Living in Holiness
Leviticus 18:1-5, 20-26; 20:6-8
How often have you seen statistics related to our culture and behaviors that are wrong by biblical standards? Does it disturb you to note that often there is no difference between the behaviors and/or beliefs of Christians and non-Christians? As grieved as I am over the way Christians often blend into society, I can only imagine how God feels.
God made it very clear to the Israelites, and Peter reiterated in the New Testament, that God’s people were to be set apart – different. He gave very explicit instructions for living. These instructions were to insure that the Israelites would neither carry the pagan practices of the Egyptians into the Promised Land, nor adopt the practices of those living there. By observing how they lived, one should be able to discern that the Israelites were different from those in whose land they were living.
This should cause Christians today to evaluate themselves: Can someone look at me, my behaviors and attitudes and know that I am a Christian, or do I blend into the culture around me? Where do I align too closely with culture and not closely enough with Scripture? How can I be “in this world and not of this world”?
God gave His people a detailed list of “do nots” as they relate to proper familial relationships. Sadly, many today see nothing wrong with these, and the tide is continuing to turn in a non-biblical direction. Ours is a sexually charged society. We see this in advertisements, in movies and television programs, magazines and books, and we hear it in song lyrics. As Christ-followers, we must have a biblical standard for what we do, for what we watch, what we buy, and what we listen to.
Society’s expectations can harm our relationships with our children, sacrificing them not to a god such as Molech, but instead to the gods of convenience, power and money. Children are an integral part of the family and should be treated as such. To do otherwise breaks our relationship with God.
In keeping with His admonitions against physical adultery, God also warns against spiritual adultery. While He warned specifically against mediums and spiritists, we must remember that there are other forms of false “spiritual” guidance that are prevalent within society. Spiritualism comes in many forms. It is crucial that Christians know and understand Scripture in order to properly discern that which adheres to biblical standards and that which does not.
Surveys show there is a great spiritual thirst in our land, and books, television programs, even people are promoted as having the answer to that spiritual void. However, God warns specifically about false spiritual guides. We must be very sure that what we watch and who we listen to are biblically sound.
Register-Lessons in the BSL series for the winter quarter are being written by Laurie Register, executive director-treasurer of Woman’s Missionary Union, SCBC.