It is easy to imitate the ways of this world but God wants his people to be like him.
Leviticus 18:1-5 Then the LORD said to Moses,
2 “Give the following
instructions to the people of Israel. I am the LORD your God.
3 So do not act like the
people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where
I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life.
4 You must obey all my
regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the LORD your
God. 5 If you obey my
decrees and my regulations, you will find life through them. I am the LORD.
Leviticus 19:1-2 The LORD also said to Moses, 2 "Give the following instructions to the entire community of Israel. You must be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.
Leviticus 20:7-8 So set yourselves apart to be holy, for I am the LORD your God. 8 Keep all my decrees by putting them into practice, for I am the LORD who makes you holy.
Leviticus 18:30 So obey my instructions, and do not defile yourselves by
committing any of these detestable practices that were committed by the
people who lived in the land before you. I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 19:1-2 The LORD also said to Moses, 2 "Give the following instructions to the entire community of Israel. You must be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.
Leviticus 20:7-8 So set yourselves apart to be holy, for I am the LORD your God. 8 Keep all my decrees by putting them into practice, for I am the LORD who makes you holy.
The good news is our holy God loves us so much that he wants to have a close intimate relationship with us. But the bad news is because he is holy we cannot have an intimate relationship with him. But we don't have to live in the reality of the bad news!
Holiness is the most important truth that you must comprehend about God, it is a huge kindness on God's part to give us his instructions on how to safely draw near to him. The book of Leviticus is the first record that we have on how to live to please God.
I have to wonder how God's people knew what God's standards are before the exodus from Egypt when he began teaching them at Mount Sinai. It seems that somehow people knew about God and what he expects from mankind before the law was revealed.
How did:
- Abel please God and how did Cain know what was right and yet he chose the wrong way?
- Enoch have close fellowship with God so that he would be taken directly to Heaven?
- Noah know how to have God's favor when everyone around him missed the boat?
God's people today have the luxury of looking back at thousands of years of history that God has preserved for us in the Bible to give us a clear picture of how to have his favor.
The Old Testament shows us a very clear picture of the difficulty mankind has in living up to God's standards. By the end of the book of Genesis (Genesis 46:1-34, 47:1-12) we see that God's people wound up in Egypt for their own good so they would escape the famine in Canaan, but later on we see that while they were in Egypt they started to live like Egyptians.
God's people are conformed to the world when they leave Egypt, their character was proven very quickly and with great repetition. After 400 years of Egyptian influence, God's people didn't look much like God's people, Israel needed to get out of Egypt but God knew that he needed to get Egypt out of Israel.
Deuteronomy 18:9 “When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there.
Perhaps that is the reason God did not take them directly to the Promised Land. (Psalm 106:35, Ezekiel 20:7-8, 23:8) God used the wilderness to get his people away from everyone else so that they could be taught how to live by his rules so that they could live long, prosper and be a blessing to the other nations.
God's people need to be transformed, this goes way beyond nonconformity to the world, this is way more than withdrawing from the world or living by a list, this is a rebirth that comes from a new nature.
Romans 12:2 Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
A change of character is exactly what God requires for his people but don't be confused, the change is not a requirement to have a relationship with him but rather it is proof that you do have a relationship. Your obedience will be a natural outcome of the transformation of your character.
God is perfect in holiness to the point that all of his divine attributes are holy attributes, because he loves us and wants the best for us, God wants us to also be holy. This is a condition that mankind doesn't long to achieve, our carnal minds are more concerned about happiness and pleasure, we want ease and comfort.
Everybody has a choice to make, we can behave like Egypt or Canaan or we can be renewed with a new nature by the power of the Holy Spirit so that we will be a reflection of God for the world to see. We struggle with this decision because we want God to solve our problems and carry our burdens, we want our best life now and that doesn't include a God that demands control our lives and a huge change in our character.
Ephesians 4:17, 23-24 With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God-truly righteous and holy.
Paul repeats the warning from Leviticus in his letter to the Ephesian church, it was still an issue hundreds of years later, as long as we are in this world we will struggle with this decision. God's people still need the encouragement to make the right choice:
- Will we allow the Holy Spirit to renew our thoughts and attitudes? (Ephesians 4:23)
- Will we desire to put on our new nature which was given to us to make us like God? (Ephesians 4:23)
Instead of saying "don't do as the..." it's still a good idea to ask yourself, WWJD? Jesus is the only man that God fully approved so that makes him the perfect example for us to follow. (Matthew 3:17)
We will mess up as we continue to grow, the Bible makes it clear that God's people will not automatically or perfectly implement the practice of being like God, it takes time to change our minds about the ways of Egypt and Canaan. We must remember that God is just as patient with us as we wonder around in our wilderness on the way to our Promised Land.
RELATED ARTICLES
How Should We Be In The World But Not Of It?
(ligonier.org)
John MacArthur: Becoming a Better You? (youtube.com)
