I am the God who makes you holy.” (Leviticus 20:7b)
“Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, 'The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” (Exodus 34:6-7)
“You are Holy, Holy, Holy I want to be holy like You are” sings in the background.
I used to have a terrible fear of disaster. When I would sin, I would have tremendous fear for the punishment to come. I expected the hammer to drop at any moment and I just knew it would be a disaster. Next time I would work harder and get it right, living that holy life God requires of us, but I sinned and now I would pay the price. I would sometimes wake up around three in the morning with anxiety attacks over my fear of disaster when I sinned. While I knew God was good and He loved me, it has taken me a very long time to grasp grace.
I had never really experienced grace growing up. When I was in foster care and I did something wrong or broke something, they would often overlook it (grace). However, I didn't have an understanding of grace to be able to receive it. I was sure that they were really seething with anger about it and I would just pay for it all the worse down the line. It left me on edge, feeling awkward, distant, and having to watch my every step.
For many years after I was saved, I had a little book of scripture quotes that God would often speak to me through. When I was terrified about having made a mistake, I would agonize over my failure and then look for Him to speak to me in this book of scripture quotes. What I expected was to hear something from Him about how angry He was at me for my sin and how much trouble I was in. What came instead was either a word of comfort or of forgiveness as tears would stream down my eyes. (For whatever reason, He consistently spoke to me through scripture in this book.)
Eventually, as I grew in understanding grace, the book disappeared. One day the book was gone, never again to be found. Since then, through year after year of experiencing God's grace, I am finally totally free from my fear of disaster. I no longer need to live life walking on egg shells expecting the hammer to fall for my sin.
“Praise the Lord, I saw the light!” sings in the background.
“I saw the light, I saw the light, no darkness, no more night, now I'm so happy, no sorrow in sight, Praise the Lord, I saw the light!”
One article notes about the verses in Exodus 34:6-7, “He is compassionate and gracious and faithful. Yet, this does not mean that He leaves sin unpunished. Of course not! He demands payment for sin. But for His people — as the Lord's Supper shows us — that payment was and is and always will be the blood of Jesus.” 1
God's idea of justice is not to drop a hammer on us for our sin. It is to take our sin upon Himself and give us freedom and life in its place.
Peter says in 1 Peter 2:24, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”
“And the truest sign of grace was this, from wounded hands redemption fell down liberating man... You are Holy, Holy, Holy!” sings
However, receiving grace for our sin does not mean that we will not be disciplined. Hebrews 12:6 says, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he punishes every son he accepts." And Revelation 3:19 states, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.”
Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary Notes, "This is a great comfort to God's children, under their afflictions, [1.] That they not only consist with, but flow from, covenant-love. [2.] That they are so far from doing them any real hurt that, by the grace of God working with them, they do a great deal of good, and are happy means of their satisfaction."
The difference is that discipline comes from love with a desire for the person to learn and not from anger with a desire to be punitive. Discipline has a motivation of causing the person's good rather than a motivation to cause the person's harm.
Discipline is appreciated by the wise (those who fear God). Proverbs 9:8b says, "Reprove a wise man and he will love you." The wise learn quickly from discipline. Proverbs 17:10 says, "A single rebuke does more for a person of understanding than a hundred lashes on the back of a fool."
However, not all learn by correction. While it may feel good at the time to sin, eventually we will experience pain as a result of our actions when we refuse to obey God and observe his commandments. There is a curse associated with inequity.
Deuteronomy 28:15 says, "But if you refuse to listen to the LORD your God and do not obey all the commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overwhelm you..."
In Leviticus 26:14-19 He says, “But if you refuse to obey me and won't observe my commandments, despising my decrees and holding my laws in contempt by your disobedience, making a shambles of my covenant, I'll step in and pour on the trouble: debilitating disease, high fevers, blindness, your life leaking out bit by bit. You'll plant seed but your enemies will eat the crops. I'll turn my back on you and stand by while your enemies defeat you. People who hate you will govern you. You'll run scared even when there's no one chasing you. And if none of this works in getting your attention, I'll discipline you seven times over for your sins. I'll break your strong pride: I'll make the skies above you like a sheet of tin and the ground under you like cast iron....”
