because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy Literally, ye shall be holy, the future, as in the Ten Commandments, having the force of the imperative. The words, which occur frequently in the Levitical code (Leviticus 11:44; Leviticus 19:2; Leviticus 20:26), were applied sometimes to the priests as such, sometimes to the whole nation as a kingdom of priests. We see from ch. 1 Peter 2:5, that the Apostle's thought is that all members of the Church of Christ have succeeded to that character, and are sharers in the priestly function, offering spiritual sacrifices.

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