Saved & Set apart!

Introduction:

Last week pastor Chris walked you guys through Exodus 28 where we see a couple of things. God chooses Aaron and his sons to become the first priests of Israel. But before they can serve, God tells Moses to create special clothing just for them. And we’re not talking about everyday robes—these were detailed, beautiful, and full of meaning. Every piece—the breastplate, the robe, even the engraved stones—was designed by God to show that these men were set apart for something sacred.

Why does that matter for us? Because it shows us something important: God cares not just about what we do, but how we represent Him. The priests wore holy garments, not to impress people, but to remind everyone—including themselves—that they served a holy God.

I remember growing up I couldn’t just where anything and look any kind of way to school or in public in general. This new generation got options and freedoms to just look any kind of way. My mom didn’t play that she was very particular. She would always say you ain’t about to just walk out my door looking any kind of way embarrassing me. Put some lotion on, iron your clothes and make sure you match look like you got some home training.

I remember and it wasn’t about trying to impress people but about the fact that my mom wanted me to present myself like I come from a home that had a standard. And when we look back at these last few chapters in exodus which on the surface may seem boring because all or the details mentioned may it be regarding the tabernacle or the alter. God is very particular because he has standards we can’t just look any kind of way and go about any kind of way we want approaching him.

God wants his people to be set apart and we are in this chapter your going to see a word used often and its the word “consecration”. This word communicates the act of dedicating something or someone to a sacred purpose, often involving a formal ceremony or ritual. This process is used to sanctify objects, places, or people, setting them apart for divine service.

Exodus 29 shows us that access to God requires consecration through a mediator and the shedding of blood. The elaborate rituals, though temporary and ceremonial, pointed to the ultimate reality found in Jesus Christ. He is the true Priest who needs no cleansing, whose once-for-all sacrifice fulfills the shadowy sacrifices of the Old Covenant.

The main point of this chapter we are about to read is this: God's holiness demands consecration and sacrifice—but these are fulfilled in Christ. Through Him, we are made a royal priesthood, cleansed by His blood, clothed in His righteousness, and anointed by the Spirit. God's dwelling among His people is no longer limited to a tent but realized in the Church, His temple.

Read Exodus 29 ““Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. Take one bull of the herd and two rams without blemish, and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour. You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, and bring the bull and the two rams. You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. Then you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod. And you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. Then you shall bring his sons and put coats on them, and you shall gird Aaron and his sons with sashes and bind caps on them. And the priesthood shall be theirs by a statute…”

Christ accomplishes our consecration!

What took 7 days for Moses, Aaron and his sons to accomplish we have all at once in Christ.

R.C Sproul in his classic book “The Holiness of God” says that “Our greatest problem is that God is holy and we are not”. We as sinners can’t just approach a holy God on our own merit. This why Moses and Aaron are having this bloody festival for 7 days straight for atonement of sins, confession of sin, and fellowship with God.

Expositor Doug Van Meter said “This passage drips with blood. More to the point, this whole ritual was a bloody one. And it was so for seven days in a row. Why all the blood? Ryken notes, ‘So far, so good. The priests looked good, and they smelled nice. However, they were still sinners. There was a gap between their outward appearance and their inward spiritual condition. Yet in order to serve God in his tabernacle, they had to be holy all the way through. Therefore, something had to be done about their guilt, and the priests were not fully consecrated until the sacrifices were made for their sins.’ You see, without the shedding of blood there is no possible forgiveness for our sins.”

Because God is holy he requires perfect, perpetual, obedience. You want to be set apart on your own merit you better had got this right. This is the very point that Jesus makes in His sermon on the mount in the gospel of Matthew. The pharisees thought they had a handle on the law because they were so legalistic and what Jesus does is shows them that they had a lower view of the law than they presented themselves.

For example Jesus crushes the pharisees with the weighty teaching of adultery they thought if they were not having sex outside of marriage they were in the clear and this is just one of the many ways they would parade there self-righteousness but Jesus crushes that in Matthew 5:28 “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” See the type of standard of Holiness that God demands is both outward and inward. Again perfect, perpetual obedience. The problem is we cannot do it and the good news is the gospel.

This is why we need Jesus because we simply cannot do it. Moses, Aaron, his sons, and the israelites all need a perfect savior to accomplish once and for all a atonement that was done simbolically for 7 days in this passage.

