C. To be holy one must be separated from the common (ordinary).
The third element of holiness involves separation from the common or ordinary (some translations use the word “profane”).
Here we learn the important concept that God often requires his people to separate from things not necessarily sinful, just things that if purged from the life will strengthen the Christian’s walk with God. To emphasize this element of holiness, God divided everything into two basic categories: holy and common.
He then subdivided the category of common (or ordinary) into two division:
clean and
unclean.
That which is clean can be devoted to God and become holy. That which is unclean, after the proper cleansing procedure, can become clean and could be devoted to God and become holy. That which is permanently unclean can never become holy.
The terms “clean” and “unclean” have nothing to do with cleanliness. They are religious categories designed to emphasize that God has a standard of moral and ethical right and wrong that is as clearly distinguishable as are the categories of clean and unclean.
That God gave the food laws to teach His people how to discern between the unclean, the common, and the holy, and not to teach health principles, is made clear in Deuteronomy 14 which is a summation of the food laws given in Leviticus 11. If health were the primary issue, God can be charged with not caring about the health of Gentile peoples.
To the Israelites He said, “Do not eat anything you find already dead. You may give it to an alien living in any of your towns, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. But you are a people holy to the LORD your God” (Deut. 14:21, NIV). He did not tell the Israelites to sell the “unclean” meat to foreigners in order to damage their health.
Clearly, God cares about the health of all nations! Further, when Jesus was asked about the proper observance of the food laws, he replied that the primary purpose of these laws was to teach a person how to discern right from wrong. He said that what a person eats cannot defile him. What defiles a person is improper thoughts, attitudes, and actions that spring from the heart.
Then he declared all foods clean (Mark 7:18-23) That God expects His people to be able to distinguish clearly between holy and unholy, and between clean and unclean, is emphasized in Leviticus 10:10.
One of the major charges God made against the priesthood, as Israel began to backslide was, “her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane [common], neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them” (Ezek. 22:26; 44:23).
The same problem exists today. Carefulness to separate from common things which are not inherently sinful, just because God has called for this personal separation, is becoming rare. If we don’t joyfully follow God’s gentle promptings to separate from the non-sinful “common” because we and others’ declare, “There is nothing wrong with it!” we forfeit the delight of His presence and are soon in confusion.
We then end up like the people during the period of the Judges when everyone simply does what is right in his own eyes (see Jud. 17:6; 21:25; and especially Num. 15:39). The cure for this lack of sensitivity to God’s call to be holy and the ability to respond to His gentle promptings to separate from things that are not inherently sinful, according to the writer of Hebrews, is found when Christians press on to entire sanctification.
Without entire sanctification, Christians are destined to remain “unskillful in the word of righteousness” and unable to develop the degree of discernment and sensitivity to God’s will that He desires. Entire sanctification enables the Christian to discern more clearly what is good and what is evil in God’s eyes (Heb. 5:12-6:1)
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