Leviticus 19:12,13 - Do not swear falsely

19:12

They were not to swear falsely by the name of the Lord. Swearing falsely can be saying something that is false, but saying it as an oath, so trying to give it extra credence. Or it can be saying something claiming it is what God wants, or is consistent with His word when it isn’t. The former sort is just downright lying, and Jesus tells us to simply let our yes be yes, and our no be no. The latter are more subtle and have a veneer or religiosity, an example of this is claiming God approves of homosexuality. Examples from the past include claiming God’s word supports slavery or aprdheid. Both types profane the name of the Lord. They associate the Lord with evil in one form or another. 

19:13

“Do not defraud or rob your neighbour”. This is in many ways a repeat of 19:11. All theft is robbing our neighbour, for neighbour has a wider application than just our physical neighbour, it includes anyone whom we come into contact with, directly or indirectly. There is a strong tendency within humans to defraud others, to take advantage. There is always someone who will try to do this. Holding back the wages of hired workers is forbidden. In those days the labourer needed his wages in a timely fashion (still true today!). Giving this a wider application, managers and business owners must treat their workers properly. Taking what might seem small steps to increase profits is not good.

Romans 7:18-20 - Nothing good dwells within me

7:18

This verse sums up the human dilemma. There is nothing good that resides in our flesh, in our human nature. For we may have the desire to do good, but not the ability to do good. The problem is that so often we believe that we are basically good, indeed this is probably the general view of humanity as a whole. We think we are basically good when in fact we are basically evil. This does not mean we never do good, nor that there is no good within us, but the trajectory that we are on is not good. Unless and until we face up to this truth we cannot make any progress.

7:19,20

These two verses really just sum up what Paul has been saying about the dilemma we are in. We don’t do the good things that we want to do, instead we do the evil things that we do not want to do. So we are no longer living as we ought to, and neither as we want to do. It is sin that dwells with us, this is what is controlling our lives. This is the position of humanity without Christ. Either we want to do the right thing but find ourselves incapable of doing so and so live a life of frustration, or sin completely takes over and we become utterly evil. Of course, various shades in between are possible as well, and most people will be somewhere in between. Perhaps Paul’s phrase here of sin dwelling within, can be linked with his statement in Galatians about it being no longer he who lives, but Christ who lives in him (Gal 2:20). Either Christ lives in us or sin lives in us.

Leviticus 19:9-11 - Do not reap to the edges

19:9,10

This command tells them not to reap the harvest right to the edges of the field, nor to gather the gleanings of the harvest. Nor were they to go over the vineyard a second time. The “crumbs” from the harvest were to be left for the poor and the foreigner. Other peoples had a similar rule, but the law here was unique in mentioning foreigners. The most notable example of this is in the story of Ruth, who was gleaned from the edges of the field (Ruth 2:3), and this played a very important role in meeting Boaz and ultimately being married to him. So we see that a seemingly minor law played a very important part in God’s purposes.

To widen out the application of the law, it is a warning against trying to eke out the last bit of profit or efficiency from an enterprise. Seeking out the last penny of profit actually diminishes us as persons, and eventually leads to economic disaster.

19:11

We now get a list of various ethical laws. These echo some of the ten commandments. They were not to deceive each other. In every society there are those who seek to deceive others. Scam emails or phone calls are a particular example of this in our day, but deception has always been a problem.

Romans 7:16,17 - Sin that dwells in me

7:16

“Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the Law, that it is good.” Paul is at pains to show that there is nothing wrong with the Law, quite the opposite for it is good. The frustration we encounter when we want to be different, want to do the right thing, to behave in line with God’s law, is proof that the law is indeed good. This is in contrast to the way too many Christians seem to think, which is to say that the law is bad, usually in regard to sexual morality. So when we recognise that something is good, but find ourselves doing the exact opposite, the human reaction is to think we must try all the harder. This is living out of the flesh and is doomed to failure. Imagine you have a water pump and it is pumping contaminated water. In order to solve this problem we decide to install a brand new pump. This will do no good at all, for the new pump will still pump contaminated water, just as the old pump did. That is what happens when we “try harder”, we are still drawing on the same contaminated source, our flesh, our human nature.

7:17

“So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me”. Let’s first say what Paul is not saying here. He is not absolving us of any responsibility. “It was sin that made me do it”, or a more common equivalent “the devil made me do it”. We are responsible for our actions, and a key step to making progress with Christ is accepting responsibility. Conversely, a sure way of ensuring we get absolutely nowhere with God is to deny responsibility and to be constantly blaming someone else.

What Paul is trying to do is to demonstrate the true and serious nature of the problem, and to realise that just trying harder is not going to work.

Leviticus 19:4-8 - Do not turn to idols

19:4

“Do not turn to idols ...” As human beings we have a terrible tendency to turn to idols. John closes his first letter with a warning to keep ourselves free from idols (1 Jn 5:21). This tendency is still around today. With the covid crisis we made idols out of many things. Masks became an idol, despite the evidence for their effectiveness being at best limited. Lockdown was an idol, again even though the evidence seems to say they did an awful lot of harm and very little good. The vaccine seems to be becoming an idol. They do seem to have been effective in limiting the harm done by the disease, but they don’t do much to stop infection, yet some governments still seem to think they are the answer to everything. The Lord is our God and we should turn to Him first.

