Today’s devotion comes from Leviticus Chapter 11. Here is a link to this Scripture – http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+11&version=NASB
I quote the following verses from it.
“44 For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. 45 For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.’”
46 This is the law regarding the animal and the bird, and every living thing that moves in the waters and everything that swarms on the earth, 47 to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten.” Leviticus 11:44-47.
——————-
Today’s Scripture makes mention of many different animals “to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten.” Verse 47.
In a recent prior devotion on April 16, 2014, in Acts 11:5-18, we saw how God used a dream of unclean animals to convince Peter that He cleansed the Gentiles, a people previously considered unclean, and granted them repentance and salvation as he did the Jews.
But, God certainly did not save every Gentile person as He also did not save every Jewish person. And, the meditation of this devotion does not concern the distinction between Jew and Gentile, but rather the meditation of this devotion concerns more generally the distinction between the saved and the unsaved.
If God so sharply and precisely distinguishes and separates the clean animals from the unclean animals, then it should help us believe that God can and does so sharply and precisely distinguish and separate the saved from the unsaved.
That truth should comfort us.
God does distinguish and set apart us, His elect, clean and holy people, to guide, protect, and bless us with every spiritual blessing.
God did not set forth conditions when the unclean animals could be eaten such as if they somehow behaved in a certain way or were somehow cleansed in a certain way or were somehow killed in a certain way. Each species was simply either clean or unclean.
Likewise, God did not set forth conditions on whom He would save among His elect. “Unconditional Election”, the “U” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation, teaches us that God’s election of certain people to be saved is not based on any condition supplied by man, but rather God’s election of certain people to be saved is based on His will alone. “For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.” Romans 9:15-18.
We get this similar sense of sharp distinction from other Scriptures such as Matthew 7:17-18: “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.”
“… “The Lord knows those who are His,” …” 2 Timothy 2:19.
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” John 10:27-29.
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” Romans 8:28-30.
Like God distinguished and set apart the clean animals from the unclean animals, God distinguished and set apart His elect (His people, the saved people) from the unsaved people.
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10.
God made this sharp distinction “… to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.” Romans 9:23-24.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. …” Ephesians 1:3-4.
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 