Leviticus, chapter 19

Praise the LORD family. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God (John 1:1), Amen. Thank you LORD.

Leviticus 19:1-2 (NKJV)

1. And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

2. "Speak to the all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: 'You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy."

   
   

Amen, thank you LORD

This chapter sets out the law given to Moses for the children of Israel to observe in regard to holiness. Some of the laws they had to follow was observing the Sabbath (Leviticus 19:3), not turning to the worship of idols or make molded images for themselves (Leviticus 19:4); God's people were not to consult mediums and familiar spirits (Leviticus 19:31); it was prohibited for parents to give their daughters to be harlots (Leviticus 19:29), no lying to one another (Leviticus 19:11); having dishonest scales was not allowed (Leviticus 19:36), cheating your neighbour and robbing wages of those hired by you (Leviticus 19:13); cursing the deaf and putting a stumbling block before the blind (Leviticus 19:14); being impartial to the poor and honouring the person of the mighty (Leviticus 19:15); spreading gossip or a tale bearer among your people (Leviticus 19:16); hating your brother in your heart (Leviticus 19:17); taking vengeance or bearing a grudge against the children of your people for you shall love your neighbour as yourself (Leviticus 19:18); staying away from practicing soothsaying, divination and drinking blood (Leviticus 19:26); they were prohibited from cutting the flesh and tattoo marks on their bodies (Leviticus 19:28); sowing the land with mixed seeds and wearing garments of mixed linen and wool was also not allowed (Leviticus 19:19). It was unacceptable to lie with a woman who was betrothed to a man who had not been redeemed or given her freedom and the penalty for this was death (Leviticus 19:20).

I encourage you to read the chapter, they are many other laws that God shared with His people in order for them to be holy because holiness is who God is. In the above vsese, the Lord says, "I the LORD your God, am holy." (Leviticus 19:2).

In the new Testament, holiness is no longer something that we have to do because God has made us holy through His Son Jesus Christ. When you receive Jesus, you receive all that He is like His obedience and His holiness (Romans 1:4-5).

When you receive Christ, you are purified and cleansed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. The blood of Jesus Christ has redeemed and cleansed our conscience from dead works so that we can serve God (Hebrews 9:14). As a result, God's holiness and the obedience that He has blessed us with through Christ has a function and this function is so that we can serve God.

When you consider the moral laws in this chapter, you may notice that if the people turned their attention and lives away from the law of God, they would start to worship something else which would in turn affect their service to God. When God called Moses to go and deliver His people from Egypt, the LORD God, the I AM that I AM told Pharaoh, "Let my people go so that they may serve Me." (Exodus 9:13).

In the new covenant, we may not have moral or ceremonial laws to follow in order to have right relationship with God since Jesus Christ is our holiness. We have made clean by the precious blood of the Jesus Christ (Matthew 26:28).

While at the same time, as believers we are encouraged to stay away from every form of uncleanness. One of the ways to do this is to retain the knowledge of God in your mind. When you retain God in your knowledge, you serve Him with your mind. Romans 1:24 speaks of those who do not worship God, who are given over to the uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts to dishonour their bodies among themselves.

As a result, God tells His children in Ephesians 5:1 to be imitators of God. Ephesians 5:3-5 (NKJV) continues to say, "But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God."

When we look at these verses, we see that the Spirit and the heart of God in the Old Testament and in the New Testament is one when it comes to holiness. The only difference is with the law, one had to look to themselves to live a holy life whereas in the New testament, we look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2) to help us live a holy life by the power of the Holy Spirit. If there is something that you may struggle with, bring it to God in prayer and watch His power work in you. Sometimes the Holy Spirit may lead you to make a few adjustments or to make some decisions, obey promptly what is in line with God's Word as this will lead to your deliverance from that habit. God has called us to live holy lives that worship Him and thankfully, holiness is no longer a standard that is out of reach for a believer because God through His Son Jesus had made it attainable for everyone who is saved and believes in the name of Jesus.

I'll end with Jesus' Word found in John 14:15-17 (NKJV)

15. "If you love Me, keep My commandments.

16. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever -

17. "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you."

Amen, thank you LORD.

Prayer: Father, thank you for the Holy Spirit that enables us to be obedient and walk in Your holiness. Thank you LORD God for the grace to retain You in our knowledge as we worship and serve You with our lives in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Invitation to salvation: The best gift that Jesus gave us is receiving salvation and eternal life which is a personal relationship knowing God as our Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. 

If you would like to receive this free gift of God's salvation, please say this prayer with me:

"I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that God sent His One and only Son who died for my sins and was raised from the dead so that I could have eternal life." Amen

If you just said this prayer, GLORY TO GOD, you are now a new creation in Christ Jesus! In case you have not already, please prayerfully consider becoming a member of a church and get WATER BAPTIZED!