God pulled the Israelites out of the darkness of the world, cleaned them up, set them apart - then put them right back in. They had one purpose - and it wasn't to be a "special" people. It was to be a light in the darkness to draw the others to God.
Exodus 19:5 "Now if you obey Me fully and keep My covenant,. then out of all nations you will be My treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine, you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
Don't misunderstand the "treasured possession." I believe what God is telling the Israelites is that they will be a treasure in the sense that they will be His vessel to bring salvation to the entire world. (Is. 49:6) The point of their holiness is so that they will be effective priests, an entire nation of men and women who stand between God and man. Their holiness was for others, not themselves. The Law was given to them as a means of cleansing and revelation. Cleansing for themselves as a revelation to the world. It was not a Godly means to a personal end - which is how they ended up applying it.
The concept of holiness is often taught on an individual level, where we desire to become separate unto God through prayer, fasting and other disciplines of an inner life. We think of monks and priests and monasteries and quiet nights chanting to our self. But that's not what it it's all about - it's about being separated by God, unto Himself, so that we can then become useful as intercessors for others. The purpose of a holy priesthood is to bring others to Christ. The disciplines are important - but as a means of cleansing us for His use, not our self-satisfaction.
Dwell on this passage for a moment:
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friend, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us." (I Peter 2: 9 - 12)
Why were we called out? To bring others out of the same darkness we were in. We cut ourselves way too much slack in the things we tolerate in our lives, because we're only thinking of our own personal holiness. "I can't believe that I did that again!" We're not thinking of how this affects the testimony of God through us to the lost, only of how it makes us feel bad.
The quest for personal holiness is important, but as a means to an end. It is not the end in and of itself. Other people are the end. If I am so self-centered that I think even my own holiness is only about me, then I am a useless vessel in the house of God. Good only unto myself. And that, quite simply, is not good enough. It's why Jesus declared the Temple invalid and said that He would take it from there. Using a new temple - us.
(Read II Timothy 2:20 - 22)
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