Leviticus 17 – 26 - The call to holy living

The terms holy, holiness, sanctified, sanctification, saint, and consecration all share the same root word. It simply means to be set apart. God wants His people to be set apart to Him. In Leviticus 17 - 26, we have come to a major division in the book. Here God called the people of Israel into holiness and defined how they should demonstrate their holiness. Leviticus 17 - 26 consist of instructions of God for them to conduct holy lives. In Leviticus 19:2 and similar verses such as 20:7 & 26 and 21:6 & 8, we see this call to holy living emphasized. Then throughout these chapters, we see that the basis for this call was because the holy God is their LORD. Repeatedly, He reminded them saying “I am the Lord your God.” This phrase is repeated in no less than fifteen times in these ten chapters.

In Leviticus 17 we see a call to holiness in their eating. Leviticus 18 is the call to holiness in their sexual conduct. Leviticus 19 defines holiness in their social conduct. Then we see the instruction to be holy in their worship life and family relationship in Leviticus 20. The Lord also expected holiness in the priesthood and the offering of sacrifices. Matters pertaining to these are seen in Leviticus 21-22. Then Leviticus 23-24 talk about holiness in observing God’s appointed feasts. In these two chapters, God would define the feasts they had to observe. God also expected them to exercise holiness in land ownership and this is clearly seen in Leviticus 25. Finally, to round up, God dealt with the subject of blessing and cursing in Leviticus 26.

In these chapters, we shall see that God truly is holy and His plan is also for His people to exercise holiness. The Apostle Peter quoting Leviticus 19:2 said, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” We, who have believed in Jesus Christ, are also called to adopt this.  Bear in mind that God’s holiness defines His perfection. It tells us that He is complete in Himself. As far as holiness goes, there is none that can be compared with Him. And for us His people, to be holy is a needful part of being. Because this is what would make us distinct from the rest of the people who do not belong to Him. We are His chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation that He had acquired for Himself. This implies that we are to be set apart from the rest of the people who do not submit to His Lordship.

One thing we need to know as followers of Christ is this: we are holy not because of what we do, but because of what we have become in Christ. We become holy by virtue of the right relationship we have with God through Christ. When we acknowledge that Jesus Christ is our Lord, and place our faith in Him, we become a set-apart people. And because we are His set-apart people, we must demonstrate by our conduct that we truly are set apart unto Him. Hence, we offer to Him our whole being in consecrated living. As we progress in Him, we learn to divest ourselves of worldly value through the renewing of our mind so that we will truly know what consecrated living truly is. Let us be holy as He is holy!