Delighting in Leviticus?

I happen to be reading through Leviticus as part of my Bible reading plan, so I thought it was very interesting when I ran across the following post Colin Hansen on the Gospel Coalition blog: Daring to Delight in Leviticus.

The post is essentially an interview with Jay Sklar, associate professor of Old Testament at Covenant Theological Seminary.His references are on the blog linked above, but interestingly, he is one of authors of the ESV Study Bible's notes on Leviticus. While the post is longish, I found it intriguing for a couple of reasons. 1) We need to understand Leviticus (or any OT book) in its OT context first then its connections to the gospel are much more solid. 2) grace permeates the Levitical system.

Here is an excerpt from the final question:

Would you caution preachers and teachers in any way as they proclaim Jesus from this book? 

In light of the previous answer, there are at least two cautions. First, law must be set in the context of redemption. When this is not done—and when we preach on law it usually is not!—we become moralists: “Do this! Don’t do that!” Someone who is soaked in the gospel of grace—and who remembers the context!—takes a different approach: “In light of what the Lord has done for you, do this; in light of who your redeeming Lord is and who he has called you to be, don’t do that.” A moralist leaves you with the feeling that there are things you must or must not do to earn the Lord’s favor. A gospel preacher or teacher leaves you with the feeling that the Lord’s favor has been so richly shown in his redemptive acts that the only proper response is grateful and loving obedience to him. 

The second caution is simply to remember that proclaiming Jesus does not mean one stops at the cross. As the above makes clear, Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross is always the starting point for Christian preaching. By this I do not mean that every message must have a separate point that mentions Calvary; rather, I mean that God’s redemption in Jesus is the context of the message (see above). But what must be remembered is that Jesus has not simply saved us from something, he also calls us to something. He calls us torespond to his redemptive grace in every aspect of our lives; he call us to be that “kingdom of priests and holy nation.”

To God Alone be the Glory