January 23, 2022

Leviticus 11: 44, 45 (NIV)

“I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. . . . I am the Lord who brought you up out of Egypt to be your Lord, therefore be holy, because I am holy.”

Holiness is not optional.*

This passage begins with God’s credentials: “I am the Lord your God.” After establishing his authority, he goes on to remind his people of their obligation and why they owe him. And just in case they didn’t get it, he repeats himself, “Be holy because I am holy.”

Holiness is more than just acknowledging that God is “the Lord who brought you up out of Egypt to be your Lord.” And, being holy like God certainly involves more than just performing holy rituals. As someone has observed, “‘Be ritually clean, for I am ritually clean’ seems inadequate"* For the Israelites, holiness was a lifestyle that set them apart from the other nations. Many of the restrictions imposed by the law were for no other purpose than to “erect strong barriers between the chosen people and the heathen.”*

Today, through Jesus, we are released from these particular restrictions but we are still called to be holy. The pursuit of holiness compels us to know God well enough to try to be like him. For an idea of the type of behavior required to set us apart from the world, read Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7.  

The more you look in God’s Word, the more God’s holiness is revealed.*