The Ninth Commandment: Statutes and Precepts (2)

Leviticus 18.24-30
²⁴ “‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. ²⁵ For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants. ²⁶ You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you ²⁷ (for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), ²⁸ lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you. ²⁹ For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people. ³⁰ Therefore you shall keep My ordinance, so that you do not commit any of these abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you do not defile yourselves by them: I am the LORD your God.’”

Paul says that those who will not relate to God on the basis of truth will turn to “the Lie” instead, and worship created things, which is the same as worshiping themselves (Rom. 1.18-25). The Lie insists either that God does not exist or He is not relevant to our lives in any meaningful way. In the place of God, as the supreme object of our devotion and obedience, those who follow the Lie set up other “gods” and focus their attention, expend their energies, and deposit all their hopes on achieving this false deity. Whether their god be an idol sitting on the mantle at home or the more fashionable gods of our materialistic age – wealth, sensuality, fame – all who turn to this path turn to away from truth.

God resolved that His people should not walk this path. This statute shows us both the proscriptive and prescriptive aspects of God’s Law. He told the people what they must not do, and He commanded them clearly concerning what they must do in order to fulfill the terms of their covenant relationship.

There is no wiggle room here; Israel was not even to dabble in the pagan practices of the people they were to displace. How much of what passes for Christianity today is an unhappy admixture of Biblical teaching and mere pragmatism, subjectivism, and sentimentality? To the extent the Lie of this age is given room within the practice of the faith, to precisely that extent we deprive ourselves of all the good God intends for us. By preferring the Lie over the truth of God we incur His discipline until we find our way back to the path of truth and righteousness (Heb. 12.3-11).

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.