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary notes, " Two things would bring ruin. 1. A contempt of God's commandments. They that reject the precept, will come at last to renounce the covenant. 2. A contempt of his corrections. If they will not learn obedience by the things they suffer, God himself would be against them; and this is the root and cause of all their misery.
Jesus says in John 10:10, "The thief [Satan] comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Satan temps us into inequity to cause us harm and not good. To willingly put ourselves in the hands of the enemy by walking in the ways of disobedience and rebellion against God is walking down a path towards one's own destruction.
However, when we repent and turn to God, He is quick to extend forgiveness. Leviticus 26:40-42 says, “On the other hand, if they confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors, their treacherous betrayal, the defiance that set off my defiance that sent them off into enemy lands; if by some chance they soften their hard hearts and make amends for their sin, I'll remember my covenant with Jacob, I'll remember my covenant with Isaac, and, yes, I'll remember my covenant with Abraham. And, Ill remember the land.”
God is holy and desires us to live a holy life. However, it is not by self effort that we become holy. It is by our surrender of our will to God that we begin a walk of holiness. In Leviticus 22:33 God says, “I am God who makes you holy and brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am God.” And in Leviticus 20:7 He says, “Set yourselves apart for a holy life. Live a holy life, because I am God, your God. Do what I tell you; live the way I tell you. I am the God who makes you holy.”
My bible commentary notes, “Holy refers to a life burning with an intense purity that transforms everything it touches into itself.” And we are to live holy as God is holy. The commentary goes on to state, “The first thing that strikes us as we read Leviticus in this light is that this holy God is actually present with us and virtually every detail of our lives is affected by the presence of this holy God; nothing in us, our relationships, or environment is left out. The second thing is that God provides a way (the sacrifices and feasts and Sabbaths) to bring everything in and about us into his holy presence, transformed in the fiery blaze of the holy.” 2
The best news is that the living God dwells among us and within us, transforming us into His likeness, making us holy. Hebrews 10:31, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
The Path of Holiness: Sacrifices, Feasts, and Sabbaths
Dallas Willard writes, “It is vital for us to keep before us that there are tried and true ways we can pursue toward the abundant life in Christ. These ways are often referred to as 'spiritual disciplines.' We can incorporate these into our lives as completely reliable ways of personal soul care. There is no substitute for this.” 3
Sacrifices to God
Paul says in Romans 12:1-2 "Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."
As one anonymous poem writes about being a living sacrifice:
“For Thou dost not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; Thou art not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.”
In offering ourselves to God, we must die to self sufficiency. As Dallas Willard writes, “Once we learn that grace is not opposed to effort (action) -though it is opposed to earning (attitude) – the way is open for us to 'work out' all that is involved in our salvation, not only 'with fear and trembling' but also with the calm assurance that it is God who is at work in us to accomplish all of His goodwill (see Phil. 2:12-13, NASB).”4
Whenever we place God's will before our own, desiring to see His kingdom purposes come forth rather than our self-focused purposes, we are picking up our cross and denying ourselves for Christ. We do this because we love the Lord and desire to honor Him in all our actions.
The article that contains this poem notes that “God wants us to give to him our lives to use as he sees best. This is an offering with no strings attached.” And, “Not being conformed to this world, means being more concerned about what God thinks than about what anyone else thinks about you. The foremost concern is 'what does God want?' Our lives should be a manifestation of what the will of God is... Offer yourself to God for him to use however he wants to.... He is calling us to a life of sacrifice and service. 'Not my will, but thine be done.'” 5
“Longing to bring You something of worth that will bless your heart, I'll bring you more than a song” sings in the background.
“King of endless worth, no one could express how much you deserve, though I'm weak and poor, all I have is Yours, every single breath.”
Paul says in Romans 12:1-2,
“So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life -your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life -and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”
Feasts of Celebration
At one time, I saw life in God as only sacrifice. I thought the more I sacrificed and gave up, the more I would know God. However, over time, my relationship with God began to lack joy and my sense of gratitude dried up. I was 'working for' God rather than enjoying laboring with Him. My attitude became, 'look at all I have done for you' rather than gratitude and thanksgiving for all He has done for me. Part of my problem was that I was missing a major portion of scripture. Life with God is to also be a feast – it is to be enjoyed and celebrated. Throughout the book of Leviticus, the people were to feast before God.
