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Discussion Forum : Scriptures and Doctrine : The Priesthood of All Believers

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Oracio
Member



Joined: 2007/6/26
Posts: 2094
Whittier CA USA

 The Priesthood of All Believers

“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."(1Peter 2:5)

“But you are a chosen race, A royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”(1Peter 2:9)

Within Protestantism most Christians are aware that the Bible clearly teaches the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers in Christ. After all, this is one of the main doctrines that was contended for during the time of the reformation. In speaking of this subject Martin Luther stated, “That the pope or bishop anoints, makes tonsures, ordains, consecrates, or dresses differently from the laity, may make a hypocrite or an idolatrous oil-painted icon, but it in no way makes a Christian or spiritual human being. In fact, we are all consecrated priests through Baptism, as St. Peter in 1 Peter 2:9 says, “You are a royal priesthood and a priestly kingdom,” and Revelation 5:10, “Through your blood you have made us into priests and kings.”

Yet sadly to say, my observation has been that much of the Church has not fully applied this glorious truth.

In the Old Covenant God first established the Levitical Priesthood to serve Him in the Tabernacle and act as mediators between the common people and God (Ex.28-30). Within the priesthood there were three basic levels of superiority or hierarchy. First there was the high priest who was the only one allowed in the Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement. Secondly there were the regular priests who offered up daily sacrifices on behalf of the common people. And thirdly there were the rest of the Levites who helped with the administration of the Tabernacle and later on the Temple. In order for the common people to be acceptable before God, they had to go to the Tabernacle/Temple continually and present their animal sacrifices to the priests. There was a clear distinction of hierarchy between the priesthood (the full-time supported ministers/clergy), and the common believer in Yahweh (the laity).

Now let us consider how it is that in the New Testament every true believer in Christ is a priest unto God, in contrast to the distinction that was made between the priesthood and the common believer in the Old Testament.

In the OT God gave the priesthood (the supported ministers/clergy) certain kinds of privileges and authority which the common believers in Yahweh, the laity, did not have. Only the priests were allowed into the Holy Place, only they were allowed to offer up the daily sacrifices, only they were allowed to serve in the “House of God”, the Tabernacle and Temple. But in the NT that kind of hierarchical authority and privilege is no longer given to any one certain class within the Body of Christ. To the contrary, that kind of authority and privilege belongs to the people of God as a whole. There is no longer a physical Tabernacle, Temple or House of God that has God-ordained priests, ministers or clergy who alone can serve Him there. The NT clearly teaches us that we are all the Temple of God collectively (1Cor.3:16-17), and individually (1Cor.6:19)(see also Acts 7:49-50). The Holy Spirit dwells within all of us and we are all allowed direct and immediate access into the presence of God through the blood of Jesus Christ. We are all set apart to serve the living God and worship Him in spirit and in truth.

In the New Covenant there is no distinction of rank or hierarchy within the Body of Christ as there was in the Theocracy that was set up in the OT. As protestant evangelical Christians we know that the Roman Catholic Church has had that kind of hierarchical structure and division existing for hundreds of years, with their popes, archbishops, bishops, priests, etc. And we cringe at the thought of being under that kind of unbiblical structure and authority. Yet I will venture to say here that there is no such thing as a hierarchical clergy-laity division within the Body of Christ today period. For some of us that kind of statement may sound somewhat radical because we have been so used to viewing church life in light of certain traditions that were handed down to us over the years.

In his book, "The Community of the King", Howard A. Snyder writes, "The New Testament simply does not speak in terms of two classes of Christians – ‘minister’ and ‘laymen’ – as we do today. According to the Bible, the people (laos, ‘laity’) of God comprise all Christians, and all Christians through the exercise of spiritual gifts have some ‘work of ministry.’ So if we wish to be biblical, we will have to say that all Christians are laymen (God’s people) and all are ministers. The clergy-laity dichotomy is unbiblical and therefore invalid. It grew up as an accident of church history and actually marked a drift away from biblical faithfulness. A professional, distinct priesthood did exist in Old Testament days. But in the New Testament this priesthood is replaced by two truths: Jesus Christ is our great high priest, and the Church is a kingdom of priests (Hebrews 4:14; 8:1; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6). The New Testament doctrine of ministry rests therefore not on the clergy-laity distinction but on the twin and complementary pillars of the priesthood of all believers and the gifts of the Spirit. Today, four centuries after the Reformation, the full implications of this Protestant affirmation have yet to be worked out. The clergy-laity dichotomy is a direct carry-over from pre-Reformation Roman Catholicism and a throwback to the Old Testament priesthood. It is one of the principle obstacles to the Church effectively being God’s agent of the Kingdom today because it creates the false idea that only ‘holy men,’ namely, ordained ministers, are really qualified and responsible for leadership and significant ministry. In the New Testament there are functional distinctions between various kinds of ministries but no hierarchical division between clergy and laity" (Howard A. Snyder, The Community of the King [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1977] pp.94-95).