19:5-8

Just when we thought we might have finished with the sacrifice rules we get a quick reminder of them here. God reminds them here that things must be done according to His ways, otherwise the offending person is not part of God’s people. Churches that think they can go their own way while ignoring the word of God are deeply mistaken.

Romans 7:14,15 - The Law is spiritual but I am of the flesh

7;14

“The Law is spiritual but I am of the flesh, sold under sin”. This is the basic problem, the one which the Jews who held to the Law ignored, and the one that almost all of humanity ignore. The Law is good, it is spiritual, inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. Yet we are of the flesh, of our human nature, and our human nature was sold over to sin. Our human nature is inherently sinful. Under the T of the Calvinist TULIP, this is total depravity. This does not mean that we never do anything good, nor that there is no good at all within us. We were created in the image of God. The image is now corrupted, but there are still vestiges of the image there. What it does mean is that every aspect of our being is corrupted by sin, infected by sin if you like. We have rebelled against God and are in a state of rebellion, we have cut ourselves off from God, and have been cut off from God. That is what it means to be of the flesh. And when we strive to keep the Law out of our flesh, out of our own strength, we are living out of this corrupted nature with the inevitable results.

7:15

“For I do not understand my own actions”. Paul having given the explanation now shows how this works out in practice, and this is something that he has experienced in himself. Sometimes we sin out of pure sin, we want to do the sinful thing. This would be bad enough, but even when we hate the sin and want to be different we find that we can’t and end up doing the thing that we hate. With regard to the question raised by commentators, but never by the Bible, this applies both pre and post conversion. For most of the time pre-conversion a person may be unaware of the problem, not being bothered by sin, though some may know and feel trapped by their lifestyles. And as they near the point of conversion they may become increasingly aware of it. Post conversion we may be more aware of the problem, because now we are on God’s side and we hate sin all the more. There will be areas of our lives where we change, where we experience significant victory. As time goes on the process of sanctification will progress and we will have greater victory, but at the same time we will become even more aware of sin. So in objective terms it is less of a problem, but subjectively we may be more aware of the problem.

Leviticus 19:1-3 - Respect your mother and father

19:1,2

We now come to various laws, and these are directed at the whole assembly of Israel. The rules are often given in the form of specific examples, but general principles can be drawn from the examples as well. The overall general principle is “be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy”. This principle still applies to us today (1 Pet 1:16). We are called to be like God. We are not called to be like the world. We were created in the image of God, and our salvation involves the restoration of that image.

19:3

Some of the rules repeat or apply some of the ten commandments, though there is not a systematic attempt to do this. We are to respect our mother and father, and to observe the Sabbath. Why? Because “I am the Lord your God”. These laws, amongst other things, demonstrate a recognition that we are ultimately dependent upon God. Why the linking of honouring our parents and observing the Sabbath? Most immediately, it was our parents who brought us into the world and who brought us up. Without them we would not be here. Without God we would not be here.

Romans 7:12,13 - Did that which is good bring death to me?

7:12

So the problem is not with the Law, but with us. The Law is “holy, righteous and good”. By the way, the Law is sometimes seen as being “old testament” and no longer relevant. This is an unbiblical approach. As a rough template, a better way of looking at things is that the Law is good and useful, but the principle of Law (living out of our own strength) does not work and was never intended to work. The morality and the heart of God found within the Law is just as relevant today as it always was. For the Law reflects the heart of God. It also points towards the cross.

7:13

When the Law came to Paul he died (spiritually). So the situation we have is that the Law is good, yet the effects of the Law seem to be very bad. It arouses sin and leads to death, or so it seems. But it is not the Law that is the problem, we are the problem! It is sin within us that is the problem. If you observe how we try to change things, whether it be at a societal or an individual level, it is the externals that we try to change. This never gets to the root of the issue, which is the sin within. The problem existed long before the Law came, but the Law highlighted the problem. The Jews saw the Law as the escape route, but the purpose of the Law was to highlight the problem and to point the way to the escape route, namely Jesus Christ. The Law left no doubt that people were sinful. We often blame the environment or the circumstances, but Israel had everything going for it. God miraculously rescued them from slavery, and He did many other miracles on their behalf. He gave them the good and perfect Law, He sent prophets to them, and yet Israel never got any better. She remained a deeply sinful people. And this sinfulness is true of all nations and peoples.

Leviticus 18:1-30 - Do not follow their practices

18:1-30

Thus far the emphasis has been on the priesthood, with the previous chapter extending this to all Isrealites. Here the commands are specifically given to the Israelites, without any mention of the priests. They apply to everyone. The rules in this chapter relate to various sorts of sexual behaviour, most of them applying to incestuous relationships of various sorts, but with 18:19-23 considering various other sexual unions. Of course, there is one verse, 18:22, that upsets so many people. This is the rule prohibiting homosexual acts. The Bible is clear that homosexual acts are prohibited, and any attempts to prove otherwise are futile. If you want to delve deeper into the arguments about this I would refer you to the works of James White, Michael Brown and Sam Alberry.