“Give thanks with a grateful heart, Give thanks to the Holy One, Give thanks because He has given Jesus Christ His Son. And now let the weak say I am strong, Let the poor say I am rich, because of what the Lord has done for us” sings in the background.
Celebration is a time of remembrance of God's goodness and giving thanks to the Lord for all He has done for us. In celebration we come together and share His goodness with each other. We celebrate the life of God that is within ourselves and others around us.
In the feast of booths, celebrated in the seventh month, all the Israelites lived in booths for seven days. Leviticus 23:39-42 says, “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have brought your crops in from your fields, celebrate the Feast of God for seven days. The first day is a complete rest and the eighth day is a complete rest. On the first day, pick the best fruit from the best trees; take fronds of palm trees and branches of leafy trees and from willows by the brook and celebrate in the presence of your God for seven days -yes, for seven full days celebrate it as a festival to God.”
The purpose of the feast is “so that your descendants will know that I made the people of Israel live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
“Come into His presence with thanksgiving in your heart and give Him praise” sings in the background.
Psalm 5:11 says, “But let all those that put their trust in You rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them: let them also that love Your Name be joyful in You.”
Dallas Willard writes, “Jesus taught us to abide in God's love, 'so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.' (John 15:10-11). Our joy is complete when there is no room for more. Abiding in God's love provides the unshakable source of joy, which is in turn the source of peace. All is based in the reality of God's grace and goodness.” 6
Dallas Willard goes on to write, “The more I celebrate, the more I realize that God has been giving me wonderful things in my life, and the less I worry about my future. I will accept and enjoy what God is continuously giving to me. I think I am beginning to really enjoy God.” 7
Celebration can happen in church, as we come together as a body to praise Jesus and remember all He has done for us. It can also happen in small groups where we share what God has done for us with each other and/or when we celebrate Christ within each other.
In Luke 14:13-4, Jesus says, “But when you give a banquet [host a feast], invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
Jean Vanier, in his book “Living Gently in a Violent World” writes of celebration of the beauty of each person at L'Arche. Most of all, it seems what Jean Vanier has found is the incredible blessing in inviting the poor, crippled, lame, and blind into the celebration. He references a pilgrimage in Bangladesh for people with disabilities, and notes that one of them wrote, “The prayer and the celebration of the presence of God in the lives of handicapped people have made these days of communion a feast of hope. We discover more and more that those who are rejected by society because of their weakness and their apparent uselessness are in fact a presence of God. If we welcome them, they lead us progressively out of the world of competition and the need to do great things toward a world of communion of hearts, a life that is simple and joyful where we do small things with love.” 8
Sabbath Rest
“Work six days. The seventh day is a Sabbath, a day of total and complete rest, a sacred assembly. Don't do any work. Wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to God.” (Leviticus 23:3)
God calls his people to come out of their labor and work so that they can learn to rest in God's love and care. Then out of this place of being with God, they can then go forth and work while maintaining a place of rest in their hearts.
Dallas Willard writes, “No time is more profitably spent than that used to heighten the quality of an intimate walk with God. He writes, “The real question is, 'Will we take time to do what is necessary for an abundant life and an abundant ministry, or will we try to 'get by' without it?'...Knowing Christ through times away in solitude and silence will 'let our joy be full' (see John 16:24). It will bring over us a pervasive sense of well-being, no matter what is happening around us. Hurry and the loneliness of leadership will be eliminated. We can allow the peace of God to sink deeply into our lives and extend through our relationship to others (see Matt. 10:12-13).” 89
Hebrews 4:1-11 says,
Practicing a Sabbath time away with God weans our souls away from the world and helps us to learn to enter into that rest that God has for us as we labor with him. Dallas writes, “the more I practice this discipline, the more I appreciate the strength of silence. The less I become skeptical and judgmental, the more I learn to accept the things I didn't like about others, and the more I accept them as uniquely created in the image of God. The less I talk, the fuller are words spoken at an appropriate time. The more I value others, the more I serve them in small ways, and the more I enjoy and celebrate my life.” 10
Brightly Burning for Him
The result of entering into sacrifices, feasts, and Sabbaths is that God brings about greater holiness within us. We make room for God and are transformed more into His likeness. As noted earlier, by this path, God brings “everything in and about us into his holy presence, transformed in the fiery blaze of the holy.” This holiness, as noted, a life burning with an intense purity, “transforms everything it touches into itself.” 11
“Purify my heart, cleanse me from within, deep within. Refiners fire, my heart's one desire is to be holy, set apart for You Lord” sings in the background.
