Leviticus 27 -- A Wrap-Up

Honestly, I said “YEA!” when I saw I was reading the last chapter of Leviticus.  I was ready to be done studying all of the Jewish regulations that they certainly struggled to remember, much less keep.  But then I was surprised by a summary section of this book in my commentary.  It covered what these lessons should mean for us today:

“Our God is a holy God – Whenever we minimize the holiness of God, we’re in danger of minimizing human sinfulness, and the combination of these two errors results in the minimizing of the cross of Jesus Christ.”

“God wants His people to be holy – Whatever else the church may be known for today – buildings, budgets, crowds, busy schedules – it certainly isn’t known for its holiness.”

“Holiness begins at the altar – If I think I’m going to become holy because of my sincere resolutions, my religious habits, or my theological knowledge, I’m heading for certain failure … The cross reveals God’s hatred of sin.  Our sins killed His only Son!  How can I be neutral or even friendly toward that which caused the Son of God to suffer and die?  Unless I learn to detest sin, I’ll never be able to cultivate holiness.”

“Holiness involves obedience and discipline – Our holy God has the right to tell us what’s right and what’s wrong … It isn’t enough to ready and study the Bible.  We’re supposed to keep His commandments … Disciplined obedience is an important part of holy living … It’s only when God’s holiness increasingly begins to touch every area of our lives that we can say we’re starting to make progress in being holy.”

“Holiness must be from God and be genuine – Sentimental religious feelings are no guarantee that we’re pleasing God, and the absence of them doesn’t mean we’re failing God.”

“Holiness involves priestly mediation – In the New Testament church, all of God’s people are priests, but we must come to God through Jesus Christ, our mediating High Priest in heaven.  There can be no growth in holiness apart from fellowship with Jesus Christ.”

“Lack of holiness affects our land – We tend to think of sin as an individual activity that affects only the sinner, but this isn’t true … Idolatry and sexual immorality are the two sins that God especially singled out as polluting the land … Sins that ought to send us to our knees weeping are now acceptable recreation.  Judgment is coming, and it will begin at the house of God.”

“Holiness isn’t a private affair – The Old Testament believing community; he or she didn’t try to go it alone.”

“Holiness glorifies the Lord – Only God gets the glory when people see Christ reproduced in us.  We may not see the changes taking place, but God sees them, and so can others.”

“Holiness means living to please God alone – We live our lives before the eyes of God, to please Him alone, and not before the eyes of others to impress them … It makes no difference how loudly our friends applaud if God is displeased with us … We seek to live a holy life, not so that we can be recognized as holy people, but in order to please a holy God.  We live before him openly and sincerely, hiding nothing; fearing nothing.”

Father, this just about says it all.  Help me to be open and honest before You.  Grow me in holiness.  Show me where I fail and help me to agree with You about it.  You command me to be holy, and Your commandments are Your enablements.  Don’t ever let me believe that holiness is impossible.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford