The Priesthood

“To Him who loves us and has set us free from our sins by His blood and made us a Kingdom of Priests to His God and Father – to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” Revelation 1:5b-6. The desire of God for us after saving us is for us to be part and parcel of His Kingdom of Priests, some versions say He made us ‘kings and Priests’ and that is who we are! In Numbers 25:12-13, the Priesthood has attached to it a covenant of Peace which has within it – Life! Malachi 2:5a “My covenant was with him, one of life and peace…” This covenant is already in place in our lives as disciples but if we walk contrary to the conditions tied to the covenant, then we fall short of the blessings therein (life and peace). In these times, however, the Priesthood is riddled with unprintable compromises and lives that negate the Word of the Chief and High Priest Jesus Christ. A purging of the Priesthood has begun even as we prepare for the Rapture of the Saints: when Christ will appear in the clouds and we will be caught up to be with Him forever. As Priests, God expects us to walk in a certain manner that portrays to the world that we are His Priests. Our Priesthood is to be a light to a dying world in order to lead it to Christ. For this reason, certain qualities a Priest of God MUST possess are enumerated in Malachi 2:5-7 “My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave these to him; it called for reverence, and he revered Me and stood in awe of My name. True instruction was in his mouth, and nothing wrong was found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and fairness and turned many from sin. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth because he is a messenger of the Lord of Hosts.” We saw these conditions fulfilled in the life of Christ when He walked on earth as man. The Bible then tells us in 1John 2:6 that “the one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked.” Let’s take a look at the conditions once more:

1.   Walking in the fear of the Lord. Since our lives are not our own but belong to Him, we must reverence Him in all we do. In the Scriptures, nothing Christ did that He did on His own; He kept emphasizing that He only does and say what He sees the Father say or do. Friend, what you say and do, who authorized you?

2.  The Word of Truth in his mouth. The Bible tells us that the mouth of the priest should keep knowledge and people should seek the word of God from his mouth because he is a messenger of God. This is uncompromisable! We must never forget that as a messenger of God, we must deliver the exact word of God and not our opinions as His Word!

3.  Injustice was not found in him. It is quite disheartening when the Priests of God occupy positions of authority and use those same positions to oppress the people under them especially the brethren.

4. Walk with God in peace and equity. This simply means living good and righteous lives in the Presence of God. “No one born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, for God’s nature abides in him [His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within him]; and he cannot practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of God.” 1 John 3:9.

5.  He must turn many away from iniquity. The heartbeat of a priest is to use every medium, position and resources at his disposal to turn many away from iniquity because the life of a priest is the living epistles that people will read.

Friend, the days of having a form of godliness and denying the power of God in our daily lives as Disciples of Christ has gone. This is the time to live lives that are worthy of our upward call in Christ Jesus. God bless you.