Lesson 5
Among many of
the reasons that sparked the Protestant Reformation, the vast rift between the
clergy and the laity played an important role. In most cases, Scripture was never
translated into the vernacular of the people, which served in creating a
tremendous spiritual dependence of the Christian masses on the clerical
minority. Even those who did understand the language were prevented from
reading the Bible without the permission of the local priest. With biblical
illiteracy pervading Christendom, fantasies and fictions were foisted upon
believers from those who were appointed to preach truth. Among many fictions
passed to the people as truths is the mistaken notion of a limited priesthood
within the body of Christ. Within this scheme, one needs a mediator to approach
perhaps another mediator, until the believer finally reaches the Mediator.
Believers can approach Christ, but only through a priest, saints, Mary, or a
combination thereof. Luther and others arose and deemed such doctrine as
“priestcraft,” meaning that the
priesthood of the church resembled an amalgamation of paganism, witchcraft, and
Christianity. Here’s the intriguing part: In the debate about the
priesthood of all believers, the priesthood in the Old Covenant was relied upon
as a pattern after which the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church was to
follow. However, we find in the Old Covenant that God’s initial plan was
for the ‘priesthood of all believers.’ Could it be? Was God’s plan such that every
Israelite was to be priest? Let’s look at Exodus 19:3-6.
“And Moses went up to God,
and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say
to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: 4 'You yourselves have seen
what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought
you to Myself. 5 'Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My
covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all
the earth is Mine; 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy
nation.' These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of
This passage
seems to envision an entire nation of priests, not just one tribe from that
nation. Imagine if this were the case. Every individual would have access to
God. No one would need an earthly mediator to commune with Yahweh. Everyone
could proceed through the veil, and the priestly court would be common ground
for all. Hallowed instrumentation and holy garments would be as widespread as
the mass of Jewish people. In this vein,
Immediately
following this glorious and brilliant promise we view at a distance the dismal
and dark mountain: Sinai. Behold
the lightning flashing around the mountain like some sentinel zealously
protecting his post! Behold the earth-shaking thunder warning of impending
destruction! Thick clouds cover the mountain in darkness as if trying to prevent
people from seeing God. The mountain appears to be ablaze as the Lord descends
upon it, creating mammoth waves of smoke. And during all this, an ear piercing
trumpet blast grows louder and louder until the people tremble with
trepidation. God speaks with thunder as he warns the people to stay aloof.
Something seems
amiss. How is it that God intends to make the entire nation a group of people
that can have direct dealings with him and then immediately warn them in no
uncertain terms against that very promise? It’s like God is saying,
“Come near, but at a distance.” The answer lies in what was taking
place on that most fearful hill. God was giving his commandments; the covenant
that the Israelites were to keep if a national priesthood was to be realized.
But the Lord was quite aware of the inability of the Jews to meet this
condition. Given the sinful condition of all men, as soon as the first
“thou shalt not” was etched on stone and
pronounced publicly, the ideal and lofty promise of the priesthood of all
believers was nullified. Paul explains in Romans 5:13 that “until the Law
sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law.”
Again, “and I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment
came, sin became alive, and I died; and this commandment, which was to result
in life, proved to result in death for me; 11 for sin, taking opportunity
through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me” (Rom
7:9-11).
As God is holy,
so he is gracious. Knowing the sinful condition of the nation, the Lord made
provision for the people to commune with him through a relatively small number
of priests. As the prophet spoke to the people for God, so the priest spoke to
God for the people by means of sacrifice.
As generations
came and went, the Levitical priesthood instilled in
the minds of God’s people the need for mediation. There’s a gap
between God and us that must be bridged in order for communion to take place.
With this solidified in their minds, Christ fulfilled the shadows of the Levitical priesthood in the establishment of a new
priesthood. Our high priest perfectly fulfills and accomplishes what others
imperfectly attempted. With the arrival of Christ and the establishment of a
new priesthood, a new convent is enacted.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, "declares the LORD. 33 "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 "And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
God recounts
that day where he promised a national priesthood, but also speaks of the
perilous pronouncements of Sinai that prevented the fruition of this promise.
Yet, a glorious restoration of a national priesthood is promised not in the old
covenant, which must be kept by man to obtain, but in the new covenant. What is
the new covenant? In light of what we have just said, the new covenant is
Christ’s perfect obedience to the old covenant. As our high priest and
mediator, his perfect obedience to the old covenant is merited to a mass of
unworthy people in the new covenant. The application of Christ’s merit
means the internalization of God’s law. Just as he etched his commands on
stone tablets, he now writes them upon the tablets of our hearts. As such, all
those who are in Christ experience the fulfillment of the promise given to
“But
you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's
OWN POSSESSION, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called
you out of darkness into His marvelous light;” (1 Peter 2:9).
Likewise, John states,
“He has made
us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the
dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Re 1:6).
As priests of
God through Christ, nothing we sacrifice to God is of redemptive value.
Everything we offer is done to demonstrate our gratitude for Christ’s
redemption that brought us to this place of being priests of God. As priests of
God, here are some of the things that we are privileged to offer up to God:
1. Our Bodies (Romans 12:1)
2. Our Service (Php
4:18)
3. Our Faith (Php
2:17)
4. Our Praise (Heb 13:15)
5. Our Possessions (Heb 13:16)
Possible Discussion Questions
1. What prevented
2. According to the apostle Paul,
why was the law given?
3. How does the law of God exhibit
grace? (hint: Levitical
Priesthood)
4. What is the New Covenant? How
does it result in the priesthood of all believers?
5. What is the priesthood of all
believers?
6. Beside what is already
mentioned, what else can we offer to God as priests of God?