Be Ye Holy as I AM Holy

A theology student and brother in law to my pastor wrote concerning tattoos...just thought I'd post this since these are the kind of theology and words that are getting out into the churches today...This topic is continued from the topic on tattoo http://voiceofeliyahu.blogspot.com/2012/12/response-to-warning-from-bible-to.html?showComment=1356885615962#c8619028069012263403

Tony Thomas · I appreciate your enthusiasm for God and the importance of living a Holy Christian life.
But just as you were trying to defend the point of the "cutting or rounding of hair" i would like to use the same points.
During those days they used to make tattoos or cut marks on their body for the dead, in remembrance of them. The verse goes like this: "Leviticus 19:28
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.

Here if you read carefully, there is a coma (,) after "..for the dead, nor..."
A coma here refers to the continuation of the topic in which law is based. i.e. "for the dead" . It says not to make tattoos for the dead. The law does not say that "Do not make tattoos"

And bro Sorin, Please, firstly when you engage in these ideological discussions do not bring it on your mind immediately that the person not on your side is not a "PROFESSING CHRISTIAN" Please be open for discussions. You keep your point. I'll keep mine. 

Charles a Roman Catholic with whom Tony is trying to explain holiness says - My only point is that Leviticus and Deuteronomy are Jewish laws not Gods laws.... The ten commandments are Gods laws, and "love thy neighbor and God" is Gods law.....

My response - Charles, first and foremost, you make a distinction/separation between the laws in Leviticus and Deuteronomy against the ten commandments as Jewish laws and God’ laws repectively. Secondly, you keep referring to the ten commandments as “love thy neighbor and God”. So one last time I will again quote the scriptures for you to let you know that it is not me who says it as it is but the Word of God.

Would you agree with me that both the laws in Leviticus and Deuteronomy and the ten commandments were both given by God, setting aside your notion that it was written for the Jews only.

Now again I quote the same thing I’ve written before, in Jesus words, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

 
Here are the basic’s…Jesus makes a distinction between the two “God’s laws”. First of all Jesus said “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.” Would you like to correct Jesus on which of the two laws mentioned in the quoted verses has prominence over the other or is it plain and simple to understand? Secondly, Jesus said “Love your neighbor as yourself” which is like unto it.” It is like unto the first but is not the same as the first and greatest commandment “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”. All the Law and Prophets hand on these? Question to be asked is, who Jesus was talking to and what did this question have in relevance to them. Answer would be “it was a “law keeping Jew” who questioned Jesus.
 

What did the law mean to Israel? The law was what governed their behavior. It covered all aspects of life. There were directives for everything and sacrifices for all the ways you could break the law. The law was how you did Judaism. It is what kept them in relationship with the God of the covenant and it was what governed their relationships with one another.
 

What did the prophets represent to Israel? The prophets represented Israel’s spiritual relationship to God. The Old Testament prophets were the primary voice of God to Israel. They kept Israel moving in God’s direction. They corrected Israel when they strayed from the Lord’s path. They revealed to Israel what the will of God was in any and every circumstance.
The Law was the outward to Israel. The prophets were the inward. Between the two, Israel’s whole relationship to God was governed. Yet, with these words, Jesus changes the entire focus of their religious practice.
 

The discussion of the day for the Pharisees, who were focused on the law, was what commandment of the law was the greatest. Jesus answer tells them that the Law itself is not even the greatest or most important thing. The law hangs on something else. The prophets hang on something else.
Let me use a very simple illustration to show you what this means.
 

We all have closets. Some of us have closets that are very organized. There are people who have all their clothes in order. Shirts are hung in one place, pants in another and so on. Others have color coordinated closets. Then there are those of us who just hang whatever wherever. No matter what degree of organization you have, all closets have something in common. There is some way to hang the clothes in the closet. This usually consists of a bar upon which we hook hangers.
 

All of the clothing in the closet hangs on that bar. The clothes are important. Without the clothes, there is no point in the bar. The order may be important to us. The closet itself is important. However, the whole purpose of the closet and the whole order of the clothes hang on that bar. If the bar breaks, the clothes fall into a heap in the bottom of the closet.
 

Obviously, this illustration has its limits. However, I think you can understand the point. The Law is important. The prophets are important, but without the love of God, they all will fall in a jumbled mess on the ground. On the other hand, everything will be in order and in balance if it is hung on these two commandments.
 

