Called to Be Holy: Finding Identity in God's Commandments
Exodus: From Bondage to Freedom • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 7 viewsCalled to Be Holy: Finding Identity in God's Commandments
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Mike, one of our elders here, have often reminded me that everyone is drawn to the ideal of being great and being part of something great. This is undeniable as Scripture confirms that God has set eternity within the heart of man. (Eccles 3:11).
This sentiment as I received it from Mike is clearly expressed in the words of Jesus
Theologians have a concept called the noetic effects of sin. This refers to the idea that humans are not as sinful as they could possibly be as that would make earth uninhabitable.
Rather, sin has affect every single aspect of humanity by darkening, distorting, and disordering human reason and perception. It does not destroy our basic abilities and God-given desires, it corrupts them.
This means that our God-given desire to be great and be part of something great mostly looks like the lust for power, wealth, wisdom, pleasure, or achievement.
And we identify ourselves based on those things which is the reason why we tend to group ourselves in associations that will grant us the identities we so desperately seek.
We want to be identified within the parameters of those now corrupted desires, as wealth wants to be identified by association with the wealthy, power with the powerful and so on.
Jesus came to give us a new identity, he did this by shedding light upon darkness, clarifying that which was distorted, and bringing order to disorder, without destroying God-given drive towards greatness.
So that humanity would still seek greatness, but true lasting greatness, a derivative greatness not self-manufactured greatness. Jesus just uses a different word. He uses the word “glory”. But it means the same thing,
“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity…” (John 17:22-23)
This unity is identity, it is how you and I are made great (glorious) and are part of something great (glorious). But this is light, this is clarity, this is the orderly way in which this is supposed to function:
24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
If the eternal Son, the God-man derives His glory from the Father, it is only right, that we would derive our glory (or greatness) from the Son.
And through this derived greatness or glory we are made glorious (great) and are part of something actually the most glorious (greatest) thing in the universe, “the people of God”
But God’s glory was never meant to remain abstract. It was to be displayed in a people shaped by His words.
To this end, God separated Israel from all other nations, to give them their identity in Him. Every nation has its defining document. The United States has its Constitution. Israel had the Ten Commandments.
These words were not only to regulate behavior but they were to be the basis of their new identity. Before He begins to define them by His laws He reminds them of who God is and what He had done.
2 “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Notice the order here. Redemption comes first, then obedience flows from that redemption. This pattern is also used in NT. They had been freed from Pharaoh’s rule but now they would learn what it means to live under God’s rule.
The law was not given to make them God’s people but because they were already God’s people.
It was a declaration of identity: “You are mine, therefore live like it”. For believers today, the Ten Commandments still speak—not as a ladder to climb to God, but as a mirror revealing who we are in Christ and how we should live in Him. For the apostle Paul says,
24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor unto Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.
25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
Through Jesus, the perfect fulfillment of the Law, we discover that holiness is not merely about compliance but about reflection—reflecting the character of the One who saved us.
When God calls us to holiness, He’s not restricting us—He’s reminding us of who we belong to. The God who redeemed Israel from Egypt is the same God who redeems us from sin, shaping us into a people who display His glory in a world that has forgotten Him.
Because liberating a nation from another nation and then making distinctions between this nation (physical Israel) from other physical nations is slightly different. The New Testament reads the Old Testament laws through the lens of a greater and more complete redemption in Christ.
Exposition
Exposition
I. God’s Commandments Flow from His Covenant Relationship (vv.1-2)
Before a single commandment is given, God speaks of relationship:
1 Then God spoke all these words, saying,
2 “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
This order is vital as it sets the tone for how we are to view our relationship with God. God redeems first and then he regulates. I obey as a response to redemption as gratitude for rescue. Israel’s obedience was not a condition for deliverance; it was a response to it.
God announces Himself as the covenant God, I am “He Is” your God. Yahweh Elohim—the self-existent, covenant-keeping God. The covenant does not begin with what Israel must do, but with what God has already done.
This is grace before law, redemption or rescue before responsibility. Eventually they will agree to a covenant they initially did not earn nor chose.
“You did not choose Me but I chose you and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would abide…” (John 15:16)
God does not bargain with them, He does not ask them if they would like to be His people and He will save them if they agree to follow his commandments.
He does not ask them if they would like for Him to create their identity or change whatever identity they had before. He chose, they are saved, they are His, end of discussion.
You will live like this not so that you can become my people, but because you already are my people. John Lenox wife story about proposing but first she must learn all of the recipes of a particular cookbook master all dishes and in 40 years He might think of accepting her.
This same pattern is seen in the life of Zacchaeus. Grace finds him first; transformation follows. As he was trying to get a good look at Jesus climbed up a tree:
5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”
6 And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly.
7 And when they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”
8 But Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor, and if I have extorted anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.”
9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.
Zaccheus did something he was not required nor commanded to do. Why did he do it? Because salvation had arrived at his home. His actions were an outpouring of his acceptance not a condition of it. Every other religion known to man is some form of merit based acceptance.
