God's Prophetic People - A People of Passion, Purpose And Power

God's Prophetic People

The New Testament writers also show clearly that the priesthood of all believers is in Christ. It is a priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. It is a royal priesthood. Believers are both kings and priests unto God… under the Old Covenant only one tribe of the nation Israel was chosen to be priests to God and his people. Under the New Covenant all believers in Christ, regardless of nation — Jew or Gentile — are chosen to be priests unto God and his Christ. - Conner Kevin, New Covenant Realities 4 The Old Covenant has been fulfilled and abolished. Because of what Jesus Christ has done for us who believe, we now come under the Melchizedek priesthood of Christ and his Church. This is an eternal priesthood. We are now a royal priesthood and called to be a spiritual house, to offer up spiritual sacrifices to the Lord and King of Kings (1 Peter 2:5-9). Martin Luther’s greatest contribution to Protestant ecclesiology would have to be his doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. We can find his statement in The Theology of the Reformers by Timothy George: “Every believer is a priest by virtue of his baptism. This priesthood derives directly from Christ; ‘We are priests as he is Priest, sons as he is Son, Kings as he is King.’” 5 With so many different doctrines blowing around us today, it is important to keep a proper biblical perspective in regard to this foundational doctrine. A couple of wrong perspectives of this doctrine are as follows: • There are no priests in the Church, the secularization of clergy. • Every Christian is their own priest and therefore has the right to personal judgment in matters of faith and doctrine.

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A People of Passion, Purpose, and Power / © Brian Daehn