There are many doctrinal disagreements in the body of Christ. Many things are very important in our Christian walk. However, all of these things must hang on the two commandments Jesus points out in these verses anything else will fall short of the glory of God.
Highlighted in red taken from http://wjkiefer.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/everything-hangs-on-these-two-commandments/) 

So are the laws Jewish in essence? Yes, but so is Christianity! The only difference with Christianity is that we don’t keep the civic and ceremonial laws of the Old Testament (we don’t have to keep to the works of the law because Jesus has fulfilled all the requirements of the law) and unlike Jews we believe the Messiah had already come, died, risen and sitting at the right hand of God now and will return again. My point throughout our entire conversation was to direct your thoughts towards holiness for God rather than the law itself. Yet you keep pointing to it as a law for Jews. My whole point is to say that those laws are given by God who is perfect and whatever proceeds from the mouth of God is perfect. As such the laws given in the Old Testament are perfect but we being in our imperfect state cannot fulfill the requirements that a perfect law requires of us which is why as per the law we are condemned…God makes that very clear in the Old Testament. But in the New Testament we see that Jesus is the Grace of God by which the law can no more condemn us. For the law requires that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin but because Jesus fulfilled every requirement of the law and by believing in Him we cannot be condemned to death by law anymore unless we would prefer to trample on the blood of Jesus even after knowing the truth. 

 
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” But question is how do you love the Lord your God? Jesus answers this by saying, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” Now how do you know that you are keeping the commandment “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”? It is made clear by God’s own words 1 Peter 1:16 – “for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” Now it says, “for it is written” but where was it written in the Bible, “Be holy, because I am holy”. Please read, 

 
Lev. 11:44 – “I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. I am the LORD, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.” 

 
Lev. 19:2 “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy."

 
So the words quoted in 1 Peter was taken from the book of Leviticus which consists of Jewish Laws? So is this Jewish or “God’s Law” – Be ye Holy for I am Holy. And what does “Be ye Holy for I am Holy” have to do with making yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground? Somehow when I keep using that phrase “God’s Law” it makes me shirk a bit in the sense that the Leviticus Laws were written by man for man whereas the Ten Commandments were written by God, this is what you are trying to say. I shirk at this because then you are saying Moses wrote those laws and God had nothing to do with it. Again I reinstate God’s Laws are perfect and Christ never destroyed them but fulfilled everything required of those laws for us. God’s Laws are holy and man in his fallen nature can never fulfill the holiness required of those laws which is why James 2:10 says, ”For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” And which is why Jesus came, not to abolish the law but to fulfill it!

 
The laws of Leviticus and Deuteronomy still stand today but we are not obliged to carry them out in terms of law but only in terms of holiness recommended to us of God. You talked about incest being immoral…you can state that incest is immoral against God’s standard by quoting “: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” But how were you able to define that as immoral? Since you yourself claimed, “Obviously anything immoral is a sin, but the question is "what is immoral?” Does the New Testament define that incest is immoral or does the Book of Leviticus or the Old Testament? So to state that Old Testament Laws were only for Jews is false and clearly you are deceiving yourself if you want to state it as otherwise. We know the failures of Israel before a Holy God and His Holy Laws in the Old Testament.

 
Again for the sake of argument I hope you have read this verse, Matthew 5:27-28 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Charles, read these verses over and over again. Christ just made the commandment “You shall not commit adultery” into a much more severe one “who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart”…you step from the Old Testament into the New Testament the degree of Holiness expected of Christians is much more demanding than the Old Testament. Maybe you would want to correct Christ’s definition of adultery. That’s the degree of holiness expected of us. The Old Testament draws the line in terms of holiness and the New Testament just jumps it a few yards further to even much more holiness expected of us…so stop deceiving yourself!

 
Everyone can have their own perception about what’s immoral or unholy but that’s man’s standards and not Gods standards. Now that’s reality!

 
And as far as condemning is concerned…now I understand why you stress on “love you neighbor as yourself” and placing that above “loving God” because then it leaves you with the argument that I am condemning you or anyone taking a tattoo or doing anything unholy that is not acceptable of God. It also allows you to say to others “do whatever pleases you” because I love you as a neighbor. I am only convicting you out of love as a brother in Christ. I am not condemning you but convicting you and other brothers in Christ of the wrongs being done. There is only one person who can condemn you and He is the one before whom even the heaven and earth flees from. You will stand before Him who will open the books and if your name is not found in them…My only words for you is to stand and persevere in the holiness God expects of you rather than an intellectual dogma that is not going to save you and is an excuse to commit sin. You may think that what I am saying is pushing people away from God. God doesn’t want people on his side who stands against His laws and commandments either…not my words…but His.

 
Omnipresence of God and worshiping religious art is another issue…but unless you are right with the above…I don’t think I would even want to enter that.

 
Charles I have provided you Biblical references to prove my point but you haven’t done any…in fact all you did was try to intellectualize it your own way…sorry the Word of God doesn’t work that way. But again it’s your choice…just know that God also has His choice as well! And this is what I have to say to all those who profess to be Christians but distort the Word of God, be it a Pentecost, Roman Catholic, Baptist, Brethern etc.