The beginning of the chapter contains the vital command “Do not follow their practice”. “Their” is referring to the Egyptians and the Canannites, who did indulge in the practices mentioned in this chapter. The church today is utterly foolish when it seems to think it a good idea to follow the sexual standards of the world. To do this is complete madness. We should keep the decrees of our God, “for the person who obeys them will live by them”. God’s decrees bring life, the world’s ways bring death.

Many of the commands mention bringing dishonour. The world’s sexual ways dishonour humanity, they lead to exploitation, and where they are “concensual” they dishonour those involved. God’s ways dignify humanity and our bodies.

Some civilisations, in particular the Hittites, had rules against incest. The Biblical rules broaden these, but the form of the Biblical rules is influenced by the cultural situation. 

Sacrificing of children was strictly prohibited (18:21). We might think this obvious, but just consider the attitude of our societies to abortion. It is now considered an absolute right, and to do anything to restrict it is considered “immoral”. Abortion is now not so much seen as a necessary evil, but as something to be celebrated. This seems to be particularly the case in America.

Some of the laws in the pentateuch were peculiar to Israel, at least in their particular application. However, these laws apply to all peoples. As 18:27 says, the Egyptians and the Canaanites did these things and so defiled the land.  

Romans 7:10,11 - Sin deceived me and killed me

7:10

“The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.” If we had obeyed the Law we would have had life, life would have been so much better. One might say then that it would have been better not to give the Law, but this is not so. It is like saying we shouldn’t have any rules, we shouldn’t tell children what to do. One of the many problems with this is that there are good and bad ways of living. There are ways of living that have good effects, and there are ways that have bad effects. So if there are no rules then death is the inevitable outcome. So the Law was a good thing, and laws are needed, but the law cannot deal with the problem of sin. By the way, the argument that Paul is seeing himself as like Adam seems to be further flawed, in that all this argument is in relation to the Law. The Law came in after Adam had sinned. The first sin cannot have been the result of inherent sinfulness, rather sin took hold as a result of the first sin. 

7:11

The Law was not a means of salvation from sin, instead it highlighted the existence and reality of sin. If Israel had obeyed the Law all would have been well, but she did not and could not obey the Law. Now God knew this, so He never thought that the Law would save them, though it did offer some restraint on the effects of sin. The Law highlighted the reality of sin. Sin is not just a matter of doing wrong things, it is an inherent rebelliousness. So when it sees what God wants it seeks to do the exact opposite.  Sin is also deceptive, and it leads to death.

Leviticus 17:8-16 - Don't eat the blood

17:8,9

The rules on the proper sacrificing of animals applied to foreigners as well. The community was to be wholly dedicated to the Lord. This principle carries through to the New Testament, for in Rev 21 there is a purity in the new heaven and new earth. Many object to this principle saying everyone should be allowed in. Well, everyone is allowed in on God’s terms.

17:10-16

The eating of blood is forbidden “for the life of a creature is in the blood”. The blood was only to be used in order to make atonement. One might see a respect for life here. We definitely see that the shedding of blood was an essential part of making atonement. Jesus had to die on the cross in order to make atonement for us.

More rules on not eating blood follow. Any hunted animal or bird had to have the blood drained out before it was eaten. If anyone eat an animal killed by other animals was unclean till evening, and had to wash themselves and their clothes.

Romans 7:8,9 - Sin came alive and I died

7:8

Sin is described as almost a living force that exists within us. So when it is told that something is forbidden it sees this as an encouragement to do that very thing. Without the commandment sin lies dormant. Sin is still there, but because there is no command to do or not do something it is inactive. But when the commandment is given it knows what the right thing to do is, and therefore knows what the wrong thing to do is, so sets about doing the wrong thing. Sin is rebelliousness.

7:9

So Paul was once alive apart from the Law, but when the commandment came his inherent rebelliousness arose and he died, meaning spiritual death. Some see this as Paul seeing himself as Adam, and saying Adam did not sin until he was told not to eat the fruit of the particular tree. There seem to be a couple of problems with this. One is that it would imply that Adam was created sinful, for it would be saying that the sin was there, but dormant, from the beginning. Secondly, it doesn’t really fit with the narrative in Genesis. The matter of God creating beings that became sinful is a problem. Saying that God created beings that were sinful from the beginning cannot be right, and it doesn’t seem to be what Genesis says. So that leaves us with saying that God created beings that became sinful, which is closer to the Genesis narrative. This still leaves the problem of  why God created beings that could become sinful, but this is far less of a problem than God creating sinful beings. Perhaps the best explanation is that God created beings which had free will.

Leviticus 17:1-7 - Be careful where you sacrifice

17:1,2

We now enter what is known as the Holiness Code, running from this chapter through to chapter 26. There are those who claim it was a later addition to the book, coming from a much later period. However, there is no evidence for this, and it is quite clearly set in the context of the time. As always, it is best to take the Bible as it presents itself. The Lord spoke to Moses, Moses was then to speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the Israelites. “This is what the Lord has commanded”. We are reading the commands of God.

