The way we can live a holy life for the church life is by putting off the old man, not being conformed to this age, and by putting on the new man in our experience.
The Israelites’ not living in the manner of the Egyptians signifies that we as believers should put off the old man with its old way of living. Their not living according to the manner of the Canaanites signifies that we as saved ones shouldn’t be conformed to the living and conduct of the worldly people.
Our living as God’s people should be according to God’s holiness, that is, we should put off the old man with its old way of living, not be conformed to this age, and put on the new man with its new way of living to live a holy life for the church life.
If we read Leviticus 18-20 we see a lot of ordinances and statutes of the law, that is, in this portion God expounds the law and applies is more specifically to His peoples living and daily life.
The law of God is composed of the Ten Commandments; these are the basic elements of the law, and they are simple, short, and definite. But because these Ten Commandments are brief, they need an explanation and expansion, so in these chapters in Leviticus God lays out the principles and statutes according to which His people should live, so that they may be the holy people of a holy God.
Our God is holy, and He wants to sanctify us, His people, that we may be holy in all our living and being.
This doesn’t mean, of course, that today we need to obey some outward laws and bring sacrifices when we fail, but that we today should be saturated and soaked with the Spirit, allowing the sealing Spirit to impart to us all of God’s elements so that we may live a holy life for the church life.
The verses in Eph. 4:17 – 5:14 help us understand and apply in our experience what God tells His people on Lev. 18-20.
We could say that the Old Testament portion is God’s speaking to His people on earth so that they may be a holy people having a holy God, and the portion in the New Testament is the Lord’s speaking to us as believers today, the spiritual people of God, for us to live a holy life in the church life.
We need to put off the old manner of life and put on the new man, and we need to avoid being conformed to this age. All this can be done only by enjoying the constant sealing of the Spirit.
When we exercise our spirit, the sealing Spirit applies to us all the elements of God, infusing us with God’s life with all its riches, and with the reality in Jesus, the humanity of the Lord and His perfect human living in all its reality.
The more we are under God’s dispensing day by day, the more there’s an inward, metabolic change that takes place in our being, and we are being reconstituted with God.
Our very own inner being becomes filled and saturated with God’s element, and we become holy as God is holy not because we are living according to some rules or outward regulations but because by nature we are holy, and our living is a holy living for the church life.
Living a Holy Life by Putting off the Former way of Living, the Old Man
In Lev. 18:3 God told His people not to live in the same way that the Egyptians did.
The people of Israel were delivered out of Egypt, and in that country the people had a certain kind of life with a particular living. God did not want His people to live in this way, for this is an old way of living that is not approved by God.
In the New Testament we are also told to put off, as regards to the old manner of life, the old man (Eph. 4:22), which is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit.
Before we were born again we had a certain kind of living, an old community life, and a particular way of doing things and expressing ourselves. Now, as believers in Christ, we need go put off the former manner of life, which the Bible calls the old man.
God wants us to live a holy life, and this is possible only when we put off the old man with its old way of living.
When we were baptised we put off the old man and put on the new man, and now every day we need to continue to put off the old manner of life, the life which we used to live, the old community life, and put on a new life, the holy life of the new man.
The old man is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit. Satan himself is the deceiver, and he corrupts the old man according to his lusts. Therefore, we need to put off the old man with all its lusts, deceit, and sins, and put on the new man, which is being renewed according to the image of the one who created him.
Just as the sons of Israel were charged to put off the former Egyptian conduct, so we as believers should put off the former old way of living. It is good to open to the Lord about this and tell Him,
Lord Jesus, we want to put off the old manner of life with the old way of living. We exercise our spirit to remain in the reality of our baptism, so that the old man would be put off and the new man would be put on. Amen, Lord, save us from living as we used to live before. Sanctify us in all the aspects of our daily life, and make us Your holy people who have a holy living in and for the church life, for You to gain a corporate expression on earth.
Living a Holy Life by Not being Conformed to this Age but being Transformed
The people of Israel were not to live in the manner of the Canaanites, into whose land they were about to enter (Lev. 18:3).
They were about to enter into a new land, the good land flowing with milk and honey, but in that land there were already some people with a certain kind of living, and God did not want His people to live in that way.
