1脱去旧生活穿上新生活读经：利未记十八至二十章。本篇信息要从十八章说到二十章。这一大段，等于新约以弗所四章十七节至五章十四节，吩咐神圣别的子民，要在从前的生活样式上，脱去旧人，穿上新人，这新人是照著神，在那实际的义和圣中所创造的，（弗四22，24，）而过圣别的生活，像神是圣别的一样。研读以弗所四章十七节至五章十四节，可以帮助我们领会利未记十八至二十章，而研读本段利未记，也可以帮助我们领会以弗所书的这一段．我们越研读以弗所四章十七节至五章十四节，就越领会利未记十八至二十章。用旧约的说法，神子民的生活，不可效法他们从前生活在其中的埃及人，也不可照著迦南人，照著他们的风俗而行。他们要脱去旧人同旧的生活样式，并18:3穿上新人同新的生活样式。利未记十八章三节说，『你们从前住的埃及地，那里的人所作的，你们不可照样作，我要领你们到的迦南地，那里的人所作的，你们也不可照样作，不可按著他们的风俗行。』这里我们看见以色列人要过一种新生活，有别于他们从前曾在其中生活之埃及人的生活样式，也有别于他们要进入之地那些迦南人的生活样式；他们所要过的，乃是神圣别子民的生活样式。脱去埃及人和迦南人的生活，就是脱去旧人；按著神的圣别过生活，就是穿上新人。利未记十八至二十章有许多律法的典章和律例。（利二十22。）律法先是由十诫所组成。十诫乃是律法的基本法则，简短而明确。因著十诫简短，所以需要解释和申述。典章和律例就是十诫的解释和申述。利未记十八至二十章满了解释和申述十诫的律例和典章。整体来说，律法乃是由十诫加上十诫的解释和申述所组成的。许多读圣经的人，甚至一些繙译圣经人都不明白律例和典章的区别，把二者看为同义辞。事实上，典章和律例有重大的差别。典章乃是带著判决的律例。然而，律例、条例并不包括判决，仅仅是律例。在利未记十八至二十章，有些条例没有告诉我们对违反的人该怎样惩罚，这些乃是律例。另外有些条例包括判决，说明对违反之人的责罚，是典章。利未记十八至二十章不是重复十诫，而是解释、申述十诫。例如，十诫中有一条是禁止拜偶像，而利未记中关中行巫术的条例，就是这条诫命的申述。（利十九26，31，二十6。）又如，二十章九节是孝敬父母这条诫命的申述。这节说，『凡咒骂自己父母的，必要治死他；他既咒骂自己的父母，流他血的罪要归在他身上。』在十八至二十章，可以找到许多这样的例子。在本篇信息中，我只论说一些特别且别处没有题到的事。
1Putting off the Old Life and Putting on the New Scripture Reading: Lev. 18—20 The subject of this message is “The Holy Living of God’s Holy People — Putting Off the Old Life and Putting On the New.” This message covers chapters eighteen through twenty. This long section of the Word is equivalent to Ephesians 4:17—5:14 in the New Testament, which charges the holy people of God to put off, as regards their former manner of life, the old man and put on the new man, which according to God was created in righteousness and holiness of the truth (Eph. 4:22, 24), living a life that is holy, as God is holy. By reading Ephesians 4:17 — 5:14 we are helped to understand Leviticus 18 — 20, and by reading this section in Leviticus we are helped to understand this portion of Ephesians. The more we read Ephesians 4:17—5:14, the more we understand chapters eighteen through twenty of Leviticus. In Old Testament terms, God’s people were not to live according to the Egyptians, among whom they once lived, nor according to the Canaanites. They were to put off the old man with the old manner of life and to put on the new man with the new manner of life. Leviticus says, “You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, in which you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan to which I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their customs.” Here we see that the Israelites were to live a new life, a life neither in the manner of the Egyptians, among whom they once lived, nor in the manner of the Canaanites, to whose land they were to be brought, but in the manner of God’s holy people. To put off the living of the Egyptians and the Canaanites was to put off the old man, and to live a life according to God’s holiness was to put on the new man. In Leviticus 18 through 20 we have many ordinances and statutes of the law (20:22). The law is composed firstly of the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments, which are the basic elements of the law, are simple, short, and definite. Because the Ten Commandments are brief, they need explanation and extension. The ordinances and statutes are explanations and extensions of the Ten Commandments. Leviticus 18—20 is full of statutes and ordinances, which are explanations and extensions of the Ten Commandments. As a whole, the law is composed of the Ten Commandments plus the explanations and extensions of the Ten Commandments. Many readers of the Bible, and even some translators of the Bible, do not understand the difference between statutes and ordinances and regard them as synonymous. Actually, there is an important difference between an ordinance and a statute. An ordinance is a statute with a judgment. However, a statute, a regulation, that does not include a judgment is simply a statute. In chapters eighteen through twenty of Leviticus, there are regulations that are without judgments; these regulations do not tell us how to judge a case. These regulations are statutes. Other regulations include judgments and therefore should be considered ordinances and not merely statutes. In Leviticus 18 — 20 there is no repetition of the Ten Commandments, but there is the explanation and extension of the Ten Commandments. For example, one of the Ten Commandments forbids the worship of idols, and in the regulations concerning witchcraft there is an extension of this commandment (19:26, 31; 20:6). Another example is the extension in 20:9 of the commandment to honor our parents. This verse says, “If any man curses his father or his mother, he shall certainly be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; the guilt for his blood shall be upon him.” Many other examples of statutes and ordinances can be found in these chapters. In this message I shall only deal with certain matters, which are quite peculiar and are not covered elsewhere.