17:3-7

The first commands concern the proper sacrificing of animals. Animals were not to be sacrificed willy nilly. They were only to be sacrificed in accordance with the rules set out by the Lord and at the Tent of Meeting, and as an offering to the Lord. Otherwise it was bloodshed, and the person was to be cut off. The practices of sacrificing anywhere were associated with idol worship, and sacrificing to “goat idols” or “goat demons” (17:7) is given as an example. 1 Cor 10:20,21 talks about idol worship as worshipping demons.

Romans 7:7 - Is the Law sin?

7:7

We now come to the part where Paul talks about how this works out in our experience. There are arguments about whether Paul was talking about his pre-Christian or post-Conversion experience, or even whether he is talking about himself at all. I think these sorts of questions are looking for a much more clear-cut answer than is justified. Those who argue for it being pre-Christian refer to places where Paul has said we are free from sin etc. However, this puts an interpretation on such verses which is not valid. Paul does not teach sinless perfectionism. No Christian I know, and definitely not myself, is completely free from sin. Moreover, the Bible teaches that we will continue to sin. For instance, in the Lord’s prayer Jesus teaches us to pray “forgives us our sins ...” At the same time if there is no change in our lives, then one must doubt the reality of our conversion. There is the old “now but not yet” conundrum. We experience something of the reality of the gospel now, something of eternal life now, but there is far more to come. So drawing sharp distinctions is not that helpful. Moreover, Paul’s purpose is not to give a personal testimony as such, but to enable his readers to understand the nature of the battle we face, how sin works, and how to overcome through the Spirit.

So Paul has been saying that the Law cannot set us free, rather the Law aroused sin. So is the Law sin? Is the Law a bad thing? Paul’s answer is an emphatic “By no means!” Instead the Law told us what sin is, what is sinful. Paul then uses the particular example of coveting. When we are told we cannot have something or cannot do something, then a natural reaction is to want it all the more, or to want to do the forbidden thing.

Leviticus 16:23-34 - Atonement for all the sins of the Israelites

16:23-28

We now read of the priest coming out of the most holy place, and then out of the tent of meeting. The special clothes he had to wear in order to enter the Most Holy Place are to be taken off. This was to protect them from contamination, and also maybe to signify that the priest was just a man like the rest of the Israelites. The man who had seen off the scapegoat also had to wash before reentering the camp, this was to remove any contamination from the scapegoat. What we have here is a drama being played out. The writer to the Hebrews states that all these sacrifices were in themselves ineffective. They were all pointing forward to the one true and effective sacrifice (Heb 10:11,12). There were also instructions for the disposal of the carcass of the sacrificed animals. 

16:29-34

This is the conclusion of the chapter, where it is established as “a lasting ordinance”. As the writer to the Hebrews makes clear, the Old Testament sacrifices did not provide true atonement, they were only a shadow of what was to come. Christ is the one and only true and effective sacrifice. Until Christ came the Jews were to observe the Levitical Law. Done properly, they were acting in faith of what was to come. On the day of atonement no one was to do any work. It is a key element of God’s forgiveness that it is all down to Christ, we contribute nothing other than the sins for which He died. 

Romans 7:5,6 - But now we are released from the Law

7:5

“Living in the flesh” means living out of our human nature. For while we lived “under the Law”, the Law aroused sinful passions. This wasn’t because there was anything wrong with the Law, but because there was everything wrong with our human nature. Paul will say more about this shortly, our human nature is deeply corrupted, this gives birth to death. This is in stark contrast to the fruit of the Spirit.

7:6

We are free from the Law. As I said before, this means free from living entirely out of our own strength. The Law held us captive. For Gentiles (i.e. me and most probably you) the principle of trying to get things right by putting more effort in has held us captive. We are something which is good, a good standard, the right thing to do, the right way to live. Or even, stop living the bad way we are living. It held us under a cruel captivity, for it offered up something good, but when we tried to attain it we repeatedly failed. In Christ we have died to what held us captive. The latter part of this verse sums up what chapters 7 and 8 are all about: “so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.”

Leviticus 16:15-22 - He is to lay both hands on the goat

16:15-19

Aaron first had to offer sacrifices for his own sins, then he offered the goat for the sins of the people. It is interesting that it speaks of making atonement “for the Most Holy Place” (16:16, see also 16:18). God created us to live in close fellowship with Him, that is how things are meant to be, but sin broke that fellowship. God’s plans are geared towards restoring that fellowship. The atonement “worked” “whatever their sins have been”. Anyone can be forgiven who comes to Christ in repentance and faith.

16:20-22

Having dealt with the goat that was to be sacrificed, attention now turns to the live goat. Aaron was to lay both hands upon the goat, signifying the transference of sin. He also had to confess all the sins of Israel. This does not mean naming every single sin, he would have been there an awful long time! Rather it means a general acknowledgement of sin, though sometimes there may have been specific sins to be mentioned. The goat was then sent away, and there was an assistant to make sure it went off into the wilderness. So first our guilt has to be atoned for, then our sins can be dealt with. As I said before, the cross is not just about being forgiven, but also being sanctified. If we stick with our sin we cannot dwell in the presence of the Lord. A person or nation committed to sin can only live in the wilderness. 