When the disciples were arguing over who would be the greatest in the kingdom, Christ mildly rebuked them and told them, "You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."(Mark 10:42-43)

In warning the disciples about the prideful attitude of the Pharisees, Jesus said, “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men. But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.”(Matt.23:6-12).

In those passages our Lord clearly forbids any of His followers from desiring any kind of religious superiority over other believers. And He also clearly forbids His followers from taking upon themselves any religious titles of authority such as “Rabbi so and so”, “Father so and so”, and “Leader so and so”. Today that prohibition would include religious titles such as “Pastor so and so”, “Reverend so and so”, “Bishop so and so”, “Evangelist so and so”, etc. Yet why do we see this clear prohibition completely ignored today by multitudes within the Church? And why do many of us desire to have a certain level of superiority and have a certain kind of authority over others within the Church? Why do many desire to earn academic degrees for biblical studies which supposedly give them certain credentials of superiority and authority within the Church? Remember, Jesus told the disciples, “you are all brothers” and “One is your Father”. As spiritual priests unto God we all have equal access to God and equal status as brothers and sisters in Christ.

In the third epistle of John verses 9-10 John says, "I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church."

This "Diotrephes" loved the spot light. John says he “loved to be first among them". And this person exercised ungodly authority over many of the brethren. What he said went and that was it; he had the final word on all matters. Brothers and sisters, do we not see that kind of “preeminence” and “authority” all around us today within our churches? Why do we allow certain individuals or groups to have such preeminence within our churches? Again, according to the New Testament, there is no such thing as a clergy-laity distinction or division within the Church. That kind of hierarchy was only ordained in the Old Testament.

We know that by God's Spirit we are blessed with multiple gifts within the Body of Christ(1Cor.12). Those multiple gifts were intended to be used within our church assemblies for the edification of all that are present. That is part of our privilege and authority collectively as priests unto God. We can minister to one another in song, teaching, exhortation, prayer, etc.(1 Cor.14:26-33; Eph.5:19-21; Col.3:16-17). Yet today in most of our church meetings only those who are part of a "worship team" are allowed to bring songs; and only those who are part of a "clergy" serving as pastors or elders are allowed to teach and preach in our church meetings. Yet the NT does not teach that only a certain class of believers can share songs in our church meetings or that only pastors or elders have the gift of teaching (Rom.12:6-7; 1 Cor.14:26-33).
That kind of ministerial exclusiveness is not in line with the teaching of the New Testament, for we are all priests. That kind of exclusiveness qualifies as lording it over the rest of the Body.

So what about the role of pastors? Let’s consider that issue for a moment. By no means am I denying the role of pastors, or the need for them in the Church. The pastoral ministry is clearly one of the gifts of the Spirit given to the Church for its edification (Eph.4:11). New Testament pastors do have a certain kind of spiritual authority, but it is completely different than much of what we see today. So what is to be their function? I only want to point out what seem to be a few of the most basic or primary functions for the sake of time. First of all it is important to understand that the role of pastor, elder, and overseer all refer to the same gifting (Acts 20:28; 1Pet.5:1-2).

One function of pastors/elders/overseers is that of feeding the flock of God with the sound teaching of the Word of God and sound biblical counsel (1Tim.3:2). And again, as we have already noted, it is not only pastors/elders who are allowed to teach within our church gatherings or assemblies.

