Our Priesthood

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people. 1 Peter 2: 9

Jesus is speaking about all those baptized faithful.  Before, the Israelites were the favored ones, but now the priesthood and its privileges belong to us.  We have become to share a covenant relationship with God.  

One responsibility with the title of priesthood is to evangelize.  We are given the responsibility to announce God goodness and salvation to the world.  Baptism makes every member of the Church a sharer in the priesthood of Christ.

This priesthood of course is not the sacrament of ordination.  It is the priesthood of all believers, which enables every Christian to minister to the spiritual needs of others and to offer ourselves, body and soul, to God.  Who else could do this, but ourselves? Only we can do it.

God's only truly holy things on earth today are His people, those whom He has sovereignly and graciously set apart for Himself through Jesus Christ. The new temple of God and the new priesthood of God are His church, which Peter here refers to figuratively as a holy nation.

Peter gives us a fourfold description of the people of God. His first description, which we discussed in my last thoughts, is that we are a “chosen race.” His second description is that we who believe in Christ are a “royal priesthood.”

The fact that we are a “royal priesthood” is rooted in the priesthood of Christ. Concerning Christ, Zechariah said, “He will be a priest on His throne” (Zechariah 6:13). When we believe in Christ, we are “in Christ” and members of a “royal priesthood.”

In verse 5 of our text, Peter says that we are a “holy priesthood.” Compare Rev. 1:6, 5:10, 20:6.

Many aspects of the priesthood of the believer are interesting. I will highlight just a couple of key points. One is that we have direct access to God. With God, we have immediate and personal access. We learn about this access in Hebrews 10:19-22. Christ is the “great priest over the house of God.” As believers “we have the confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus.” We should, therefore, “draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.”

As far as access to God is concerned, believing Jews and Gentiles stand on common ground (Ephesians 2:17-18). All who believe in Christ have direct access to God. As Paul says, “Through Him [Christ] we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:18).

Two, another feature of the priesthood is the offering of “spiritual sacrifices.” As Peter declares, “you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5).

Our sacrifices to God include our “sacrifice of praise” (Hebrews 13:15).

To summarize, the body of Christ is a royal priesthood. We have direct access to God. We need not go through someone else. We can offer spiritual sacrifices. Let us live up to our privilege!