Romans 7:3,4 - You have died to the Law

7:3

So if the married woman went to live with another man while he was alive she would be called an adulteress. Now the marriage bond, and the breaking of it, is often used throughout the Bible as an analogy of our relationship with God. The reason it is so used is not just that it represents a good analogy, it is also because of the emotional side of it. There is both a “legal” and an “emotional” aspect to it, and there was a strong emotional attachment to the Law on the part of the Jews, and a strong attachment to the principle of “trying our hardest out of our own strength” among all people. However, if the man dies, then the woman is free to marry someone else, and there is nothing wrong with that. 

7:4

So Paul now makes the point that they have died to the Law, so they are no longer obligated to live as ones under the Law. There are some who will argue that Paul’s analogy is flawed. Such people are frankly very silly. They do this because the previous verses had the man dying, and it now seems to be expressed in terms of the woman dying. Paul is not trying to argue that there is a precise analogy. Indeed, I don’t think it is the precise legal argument he is making, but is focusing on the emotional commitment, and is preparing them for learning that there is a new way of living. In fact, Christ died on the cross so that we could live a new life. In John’s gospel Jesus said that he had to return to the Father so that the Holy Spirit could come. It is only under this new way of living that we can bear fruit for God.

Leviticus 16:6-14 - Into the wilderness as a scapegoat

16:6-10

Aaron is to offer a bull to make atonement for his own sin, and for his whole household. This meant all the priests, as the priesthood was of his family. Then he was to take two goats. One would be sacrificed to the Lord, this was the sin offering. The other was to be presented to the Lord alive, and then sent into the wilderness, thus making atonement. This was the scapegoat. So we see that there are two aspects for our sin being dealt with. One is the sacrifice, the other is sin being sent away. As has oft been said, we come to Christ just as we are, but we do not stay as we are. The gospel is not about our sin being overlooked, but about it being dealt with. The goat to be sent away was chosen by lot. This was God’s choice, not man’s choice. 

We may think that there is an awful lot about sacrifices in Leviticus, and there is, but other contemporary religions had a much greater number of sacrifices (Hess). The Bible placed much more emphasis on the attitude of the person.

16:11-14

More details of the offering Aaron has to make are now given. His two sons had died because they offered unauthorised fire. The fire here is authorised because it is according to God’s instructions. “So that he will not die”. Aaron’s two sons did die, God is laying out the instructions so that Aaron will not die. We may think “why are you doing things this way?” We can be confident in God that He knows what He is doing and His intentions are good for us.

Romans 7:1,2 - The Law is binding on a person only as long as he lives

7:1

The Law told them how to live, told them what they should be doing. That was the principle of the Law. Here is what you should and should not do, now do it. If they obeyed the Law they would be blessed, if they failed then they would be punished. Paul is now telling them that they are no longer living under this system. 

7:2

Paul will now use an analogy with marriage to explain that they are no longer obligated to live as people under the Law. Let me emphasise that “not living under the Law” does not mean that the commands and instructions no longer matter, or are no longer good. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is a matter of how we live. In a marriage the couple are obligated to each other. Paul  puts this in terms of the woman because that more closely reflected the Jewish Law. Under Jewish Law the man could divorce the woman, but not the other way around. However, if the man dies, then the woman is no longer bound.

Leviticus 16:1-5 - He is not to come whenever he chooses

16:1,2

We now move on to more comfortable ground, the Day of Atonement. More comfortable in the sense that we can more easily appreciate the relevance to the gospel. God spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons. This is mentioned because God is about to warn Aaron that he can only approach the Lord on the Lord’s terms. We so often think that we can decide how we approach God, this is not so. 

16:3-5

Having warned Aaron that he can approach God only on God’s terms, the Lord now specifies what these are. First, he had to bring a bull and a ram as a sin offering and burnt offering. The writer of Hebrews points out that a key difference between Jesus and the Levitical priests was that Jesus had no need to offer sacrifices for His own sins, for He was without sin. Aaron had to wear special linen garments, along with a sash and a turban. He was also to take two rams for the whole Israelite community.

Romans 7 & 8 Introduction

Before going through these two chapters verse by verse I will give some thoughts on where we are and what is going on in these chapters.

So far Paul has essentially spoken about the illogicality of considering sin as a reasonable option, countering various arguments that might be made. Some of these arguments are, albeit in slightly different form, still found today. For instance, many think that the gospel just means you can get away with sin. Now Paul turns to the practicalities of living in the light of the gospel. If sin is bad and to be avoided how are we to live? The natural way, the way of the law, is to put our best efforts into trying to live a good life. To use all our resources in trying to achieve this. This is the way that we know. We can see it on a national scale if some monumental failure arises in childcare or some similar sphere. What will happen is that an inquiry is set up, the inquiry produces a raft of recommendations, and we resolve to enact these recommendations. There are usually two consequences. One is that there is another disaster a year or two down the line, the other is that the new rules also make it harder to function well. On a more personal level, our natural reaction to our sin is to resolve to do better, but in the end we fail. There are two key aspects about this approach. One is that it is doomed to failure. Paul will expand on this problem and explain why it exists in the latter part of chapter 7, and then in chapter 8 present the new way of living. The second aspect is that we have a deep commitment to it, we feel obligated to going down this road of “trying harder”. Indeed, we think that if we don’t do that then we are somehow failing, or not being pleasing to God. We feel guilty if we don’t “try harder”. Paul will deal with this latter aspect in the first few verses of this chapter. Does this mean that as Christians we should not “try harder”, not put any effort into trying to do what is right? No. If we read all of Paul’s writings we see that this is definitely not the case. The key point is are we living out of our own strength, or are we living by the Spirit? Paul will speak at length on this in chapter 8.