Another function of pastors is that of caring for and watching over the sheep (Acts 20:28; 1Pet.5:1-2). This means that pastors are to protect the less mature sheep from wolves who would want to come into the church with damnable heresies and lead God’s people astray. In that kind of situation we should expect to see the spiritual authority of pastors being exercised in the strongest, most aggressive sense than at any other time.

A third function of pastors is that of helping to guide the church in matters which require important decision making. However, I feel I need to emphasize that pastors/elders are not to the only ones who are allowed to make important decisions in churches. The NT teaches and encourages much consensual decision making within churches. For example, in 1Corinthians 5 Paul rebukes the whole church (not even mentioning the pastors in the whole letter) for allowing a man who was engaged in sexual immorality to remain in the church. He exhorts the whole church to “deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.”(1Cor.5:4-5). That example lines up with the teaching of our Lord in Matthew 18:15-20. We see this kind of example of consensual decision making throughout the book of Acts (Acts 1:15-26; 6:3; 15:22).

The Apostles suggested that certain issues be dealt with and encouraged the entire church to be involved in making the important decisions (Why? because we are all priests). And that is what pastors should be expected to normally do. They can make suggestions and encourage the entire church to be involved in making decisions. Yet where do we see this being taught or practiced today? Not in the vast majority of evangelical churches! In most churches it is the “clergy” alone who have the authority to make all the important decisions, and the “laity” have no say so in any matters! Yet nowhere does the New Testament teach that there should be such authoritarianism within the Church.

But what about passages like Hebrews 13:17 where we are told to, “Obey your leaders and submit to them"? That is the most brought up passage by those who would teach the clergy-laity division. So lets deal with it. The Greek word translated “Obey” is the Greek word “peitho” and it literally means, “To be persuaded”. The Zodhiates Word Study dictionary New Testament defines it as, "To persuade, particularly to move or affect by kind words or motives." In other words, the writer of Hebrews is exhorting his readers to be persuaded by the elders in our churches, which makes sense. If the pastors/elders in our church are godly men who are much more mature and wise in the Lord than us, it only makes sense that we should be persuaded by their godly and sound biblical wisdom or counsel. But that is different than saying that we are to obey and submit to them as having dictating authority over us. Only Jesus and His Word have that kind of commanding authority over us.

In 1Peter 5:1-3 Peter says, “Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.”

A few observations here regarding that passage: Notice firstly that Peter, although an Apostle, calls himself a “fellow elder” among the elders. That tells us something of his humility and servant-mindedness among them. Secondly, notice that he exhorts them to “shepherd the flock of God”, not “shepherd your own flocks”. Yet why do we hear so many pastors referring to God’s flock as their own flock. They are His flock! Thirdly, pastors are exhorted to exercise oversight, not as “lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.” So the primary way by which a pastor is to lead God’s flock is by setting a good example for them to follow. And that is vastly different than leading by “lording over” God’s sheep, having a mentality that says, “What I say goes and I have the final word on all matters.”

In conclusion, as royal priests we all have a great privilege, responsibility, and authority vested upon us through Jesus Christ. Our Lord said, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Brothers and sisters, do not allow the “clergy” to rob you of your privilege and responsibility as priests unto God. We are not called to just sit in pews week after week and listen to sermons delivered by the "clergy", as edifying as that may be at that moment. We are not called to leave all the work of the kingdom to any “clergy”, for there is no such class or division today. Let us take our proper place in God’s economy in these last days for the time is short. Let us pray for our lost loved ones, our friends and neighbors. Let us reach out to them with the saving message of Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless you as you seek His direction for your life here on this earth. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

In His grace,
Oracio


_________________
Oracio

 2010/11/19 19:12Profile
Oracio
Member



Joined: 2007/6/26
Posts: 2094
Whittier CA USA

 Re: The Priesthood of All Believers

Did a little editing on it and thought I would share it one more time for those who did not catch it in the first round.


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Oracio

 2010/11/20 21:33Profile
Lysa
Member



Joined: 2008/10/25
Posts: 3699
East TN for now!

 Re: The Priesthood of All Believers


Oracio,

I agree with you and perhaps take you a step further because if we are to have a true priesthood, we need the authority of the Priest. I am reading a book titled “The Authority of the Believer” that was written in 1932 (first submitted to The Alliance Weekly” in about 12 installments), by John A. MacMillan.

