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The First Commandment: Statues and Precepts (30)
Leviticus 20.22-26
22 “‘You shall therefore keep all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out. 23 And you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they commit all these things, and therefore I abhor them. 24 But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples. 25 You shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean, and you shall not make yourselves abominable by beast or by bird, or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. 26 And you shall be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.’”
Obedience to God’s Law makes His people distinct from the nations around them. Israel was sternly warned against incorporating into her worship or daily life any of the practices of the pagan nations she was going to displace. Doing so would make her an offense to God and would short-circuit receipt of the promises. God’s intention was that, through obedience to the Law, Israel would transform the pagan lands she was inheriting, bringing goodness, love, justice, and truth to light where formerly only darkness had prevailed.
So it is today. God calls us to be holy, as He is holy (Matt. 5.48), so that those who have been redeemed by Jesus Christ and born again of His Spirit might take up obedience to His Law of liberty, life, and love, and, by so doing, bring the glory of God to light in every area of life. Christians must keep and teach the Law if they would know Kingdom greatness (Matt. 5.17-19) – not for salvation, but unto sanctification and life.
T. M. Moore
The Law of God is the soil which, fertilized by the rest of God’s Word and watered by His Spirit, brings forth the fruit of Christian life. If you’d like to understand this process better, and how to make best use of the Law in your walk with and work for the Lord, order the book, The Ground for Christian Ethics, from our online store.
Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.