05 A Covenant Of Love Series

Good morning! We’re continuing on in our series Holy God | Holy People: The Gospel According to Leviticus. Open your Bibles to the book of Leviticus and find chapter 18. I’d like to take the time to read through several key passages that lay the foundation for our message today.

We’ll begin with Leviticus 18:1-5

"Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘I am the Lord your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the Lord your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the Lord.'”

Now turn over to Leviticus 19:1-2

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

And finally Leviticus 20:22-24, 26

‘You are therefore to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to live will not spew you out. Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I will drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I have abhorred them. Hence I have said to you, “You are to possess their land, and I Myself will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the people … Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.

If I were to ask you, “What comes to mind when you hear the word holiness?”—what would you say? Some might think of a monk in a monastery, set apart from the world. Others might picture a strict moral code, a long list of dos and don’ts. Maybe for some, holiness sounds intimidating, like something reserved for "really spiritual people."

But when God speaks of holiness in Leviticus, He’s not describing an impossible standard for a select few. He’s defining the identity of His people. Over and over, He says, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." Holiness isn’t just about what we do—it’s about who we are. It’s about belonging to God. It’s about living in covenant with Him.

And that brings us to an important distinction: the difference between positional holiness and practical holiness.

Positional holiness means that through Jesus, we are made holy in our standing before God. We are declared righteous not because of anything we’ve done, but because of what Christ has done for us. Hebrews 10:10 says, "... we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

Practical holiness is how we live out that holiness in daily obedience. It’s the call to reflect God’s character in how we think, speak, and act. 1 Peter 1:15 says, "Like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior."

Here’s the challenge: The Old Covenant demanded holiness, but it didn’t have the power to produce holiness. It set the standard, but it couldn’t change the heart. The Law could tell people what was required, but it couldn’t give them the ability to live it out.

That’s why the New Covenant is so essential—because what God commanded in the Old, He enables in the New. Through Jesus, we are not only called to holiness, we are empowered to live it out.

And that’s the heart of our message today. Here’s the core truth: Jesus establishes the New Covenant, making us holy and empowering us to walk in His ways.

So what does it mean to be God’s holy people under the New Covenant? What does holiness look like in our daily lives?

To answer that, we need to start with the foundation of holiness in Leviticus—God’s call to holiness.

I. The Call to Holiness (Leviticus 19:1-2, 20:26)

“You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” This is not just a command; it is an identity. Holiness is at the heart of Leviticus, and here in chapters 18–20, God makes it abundantly clear that His people are to be distinct. A holy God demands a holy people.

But let’s be honest—when we hear the word holiness, many of us struggle to define what that actually looks like. Does holiness mean living by a rigid set of rules? Doing all the right things; checking all the religious boxes? Does it mean withdrawing from the world and isolating ourselves? Or is it something deeper?