Jesus said in John 5:35, “John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.” It did not matter that John wore camel hair or hung around in the desert. The brightly burning light within him led many to come to know Christ. He drew so many people, that his baptism began to be the popular thing to do. Jesus asked of the crowds about him: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Matthew 11:7-11).
As the Believers Bible Commentary notes, Jesus was not speaking of character as He noted that whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he, but He was referring to our position of privilege. 11 This privilege is the finished work of Christ on the Cross and through His resurrection. 13
In Luke 3:15-18, when the people were wondering if John might be the Christ, John answered them, "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
“As I stand in the flame, still I will say I trust You God. For I was made to dwell with You. And how I ache until I do. Holy God, take my heart, purge with flame and truth, a holy heart, is all I want, that I may live with you.”
Charles Stanley writes, “Spirit-filled, Christlike character is the difference that will set us apart from those who don't know God. This is how the world will know who we are, what we believe, and more importantly, how they, too can come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.” 14
As he goes on to note, apart from the Holy Spirit, we the fruit will not be evident in our lives and “we cannot live the life God has called us to live.... The Lord wants us to be fruitful -to grow more and more in His power, His presence, and His purpose. As we grow, we'll surely produce a rich crop of spiritual fruit that will bring honor to Him and draw others to Jesus. But this is possible only when we abide in the vine and allow the Holy Spirit to enter into our hearts, change us from the inside out, and therefore, produce Christlike character within us.” 15
Lord, thank you for the work you have done in my life. I never cease to be amazed by your grace and your generousity towards me. You have given me more than I ever asked for or could imagine. I am grateful. I long to live a holy life to You. Even more than that, I long to touch others with your holiness, especially those who need it most. Would you make more room for me to follow my heart?
Would you lead each one of us along Your path of holiness. Would you transform us to look more like You, so that we shine brightly with your light and draw others to Your light. Would you give us hearts to reach out to those who are living in the darkness. And would you show us those you would have us invite to the celebration.
1. Deileman, Adrian. Sermon on Exodus 34:5-7. Located at: http://www.trinityurcvisalia.com/sermons/ex34v5-7.html Last Accessed: 4/21/10.
2.Peterson, Eugene. The Message Bible. Navpress, Colorado Springs, CO. 2002.
3.Willard, Dallas. The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship. HarperCollins, New York, NY. 2006.
4.Willard, Dallas. The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship. HarperCollins, New York, NY. 2006.
5.Robinson, Jenna. Being A Living Sacrifice. Located at: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art15285.asp Last Accessed: 4/19/10
6.Willard, Dallas. The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship. HarperCollins, New York, NY. 2006.
7.Willard, Dallas. The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship. HarperCollins, New York, NY. 2006.
8.Hauerwas, Stanley, and Vanier, Jean. Living Gently in a Violent World: The Prophetic Witness of Weakness. IVP Books. Downers Grove, Ill. 2008.
9.Willard, Dallas. The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship. HarperCollins, New York, NY. 2006.
10.Willard, Dallas. The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship. HarperCollins, New York, NY. 2006.
11.Peterson, Eugene. The Message Bible. Navpress, Colorado Springs, CO. 2002.
12.MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. (1997, c1995). Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments (Mt 11:11). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
13.Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1997). The Nelson study Bible : New King James Version. Includes index. (Mt 11:11). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.
14. Stanley, Charles. Cultivating Christlike Character: Whose job is it? In Touch Magazine. May 2010 Edition.
15. Stanley, Charles. Cultivating Christlike Character: Whose job is it? In Touch Magazine. May 2010 Edition.
“You are Holy, Holy, Holy I want to be holy like You are” sings in the background.
I used to have a terrible fear of disaster. When I would sin, I would have tremendous fear for the punishment to come. I expected the hammer to drop at any moment and I just knew it would be a disaster. Next time I would work harder and get it right, living that holy life God requires of us, but I sinned and now I would pay the price. I would sometimes wake up around three in the morning with anxiety attacks over my fear of disaster when I sinned. While I knew God was good and He loved me, it has taken me a very long time to grasp grace.
