Day 4 of 10
The Levitical Laws and Their Meaning
Reading Leviticus honestly — the love commands are in the same book
Scripture Readings
Today's Reading
Read Leviticus 18:22: "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination."
Then read Leviticus 19:18,33-34: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. ... When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt."
Reflection
Leviticus 18:22 is one of the most cited and most contested verses in the sexuality debate. It is also one of the most poorly understood — by both sides.
The most common progressive argument is straightforward: Christians don't follow other Levitical laws (about shellfish, mixed fabrics, or planting two kinds of seed), so it is inconsistent to cite Leviticus 18:22 while ignoring the rest. This argument has an emotional force that makes it popular, but it reflects a misunderstanding of how the church has historically read the Old Testament law.
Christian theology has long distinguished between different types of Levitical legislation. The ceremonial and purity laws — dietary restrictions, fabric regulations, ritual cleanliness codes — were understood as markers of Israel's distinct identity that were fulfilled in Christ and no longer binding on the church (this is why Peter's vision in Acts 10 declared all foods clean). The moral law, however — sexual ethics, prohibitions against murder, commands to love the neighbor — was understood as reflecting the permanent creation order.
Tim Keller addressed this directly: "To dismiss Leviticus 18 because the same book bans shellfish is a failure of basic hermeneutics. The question is whether the prohibition is tied to Israel's purity system or to the creation order — and the New Testament treats sexual ethics as belonging to the latter." The evidence for Keller's point is that the New Testament explicitly sets aside food laws (Mark 7:19, Acts 10) but repeatedly reaffirms the Levitical sexual ethic (Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6, 1 Timothy 1).
But there is something equally important that traditionalists often miss. Leviticus 19 — one chapter later — contains some of the most radical love commands in all of Scripture. "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (19:18) is the verse Jesus called the second greatest commandment. And Leviticus 19:33-34 extends this love explicitly to the stranger, the outsider, the one who is different. For a gay person walking into a church, or a trans teenager arriving at youth group, these verses are not abstract. They are a test of whether the church reads all of Leviticus or only the parts that reinforce existing prejudices.
Augustine built much of his social ethic on Leviticus 19:18, understanding love of neighbor as the foundation of the just society. The question is whether the church can hold Leviticus 18 and Leviticus 19 together — upholding the sexual ethic while extending radical love to those who experience that ethic as costly.
Going Deeper
Honest hermeneutics requires consistency. If you cite Leviticus 18:22, you must also reckon with the love commands in the same book. If you dismiss Leviticus 18:22 as outdated, you must explain why the New Testament reaffirms it while setting aside dietary laws. Where is your own reading of Scripture most in danger of selectivity?
Key Quotes
“To dismiss Leviticus 18 because the same book bans shellfish is a failure of basic hermeneutics. The question is whether the prohibition is tied to Israel's purity system or to the creation order — and the New Testament treats sexual ethics as belonging to the latter.”
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”
Prayer Focus
Ask God for the humility to read difficult texts with honesty — neither dismissing them as irrelevant nor using them as weapons.
Meditation
Leviticus places laws about sexual conduct alongside commands to love the stranger. What does it mean to hold both of these commands at the same time?
Question for Discussion
The common argument that Christians 'ignore Leviticus when it's convenient' (shellfish, mixed fabrics) deserves an honest answer. How do you distinguish between Levitical laws that still apply and those that don't — and is your hermeneutic consistent, or does it shift depending on the topic?