Leviticus 15:1-33 Bodily discharges and other delights

15:1-33

Having had the delights of skin diseases and mildew, the section on uncleanness reaches its finale in dealing with bodily discharges. These discharges are associated with the genital regions, both normal discharges (emissions of semen and periods) and those that are a result of disease. The Bible is truly concerned with all aspects of life! The process of dealing with the uncleanness is simpler here than for the other cases we have encountered. It is notable that for normal bodily discharges the uncleanness is dealt with by washing and waiting until evening, for those that are a result of disease a sacrifice is needed as well. A clear distinction is drawn between the two.

Some of the regulations could be viewed from a hygiene perspective (e.g. 15:8-11), however the primary concern is with ceremonial uncleanness. The rules relating to gential emissions may have had as part of their purpose the separation of sex and worship. Prostitution, in particular, was closely associated with some pagan practices.

The section on a diseased flow of blood reminds us of the woman who came to Jesus, having had the problem for many years (Mark 5:24-34, Matt 9:20-22, Lk 8:43-48). Under the regulations here anyone who touched her or her garments would become unclean. She believed, rightly, that if she touched Jesus’ garment she would be healed. And Jesus declared that her faith had made her well. He also called her daughter, signifying that she was part of God’s people.

Romans 6:22,23 - The free gift of God

6:22

Becoming a Christian is not simply the adoption of a different set of beliefs, it involves being born again (John 3:3; 1 Pet 1:23), becoming a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). We “have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God”. The fruit of this is that we are sanctified (an ongoing process), and the end result is eternal life. And “eternal life” is not merely never-ending life, it is becoming Christlike. To think that sin is compatible with being a Christian is nonsense. 

It is also worth noticing that “becoming a Christian” (not a very Biblical phrase, by the way) involves God’s actions as well as ours. “Becoming a Christian” tends to put the focus purely on our part (i.e. our repentance and putting faith in Christ, both of which involve the work of the Holy Spirit), whereas it involves God’s work as well. And this is not just what Christ did on the cross, but we are born again by the Spirit. 

6:23

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We see again the utter nonsense of considering that sin and the new life are compatible, and the utter stupidity of considering sin to be a desirable thing. Sin leads to death, that is the final destination that it leads us to. You also have to work for this! In contrast the outcome of the gospel is eternal life, and this is a free gift. And it is “eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”. The offer of the gospel is that we become like Jesus. Note also that Jesus is our Lord. Thinking that we can be a Christian with ourselves as Lord is nonsense.

Leviticus 14:21-57 - Cleansing from mildew

14:21-32

We now have the regulations for those who cannot afford the previous sacrifices. The sacrifices are a little less, but the same general pattern is followed as in the previous verses. There are two key points to note. One is that provision is made for the poor, they are not excluded. The second is that the poor do still have to go through the purification process. Relating this to the present day, our atonement and purification cost us nothing, the price was paid in full by Christ. But there is still absolute commitment required from us. The Biblical treatment of the poor is far better than much modern day thinking. Yes, full account is made of their poverty, but they are not treated as mere recipients, they still have responsibility. Some modern day thinking seems to elevate the moral status of the poor, this is not Biblical. Morally the poor and the rich are on exactly the same level, but the rich have a greater responsibility to help the poor because of their wealth, and have a greater capacity for doing evil.

14:33-57

14:33-54 deal with mildew and other infections that can afflict buildings. The purification process is actually similar to that for skin diseases. As before I don’t intend to dwell on the details, but to take a wider look. We see that God is very concerned with the body, and with physical objects such as dwelling places. Our salvation is not a purely spiritual thing. Unlike gnostic ideas, the Bible does not consider the physical world to be inherently evil. Salvation involves everything. It certainly does involve our spirits and souls (without wishing to get involved in discussions about the fine distinctions between spirit and soul!), but it also involves our bodies and everything around us. The concern for our bodies is shown most clearly in the resurrection. In Romans 8:20,21 we read of the whole of creation groaning, and eventually being set free. And in Zech 14:21 we read every pot being holy. God has a concern for every aspect of creation.

Romans 6:20,21 - For the end of those things is death

6:20

“You were free in regard to righteousness”. Being a slave to sin, commited to sin, meant we had no regard for righteousness, we felt no obligation towards it. If we look at the world, most of it isn’t bothered about what God says, they feel no obligation to live according to God’s ways. This is why conviction of sin is such an important part of the conversion process, and why it is part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Yet, at the same time, people do have a concern about what is right. If we look at the world around us and at the news we will see this. Sometimes it will be about what is right in the world’s eyes, but not God’s. Examples of this are things like gay rights and abortion rights, the world will be very exercised about these things. Sometimes it will be about what is actually right. Examples of this include horror at terrible crimes, financial crimes, lying (especially by politicians).

