Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
Leviticus 20:7-8
Consecrated literally means to set apart. It refers to making an intentional choice for a mode of existence (a whole way of life) that is centered on God and His truths. The simplest way for us to connect is that if someone is chosen to be part of a sports team then the coach now sets priorities and expectations for playing that sport. The coach will outline a practice schedule for the team, he may also stipulate certain skills to work on at home, and a coach always gives a pep talk about a “code of behavior” and how the team needs to treat each other and represent themselves on the field of play.
God chooses us to be part of His family and His mission in the world. That gives Him the right to tell us what our priorities and behaviors will be if we are going to represent Him well. God has a code of behavior. He has guidelines on attitude, and He will even talk about a work ethic – if you are going to play on that team under His leadership then here is what the players all need to commit to doing.
Leviticus 20 is God’s call to his people that because He has set them part to serve Him, they need to consecrate themselves or in other terms, to develop a mindset and attitude that willingly embraces the expectations that God sets out for them if they are going to be associated with God and represent Him in the world.
There are many things God’s people are not to be doing. If you read Chapter 19-20 of Leviticus you will see a great many “you are not…” to behave in ways that dishonor God. This list is far too extensive to deal with here, but there are categories of things that we can mention: God’s people were not to worship idols or consult with mediums and spiritists (v. 6). God’s people are to respect their parents. Various sexual immorality issues are predominate through the chapter (v. 10-21). They are also not to follow the customs of the nations which God is displacing from the land.
There are many things that God’s people ought to be doing. All these responsibilities begin with consecrating themselves to be holy because God is holy (20:7). God’s people ought to be keeping God’s statutes and practicing them constantly (20:8). This is reiterated in verse twenty-two when they are told by God to keep and obey all His ordinances and statutes (2022-23). They were to make a distinction between what is clean and unclean because this is what taught the people God’s expectation for their life. These were God’s expectations for the way His people were to live.
While the Old Testament is not our point of authority, it does provide insight in understanding much of the New Testament and clarifies truth when it would seem ambiguous. But no matter how we interpret the relevance of the Old Testament, God has the same expectation for the church today. God has a right to dictate how we are to live which is anchored on the foundational truth that we are to be holy even as God is holy (1 Peter 1:13-16). We are set apart for God and to serve God. He dictates to us what our manner of life will be and He has every right to tell us our priorities. The motivation is not Law, but Christ. We see to not just keep a law, but to honor our Savior, the Lord Jesus. In fact, Hebrews tells us in many ways that we have a better covenant relationship with God because of Christ.
All this to say that one of our greatest privileges and responsibilities is to consecrate our lives to God, to live holy as He is holy. If we don’t know what that might look like – take a peek into the O.T. Our motivation ought to be to honor Christ.
Pastor Brad
