Leviticus 18.24 commands do not defile yourselves in any of these ways for these are the things the heathen do.

God is holy, His ways are holy and obedience to His commands makes people holy.

Holy means set apart and when applied to people it means set apart to God. God’s ways, God’s thoughts, God’s motives are not like man’s but are always loving, always good and always noble.

Those who follow Jesus demonstrated by their obedience to His commands will begin to separate themselves from the rest of the world for the ways of God and the ways of men are not the same at all.

The things that defile people listed in the passage today are incest, homosexuality and bestiality. Age old behaviors people have exhibited but behaviors the people of God were to despise because God despises them.

Sexual perversion is as old as humanity but God designed man and woman to be joined together as one in order to procreate and to give sexual expression a safe and secure context. All of nature demonstrates God’s intent yet humanity through its various perversions has rebelled against God and His good ways resulting in abuse, disease and brokenness among men, women and children.

No relationship is more healthy than a man faithfully committed to a woman and woman faithfully committed to a man raising children together.

The Church must return to its priority of living as the people of God.

The people of God are to be holy as God is holy. This will mean not compromising with the world and its rebellious standards that ignore God but living set apart, demonstrating the health and wisdom of living in obedience to God’s commands.