these things [put on] charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, [do] all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
For the Christian, walking in the spirit is the how of holy living.
When you walk in the spirit, you are walking in accordance with God’s written word, for the spirit and God’s word are in full agreement.. Walking in the spirit is walking in obedience to God’s word.
When you walk in the spirit, you are walking in love, for the spirit is in full harmony with the love of God. Walking in the spirit is walking in love.
When you walk in the spirit, you are walking in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ, for the spirit we have received is the spirit of Christ, and the spirit is in full agreement with Christ. Walking in the spirit is walking in obedience to Christ.
When you walk in the spirit, you are walking within the will of God, for everything that is of the spirit is within the will of God. Walking in the spirit is walking within the will of God.
When you walk in the spirit over time, your life begins to evidence the fruit of the spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23.
5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
The fruit of the spirit are godly characteristics that develop in you as you walk by the spirit in obedience to God’s word. They are Christ-like character made evident in your life. They are the outward evidence of inward holy living.
Galatians 5:24-26.
5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
5:26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.