Page 76 - Pentateuch

We can also see part of the application of this section in the practical changes made in spiritual life after the
death and resurrection of Jesus. Peter had a vision of a large sheet let down to earth holding all kinds of
animals, including reptiles. He was told to eat. He protested, “I have never eaten anything impure or
unclean (Acts 10:14). The voice said, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean (10:15). In
obedience, Peter went to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile, and shared the gospel. Cornelius believed,
received the Holy Spirit, and was baptized (10:47, 48). The event is emphasized as Peter repeats his
explanation for the leaders in Jerusalem (11:1-18). The link to our chapters is obvious in the use of
“unclean” and “clean.”

Something has happened. What had been unclean for centuries, even going
back to the days before the flood (Gen. 7:2), is now clean. The contamination
spread from one person to the next, keeping them from God’s presence, is
gone. Even more, the concept of clean and unclean is shifted from the
relationship between humans and God to the relationship between person and
person. “I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is
unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that
person it is unclean (Rom. 14:14).” The coming of Christ has changed, clean and
unclean.

Sin, the same sin, persists. The physical world remains tainted. “Moral imperfections and impurities – that
is, the sinful activities that rendered a person unclean in the Old Testament – are still sinful in the new
covenant and still require repentance, confession, and forgiveness to comply with God’s standard of
holiness. It is folly – it is dishonest – to argue that because the purification regulations of Old Testament
Israel were fulfilled by the death of Christ, the sins listed in Leviticus are no longer.” Yet just so much as
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Leviticus insists on the presence of sin, so too do the scriptures celebrate the death of Christ as paying for
that sin. We can have his Spirit living in us despite our continued spiritual pollution.

Within the instructions on clean and unclean, there are glimpses of God’s ultimate cleansing. In Leviticus
12:1, the text uses unusual language to describe pregnancy as “to bear a seed.” This rare phrase goes back
to Genesis 3:15 and the promise of a special “seed” who would defeat Satan. “There can be no doubt that
the author has focused our attention on the central role of childbirth in fulfilling God’s plan of blessing since
the beginning chapters of Genesis.” The law taught sin. The law also anticipated God’s great grace.
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In Old Testament times, the people were frustrated in their attempts to follow the law. They failed
repeatedly. Since the coming of Christ, we have a helper in
the Holy Spirit (He too is uncommon) who lives within us to …through the law we become
teach us and strengthen us. We grow in holiness not by conscious of our sin. Romans 3:20
following rules but by following the Spirit. The law is useful to
show us our sins, but the law is useless to make us better. The Spirit speaks to us from the inside and slowly
helps us change. We are created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Eph. 4:24). The fruit of
the Spirit demonstrated in our everyday decisions fulfills the law (Gal. 5:23b).

One practical illustration might help understand the difference. God
The fruit of the Spirit is…self- gave Israel many sexual laws. The variations are many. The New
control. Galatians 5:23 Testament approaches human sexuality from a different direction.
Notice Paul’s instructions to the Thessalonians (4:3-8). First comes a
very general principle about personal ethics. “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified,” or made holy (v.

90 Ross, Holiness, 247.
91 John Sailhammer, The Pentateuch As Narrative (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992), 335.
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