Ref: 1 Peter:13-23
Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 14As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
17Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
22Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
1 Peter 1:13-23
In 1st Century AD, when Peter, the Apostle, spread the message of Christ throughout the eastern world, he quoted from Leviticus the passage, ‘Be Holy, for I am Holy’, a phrase that God used to Moses (concerning the Israelites) as He passed the Levitical laws. In the studies of early Judaism, most scholars would agree that the law was separated into three distinct segments:
- The Moral Laws
- The Ceremonial Laws
- And The Civic Laws (Government)
The Purpose of the Laws
The main reason for these laws were to establish the nation of Israel as holy or set apart from the cultures around them. The reason why God would’ve wanted to make these clear distinctions was for two reasons: He was righteous and perfect in His ways, thus the moral laws, to establish a symbolic representation of moral purity (the ceremonial laws, which covered the sacrifices), and to set the nation of Israel apart from other territories that worshiped false gods (civic laws).
Of course, the highest of all these laws was the moral laws—this law focused on the heart and restoring mankind’s sinful nature back to God’s original intention. God outlined the first ten moral laws to the Israelites in Exodus 20, and Yeshua summed up those laws into two categories: Love the Lord with all your heart, and all your mind, and all your strength (the first three commandments), and to love your neighbor (commandments five to ten) as yourself (commandment 4).
The New Covenant
During a time when pagan worship and idolatry was heavily associated with outward appearances, God needed to mandate the civil laws so that Israel could ‘look’ different from their pagan neighbors. Of course, these civil laws wouldn’t make sense in our time, and thus, there was a need for Christ who would bridge these cross-cultural gaps through the complete fulfillment of the laws established by God during the Mosaic era.
It meant that we no longer had to ‘look’ the part—we simply had to be the part. It may be confusing for some, but that simply means we’re only mandated to keep the moral laws, for Christ said this was the highest of all the commandments that God established. These were the commandments by which God judged other nations who were pagan.
Yet still, there are many who feel the need to bind people by laws that Christ did not establish after His death and resurrection. Yeshua taught me this most important and invaluable lesson: grace is a free gift. It’s either Christ’s grace or nothing. Once you accept Christ’s eternal grace, the only thing you must do is to continue to allow His grace to live in you through the Holy Spirit.
Anything that’s attached to this grace is a form of idolatry and thus can become witchcraft. There are many things that symbolize new life in Christ, but those things are merely symbols and not the grace which redeemed us on the cross. To put it simply, there are many issues within the Church communities that are non-issues to God.
Combating Church ‘Doctrines’
Many churches attach doctrines to grace such as not to get tattoos, or don’t pierce your ears, or don’t eat certain types of foods. While a variety of these may be given under ‘sound’ advice, the reality is, many of these are preached on the pulpit as ‘sinful’. God already clearly established what is considered sin both in the Old Testament (the Ten Commandments) and the New Testament (Galatians 5 Acts of the Flesh, Romans 1:29-31).
In the Bible, when God sent Samuel to anoint the next King of Israel, Samuel grew frustrated that none of Jesse’s sons had fit who he thought was fit to be king, so God tells Samuel this:
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7
Jeremiah 17:10 tells us that God searches our hearts and tests our minds and Proverbs 21:2 tells us that God weighs the heart. Even Christ declares in Matthew that it isn’t what a man puts into his body, what comes out of his heart.
But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
Matthew 15:18-19
While the Ancient Israelites had to consecrate themselves outwardly, God was more concerned with the state of their hearts. During the Babylonian Exile, Jewish scholars formed a school of men who came together to place emphasis on outward cleanliness, but when Christ came, he put an end to the outward holiness.
However, even today, many Christians force outward holiness. Their aim to ‘look’ holy rather than to ‘be’ holy includes casting judgment on those who don’t look the part. They focus on how one dresses, hairstyles, make-up, and other things that are second to the true sort of holiness God calls for.
True Consecration
While God urges us not to focus on outward appearances and not to give those things precedence over Him, those things in and of itself are not ‘sinful’, because sin is to contradict who God is, what He stands for. Sin is the evil desires of our heart manifested outwardly. Sin is to disobey God’s instruction to choose life–to continuously choose to eat from the knowledge of good and evil.
A person is not in sin if they get a tattoo or their ears pierced. These sorts of outward embellishments are concerns between the Holy Spirit and that person. If these things were sinful, then those who got tattoos before they were saved are destined to go to hell, because after all, they can no longer remove it.
This is why the nature of sin doesn’t follow outward appearances. While one may not be able to get rid of a tattoo, they can certainly choose to no longer slander or gossip. They can choose to no longer hate, to no longer envy.
They can choose to do these things with the divine assistance of the Holy Spirit who guides them to the Truth.
Can’t get enough of The Ravyn? Subscribe to my blog below:
The RAVYN Blog 