Be Holy: What It Means to Be Set Apart for God

Leviticus contains words written down under the Old Covenant—the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and carried forward through David.

In the first two verses of Leviticus 19 that Lucas read, we hear:

“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.’”

What does holy mean for us? What did it mean to the congregation back then? What does it mean in human terms?

Holy means set apart for God. Set apart for God.

Under the Old Covenant, being set apart for God meant that you had the law: the Ten Commandments and the expanded law that provided a guide for how you should be set apart for God.

Thankfully, you and I live in the New Covenant. The law still applies. It has not been erased, but the law now shows us that we are sinners.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t live up to all of the law. Can you? I have not lived up to all of the law. Have you?

I can’t. It is impossible for me to live up to it 100 percent. The moment I’m walking really well, Satan can bring somebody across my path who makes me have an evil thought: “Boy, if I could get my hands on that person!”

Or somebody pulls out in front of you in traffic, and a word comes out of your mouth.

I cannot achieve the place God wants me to be by myself and of my own accord. Neither could they back in that day. But the law points us to the need for a Savior.

In that Savior, through the blood that was shed for us, forgiveness comes to make us right in the eyes of God. I’m thankful for that.

In the Old Testament, sacrifice was needed. It is through the blood that forgiveness comes, and Jesus is the supreme sacrifice.

Holiness was called for by Moses at the request of God. How does that work for us today? Are we still called to be holy? Is the Church of Jesus Christ called to be holy?

Let’s look at Ephesians. Go to the fourth chapter with me and find your way to verse 17. That’s where we’ll start.

Paul penned these words by inspiration of the Holy Spirit:

“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do.”

Whoa. You must no longer walk as the Gentiles do.

Being holy means being set apart for God. So, if we’re being set apart for God, that makes us what? Different?

Shouldn’t we be different from the rest of the world? Oh, yes. People should see something different about us, right?

We are called to be set apart from the rest of the world. Why? Because therein lies the greatest part of our witness: that we are different, that we have something different. That something is Jesus, right?

Paul continues:

“You must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

“But that is not the way you learned Christ!—assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

And what? Holiness.

We have accepted Christ. We have been cleansed by His blood, and we are now called to walk in that newness of life.

We are called to be imitators of God. We are called to live according to His Word and His will, changing the things in our lives that dishonor God. We are to be separated from this world in the way we carry ourselves and the way we think.

We are called to be holy—to do the best we can to be holy.

Let’s hear what Peter has to say about that. Go with me to the first chapter of 1 Peter. We’ll start at verse 13:

“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 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.’

“And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

“He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.”

Then he goes on to remind us in chapter 2, starting in verse 9:

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

Through Jesus Christ, God has set you apart as His beloved. By that merit, you are holy—set apart. God has set you apart through what He has done through Jesus Christ.

So how do we live up to the holiness God has bestowed on us?

That’s the challenge. That’s the question. That’s the hard part. How do we live up to that?

Let’s go over to our Gospel message in Matthew 22.

Jesus gives us the recipe for success in moving forward in the holiness God has given us through Jesus Christ. How do we do that? Listen to these words of Jesus.

I think the Pharisees were trying to find that answer, but their concern was to be seen trying to live in a righteous and holy way—to fulfill a law that perhaps their hearts embraced or believed.

They came to Him and asked Him a question. When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they were probably happy about that.

“They’re our archrivals in the synagogue. Yes, He put them down, but now we’re going to get Him. Watch this. We’re going to prove that we are the ones.”

When they heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question to test Him:

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”

Jesus said to him:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

What would it look like in our lives if we put all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind into loving God? What would that look like?

Where would God rank in the importance of the things in our day?

If we truly put all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind into loving God, would the church be half empty? Would we have trouble finding folks to go out and share the Word of God?

Jesus is calling the Pharisees, and He is calling us, to put our all into our relationship with God—to give Him the kind of love we give to everything else in our lives but neglect to give to Him.

“I love my house. I love my job. I love my football team. I love my car collection. I love my golf. I love fishing. I love sitting in my recliner.”

If we gave God the amount of love we give to some of the other things in our lives, man, our lives would change.

Jesus is telling us that loving God with everything we have—with everything we are—is at the heart of fulfilling the Law and the Prophets.

If God maintains that place—first in your mind, first in your heart, and first in your soul—then we start to walk in the light of God. We want everything He wants for us.

I think about the church in America today and the reports we hear: “The church is declining. People are turning their backs on the church. They’re closing 200 churches a day across America.”

Why?

Because a lot of people neglect to give the love due to God, the One who loved us enough to give His Son for us.

We need to be reminded from time to time that we are called to be holy. He made a great sacrifice. He gave the blood of His Son for us so that we might love Him enough to sacrifice our lives—to love Him and walk with Him.

That’s the truth of it.

I know that every so often, this preacher has to take inventory of his heart, his soul, and his mind. There are days when that inventory just isn’t where it needs to be. We all have those days.

But God reminds us: “Be holy, because I am holy. I have bought you with a price that cannot be measured, through the holy blood of My Son, Jesus. I have set you apart from this world through that blood. I call you to be holy.”

Be holy, set apart through the blood of Jesus. Be holy as you navigate this world.

Holy. Be holy.

It is a work in progress. He does not expect perfection out of you right now, but He does expect your love. He expects you to love Him above everything else.

If you will do that, day in and day out, He will draw you closer and closer to that perfection in Jesus.

Amen.

I’m not telling you this because I live a perfectly holy life. I am holy because of the blood of Jesus. Some days I do really well at living up to that, and some days I don’t.

But I need reminders, too. Every now and then, being reminded of who we are because of God’s love is a great thing.

So, if you are in a place where you’re thinking, “Boy, I haven’t been very holy,” that’s all right. Right now, in this moment, it is a new day.

God is not looking behind you. He is looking at the here and now and what lies ahead.

If you say, “I’ve had a horrible time loving God like I should,” then today is the day to take a moment, bow your head, and say:

“Lord, forgive me for that. I want to love You with all my heart, my soul, and my mind. I open myself to You now.”

If you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior, you want to be among those who have been set apart through the blood of Jesus when this world ends. You don’t want to be caught without that.

Closing Prayer

Pray with me.

Father, thank You. Thank You. Thank You.

Father, You put up with us. Oh, my goodness, You put up with me. But Your love for me is so strong that, even in my shortcomings and my failings, You continue to love me. You continue to forgive me. You continue to move me forward in my walk with You.

I’m so thankful, Father, that You do that for all who have called upon the name of Jesus. We are so thankful for that.

Father, we realize that we do not always live up to what You call us to be. But we open our hearts to You. We say thank You for Jesus and thank You for the blood. We say thank You, Father, for Your great love.

We ask that You would continue to move us forward in Your grace and in Your love. Continue to make us more and more into what You call us to be.

Father, let our hearts, our minds, our spirits—everything in us—grow more and more to love You above all other things, so that You may receive the honor and the glory due to You, and so that Jesus may be lifted up for the world to see.

Father, thank You. In Jesus’ name, amen.