Leviticus 11:44–45

It is good to see where the personal holiness of God's people comes from. Their complete separation from every kind of uncleanness flows out of their relationship to Him. The principle is not "stand by yourself, I am holier than you." It is simply this: "God is holy," and therefore everyone God brings into association with Himself must be holy too. Suppose someone had asked an Israelite long ago, "Why do you shrink back from that reptile crawling along the path?" He would have answered, "The Lord is holy, and I belong to Him. He has said, Do not touch." The same holds now. If someone asks a Christian why he walks apart from the ten thousand things the men of this world share in, his answer is simply to be, "My Father is holy."

God is holy in Himself, holy by His very nature. He is pure, He is clean, and He is different from every other person. He is apart from all else and from all other persons, and we need to keep that in mind. Anything or anyone else that God counts holy must take on, in some measure, this particular characteristic that God Himself has completely. That thing or person must be clean, pure, and entirely apart from any pollution or contamination.

How wonderful to think of the condescending grace of the Lord! He could stoop to give directions about a crawling reptile. He would not leave His people at a loss about the most trivial matter. They were not their own, and so they were not to do as they pleased. They belonged to the Lord; His name was called on them. His word was to be their great regulating standard in every case. In such matters they were not to think their own thoughts, use their own reasoning, or follow their own imagination.

These instructions were given to Israel on the basis of the holiness of their God (vv. 44-45). God's name is to be set apart from everything inconsistent with His character. Because He is holy, Israel was commanded to be holy. For God had brought them out of the unclean bondage of Egypt so that they should belong to Him. They — and we — should therefore love what is good and hate what is evil.

By eating, in a spiritual sense, we understand communion. Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, so we are occupied with the things that suit this fellowship. The Father loves the Son, and we love the Son. So in Scripture, looked at spiritually, what is "clean" must set forth Christ. What is "unclean" must be unlike this perfect model, who knew no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.

The apostle quotes the law to insist on holiness (Leviticus 11:44). God's way of dealing with people may change, but His nature cannot change. God is absolute in holiness. That was true under law, and it is still true under grace. So those in relationship with God, whether under law or grace, must be holy.

In His own person Christ brought in grace and truth, and redemption enables us to walk in the Spirit in keeping with them. It is now the children — not of the fathers, but of God the Father — whose standing is not in flesh, but in Christ. The holiness rises according to the place and the relationship.

Nature has no power against the fall or its effects. The law has no power either, except to forbid — and to condemn anyone who breaks it... But the law gave power no more than it gave life. Both come only in Christ, and faith receives them.

To be taken as a people, Israel is redeemed out of the world. Until that redemption there is no dwelling of God with man — not in paradise, not with Abraham. When redemption is even pictured in figure, it says (Ex. 29), "I have brought them out of the land of Egypt that I may dwell among them." So God's dwelling with man is never seen before that, and holiness is never spoken of till then. Redemption is necessary for man to be near God, and that nearness, morally understood, is holiness.

The personal holiness of God's people — their complete separation from every kind of uncleanness — flows out of their relationship to Him. It does not rest on the principle of "stand by yourself, I am holier than you." It is simply this: "God is holy," and everyone He brings into association with Himself must be holy too... Suppose someone asked an Israelite of old, "Why do you shrink back from that reptile crawling along the path?" He would have answered, "Jehovah is holy, and I belong to Him. He has said, 'Do not touch.'" In the same way now, a Christian may be asked why he walks apart from the ten thousand things the men of this world share in. His answer is simply to be, "My Father is holy."

After the flood, God gave man every moving living creature for food (Gen. 9:3). Here, under the law, He brings in restrictions. Were men, then, defiled in their souls by eating animal food freely? Was that a source of moral defilement? Demons would put that idea into man's mind. But the Lord has taught us (Matt. 15:18) where moral defilement comes from — out of the heart of man. So abstaining from foods will not produce true godliness... But why these restrictions? Because the law does two things. It puts man at a distance from God and makes him aware of it. It is also meant to teach him the great difference between standing on the ground of keeping the law and standing on the ground of grace.

It was not only about eating anything unclean that God's people were so carefully guarded. Bare contact was forbidden... It was impossible for a member of the Israel of God to touch what was unclean without contracting defilement... The Lord would have His people holy in all things. They were neither to eat nor to touch anything unclean.

The inward life and the outward walk must go together. A man may claim to love and feed on the Word of God, to study it and turn it over — the pasture of the soul; but if his footprints along the pathway of life are not what the Word requires, he is not clean. On the other hand, a man may seem to walk with a blamelessness no one can fault; but if his walk is not the result of the hidden life, it is worse than worthless.

Nature has no strength against the fall or its effects. The law has no power except to forbid, and to condemn anyone who breaks it... But the law gave power no more than it gave life. Christ alone gives both, and faith receives them. So it all came to nothing for unbelieving Israel, who were themselves the most unclean of all.

The change brought in by Him who came in love, and who went down to the dust of death for the guilty and lost, is vast and fundamental... God showed this to Peter in a vision, and it bore directly on the Gentiles. Peter saw heaven opened, and a great sheet let down to the earth, holding the animals and creeping things of the earth and the birds of heaven. A voice came to him: "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." But Peter said, "By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean." And the voice said, "What God has made clean, do not call common."

The Bible speaks of a once-for-all sanctification — our position — which applies to all believers. It also speaks of practical sanctification, which applies to our walk... But God's desire is that we should match in practice what we are in position. "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy'" (1 Pet. 1:14–16).