Holiness is Our Calling (Leviticus 18-22)

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the Lord your God. 3 You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. 4 You shall follow my rules1 and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. 5 You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord. 

To be God’s people is to different. The Israelites we commanded to not be like the people of Egypt that they were leaving, nor like the people of Canaan where they were headed. They were commanded not to follow their laws, but that is not a command to lawlessness. God’s law was the higher ideal. Today God’s people have a similar call. We are not to conform to the morals or ethics of the world, God’s ethic—the ethic of love—is higher.

This is the essence of holiness. We are to be different from the world. Chapters 18-22 describe this life. In the context of Leviticus, we see things singled out because they are relevant in the context of Egypt and Canaan. Sexual sin, religious sin, and social injustice—while universal problems—had a local flavor then. If these passages were written today some things would be similar, but other issues would need addressing and emphasizing.

Boiled down to three points, you could say the following: avoid sin, do justice and live compassionately, and communicate holiness with every aspect of your life.