believer priests,priesthood of all believers, a nation of Kings and Priests

We are true priests in God's priesthood with direct access to God through the mediation of the High Priest by the New Covenant. The priesthood of the OT was a type of the true spiritual priesthood. It is position of relation, not of intermediary service.
The priesthood of the believer is actually an ill-understood doctrine among most baptists. We may believe it in theory, but in practice, the baptist pastor is a modern-day priest who teaches that God speaks to the congregation through him. Any intermediary other than Christ is unScriptural & self-serving.

 

Good topic/questions. Maybe I'll learn something. This is the way I see it:

For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus, 1 Tim 2:5

11 according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
12 in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him. Eph 3

15 For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help us in time of need. Heb 4

It is through our High Priest that we as priests have access and can draw near to the throne of grace with boldness. There is no earthly mediator between between God and man.

 

Very important part of being Baptist

I think this was well stated. This is an important concept for Baptists that we don’t spend enough time explaining to people when they come in to the Baptist church.

Christ is the New Covenant High Priest that provides us access directly to God through him.

In OT times both in Jewish culture and heathen cults the high priest represented the people before the deity. He went into the temple and made sacrifices for the people and told the people what the deity had said.

We being priests (priesthood of the believer) have direct access to God (thru Christ). No one makes intercession on our behalf we can pray directly to God. We confess our sins directly to God not through a priest or other person.

God indwells us instead of the priest going into the temple to see God on our behalf. Hence the phrase God tabernacles with us to describe this relationship in the New Covenant.

We can read God’s word our self and be guided in by the Holy Spirit in its meaning instead of having a priest read the scripture to us and interpret it for us.

We function as priests also when we pray for others and make intercessory prayer on their behalf.

“Your understanding of the inspiration of Scripture is utterly astounding!” Mel

Why thank you Mel!

 

I think your second paragraph may be an American thing. I have not come across any UK baptists who imagine that a pastor is a priestly intermediary between man and God, in the way that Old Testament priests were, or in the way that Roman Catholic "priests" claim to be. Also, (and I don't know if this affects the discussion in any way, but just for information) in the UK, the doctrine tends to be known as "The Priesthood of all believers" rather than "The priesthood of the believer".

 

In Eph. ch. 6 Paul talks about us (believers, male and female)taking the whole armour of God. He makes reference of the sword being the Word. So even women can use the word to witness to the lost. So in a sense, women are 'priests' in that they can witness to the lost.

So we are all priests(those who are saved) and we use the Word(sword) to witness to lost men and women.

 

The churches today do not follow that line of thinking. Yes Baptists make the claim they do but in practice they do not. Does your church allow and expect the members to baptize the people that they win to the Lord? if not they do not follow this idea.

 

Where do you find this commandment in the Word of God?

 

The command to baptize all who believe is made to all believers. Scripture never specifies that only an elite group would have certain authorities & powers within the Body of Christ. ALL believers are EQUAL priests before God. This truth is implicitly rejected by the traditions of most churches.

 

What commandment? What are you refering to? Are you talking about matt 28:19?

 

Are you able to follow a thread or a conversation? Look at your posting just before mine and answer the question, if you can.

 

The one before you is mine. if that is what you are referring to look to the post I responded with and see the verse i gave.

 

Who's on first?

 

But what has baptising people got to do with priesthood? A priest was an intermediary between man and God, particularly in the matter of sacrifices. A baptizer, whether or not a pastor or elder, is not a priest (except insofar as every Christian is a priest).

 

Thats good!

 

I'm not saying that a church member cannot baptize a new convert, but I have never seen it done before. I just wonder what scripture one would use to say that it is mandated.

 

When you use the word mandated it also has to apply to the Elders. There is no mandate for them either. There is only a mandate to baptize without any one person being singled out. However if you take the matt passage and read it carefully the command is this;

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

There is no distinction between those who go and tell and those who baptize. Every preacher i have ever listened to tells the people to go and tell. Well they should be given the opportunity, even encouraged to baptize every person they win to the Lord. This encourages them to win even more.

 

Yes I agree with that, but the pastoral office is not priesthood. A pastor does not offer sacrifices on behalf of other people, so he is unlike the OT priests, nor is he what Roman Catholic priests claim to be. I may be wrong, but I cannot think of a single instance in the bible where pastors are referred to as priests.

Unless the pastoral office is priesthood, I suggest it is just confusing to use the term "the priesthood of all believers" when talking about things like who has the right to baptise, preach, administer the Lord's Supper, etc. The term surely refers to the fact that every Christian has the right to approach God directly, needing neither a Levitical- or a Roman Catholic-style priest to act as an intermediary for them.