Being A Holy Priesthood
Martin Luther contributed greatly to the restoration of the church when we began to preach about the priesthood of all believers. This opened the door of salvation to millions and millions of people. The priest, in his day, was the only one that could go directly to God. They were the only ones who could read and interpret the Bible and thus be assured of salvation. The people were dependent on the priest, thus the church, to be their mediator and through good works, which were determined by the priest, negotiations, which we bought favors or indulgences, or physical denial and pain, one could possible share in this blessed hope of salvation.
When Luther saw, in Ephesians 2.8, that we are all saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and not of works, millions readily accepted this free gift from God. The map of Europe changed as did the future of the church. The priesthood was given to each believer. Each one could go directly to the Lord in prayer, worship and receive personal salvation and edification. The Word of God was made available to each one in their own language and a new of era of evangelical revival was established.
Yet, something was missing. In both the old covenant as well as in the new, the priest not only ministered to God and received from Him, but also ministered from God to the people. In what we call the Reformation, Luther’s followers maintained the established division between clergy and laity. Everyone could be a priest in going directly to God, but not everyone could minister from what they had received from God to others. I believe that God is restoring this final part of the Reformation in our days. All are called, all are being built into a spiritual house and all called to be a holy priesthood to minister both to God as well as to man.
The characteristics of a priest are these: To hear and obey the Word of God, to guard is heart and life in holiness, to speak the truth in love, of offer up spiritual sacrifices and to intercede for the lost. Each one of us are called to bear fruit and to disciple those we have won for Christ. As we each function in our priestly office the church will be build and the Kingdom of God established.
Scriptures to meditate on: I Peter 2.5; John 15.16; Matthew 28.19; Ephesians 2.8; 4.15; Philippians 4.18.