R.C Sproul put it this way “The death of Christ covers our sin, but the life of Christ provides the merit and the righteousness that we must have in order to enter into Heaven. So Jesus life is as important for us as his death. He lived to fulfill all of the Law of God”.

This is what theologians would call the “active obedience and passive obedience of Christ”. See most of the time what we hear more of is the passive obedience of Christ which states that Christ’s willing submission to suffering and death, particularly in His crucifixion. The term “passive” comes from the Latin passio, meaning “suffering,” not implying that He was inactive or unwilling. Examples: His suffering in Gethsemane, His trials, His crucifixion, and death. Theological significance: He bore the penalty of sin for His people, satisfying the justice of God. His death atones for sin.

This is good needs but we also need the active obedience of Christ refers to Christ’s perfect and complete obedience to God’s law throughout His life. He fulfilled all the requirements of the Law that humanity fails to keep. This obedience is “active” in the sense that Christ actively lived a righteous life, perfectly upholding God’s will. Examples: His baptism (Matthew 3:15), His resistance to temptation (Matthew 4), His teachings and miracles done in accordance with the Father's will. Theological significance: His righteousness is credited (imputed) to believers, so that they are considered righteous before God.

We don’t have a full gospel understanding of justification if we don’t have both the passive and active obedience. Most churches that are at best trying to be biblical get the passive obedience in there gospel presentations but leave out the active.

See if we have only the passive obedience of Christ (His suffering and death for our sins) but not His active obedience (His sinless life lived in perfect obedience to God’s law), then we would be left forgiven but not righteous — and that’s not enough for full salvation.

If we only have the passive obedience of Christ then our sins are forgiven through Christ’s death (He pays our penalty). But we still lack the perfect righteousness required to stand justified before God. God demands not just the absence of sin, but also positive righteousness (perfect law-keeping). So, we would be neutral before God — forgiven but not declared righteous — and therefore still unfit for God's presence.

Imagine you owe a massive debt (sin), and you're also expected to make a large deposit (righteousness) to get into heaven. Passive obedience pays off your debt. Active obedience makes the deposit for you. Without both, you’re either still in debt or have nothing to offer.

See this why we must always preach the gospel because this the good news that the world needs. We need to preach the full gospel and its implications to our life.

Jesus is the sufficient blood sacrifice, atonement, and savior. He finally and completely accomplishes what only these rituals could do for a moment until it was time to do it again the next year because God’s people have not stop sinning. Sinners sin its not a shock or at least it should not be.

The beautiful and weighty reality of the gospel is what the apostle Paul says in Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” . We don’t have to slaughter a ram or a goat smear blood everywhere for forgiveness of sin and right standing before God.

This is our motivation for obedience, holiness, and righteousness. The truth of the gospel is what fuels us to live the life scripture calls us to life. We don’t pursue these things for right standing and God’s approval we already have it in Christ and because of that reality it should fuel you to want to life they way he’s called us too.

Moses, Aaron, and the Israelites wanted fellowship with God this bad they were willing to do these things they desired to be right with him and close to him that was the end goal for them and what’s so amazing is this is what God wants with his people. Look at Exodus 29:43–46 “There I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory. I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests. I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.”

God has always wanted us far more than we want him. He wants his people to know that He is the Lord their God and he will always be with them and to not forget that he has brought them out of slavery in Egypt. Dear Christian do you know how much God loves you and wants you. Let God love you!

God loves us; not because we are loveable but because he is love; not because he needs to receive but because he delights to give.

C. S. Lewis

“God loves you unconditionally, as you are and not as you should be, because nobody is as they should be.”-Brennan Manning (Author of the book The Ragamuffin Gospel)

“God’s love is stubborn. It will not let us go. It will not let us off. It cares too much for our welfare.”-John Stott

“God’s love is an exercise of His goodness toward individual sinners whereby, having identified Himself with their welfare, He has given His Son to be their Savior.”-J.I Packer (From his book Knowing God)

When we fully embrace His love for us it fuels us for service. It fuels us to worship him in the home, in the work place, in our marriage. When we understand who we are in Christ and his great love for us we then can live out the set apart life.

How will you worship Him and live a life set apart when you leave this place church? When you think about your life are you walking in this reality of being set apart this reality of consecration is your life marked by the transforming power of the gospel. This world should see the difference between your life and the life of someone that is dead in there trespasses and sins?