A Holy People

When God explains to the Israelites the reason for the food laws (Leviticus 11:43-45) He doesn’t tell them “Be healthy because the meat of cows is safe to eat and good for you, but the meat of pigs will give you diseases.” He tells them “Be holy, for I am holy.”

Holy means set apart. Distinct. He didn’t give the food laws for health and sanitation reasons. He gave the food laws to set the people of Israel apart from their neighbors and to teach them figuratively what it means to be holy before the Lord.

With the coming of the Messiah, the purpose of these food laws is fulfilled. There is now no distinction between Jew and Gentile, so there are no food laws to separate us (Eph. 2:14-16). Enjoy your bacon wrapped scallops!

However that doesn’t mean we are not called to holiness. Peter echoes the exhortation in Leviticus, “Be holy for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:16). We are to live lives set apart to God. We are to consecrate ourselves to God in the way we treat our spouses, our children, our parents, our coworkers, our bosses. We are to take every thought captive to Christ.