There are a lot of “priests” out there. The Catholic Church has a sacramental priesthood, each member of which is anointed as an “alter Christus” (“another Christ”) and has the alleged power to reach into heaven, take Jesus down again, and break his body upon the altar as an atoning (yet still insufficient) sacrifice for sins. The Mormons claim exclusive authority through their “Melchizedek Priesthood,” conceived by Joseph Smith as the channel by which revelation and authority to preach their “gospel” and administer their ordinances of salvation are given to the earth. Hindus have priests.
What’s the truth? An important theological issue coming out of the Protestant Reformation was the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Basically, the Bible teaches that every Christian is a priest of God.
There are several New Testament passages that teach this doctrine. Peter lays it out in 1 Peter 2:4, 5, and 9:
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:4, 5, 9)
John, in the book of Revelation, says that Jesus “made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever” (Revelation 1:6; see also 5:10). He goes on to say later: “Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:6)
So every believer, regardless of status in life, gender, maturity in Christ, or any other distinction, belong to this priesthood.
But what does that mean in practice? The Old Testament provides the background necessary to understand what this priesthood is and what it entails. The priests of Aaron in the Old Testament had various responsibilities, and we can learn a lot from these duties for our own edification. For example:
1) The Aaronic priests offered sacrifices for the sins and cleansing of the people.
Now we have one High Priest for all eternity, Jesus Christ, who once for all offered himself as a sufficient atonement for sin (Hebrews 6-9). So we as a “royal priesthood" don’t offer atoning sacrifices. But – in a sense, we do have a role in the application of this atonement, as we bring the Good News of salvation that the Holy Spirit uses to draw men to Christ and apply his benefits to them. This evangelism, this proclamation of his excellencies (1 Peter 2:9), can be described as a priestly work. Another sense in which we do offer sacrifices is seen in Peter’s description of “spiritual sacrifices” acceptable to God – our obedience, our striving in sanctification.
2) The Aaronic priests were the only ones permitted to enter the inner, holy areas of the temple, and the High Priest alone could go to the Most Holy Place. In other words, the priests were mediators, approaching God on behalf of the people.
Again, Jesus is our intercessor and mediator, having entered the true Most Holy Place with his own blood and offered it to the Father. We, who are in Christ, enjoy the same incredible privilege of approach to the throne of God itself. It is for this reason that at Christ’s crucifixion the veil that separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the Temple, and from the people, was torn from top to bottom (Mark 15:38; see also Hebrews 10:20), signifying that the way was now open for all the faithful to thus draw near.
But if all Christians can do that, how is this “priestly” privilege still mediation? Because we, as the true and eschatological Israel, now can by the blood and power of Christ fulfill the mandate given to the nation of Israel to be a “kingdom of priests” from among “all peoples” (Exodus 19:5, 6), that “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). As these nations flow to us, the church, which is the new Temple and priesthood of the Lord, we act as mediators between God and the lost. We share the Gospel; we intercede on their behalf, praying for the salvation of the lost (Romans 10:1), and bringing them into contact with the life-saving Word and Spirit of God.
There was much more to the Old Testament priesthood than sacrifice and mediation, but this alone gives us much to work on. Do we truly see our status as Christians as being the sacred, set-apart calling that Peter and John describe it as? Do we see the mundane activities of our lives as being opportunities to worship the Lord with spiritual sacrifices? Do we intercede regularly before the Lord on behalf of others, especially the lost? Think what a privilege this is! What only the sons of Aaron could do in the Old Testament, what the Catholic church reserves for ordained ministers alone, is a blessing we all share! To enter the very presence of God! To serve in his house! To offer pleasing sacrifices for him!
May the Spirit press upon us our duties as a holy and royal priesthood.