Through that statement,
2 “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
God redefines the relationship. Israel is no longer under Pharaoh’s oppressive rule; they now belong to Yahweh. Their identity is rooted in divine rescue, not in human effort.
This is what separates the commandments of God from the decrees of men. Pharaoh demanded obedience to enslave; God calls for obedience as a result of liberation.
For the believer today, this covenant pattern continues. Before God commands us to be holy, He reminds us that we are His—redeemed by the blood of Christ. Consider John’s words
“We love, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19)
Holiness is the fruit of belonging, not the price of acceptance. Obedience is the product of identity and not the pursuit of it. When we forget this order, law becomes legalism and obedience becomes bondage. And at that point all of your efforts become detestable to God.
“All our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment” (Isaiah 64:6)
When we remember that grace comes first, then obedience becomes worship.
II. God’s Commandments Reveal His Holy Character (vv. 3-11)
The first 4 commandments are called the first table of of the law and it deals with our relationship with God. They show that holiness begins with how we view and honor him. These reveal who God is. In them, His nature, worth, and uniqueness are displayed.
1.“You shall have no other gods before Me” (v.3)
God is exclusive in His glory. Many people believe that there are many paths to God. And so they think that all religions are in essence the same. Nothing could be further from the truth. God is precise in declaring that there is only One–Himself.
He alone is worthy of worship. The worship of others is incompatible with the worship of Yahweh:
2 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon.
3 Then the Ashdodites arose early the next morning, and behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh. So they took Dagon and set him in his place again.
4 But they arose early the next morning, and behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.
You cannot house Yahweh and some other god in the same building. God does not share. You cannot enthrone Yahweh in your heart alongside another god. That would be equivalent to an emotional affair. Look at God’s accusation of Israel centuries later:
“These men have set up their idols in their HEARTS and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquities” (Ezekiel 14:3)
Israel had left a land filled with idols—each representing human desires for control, fertility, or power. But the God who delivered them from Egypt declares there are no rivals. To place anything before Him is not only rebellion; it is self-deception.
The same temptation still calls today, though our idols may wear modern faces—career, success, reputation, comfort, even ministry. Every idol demands sacrifice, but only God gives life.
2. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image…” (vv. 4–6)
God is incomparable. No image, form, or likeness can capture His essence. Any attempt to represent Him visually distorts His glory and limits His majesty. He is the invisible, eternal God—Spirit, uncontainable and unmatched.
Anytime you try to come up with a visual representation of Him you will end up reducing Him to the likeness of you, or some other created thing. Which is why Jesus emphasized that,
24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
3. “You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain”
This commandment reveals that God is holy and honorable. His name is not to be treated carelessly, for His name represents His nature and reputation.
Taking His name in vain is more than using it as profanity—it includes speaking of Him lightly, claiming allegiance without obedience, or attaching His name to things He does not endorse.
To bear His name is to represent Him truthfully. When God’s people live contrary to His character, they profane His name before the nations
22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations, to which you have come.
23 “I will prove the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am Yahweh,” declares Lord Yahweh, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight.
Christians who live among unbelievers cursing and sinning as though they did not belong to the Lord profane His name. You have WWJD bracelets, and John 3:16 tattooed on you arm. You devalue the identity of the Lord who purchased you so that His Name means nothing among the heathen. This is a problem:
“Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to depart from wickedness” (2 Timothy 2:19)
“They profess to know God, but by their works they deny Him…” (Titus 1:16)
Bearing God’s name requires a life consistent with His holiness. Taking God’s name in vain includes hypocrisy, professing faith while living contrary to it. You mar the reputation of the Lord your God.
4. “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (vv. 8–11)
This reveals that God is gracious and wise. The Sabbath command is not simply about rest—it’s about recognition. God rested not because He was weary but because His work was complete.
He invites His people to share in that rhythm, resting in Him as the source of provision and peace. The Sabbath points forward to Christ, in whom believers find their true rest.
28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Holiness is not constant striving; it’s trusting in what God has already accomplished. This was perhaps the most elusive commandment for Israel which is the reason why the Pharisees were constantly crashing with Jesus in this one.
No matter how many Sabbaths they technically kept, they never entered into a Sabbath rest. The writer of Hebrews helps us see that this rest was never about a single day but about a greater reality found in Christ.
3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, “As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest,” although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.
5 and again in this passage, “They shall not enter My rest.”
6 Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news proclaimed to them failed to enter because of disobedience,
7 He again determines a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.”
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that.
9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.
11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall into the same example of disobedience.
Those who rest in Christ have entered their Sabbath rest, no longer trying to earn salvation but living in the reality of it.
Together, these commands paint a portrait of God’s holiness—exclusive, incomparable, honorable, and gracious. When Israel obeyed these, they reflected God to the world. When they disobeyed, they distorted His image among the nations.
The same is true for us. We become living testimonies of what we worship.