This signifies that we as believers in Christ, after being saved, should not be conformed to the living and conduct of the worldly people.
Paul tells us in Rom. 12:2 that we should not be fashioned according to this age, but we should be transformed by the renewing of the mind, that we may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect.
This age has a certain fashion, a certain way of living, and we as believers who live in this world should not be fashioned according to this world, but we should be transformed by the Lord by the renewing of our mind so that we may live a holy life for the church life.
We should not be assimilated by the world to the extent that we who have been separated from the world unto God have the same image as this age.
Rather, we should care for the transformation of the Lord Spirit in us with God’s essence to conform us to the Lord’s glorious image, which the Spirit carries out by moving and working within us through the divine life and the divine nature.
This age in which we live is the part of the world today that we contact and we live in, including the fashion, sports, styles, characteristics, patterns, and trends of the world today.
We should not allow the world and those around us to change us in their image, but we should seek to have an inward, metabolic transformation in which God works to spread His divine life and nature throughout every part of our inner being, particularly our soul.
As we focus on the inward cooperation with the Lord’s operation, His new element will be added to our being and our old element will be gradually discharged, being replaced with the divine element.
As a result, we will be transformed into His image (2 Cor. 3:18), that is, we will be conformed to the image of the firstborn Son of God as His many brothers.
Just as the Israelites were charged not to walk in the customs of the Canaanites, into whose land they were to come in, so we as saved believers should not be conformed to the living and conduct of the worldly people. We need to open to the Lord in prayer and tell Him,
Lord Jesus, save us from being fashioned according to this age. Save us from being conformed to this age. Renew us in the spirit of our mind, and transform us inwardly until we are conformed to Your image. Amen, Lord, we refuse to be conformed to this age. We want to stay in Your word and be saturated with You, so that You may spread in all our inner being and replace all our old elements with Yourself. Lord, work Yourself into us a little more today. Renew our mind and transform our soul until we have a holy life for the church life.
Living a Holy Life by Putting on the New Man daily
In Lev. 18:4 – 20:27 what we see is God’s speaking to His people, His ordinances and statutes expounding the law, so that His people would live a holy life according to God’s holiness.
Our God is holy, and He wants us, His people, to have a holy life, so that He may dwell among us and be expressed through us. This means that we need to be separated from the sinful things and sanctified unto God, and we also need to be saturated with the element of God, His holy nature.
We need to put off the old man with its old way of living, and put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality (Eph. 4:24).
Our mind needs to be renewed, our body needs to be presented to the Lord for the church life, and our spirit needs to be exercised.
Our God is holy, set aside from anything and anyone common, and He wants us to have a holy life, a living according to God’s holiness.
Such a living is first by putting off the old man with its old way of living, by not being fashioned according to this age, and by being renewed in the spirit of our mind so that we put on the new man, the new community life, the church life.
To put off the living of the Egyptians and the Canaanites was to put off the old man, and to live a life according to God’s holiness was to put on the new man.
Day by day we need to exercise to live a holy life according to God’s holiness by putting on the new man, so that the Lord may live in us and through us, and we would be the holy people of a holy God.
Lord Jesus, we exercise our spirit to put off the old man with its old way of living, not be conformed to this age, and put on the new man! Amen, Lord, we want to live a holy life according to God’s holiness by putting on the new man which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality. May our daily living be a holy living, matching our holy God. May we not be conformed to this age or live in an old manner, as before, but be renewed in the spirit of our mind and transformed in our soul so that we may have a holy life for the church life.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Leviticus, msg. 49 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Leviticus (2), week 7, Chosen to Be Holy with a Holy Living to Express the Holy God and Become the Holy City.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Thus we must put off the old man / That we may put on the new; / Thus, renewed in mind and spirit, / We will bear God’s image true. (Hymns #823)
# And do not be fashioned according to this age, / But be transformed by the renewing of the mind / And do not be fashioned according to this age, / But be transformed by the renewing of the mind. (Scripture song)
# Spreading outward from our spirit / Doth the Lord transform our soul, / By the inward parts renewing, / Till within His full control. / Lord, transform us to Thine image / In emotion, mind, and will; / Saturate us with Thy Spirit, / All our being wholly fill. (Hymns #750)
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