Pastor Jerry Gillis on Leviticus 19:1-2 – “Holiness: For God, and for Us”

Pastor Jerry Gillis is Mark’s very special guest on the podcast today. Pastor Gillis is the Lead Pastor of The Chapel, a multi-complex church network in the Buffalo area, and he is also involved with ‘Christ Together’, a network of churches which aims to ‘empower the whole Church to bring the whole Gospel to the whole nation’. The passage he has selected to discuss with Mark today is Leviticus 19:1-2.

Pastor Gillis begins the conversation by sharing his summary of the passage and the significance it holds for him, and then launching into an extensive analysis with Mark about the very nature of holiness for both God and ourselves. Along the way, they touch upon the importance of actions and character, how we can be holy, the power and grace of God, and how this passage should change our lives. As the conversation draws to a conclusion, Pastor Gillis shares the lessons he has learned about humankind, which leads to a discussion of those who claim to reject religion and the causes for this. As you will hear, Mark’s esteemed guest here today is a Pastor with intricate knowledge and understanding of scripture whose ‘brilliant insights’ reveal the eternal wisdom and guidance of this powerful passage.

Episode Highlights:

· Pastor Gillis’ summary of today’s passage and its significance for him · The idea of God’s holiness as His essence · Holiness as more than morality · The importance of action and character · How we can be holy · How this passage should change our lives · The power and grace of God · The lessons about humankind that Pastor Gillis has learned · Those who claim to reject religion

Quotes:

“It kind of inspired me to look back into the Torah itself to understand better the idea of holiness.”

“God’s holiness makes a claim on our humanness.”

“Holiness is His essence…it is more essence than it is attribute.”

“Everything you do should be infused with holiness.”

“I think that holiness, by definition, has to be about more than morality.”

“He understands it as being set apart to God to fulfill His purposes with your life.”

“God wants the heart…of course the actions are important, but so is the character.”

“His essence informs and constructs His attributes.”

“The interesting thing about the New Testament is how much Old Testament is quoted in the New Testament, particularly, by the way, when you’re reading Peter.”

“God’s holiness belongs only to Himself, and our holiness is in only belonging to God.”

“Who am I owned by - God or me?”

“That’s a great frame right there - God is not ridiculous.”

“We’re asking for You to give us the grace to be able to fulfill living in such a way that brings You glory.”

“There is a God, and I’m not Him.”

“People oftentimes, who are claiming to be atheists, are so emotionally angry at a God that they say they don’t believe in.”

“Either people have a broken view of God, or a broken view of who they are in God.”

“We have a mission. God has a plan. It’s our job to figure out what our mission is.”

Leviticus 19:1

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy.

https://www.sefaria.org/Leviticus.19.1-2?lang=en&with=all&lang2=en

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