What is the meaning of Leviticus 20:7? Consecrate yourselves Leviticus 20:7 opens with the command, “Consecrate yourselves”. The word carries the idea of setting ourselves apart exclusively for God’s use. Scripture gives practical shape to this call: • Joshua 3:5, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” God’s wonders are often preceded by our willing separation from sin and distraction. • 2 Corinthians 6:17 urges believers, “Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord.” Separation is never isolation; it is devotion. • Romans 6:13 reminds us to “present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life.” Consecration flows from gratitude for redemption. Consecration, then, is not a one-time event but a daily posture: yielding attitudes, ambitions, and habits so that God’s purposes can move freely through us. Therefore The word “therefore” connects verse 7 to the preceding prohibitions against idolatry and immorality (Leviticus 20:1-6). God never gives detached commands; He anchors them in context. • Romans 12:1 uses the same hinge—“Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, present your bodies as a living sacrifice.” The call to holiness is always a response to grace already shown. • 1 Thessalonians 4:7 echoes, “For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness.” When God delivers us from something, He simultaneously calls us to Someone—Himself. Seeing the “therefore” keeps us from legalism. We pursue holiness because God has first acted in mercy, not to earn that mercy. And be holy The command continues: “and be holy.” Holiness is God’s moral purity reproduced in His people. • 1 Peter 1:15-16 cites this same verse: “Be holy, because I am holy.” The New Testament carries the expectation forward unchanged. • Hebrews 12:14 presses the urgency: “Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” Holiness is not peripheral; it is central to fellowship with God. • Ephesians 1:4 says God chose us “to be holy and blameless in His presence.” Holiness is baked into the believer’s identity and destiny. Practically, holiness involves: – Guarding our thought life (Philippians 4:8) – Honest speech (Ephesians 4:25) – Sexual purity (1 Corinthians 6:18-20) – Compassionate deeds (Colossians 3:12-13) We pursue these not grudgingly but joyfully, trusting that God’s standard is for our flourishing. Because I am the LORD your God The command’s foundation is God’s character: “I am the LORD your God.” • Exodus 3:14 reveals His self-existing nature—He simply is. Our obedience rests on the solid rock of who He is, not shifting human opinion. • Malachi 3:6 affirms, “I, the LORD, do not change.” His unchanging holiness means His call to holiness never fades. • 1 John 1:5 declares, “God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.” To walk with Him, we must walk in that same light. Because He is “your God,” the relationship is covenantal and personal. He supplies both the standard and the enabling power (Philippians 2:13, “For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose”). summary Leviticus 20:7 invites us into a life that mirrors God’s own purity: – Set yourself apart for Him. – Remember that every call flows from grace already given. – Actively cultivate holiness in attitudes and deeds. – Ground your obedience in the unchanging, personal character of the LORD your God. In responding, we discover that holiness is not a heavy burden but the joyful privilege of belonging to the Holy One. |
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