6:21

Paul then asks “what fruit were you getting?”. I.e. when you lived in sin, what good did it really do you? When the Israelites were wandering through the wilderness they often harked back to their days in Egypt with fondness. Yet when they were in Egypt they groaned and cried out for help because of the harsh treatment they were enduring. Sin can do the same, yet the truth is that sin makes our lives miserable. The end result of sin is death.

Leviticus 14:1-20 - Laws for cleansing lepers

14:1-7

We now come to a chapter that deals with the cleansing of those who had defiling skin diseases, and then cleansing of houses with mildew. For a person who had a skin disease they first had to meet the priest outside the camp. If the person was indeed healed then  a series of sacrifices was made over an eight day period. First of all two birds are taken, one is killed, and the other dipped in its blood and then released into the open to fly away. Later on we will learn of the scapegoat, where there are some similarities. The second bird, presumably, represents the uncleanness leaving the man.

14:8-20

The person is then to wash themselves and shave. The shaving is probably to demonstrate that the person is indeed clear of the skin disease. A series of sacrifices are offered on the eighth day. I have to admit that my initial thoughts are “what a rigmarole!”. However, let’s look at the situation. The person would be visibly infected with the skin disease, it would be obvious to the person, and to anyone else who saw them. Once healed, the person themselves would want to be sure they were cured, and those who met them would want to be sure that they weren’t infected any longer. The washing and shaving would demonstrate this. This is looking at things from a human perspective. What about God’s perspective? The person has been affected by a disease, and all disease is a result of sin, but not necessarily a direct result of the sin of the individual, more a general result. So sickness is associated with sin. The sin needs to be atoned for. So how can we transfer this to the gospel? For the person who is saved by faith in Christ, all their sin is atoned for. Also we will be completely transformed. This is not brought to completion until Christ returns, but the end result is that there will be no vestiges of sin nor its effects left in our lives on that day. In the present we receive in part, so now we are moving in the right direction, the Holy Spirit is working in our lives.

Romans 6:18,19 - Having been set free from sin

6:18

The gospel is about setting us free from sin, and become “slaves” of righteousness. I have put slaves in quotation marks here because of what Paul says in the next verse. The error being dealt with here is the notion that sin is somehow desirable. Now in the short term sin can seem to be desirable either because of the pleasure it offers, or the gain (financial or status) it may seem to give, or because it offers a way out of a fix. However, on any rational assessment sin is not desirable, for many reasons. Three of these reasons are:

• It makes us subject to judgement

• It enslaves us, this is the point that Paul is focusing on in these verses. It dominates our lives.

• It is harmful to others and to society as a whole.

6:19

“I am speaking in human terms”. Paul is using the slave analogy to help the people understand. With regard to being enslaved to sin it is a very good analogy, we do become slaves to sin. However, in regard to “slaves to righteousness” it is a very loose analogy. Our being slaves of righteousness is accurate in that give our allegiance to righteousness (or, rather to God, and therefore to righteousness), but God is a very good master! And, of course, He is much more than a master, He is also our Father. Paul then goes on to draw a distinction between the effects of being slaves to sin and to righteousness. One leads to lawlessness, the other to sanctification.

Leviticus 13:47-59 - Mildew

13:47-59

Attention now turns to moulds. While moulds are quite different from skin diseases, the pattern of the treatment here is very similar. There is a distinction between clean and unclean. There is an ordered method of dealing with outbreaks, with an unhurried approach to determining whether or not a particular case is unclean. The grounds for determining whether something is clean or unclean do seem rather opaque, though how pervasive something is seems to be a key criteria.

But let’s be honest, this doesn’t make a lot of sense to us, and  some aspects are downright abhorrent, such as the instructions in 13:45,46 where someone who is unclean is cast outside the camp. So what are we to make of all this? The first thing to note is that Jesus did not reject anyone on the grounds of their uncleanness, nor was that the teaching of the New Testament. I don’t imagine to give a complete answer, but will venture a couple of comments which may or may not be helpful. The first is that the Law deals with all aspects of life, including mildew! Likewise the gospel is a whole life gospel, encompassing absolutely everything. But what about the seemingly heartless aspects, such as casting out the “unclean” when it was through no fault of their own? The Law is presenting a picture of a perfect society. There is perfection in that everyone obeys God completely, and there is perfection in that everyone is perfect in every way. There is nothing “unclean” , nothing that has been rendered imperfect by sin, including the general effects of the fall, not just the direct result of an individual's sin. Now this produces the heartless aspects. But the Law was never intended as the means of salvation. It points to how things should be, but cannot get a sinful people and a sinful world there. The gospel deals with our sin, and when its work is brought to completion there will be no “unclean” people or things. Everyone and everything will be perfect. There will be no more dying, mourning, crying or pain , for the old order of things has passed away (Rev 21:4). These are just thought for you to ponder.