I had never really experienced grace growing up. When I was in foster care and I did something wrong or broke something, they would often overlook it (grace). However, I didn't have an understanding of grace to be able to receive it. I was sure that they were really seething with anger about it and I would just pay for it all the worse down the line. It left me on edge, feeling awkward, distant, and having to watch my every step.
For many years after I was saved, I had a little book of scripture quotes that God would often speak to me through. When I was terrified about having made a mistake, I would agonize over my failure and then look for Him to speak to me in this book of scripture quotes. What I expected was to hear something from Him about how angry He was at me for my sin and how much trouble I was in. What came instead was either a word of comfort or of forgiveness as tears would stream down my eyes. (For whatever reason, He consistently spoke to me through scripture in this book.)
Eventually, as I grew in understanding grace, the book disappeared. One day the book was gone, never again to be found. Since then, through year after year of experiencing God's grace, I am finally totally free from my fear of disaster. I no longer need to live life walking on egg shells expecting the hammer to fall for my sin.
“Praise the Lord, I saw the light!” sings in the background.
“I saw the light, I saw the light, no darkness, no more night, now I'm so happy, no sorrow in sight, Praise the Lord, I saw the light!”
One article notes about the verses in Exodus 34:6-7, “He is compassionate and gracious and faithful. Yet, this does not mean that He leaves sin unpunished. Of course not! He demands payment for sin. But for His people — as the Lord's Supper shows us — that payment was and is and always will be the blood of Jesus.” 1
God's idea of justice is not to drop a hammer on us for our sin. It is to take our sin upon Himself and give us freedom and life in its place.
Peter says in 1 Peter 2:24, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”
“And the truest sign of grace was this, from wounded hands redemption fell down liberating man... You are Holy, Holy, Holy!” sings
However, receiving grace for our sin does not mean that we will not be disciplined. Hebrews 12:6 says, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he punishes every son he accepts." And Revelation 3:19 states, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.”
Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary Notes, "This is a great comfort to God's children, under their afflictions, [1.] That they not only consist with, but flow from, covenant-love. [2.] That they are so far from doing them any real hurt that, by the grace of God working with them, they do a great deal of good, and are happy means of their satisfaction."
The difference is that discipline comes from love with a desire for the person to learn and not from anger with a desire to be punitive. Discipline has a motivation of causing the person's good rather than a motivation to cause the person's harm.
Discipline is appreciated by the wise (those who fear God). Proverbs 9:8b says, "Reprove a wise man and he will love you." The wise learn quickly from discipline. Proverbs 17:10 says, "A single rebuke does more for a person of understanding than a hundred lashes on the back of a fool."
However, not all learn by correction. While it may feel good at the time to sin, eventually we will experience pain as a result of our actions when we refuse to obey God and observe his commandments. There is a curse associated with inequity.
Deuteronomy 28:15 says, "But if you refuse to listen to the LORD your God and do not obey all the commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overwhelm you..."
In Leviticus 26:14-19 He says, “But if you refuse to obey me and won't observe my commandments, despising my decrees and holding my laws in contempt by your disobedience, making a shambles of my covenant, I'll step in and pour on the trouble: debilitating disease, high fevers, blindness, your life leaking out bit by bit. You'll plant seed but your enemies will eat the crops. I'll turn my back on you and stand by while your enemies defeat you. People who hate you will govern you. You'll run scared even when there's no one chasing you. And if none of this works in getting your attention, I'll discipline you seven times over for your sins. I'll break your strong pride: I'll make the skies above you like a sheet of tin and the ground under you like cast iron....”
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary notes, " Two things would bring ruin. 1. A contempt of God's commandments. They that reject the precept, will come at last to renounce the covenant. 2. A contempt of his corrections. If they will not learn obedience by the things they suffer, God himself would be against them; and this is the root and cause of all their misery.
Jesus says in John 10:10, "The thief [Satan] comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Satan temps us into inequity to cause us harm and not good. To willingly put ourselves in the hands of the enemy by walking in the ways of disobedience and rebellion against God is walking down a path towards one's own destruction.
However, when we repent and turn to God, He is quick to extend forgiveness. Leviticus 26:40-42 says, “On the other hand, if they confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors, their treacherous betrayal, the defiance that set off my defiance that sent them off into enemy lands; if by some chance they soften their hard hearts and make amends for their sin, I'll remember my covenant with Jacob, I'll remember my covenant with Isaac, and, yes, I'll remember my covenant with Abraham. And, Ill remember the land.”
