We took notice last week that in 1 Corinthians 3:16 and Ephesians 2:21 the Church is termed a temple. The imagery of the Church as “a holy temple in the Lord” is closely associated with the image of the Church as a holy and royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:5, 9). In reading the Old Testament we connect the priesthood with the temple. This week our image of the Church makes that small step from temple to priesthood.
It is not without significance that these images compel us to think of believers in a collective sense. As noted last week, the plural form of “you,” in the declaration that “you are God’s temple” (1 Cor. 3:16), designates the whole congregation as a temple.
Likewise while we might think of each individual believer as a priest, the idea of priesthood implies a company of priests. When we think of the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers we are thinking collectively, not individually. A priesthood must be envisioned as a fellowship of individual priests. Using everyday phrasing, we must always say of the Church, “We are in this together.”
Offering sacrifices
What can we say was the basic function of the Old Testament priesthood? In short summary we can say that priests represented the people before God. The most obvious way they did this was to offer to God the sacrifices the people brought to the altar. Symbolically this representation was seen in the breastplate worn by the high priest when he entered God’s presence. That breastplate had on it precious stones that represented the tribes of Israel (Ex. 39:14). On behalf of the people the priests offered sacrifices to God.
Applying the priesthood imagery to the Church we might say that as a holy and royal priesthood we also offer spiritual sacrifices to God. First Peter 2:5 puts it like this, “You yourselves like living stones are being built up a spiritual house to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
The Bible doesn’t leave us wondering about what spiritual sacrifices are. They include the offerings of our bodies in dedication to God (Rom. 12:1); of our praise to God (Heb. 13:15); of doing good to others and the sharing of our material gifts (Phil. 4:18; Heb. 13:16); and, from time to time, of our brokenness and contrition when we sin (Ps. 51:17). The idea of offering something up to God is the language of worship. As a royal priesthood, the Church’s engagement is that of worship.
Proclaiming excellencies
When 1 Peter 2:9 terms the Church “a royal priesthood,” it goes on to explain the function to be that of proclaiming “the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” In this instance the assignment is couched in the language of witness or proclamation.
We have two very basic ideas connected with the Church as a priesthood — that of worship and of proclamation. When we look inward at ourselves as the Church, we exist to worship God. When we look outward at our world, we exist to proclaim God’s truth to others. A healthy priesthood engages in both simultaneously. Along with other ministries, we worship — offering up spiritual sacrifices to God — and we witness — proclaiming the excellencies of God.
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