The Lord God spoke to Moses to introduce His instructions and commands to Israel, to all the congregation. The Speaker was Christ, the Redeemer, Jesus Christ. He spoke to Moses from the cloudy pillar.
The introduction grounds the call for the people to be holy because the Lord their God is holy. Holiness is part of the perfection of character God requires, and those who would be accepted and approved by Him must be holy as He is holy. The commands that follow require reverencing and honoring parents, keeping God's Sabbaths, and rejecting idols and molten gods. They also require observing peace offerings according to the prescribed time, with disobedience profaning what is holy and bringing guilt.
They define holiness as practical, just conduct: providing for the poor and the stranger, dealing honestly, paying workers promptly, treating vulnerable people justly, refusing gossip, hatred, revenge and grudges, loving one's neighbor, showing no oppression of brethren, sharing God's gifts, and leaving the gleanings of harvest-field, orchard and vineyard as the Lord's portion to relieve the poor and the stranger. The instruction stands alongside God's declaration that He does not change, linking His enduring character with His dealings with Israel. His Old Testament teachings carry the same high standard as His New Testament teachings. The whole chapter is a lesson for future generations and guides God's people today.
That holiness is the attributes of God, which are the attributes of Jesus, cultivated in daily life by practicing godliness in every circumstance to all who need mercy and relief and not only to one's own sect, by being individual believers in Jesus Christ as personal Saviour rather than being saved by church membership, by being united with Christ and growing up to the full stature of Christ, by first being a blessing to members of one's own family and then to fellow men, and by loving one's neighbor as oneself without selfishness and self-centeredness. Love for fellow believers expressed in Christlike actions is powerful evidence of new life in Christ and a witness that can win others to the truth. Those who have received God's great gift in Jesus are called to love one another as Christ has loved them.
The Lord God spoke to Moses to introduce His instructions and commands to Israel, to all the congregation. The Speaker was Christ, the Redeemer, Jesus Christ. He spoke to Moses from the cloudy pillar.
The introduction grounds the call for the people to be holy because the Lord their God is holy. Holiness is part of the perfection of character God requires, and those who would be accepted and approved by Him must be holy as He is holy. The commands that follow require reverencing and honoring parents, keeping God's Sabbaths, and rejecting idols and molten gods. They also require observing peace offerings according to the prescribed time, with disobedience profaning what is holy and bringing guilt.
They define holiness as practical, just conduct: providing for the poor and the stranger, dealing honestly, paying workers promptly, treating vulnerable people justly, refusing gossip, hatred, revenge and grudges, loving one's neighbor, showing no oppression of brethren, sharing God's gifts, and leaving the gleanings of harvest-field, orchard and vineyard as the Lord's portion to relieve the poor and the stranger. The instruction stands alongside God's declaration that He does not change, linking His enduring character with His dealings with Israel. His Old Testament teachings carry the same high standard as His New Testament teachings. The whole chapter is a lesson for future generations and guides God's people today.
That holiness is the attributes of God, which are the attributes of Jesus, cultivated in daily life by practicing godliness in every circumstance to all who need mercy and relief and not only to one's own sect, by being individual believers in Jesus Christ as personal Saviour rather than being saved by church membership, by being united with Christ and growing up to the full stature of Christ, by first being a blessing to members of one's own family and then to fellow men, and by loving one's neighbor as oneself without selfishness and self-centeredness. Love for fellow believers expressed in Christlike actions is powerful evidence of new life in Christ and a witness that can win others to the truth. Those who have received God's great gift in Jesus are called to love one another as Christ has loved them.