God is holy and desires us to live a holy life. However, it is not by self effort that we become holy. It is by our surrender of our will to God that we begin a walk of holiness. In Leviticus 22:33 God says, “I am God who makes you holy and brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am God.” And in Leviticus 20:7 He says, “Set yourselves apart for a holy life. Live a holy life, because I am God, your God. Do what I tell you; live the way I tell you. I am the God who makes you holy.”
My bible commentary notes, “Holy refers to a life burning with an intense purity that transforms everything it touches into itself.” And we are to live holy as God is holy. The commentary goes on to state, “The first thing that strikes us as we read Leviticus in this light is that this holy God is actually present with us and virtually every detail of our lives is affected by the presence of this holy God; nothing in us, our relationships, or environment is left out. The second thing is that God provides a way (the sacrifices and feasts and Sabbaths) to bring everything in and about us into his holy presence, transformed in the fiery blaze of the holy.” 2
The best news is that the living God dwells among us and within us, transforming us into His likeness, making us holy. Hebrews 10:31, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
The Path of Holiness: Sacrifices, Feasts, and Sabbaths
Dallas Willard writes, “It is vital for us to keep before us that there are tried and true ways we can pursue toward the abundant life in Christ. These ways are often referred to as 'spiritual disciplines.' We can incorporate these into our lives as completely reliable ways of personal soul care. There is no substitute for this.” 3
Sacrifices to God
Paul says in Romans 12:1-2 "Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."
As one anonymous poem writes about being a living sacrifice:
David says in Psalm 51:16 says,"When you are forgotten, neglected, or purposely set at naught, and you don't sting or hurt with the oversight, but your heart is happy being counted worthy to suffer for Christ;
That is dying to self.
When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinion ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart or even defend yourself, but take it all in patient, loving silence;
That is dying to self.
When you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, any irregularity, any annoyance; when you can stand face to face with waste, folly, extravagance, spiritual insensibility, and endure it as Jesus did;
That is dying to self.
When you are content with any food, and offering, any raiment, any climate, any society, any solitude, any interruption by the will of God;
That is dying to self.
When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation or record your own good works or itch after commendation, when you can truly love to be unknown;
That is dying to self.
When you can see your brother prosper and have his needs met, and can honestly rejoice with him in spirit and feel no envy, nor question God, while your own needs are far greater and you are in desperate circumstances;
That is dying to self.
When you can receive correction and reproof from one of less stature than yourself and can humbly submit, inwardly as well as outwardly, finding no rebellion or resentment rising up within your heart;
That is dying to self."
“For Thou dost not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; Thou art not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.”
In offering ourselves to God, we must die to self sufficiency. As Dallas Willard writes, “Once we learn that grace is not opposed to effort (action) -though it is opposed to earning (attitude) – the way is open for us to 'work out' all that is involved in our salvation, not only 'with fear and trembling' but also with the calm assurance that it is God who is at work in us to accomplish all of His goodwill (see Phil. 2:12-13, NASB).”4
Whenever we place God's will before our own, desiring to see His kingdom purposes come forth rather than our self-focused purposes, we are picking up our cross and denying ourselves for Christ. We do this because we love the Lord and desire to honor Him in all our actions.
The article that contains this poem notes that “God wants us to give to him our lives to use as he sees best. This is an offering with no strings attached.” And, “Not being conformed to this world, means being more concerned about what God thinks than about what anyone else thinks about you. The foremost concern is 'what does God want?' Our lives should be a manifestation of what the will of God is... Offer yourself to God for him to use however he wants to.... He is calling us to a life of sacrifice and service. 'Not my will, but thine be done.'” 5
“Longing to bring You something of worth that will bless your heart, I'll bring you more than a song” sings in the background.
“King of endless worth, no one could express how much you deserve, though I'm weak and poor, all I have is Yours, every single breath.”
