Thursday, September 25, 2025

           The Holiness Code is a section of Scripture found in Leviticus 17-26.  This section is marked by a concern for living holy because the LORD is holy.  These chapters focus on moral, ethical and spiritual imperatives for pleasing God and honoring Him with one’s life and conduct.  Leviticus 17:1 begins with the statement, “The LORD said to Moses.”  God spoke.  There is really little else to say.  When God speaks, we listen.  When God commands, we obey.  When God directs us to live in one way and refrain from another way, we have the duty to obey.  Why?  Because God is God.  He makes the standards for holiness.  In Leviticus 18:2, God said, “I am the LORD your God.”  This simple expression is an underline or a refrain for the entire holiness code.  Because the LORD, the great I AM, is God, He is the one and only bar for what is good or evil, right or wrong.
            Many things change.  Seasons change.  Time changes.  Clothing styles change.  Professional sports teams change.  But God is changeless.  He is holy.  He is the embodiment of holiness.  Because of God’s constancy and immutability (His unchanging nature), His standards of holiness do not change either.  Our opinions about what is right or wrong are rather inconsequential.  Frankly, they do not matter.  God has the first and last word on such matters.  In Leviticus 19:2, the Bible says, “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.’”  To take upon ourselves the name of the Lord and to call ourselves “the Lord’s people” means that we identify with His ways and His goodness.  We do not arbitrarily pick and choose the things we like or enjoy when it comes to obedience and discard the rest. 
            Throughout Leviticus 19, the Lord said through Moses, “I am the LORD” or “I am the LORD your God.”  Literally “I am the I AM.”  God makes it abundantly clear that His ways are timeless and not subject to human favor or approval.  God’s ways are for our good.  His standards protect us from sin and the consequences of sin.  No one ever regrets living for the Lord and taking His Word and commands to heart.  We may think that all this business about God’s laws and standards is unique to the Old Testament and has no bearing upon us today.  That is a mistaken assumption.  Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore, anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17-19).  God’s moral law remains.  It has not been abolished or devalued. 
            Judicial law in the Old Testament was specific to Israel.  Ceremonial law was specific to Israel’s system of sacrifices, offerings, worship practices and purification rites.  But the moral law is universally timeless.  Does anyone want to argue that the Ten Commandments, for example, carry no weight today?  What would life look like if we discarded the Holiness Code in Leviticus 17-26?  We are not free to discard the moral law of God because Jesus certainly did not.  Paul did not.  To live without the boundaries and guardrails of God’s righteousness and holiness is a scandalous and dangerous way to live.  May we grow in the grace and ways of the Lord so that His light is reflected to those around us!  Have a great Thursday!