Leviticus 11

“For I am Yahweh your God, so you must consecrate yourselves and be holy because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any swarming creature that crawls on the ground. For I am Yahweh, who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, so you must be holy because I am holy.”  Leviticus 11:44-45 (HCSB)

The first ten chapters of Leviticus contain “The Law of the Sanctuary” in the stricter sense of the term. Except for some paragraphs here and there, the remainder of the book deals with what might be described as “The Law of Daily Life.”

For the past couple of decades, the Church has had an ongoing debate over Sacred vs. Secular. As a recording artist, I am weary of discussions over whether an artist should pursue the “Christian” market or the general market with their music.

The Torah (first five books of the Old Testament) views the whole of human life as its province; in the eyes of the Torah, nothing human is secular. It penetrates the home of the Israelite and aims at controlling even the most intimate relations of his domestic existence.

As the Bible directs us, what does it mean to be “in but not of” the world? How do these concepts of “clean and unclean” agree with the belief in Jesus? How can modern-day believers be separate from the world and yet go into it with the gospel?

Jesus prayed to the Father, “I have given them Your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, as I am not of the world. I am not praying that You take them out of the world, but that You protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is the truth.”  John 17:14-17 (HCSB)

As God called Noah, Abraham, and Israel out from the nations…to be “consecrated” (set apart), so He calls us to come forth and be separate from the world. We are to present ourselves as “living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.” (Romans 12:1-5)  

The whole “in-but-not-of” directive is impossible for us apart from the Holy Spirit, Who guides us through God’s Word. The Bible divides soul and spirit and washes our minds clean with the truth. It directs us on how to be set apart from the world, not to be affected by its philosophy, and yet completely saturated in the culture, to impact it with the gospel.