Moses makes a decisive statement here that the nation of Israel is a people chosen of the Lord out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. God calls them sons of the Lord, his treasured possession. But with the privilege of being chosen by the Lord comes a heavy responsibility. They are to be a people holy to the Lord.
Israel's holiness to the Lord is to be reflected in their responses to the circumstances of everyday life. In these verses Israel is taught how they are to mourn for a dead person. Israel is not to mourn for the dead by cutting themselves or trimming their hair as the surrounding nations do, because these practices are associated with false beliefs and false worship. In themselves these practices may look innocent but they represent that which is contrary to the holiness and character of God and must not be practiced by God's people because the people of God are to be holy as their God is holy.
These verses in Deuteronomy remind me of three little known and not well applied verses in Galatians 6. Verses 13 to 15 deserve more meditation and understanding on our part, that they may lead us to personal applications. "For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation."
The nation of Israel could boast of their circumcision and their privilege as the chosen people of God. But they failed to practice obedient holy living, and except for a faithful remnant, were lost. Under the New Covenant, God's call is not national but individual, not outward by circumcision but inward through a new creation. Paul's focus is on the work of the cross of Christ in his life. Not a law to obey, not an outward boast of national privilege, but union with the death of Christ on the cross. This is what Paul counts as important to him and this is what Paul sees the cross doing. The cross separates. As Israel was to separate themselves from the surrounding nations in terms of daily practice as representatives of the Lord, so God has caused that separation in believers through the cross of Christ, and we are to practice that separation by recognizing the work of God on the cross and living it out.
First Paul says the world has been crucified to me. A dead man on a cross has no interaction with the world around him. This does not mean that we are to all go to monasteries and live in isolation from the world, although we are good at this kind of hiding from the world. It is not isolation from the world but rather insulation that is required. Insulation where our goals, ideas, fashions, lifestyles, values, are taken from the Word of God and a Christian worldview not from the world's false ideas, philosophies and worldviews. We are very worldly even though we may deny such a reality. We need prayerful insight to not be legalistic in our practices or to adopt a lifestyle based on a past Christian golden age. Worldliness is a heart issue. The heart of a new creation of God knows the work of the cross which pours out into lifestyle, language and culture, not trying to fit in with the world, not seeking to avoid the world, but reflecting the beauty of Christ in the world as lights on a dark night.
Then Paul says that he is crucified to the world by the cross. The world sees a dead man. That man has no part in their affairs, their goals, their visions, their fashions, their lifestyles, their values. He is not invited to the party, he is persecuted and cursed, he is marginalized and disowned. Paul knows who he is and Who he belongs to and this response from the world does not bother him as long as people are coming to know Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord and growing in grace.
So we need to rethink the doctrinal truth of our union with the death of Christ on the cross and its counter-culture implications. As Romans 12.2 says, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." We are a new creation in Christ and must live as God's people with a new mind and a new worldview. We are not to take our lead from the world or look for acceptance from the world. We are people of the cross. That is what God has caused us to be in Christ. Let us live like it.
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