UNIVERSAL PRIESTHOOD:
The Priesthood of All Believers/Every believer a Priest (Continuation)
Recap: The first episode was based on Church History – revealing the contributions of Martin Luther.
Priesthood of all believers, cardinal doctrinal principle of the churches of the 16th century reformation.
The doctrine asserts that all humans have access to God through Christ, the true High Priest, and thus do not need a priestly mediator.
Today, I want to expatiate this further via the Biblical proof.
GODS ORIGINAL PLAN-ISRAEL
In order to understand Gods original plan for the Church regarding Priesthood, we need to return the
Israelites as they leave Egypt for the Promised Land Canaan.
Gods original plan for Israel was to be a kingdom of priests
Exodus 19:6 -‘And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the sons of Israel.’
Offer refused
But the people refused the offer when they saw the responsibilities and challenges of Priesthood. Exo
20:18-19
.
In Isaiah 61v6 – Isaiah speaking to all Israel (church) says that a time will come when “You shall be called the priests of the Lord, they shall speak to you as the ministers of our God.”
God had no choice other than to limit the priesthood to Aaron and his Sons. Since then the Aaronic
priests served in the tabernacle. This marks the beginning of Clergy vs Laity
Study: 1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 5:9, Revelation 5:10.
All believers in Christ share in his priestly status, therefore there is no special class of people who
mediate the knowledge, presence, and forgiveness of Christ to the rest of believers, and all believers
have the right and authority to read, interpret, and apply the teachings of Scripture.
There are now no earthly mediators between God and man as existed in the Old Testament priesthood
(1 Timothy 2:5).For God is one, and there is one Mediator of God and of men, the Man Christ Jesus.
The only reason people prefer a mediator is because of
● Laziness
● Ignorance & wrong teaching
Practical implications
● This introduced a democratic element in the functioning of the church that meant all Christians
were equal.
● This means that Christians are not dependent upon the priests within the church to interpret
Scripture for them or pronounce forgiveness for them; all Christians are equally priests through
Christ and stand upon the same ground before the cross.
● We all should serve. More contemporary terms for the concept are ‘every member ministry’, or
‘body ministry 22 football players
Conclusion
This revelation and understanding brings about a sense of confidence leading to direct access to God.