Our view of God determines our way of life. If we think lightly of Him, we will live lightly before Him. But when we see Him as He truly is—holy, glorious, and good—our hearts are drawn into joyful obedience. The law begins with worship because holiness begins with seeing God rightly.
III: God’s Commandments Shape His Holy People (vv. 12–17)
The final six commandments—often called the second table of the law—concern our relationship with others. They show that holiness doesn’t stay vertical—it extends horizontally.
Once God establishes His people’s relationship with Himself, He defines how that relationship overflows into community. Holiness is not isolation from others but righteousness toward others.
The order is intentional: love for God always comes before love for neighbor. Only when the heart is right with God can the hands and lips be right toward others. These commandments, therefore, shape how God’s redeemed people reflect His character in everyday life.
1. “Honor your father and your mother” (v. 12)
The first command on the second table begins in the home, because this is where we first learn to respect authority. The family is the training ground for society and the reflection of God’s authority structure. To honor parents is to honor the God who gave them.
The Apostle Paul reminds us that this is “the first commandment with a promise” (Ephesians 6:2). When the home honors God’s design, life and blessing follow; when it breaks down, so does everything else.
Wisdom teaches that a child who does not learn obedience, respect, and honor for parents will struggle in life and find obedience to God even harder.
8 Hear, my son, your father’s discipline And do not abandon your mother’s instruction;
9 For they are a garland of grace for your head And ornaments about your neck.
2. “You shall not murder” (v. 13)
This command reveals God’s value of life which begins in the womb. Humanity bears His image, and therefore every act of violence against another person is ultimately an offense against the Creator.
6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.
There was a severe consequence for deliberately taking someone’s life. You forfeited your own. Additionally, Jesus said that anger and hatred spring from the same root
22 “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be guilty before the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
Murder begins long before hands are raised—it begins when hearts grow cold. God’s people are called to be life-givers, not life-takers.
3. “You shall not commit adultery” (v. 14)
This command protects the sanctity of covenant love. Marriage is not merely a social arrangement—it’s a living picture of Christ and His Church. After giving husbands and wives instructions on how they are to relate to each other in the Lord Paul drops a great bomb,
32 This mystery is great, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.
Adultery defiles that image by turning covenant into consumption. Jesus raised the standard even higher when He said that lust itself is adultery of the heart (Matthew 5:27–28). Purity is not repression—it is devotion.
Holiness calls us to keep our covenant just as God keeps His. This is a matter of identity, which is internal first.
4. “You shall not steal” (v. 15)
This command guards against selfishness and calls us to integrity. Theft says, “God has not given me enough,” but contentment says, “The Lord is my portion.” Every act of taking what is not ours—whether money, credit, or opportunity—reflects unbelief in God’s provision.
The apostle Paul reflects this sentiment when he says,
“I learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in abundance; in any and all things I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:11-13)
This is depending and relying on God for all things. So anyone who steals must stop, work and sustain himself and others who have need according to Eph 4:28, as holiness produces generosity.
5. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (v. 16)
This command reveals God’s truthfulness. The God who cannot lie (Titus 1:2) calls His people to be truthful in speech and character. Falsehood harms others and misrepresents the God of truth.
To bear false witness is to use our words against our neighbor. Lying is perhaps the ultimate betrayal of love.
6. “You shall not covet” (v. 17)
This final command exposes the desires of the heart, revealing where our true worship lies. Coveting exposes the inward pull of idolatry, the craving for what God has not given. This was the nature of the first temptation, Satan used this very appeal when,
“He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
Covetousness whispers that God has withheld something good, but the cross shouts that He’s already given us everything we need in Christ. In fact Peter says
“His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life…” (2 Peter 1:3)
Together, these commands form the social framework of a redeemed people. They are not mere rules to restrain evil but reflections of God’s holy love working itself out in community.
When we honor others, protect life, stay faithful, live honestly, speak truthfully, and find contentment, we bear the likeness of our Redeemer before a watching world.
The world should see in us the visible evidence that God’s law is good. We do not obey to earn His favor—we obey because we have it. The Ten Commandments were never meant to make sinners righteous; They were meant to reveal what righteousness looks like in those who belong to God.
When God spoke His commandments at Sinai, He was not handing down a checklist for behavior—He was shaping a people for Himself.
These words revealed His heart, His holiness, and His desire to dwell among those who bear His name. The Law did not make Israel God’s people; it marked them as His people. It was the mark of a new, holy identity.
From the very beginning, God’s pattern has never changed: redemption first, obedience second. He redeems before He regulates, saves before He sanctifies. The commandments were not the condition of belonging, but the confirmation of it.
Just as Israel obeyed because they had already been redeemed, so we obey because we have already been redeemed in Christ.
So, when the world sees us—our homes ordered by honor, our relationships marked by purity and truth, our hearts content in Christ—they should see the living proof that God’s Law is good. People should see you and just like the religious authorities observing Peter and John,
“Began to recognize them, as having been with Jesus,” (Acts 4:13)
When they world see you they ought to recognize who you are, or rather whose you are.
