His Royal Priesthood

Are Christian ministers and laity ' . . . priest unto God and His Father?' Apparently, every true Christian has a literal place and is an actual being within His church. [Revelation 1:6] Though we do not fully understand the fact that we are also 'kings' within His Kingdom, we must accept it as true because it is His words that prove it to us. Because of His love for fallen human beings, and His inner cleansing [vs. 5] of our souls, we have a new alliance with Jesus in His mind and heart.

Under the former covenant the Israelites and the Gentiles in the "Court of the Gentiles" did not have the closest of access to God in the Holy of Holies. But this all changed when Jesus died on the Cross. The veil was rent in twain. That beautiful drapery that separated the people from the Ark of the Covenant and His Presence was severed from the top to the bottom. The meaning is-- that we now have direct access to Almighty God, without need of a go-between other than Christ. [I Timothy 2:5]

Every Christian---everyone who loves Jesus has become a 'royal priesthood' unto the Lord of the Kingdom. [I Peter 2:9] As Christian priests we are to ' . . . show forth the praises to Him'. [vs. 9e] Worship is becoming to Christian believers because we are His people.

We were wandering sinners and ' . . . in time past were not a people' but now because of our faith in Jesus [John 3:16] ' . . . are now the people of God.' [vs. 10]

Rev. Dr. William Rufus Nicholson under the sermon title, "The Priesthood of the Church of God" offered these words at the opening of the Fourth General Council of the Reformed Episcopal Church in Emmanuel Church, Ottawa, Ontario, on July 12 1876.

After preaching about the intercession of Christ's Priesthood he said, 'This is His Priesthood of Intercession; and in this priesthood His believing people may and do have part. Having been delivered in His deliverance, we in Him do now appear before the Father in the same fragrance which is His, pleading both for ourselves and for the salvation of others. Precisely because He is a Priest in Heaven, we also are priests. The branch is in the vine; the believer is in his Savior. As He is, so are we, even in this world. He offers up there the spiritual sacrifices of praise and intercession; we offer up here the spiritual sacrifices of praise and intercession. And both He and we offer them up on the same one ground of His own past sufferings.' "Ambitious To Be Well-Pleasing" The Reformed Episcopal Publication Society, 1986, p. 24. {end quote}

In the Petrine expression of truth also there is no elitist group who are separated from the Christian congregation. We all have equal standing in the Presence of God having come to Him and having been accepted by Christ through His mercy. ' . . . now we have obtained mercy.' [I Peter 2:10d]

Some priests, ministers and elders may understand more in the spiritual realm, but each Christian priest has more than perfect access to Jesus as duly noted in Hebrews 4:15-16.
The Book of Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians who were tempted about defecting from the Christian faith and were very familiar as to the Aaronic and Levitical Priesthood.
In Hebrews 4:14 we learn that we as Christian have ' . . . the great High Priest Jesus Who is our Advocate. [I John 2:1-2]

The writer of the Book of Hebrews does not say, "Let me therefore come boldly to the throne of grace {on your behalf/the congregation) that you may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

What he does say is 'Let us {priests} therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.' [Hebrews 4:16]

Each Christian has direct access to God, the Triune Being, because the Old Covenant is past, [Hebrews 8:6 & 13], and the new covenant has been activated since ' . . . the veil of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.' [Mark 15:38]

Most often we do not think of ourselves as being priests, but in reality we are priests unto Almighty God.

 

'Carson Weber,

You said, 'We are priests because, in Christ, we are able to offer spiritual sacrifice -
especially through the suffering of our bodies (Romans 12:1-2).'

Ray is saying, 'I do not see any suffering in our bodies found in Romans 12:1-2. I was and is still a joy for me to serve the Lord in this lifetime. Perhaps you are referring to clergy on foreign fields who suffer and are tortured for the cause of Jesus.'

You said, 'We are prophets because, in Christ, we are to proclaim the Gospel in word and
deed.'

Ray is saying, 'The last prophet to my knowledge was John the Baptist. But, I must admit that there were apostles of our Lord. I agree that we must preach and also live the life of the indwelling Christ in our personal lives.

Carson said, 'We are kings because, in Christ, we spread the reign of Christ by doing battle and ruling. We battle sin and spiritual forces aligned against the kingdom, establishing the reign of Christ in the hearts of mankind.'

Ray is saying, 'Your above paragraph is perfect. It was insightful too.

I sure wish you were teaching and bring Christians into the Lutheran Church, especially where they still preach and teach the Christian message of personal salvation, or some other Bible believing Christian fellowship.

I would wager that about five Catholics out of 1,000 have ever heard that they are priest unto the Lord.

Best regards,
Ray

 

thessalonian,

Ray said, 'I would wager that about five Catholics out of 1,000 have ever heard that
they are priest unto the Lord.'

You said,'I would bet you would be wrong because I would bet that I have heard that
verse where Peter speaks of that every single year of my life and had it
preached to me every single year of my life in the Catholic Church that we
are priests. You are simply wrong Ray.

Ray is saying, 'My wife was baptized as a baby at Holy Rosary Church in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. I asked her if she ever heard that Catholics were priests unto the Lord. Her honest answer was no. She said, 'How would they believe that because only men can become priests.'

You heard about the priesthood of all believers before you defected from a Protestant, Christian denomination. You were non-Catholic early on, correct?

 

Dan Stiles,

You said, 'Are you sure John the Baptist was the last prophet?
...Or did you mean he was the last prophet of the Old Covenant? (If so,
why?)

Ray is saying, 'Yes, I mean that the Baptist was the last prophet before the coming of the Apostolate. The Baptist preached the kingdom of God as did the Major and Minor O.T. prophets.

There was an intertestamental period between when the Prophet Malachi prophecied until John the Baptist became the forerunner of Christ. Some scholars say four hundred years took place without any new prophetic utterance.'

You said, '...or do we perhaps have a different definition of the terms prophet and
prophecy?

If I preach about the rapture of the church in I Thess. 4:17 I am prophetic by preaching the truth, but I am not a prophet. A pastor . . . .yes. There has been no added new prophetic truth since the closing of the N.T. canon and the Book of Revelation.

Does this help?

 

thessalonian,

I am sure that the average Catholic has not read Pope Leo the Great or your most recent catechism.

I have attended a Catholic Church on occasion, but never heard any significant preaching in the homily. On on Sunday at the mass the priest said, "No homily this morning, read your bulletin, that's the homily for today." He did, however, magically transform the wine and the wafer.

 

thessalonian,

I do not doubt your understanding of Roman Catholicism. I guess this appears as a plus for you.

I understand the basics of your faith. There is no reluctance for me to say that I do not know Catholicism in the depth as you do, but then non-Catholics do not major in a study of religious error and Catholic add on theology.

Our studies were in the areas of Greek, Biblical interpretation, homiletics, hermaneutics, the attributes of God, eschatology and so on. We study the Biblical faith and not, for the most part, the various denominational distinctives including Catholicism.

In the end faith is what each of us believes in as to what we trust to be correct.

No ill-will intended . . .

Cath