Paul says in Romans 12:1-2,
“So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life -your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life -and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”
Feasts of Celebration
At one time, I saw life in God as only sacrifice. I thought the more I sacrificed and gave up, the more I would know God. However, over time, my relationship with God began to lack joy and my sense of gratitude dried up. I was 'working for' God rather than enjoying laboring with Him. My attitude became, 'look at all I have done for you' rather than gratitude and thanksgiving for all He has done for me. Part of my problem was that I was missing a major portion of scripture. Life with God is to also be a feast – it is to be enjoyed and celebrated. Throughout the book of Leviticus, the people were to feast before God.
“Give thanks with a grateful heart, Give thanks to the Holy One, Give thanks because He has given Jesus Christ His Son. And now let the weak say I am strong, Let the poor say I am rich, because of what the Lord has done for us” sings in the background.
Celebration is a time of remembrance of God's goodness and giving thanks to the Lord for all He has done for us. In celebration we come together and share His goodness with each other. We celebrate the life of God that is within ourselves and others around us.
In the feast of booths, celebrated in the seventh month, all the Israelites lived in booths for seven days. Leviticus 23:39-42 says, “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have brought your crops in from your fields, celebrate the Feast of God for seven days. The first day is a complete rest and the eighth day is a complete rest. On the first day, pick the best fruit from the best trees; take fronds of palm trees and branches of leafy trees and from willows by the brook and celebrate in the presence of your God for seven days -yes, for seven full days celebrate it as a festival to God.”
The purpose of the feast is “so that your descendants will know that I made the people of Israel live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
“Come into His presence with thanksgiving in your heart and give Him praise” sings in the background.
Psalm 5:11 says, “But let all those that put their trust in You rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them: let them also that love Your Name be joyful in You.”
Dallas Willard writes, “Jesus taught us to abide in God's love, 'so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.' (John 15:10-11). Our joy is complete when there is no room for more. Abiding in God's love provides the unshakable source of joy, which is in turn the source of peace. All is based in the reality of God's grace and goodness.” 6
Dallas Willard goes on to write, “The more I celebrate, the more I realize that God has been giving me wonderful things in my life, and the less I worry about my future. I will accept and enjoy what God is continuously giving to me. I think I am beginning to really enjoy God.” 7
Celebration can happen in church, as we come together as a body to praise Jesus and remember all He has done for us. It can also happen in small groups where we share what God has done for us with each other and/or when we celebrate Christ within each other.
In Luke 14:13-4, Jesus says, “But when you give a banquet [host a feast], invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
Jean Vanier, in his book “Living Gently in a Violent World” writes of celebration of the beauty of each person at L'Arche. Most of all, it seems what Jean Vanier has found is the incredible blessing in inviting the poor, crippled, lame, and blind into the celebration. He references a pilgrimage in Bangladesh for people with disabilities, and notes that one of them wrote, “The prayer and the celebration of the presence of God in the lives of handicapped people have made these days of communion a feast of hope. We discover more and more that those who are rejected by society because of their weakness and their apparent uselessness are in fact a presence of God. If we welcome them, they lead us progressively out of the world of competition and the need to do great things toward a world of communion of hearts, a life that is simple and joyful where we do small things with love.” 8
Sabbath Rest
“Work six days. The seventh day is a Sabbath, a day of total and complete rest, a sacred assembly. Don't do any work. Wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to God.” (Leviticus 23:3)
God calls his people to come out of their labor and work so that they can learn to rest in God's love and care. Then out of this place of being with God, they can then go forth and work while maintaining a place of rest in their hearts.
Dallas Willard writes, “No time is more profitably spent than that used to heighten the quality of an intimate walk with God. He writes, “The real question is, 'Will we take time to do what is necessary for an abundant life and an abundant ministry, or will we try to 'get by' without it?'...Knowing Christ through times away in solitude and silence will 'let our joy be full' (see John 16:24). It will bring over us a pervasive sense of well-being, no matter what is happening around us. Hurry and the loneliness of leadership will be eliminated. We can allow the peace of God to sink deeply into our lives and extend through our relationship to others (see Matt. 10:12-13).” 89
Hebrews 4:1-11 says,
“Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.”
Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, "So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.' " And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work."
And again in the passage above he says, They shall never enter my rest." It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."