Romans 6:15-17 - You are slaves of the one whom you obey

6:15

The chapter started with the question: are we to sin so that grace may abound, now Paul deals with the question shall we sin because we are under grace not law? Once again the answer is an emphatic no! The previous question demonstrated a complete lack of understanding of the gospel, this question demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of the nature and effects of sin. Note that Paul’s response here is not to give a list of do’s and don’ts, but rather to improve our understanding. It is an example of Rom 12:2 where we are urged to be transformed by the renewal of our minds. We need our thinking to be transformed.

6:16

For if we sin we presenting ourselves as slaves to sin. We might think that in sinning we are exercising our freedom, that is the way of the world. We hear this particularly in reference to sexual sin. But the truth is that far from becoming free, we become slaves. So if we offer ourselves to sin we become slaves of sin, and this leads to death. Instead we should offer ourselves as slaves to God, to obedience to God, and this leads to righteousness.

6:17

“But thanks be to God”. This is the glory of the gospel, the prize of the gospel, we have been set free from our slavery to sin. If you want to continue sinning then the gospel is not for you! Once we were slaves to sin, slaves to the sorts of things outlined in the early chapters of Romans. But now we are obedient to the standard of teaching to which we have been committed. There are many so-called Christians who seem to think we can choose what righteousness is. They are deluded. “To which you were committed”. This was not a choice, it is not an option, it is part and parcel of believing the gospel.

Leviticus 13:1-46 - Skin diseases

13:1-46

Having dealt with childbirth, we now move on to skin diseases, to be followed by various moulds. We may well wonder what on earth these passages are doing in the Bible, and I guess most of us have not found these chapters to be of great spiritual benefit. The various skin conditions dealt with here probably do not include leprosy as the way that leprosy develops does not really fit with what we read here.

There are one or two features that we can note. One is that there is a very methodical approach. In all cases the condition is examined, there is then a period of waiting to see what happens. There is no rush to carry out an exorcism! Perhaps we can learn something from that in how we deal with sin or other problems. Sometimes a sin is just a one off, admit it, repent of it, get on with life. At other times it is an indicator of a much more deep rooted problem that might need more serious attention.

A second feature is that there is little concern with healing here, the focus is on being clean or unclean. I, and probably many of you, do not really understand this concept. Maybe God will enlighten me one day!

Romans 6:13,14 - Sin will have no dominion over you

6:13

So we are not to present our members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. We have a degree of autonomy over our bodies, part of the fruit of the Spirit is self-control. But if we do give our bodies over to sin then we lose control. Instead we present ourselves to God. We have been brought from death to life, we are now free to live for God. So we present ourselves as instruments of righteousness.  In Christ we are free to obey.

6:14

“Sin will not have dominion over you”. This is the freedom that the gospel gives, but we need to choose this freedom. “Since you are not under Law but grace”. Grace does not mean that we can sin with impunity, but that we no longer have to sin. The notion that since we are not under Law therefore we can do what we like is one that the Bible offers no support for. Instead we because we are under grace we choose to live for God.

Leviticus 12:1-8 - Purification after childbirth

12:1-8

We now come to a series of chapters dealing with uncleanness associated with people, starting with childbirth. One important point to note is that uncleanness is not the same as sinfulness. Many of the states that are “unclean” are nothing to do with sin. Even so, it has to be admitted that we find a lot of this stuff hard to understand!

So we start with a woman who has given birth. She was then unclean for seven days, if the child was male she would have to wait thirty three days after the child was circumcised before being purified of her bleeding. If she gave birth to a daughter then the period of uncleanness island the time before purification took place was double. So why uncleanness at all, and why a double period if the child was female? The Bible gives no explanation. I have read a few “explanations”, and none of them are very satisfactory. The lines of explanation which seem to have some relevance are ones relating to the discharges, as the text does relate the matter here to a woman’s monthly period. One thing to note is that God is providing a way of purification, a way of bringing the woman back into full relationship with Him. Sacrifices are described for the poor as well as the not poor. 

The passage finishes with the words “In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean” (Lev 12:8). One thing that we do not like to face up to is that the fall has corrupted every aspect of us and of life, even those aspects, such as childbirth, which should be nothing but joy.

Romans 6:11,12 - Consider yourselves dead to sin

6:11

“So you must ...” Our salvation is utterly and completely dependent upon Christ, but that does not mean that we are mere passive recipients. God’s grace leads to our action. This chapter started with Paul dismissing the ludicrous suggestion that since where sin abounds, God’s grace abounds all the more, then we should sin so that there is even more grace. How we should live is to consider ourselves dead to sin, living as if sin has no hold or claim upon us. Once it did have a claim, once we were slaves of sin, but no longer. Instead we are alive to God in Christ Jesus.

6:12

Therefore we are not to allow sin to reign in our mortal bodies. Even considering the possibility that sin is a reasonable thing to do is to demonstrate a complete misunderstanding of the gospel and a complete failure to understand the nature of sin. The previous verses have explained how Jesus died to do away with sin. The nature of sin is that it dominates, it enslaves. So we are not to allow it to reign, for then it will make our bodies obey its passions, not Christ’s commands. We see again that we are active participants, along with Christ. We cannot do anything without Christ, without the Holy Spirit, but that does not mean that we are passive.