A Kingdom of Priests (2)

 

 

“And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:4 – 5; see also Ephesians 2:19 – 22).

 

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood…” (1 Peter 2:9a).

 

Jesus is a living stone, we are living stones; Jesus is our High Priest (Heb. 2:17), we are a holy and royal priesthood.

Note the word “holy.” We are to be a holy people, a holy priesthood. The word “holy” is a coin with two sides, two complementary meanings; the first is what we normally think of – purity, spotlessness; the second is separated and dedicated unto God – they go together, we can’t have one without the other.

 

In 1 Peter Chapter One we see that we are to be “like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (1:15 – 16). We are termed “children of obedience” in 1:14, and we are to live as those who know that we “were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold…but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (1:18 – 19).

 

These things that we hopefully “see” in Chapter One, lead us into the holy and royal priesthood of Chapter Two. We see who Christ Jesus is and what He has done, we see that we have been given new birth in Him (1:3, 23), purchased by Him – which means that we are no longer our own, we no longer belong to ourselves. We have been made holy in Jesus Christ, both in terms of purity and in terms of being dedicated and set apart unto God our Father.

 

Now then, when we speak of the “priesthood of the believer” do we speak of being holy and separated and dedicated to God? If we don’t, then are we really speaking of the Biblical priesthood which believers have in Jesus Christ? No, we are not, we cannot be, for the Bible tells us that we are a holy and royal priesthood.

 

We are not a priesthood of the Old Covenant with its constant focus on our sinfulness, we are not ministers of the Law which is “the ministry of condemnation,” a “ministry of death” (2Cor. 3:1 – 11). Rather, we are ministers of the New Covenant in Jesus Christ, a Covenant which makes those within it holy and righteous and dedicated unto God, in and through Jesus Christ…which is why the Bible calls us “saints,” “holy ones.” This is not because of anything we have done or do or ever shall do – it is all because of Jesus Christ and what He has done and what He is doing and what He shall be doing (note the past, present, and future in 1 Peter Chapter One), it is most especially because of who He is, who the Father is, who the Holy Spirit is – who God is.

 

If we do not know who we are, how shall we live as who we are? If we do not know who Christ Jesus is and how perfect His salvation for us is, how shall we live in that salvation and in intimate relationship with Him?

 

When we affirm that we are a holy and royal priesthood, we affirm Jesus Christ, we look to Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2).  When we affirm our priesthood in Christ, indeed every element of our salvation in Him, we testify that we are looking unto Jesus, seeing beyond what the natural eye of understanding sees, and that we are seeing into the eternals, seeing into that which actually and truly “is” in the Trinity and the great salvation which God has accomplished for His glory. This is living by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7).

 

Let’s look at the two elements of holiness, that of spotless purity and that of being separated and dedicated to God and His service. We’ll consider the latter first.

 

We have an immediate problem with both considerations, and that is that we don’t think in these terms and we don’t live as if they were true; this means, for most of us, that it will take time for our thinking and living to change, but let’s be encouraged that our God is the God of transformation into the image of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 3:17 – 18; Romans 8:28 – 30).

 

While we tend to often speak of Jesus as Savior, the designation Savior for Jesus is used few times in the Bible, while the term Lord is used constantly. What might this tell us about the way we think and the way the writers of the Scriptures thought? More importantly since the Bible was written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, since its primary Author is God, what does this say about the message of God to us about Jesus Christ? About our relationship with Christ and about the salvific work of Jesus Christ?

 

Paul writes that we are not our own for we have been “bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:19 – 20), and Peter tells us that we were redeemed (bought back) with the precious blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18 – 19). We no longer belong to ourselves, we are the property of Jesus Christ, He is indeed our Lord. But do we teach this? Do we preach this? Does our Sunday school and small group curriculum embody this? Do we live this as individuals, as families, as congregations…as our Way of Life?

 

In July 1967 I stood in a room at Fort Holabird in Baltimore, MD and swore an oath to support and defend the constitution of the United States of America. There were many other men in that same room taking that same oath. These men were from many different places and I did not know any of them. We then boarded a train for North Carolina, after which we boarded buses which took us to Fort Bragg. At Fort Bragg we were each assigned to a company, which in turn belonged to a larger unit, which in turn belonged to a larger unit. Each company had around 200 men; prior to arriving at Fort Bragg I didn’t know any of these men.

 

Prior to taking the “oath” we all had one thing in common, we belonged to ourselves. We could decide what to do on any given day; we could decide where to go, what to eat, who to see and associate with, where to sleep, what to wear – we had all the choices the average American had.  

 

After taking the “oath” we had a new thing in common, we no longer belonged to ourselves, we then belonged to the United States of America, most especially to the Army of the United States. We were not even governed by the same laws as the average citizen; we were then governed by the UCMJ, the Uniform Code of Military Justice – a special set of laws governing those men and women who are the property of the military forces of the United States of America.

 

Among the things all of this meant was that we had to take care of ourselves not simply because it was a smart thing to do, but also because if we didn’t, if we did something to damage ourselves, it was like damaging government property. For example, if I went to the beach or swimming pool and got a sunburn so bad that I couldn’t perform my duties, I could be subject to a judicial procedure under the UCMJ known as an Article 15, which could result in a fine or other disciplinary action.

 

Consider that within the U.S. military there is an assumption, when meeting others within the military, that everyone in the military belongs to the Armed Forces of the United States of American and is subject to the UCMJ and the oath which everyone took to support and defend the constitution of the United States. Everyone is also subject to the personal orders he or she has received, no one is stationed on a base or elsewhere without orders directing and authorizing that solider, sailor, airman, or marine to go there and remain there. People in the military do not move from one place to another without orders.

 

Now, may I ask, within the professing church do we assume that we are all under the Lordship of Jesus Christ? Do we acknowledge and teach and preach and live as those who no longer belong to themselves, but who are slaves of Jesus Christ? Do we respect the authority that Christ has placed within His Church? Do we respect one another? What do our leadership meetings look like – whether at the congregational, regional, or national level? Are we living as subject to our Lord Jesus, His Word, and one another?

 

What do we look like at work, school, in our neighborhoods, at recreation? What do our entertainment choices look like? What do our checkbooks look like – both within our families and within our churches? What does our consumer consumption look like? When others look at us, do they see a People living in subjection to another Person, another Kingdom, another constitution (Phil. 2:1 – 16; 3:20)?

 

As Bishop Sheen wrote, “The priest is not his own.”

 

If we are not teaching and preaching and living as those who belong to Jesus Christ, as those to whom Jesus Christ is Lord in the full meaning of the word “Lord,” a meaning which the Early Church certainly understood – if we are not living and speaking thusly, then how can we claim to believe and teach “the priesthood of the believer”? If we are not confronting the Biblical teaching of Jesus Christ as Lord, if we are not being conformed to this teaching, if we are not living as those who belong to Him, if this is not our Way of Life…then we are deceiving ourselves to claim that we believe and teach the priesthood of the believer – for the priest of Jesus Christ does not belong to himself or herself – we belong to Another.

 

Do I belong to Jesus Christ?

 

Do you?