Practicing a Sabbath time away with God weans our souls away from the world and helps us to learn to enter into that rest that God has for us as we labor with him. Dallas writes, “the more I practice this discipline, the more I appreciate the strength of silence. The less I become skeptical and judgmental, the more I learn to accept the things I didn't like about others, and the more I accept them as uniquely created in the image of God. The less I talk, the fuller are words spoken at an appropriate time. The more I value others, the more I serve them in small ways, and the more I enjoy and celebrate my life.” 10
Brightly Burning for Him
The result of entering into sacrifices, feasts, and Sabbaths is that God brings about greater holiness within us. We make room for God and are transformed more into His likeness. As noted earlier, by this path, God brings “everything in and about us into his holy presence, transformed in the fiery blaze of the holy.” This holiness, as noted, a life burning with an intense purity, “transforms everything it touches into itself.” 11
“Purify my heart, cleanse me from within, deep within. Refiners fire, my heart's one desire is to be holy, set apart for You Lord” sings in the background.
Jesus said in John 5:35, “John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.” It did not matter that John wore camel hair or hung around in the desert. The brightly burning light within him led many to come to know Christ. He drew so many people, that his baptism began to be the popular thing to do. Jesus asked of the crowds about him: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Matthew 11:7-11).
As the Believers Bible Commentary notes, Jesus was not speaking of character as He noted that whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he, but He was referring to our position of privilege. 11 This privilege is the finished work of Christ on the Cross and through His resurrection. 13
In Luke 3:15-18, when the people were wondering if John might be the Christ, John answered them, "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
“As I stand in the flame, still I will say I trust You God. For I was made to dwell with You. And how I ache until I do. Holy God, take my heart, purge with flame and truth, a holy heart, is all I want, that I may live with you.”
Charles Stanley writes, “Spirit-filled, Christlike character is the difference that will set us apart from those who don't know God. This is how the world will know who we are, what we believe, and more importantly, how they, too can come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.” 14
As he goes on to note, apart from the Holy Spirit, we the fruit will not be evident in our lives and “we cannot live the life God has called us to live.... The Lord wants us to be fruitful -to grow more and more in His power, His presence, and His purpose. As we grow, we'll surely produce a rich crop of spiritual fruit that will bring honor to Him and draw others to Jesus. But this is possible only when we abide in the vine and allow the Holy Spirit to enter into our hearts, change us from the inside out, and therefore, produce Christlike character within us.” 15
Lord, thank you for the work you have done in my life. I never cease to be amazed by your grace and your generousity towards me. You have given me more than I ever asked for or could imagine. I am grateful. I long to live a holy life to You. Even more than that, I long to touch others with your holiness, especially those who need it most. Would you make more room for me to follow my heart?
Would you lead each one of us along Your path of holiness. Would you transform us to look more like You, so that we shine brightly with your light and draw others to Your light. Would you give us hearts to reach out to those who are living in the darkness. And would you show us those you would have us invite to the celebration.
1. Deileman, Adrian. Sermon on Exodus 34:5-7. Located at: http://www.trinityurcvisalia.com/sermons/ex34v5-7.html Last Accessed: 4/21/10.
2.Peterson, Eugene. The Message Bible. Navpress, Colorado Springs, CO. 2002.
3.Willard, Dallas. The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship. HarperCollins, New York, NY. 2006.
4.Willard, Dallas. The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship. HarperCollins, New York, NY. 2006.
5.Robinson, Jenna. Being A Living Sacrifice. Located at: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art15285.asp Last Accessed: 4/19/10
6.Willard, Dallas. The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship. HarperCollins, New York, NY. 2006.
7.Willard, Dallas. The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship. HarperCollins, New York, NY. 2006.
8.Hauerwas, Stanley, and Vanier, Jean. Living Gently in a Violent World: The Prophetic Witness of Weakness. IVP Books. Downers Grove, Ill. 2008.
9.Willard, Dallas. The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship. HarperCollins, New York, NY. 2006.
10.Willard, Dallas. The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship. HarperCollins, New York, NY. 2006.
11.Peterson, Eugene. The Message Bible. Navpress, Colorado Springs, CO. 2002.
12.MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. (1997, c1995). Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments (Mt 11:11). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
13.Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1997). The Nelson study Bible : New King James Version. Includes index. (Mt 11:11). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.
14. Stanley, Charles. Cultivating Christlike Character: Whose job is it? In Touch Magazine. May 2010 Edition.
15. Stanley, Charles. Cultivating Christlike Character: Whose job is it? In Touch Magazine. May 2010 Edition.
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