John A. MacMillan was a Presbyterian Canadian self-employed printer who was called to be a missionary to China at the age of 49 and then to the Philippines. (Now, just so you know Kenneth Hagan referenced MacMillan’s work in his own book, The Believer’s Authority. I’ve not read Hagan’s book but these books are NOT the same).

This one by MacMillan is wonderful and very level headed if you understand my meaning. ;)

I purchased my used copy through Amazon.

God bless you,
Lisa


_________________
Lisa

 2010/11/21 7:05Profile
Oracio
Member



Joined: 2007/6/26
Posts: 2094
Whittier CA USA

 Re:

Dear Lysa, thanks for the encouragement and book recommendation. If you feel so led, please feel free to post some of those insights from the book here.
God bless you too,
Oracio


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Oracio

 2010/11/21 10:53Profile
cryinthenite
Member



Joined: 2010/9/22
Posts: 87


 Re:

Very good message.Keep the the good fight of faith.

 2010/11/26 13:38Profile
sonsigns
Member



Joined: 2005/6/6
Posts: 224
Brumley Missouri

 Re: The Priesthood of All Believers

Oracio, I agree and disagree with your message. I agree that we are all priests called according to our high calling. We should all do what Jesus done and more.

"for greater works you shall do because I go unto my father"

However before we can even consider the greater works, we need to actually do the works of Jesus.

Now here is where I disagree with you. Look iin Ephesians 4:8-14 This is concerning Gifts that God gave to the Churches. I believe that these gifts are all leadership postitions in the Church.

One problem I see is that we try to hand off the ministry to the leaders particulary the pastor, instead uniting together and doing it as one body. Why is this?

I believe the Pastor should be left to prayer and the study of the word of God. Once that is done then to tend to the sheep of the flock.

One of the problems with our country is that the Government thinks it is the Church. They want to stomp out all poverty and homelessness, when it is the Church that should be giving the hand up here. Ministering to those in need.

If each and every church in every city and town would get a ministerial allience together and combine its resources to the helping of the homeless, single moms and dads, those whom are jobless, ect. then the Government wouldn't have to use much needed resources to fund these type of programs which is in all honesty the Churches.

Instead we have 5 fold ministers living in 30 million dollar compounds, fancy house and more material goods than they really need. All while there are those in need around the corner.
Now I am the last one that would be against prosperity, I am all for it! But the early church combined all of there material stuff and help one another.

I honestly do not see a united church at this point in time. I believe it is coming. I believe when it does there will be many fall away from the faith.




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William Cato

 2010/11/27 22:21Profile









 Re:

I agree with you in the priesthood of all believers. The curtain of the tabernacle was torn in two giving us access to the holy of holies, through the sacrificial lamb of christ. I really want to study the whole hebrew temple set up more, because I believe everything forshadowed Jesus.

Having said that I believe that God is perfect love and perfect justice, so he alone knows the heart of every believer and is not limited by our human ignorance. I'm sure he has many children in the catholic churc

 2010/11/27 22:51
Oracio
Member



Joined: 2007/6/26
Posts: 2094
Whittier CA USA

 Re:

Quote:
Now here is where I disagree with you. Look iin Ephesians 4:8-14 This is concerning Gifts that God gave to the Churches. I believe that these gifts are all leadership postitions in the Church.



sonsigns, I do not deny those leadership gifts in the Body. The difference between us would probably be in the way we understand them. You call them "positions" and I would see them more as "functions", which to me is different. When you use words like 'position' or 'office' it gives the idea of professionalism and absolute authoritarianism. Yet the Bible never uses words like 'position' or 'office' when referring to any of the leadership gifts. The Bible speaks of them as gifts and functions(Rom.12:4). That gives us the idea of mutual service within the Body as opposed to lording it over others.

My main argument in the thesis is that the function or role of pastor has been largely abused within the Church for hundreds of years and we need a great reformation in that area. Otherwise the 'laity' will not be completely freed up, exhorted and encouraged to fulfill their particular calling and ministry. They will continue in bondage to the unbiblical traditions of men.

With regard to the issue of social justice which you mentioned, I agree. Blessings,
Oracio


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Oracio

 2010/11/28 22:22Profile





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