| THE ONE MEDIATOR JESUS & THE PRIESTHOOD OF BELIEVERS One Mediator and Jealousy of the One Mediator, Jesus It is clearly stated in the Bible that Jesus is the only Mediator between man and God, and yet so many religious leaders, so many rich and wealthy, so many lovers of the world are jealous of the position of the Lord Jesus Christ as the one and only Mediator between God and Man. Of course, you know how jealous Satan was at the beginning of Creation of the love that God had for man more than for the angels, and Satan works actively today, especially through the world system, to destroy man by leading in the interference between God and man to usurp that work of mediation. When Satan saw the work of God beginning for the salvation of the world, he tried to kill the little new born baby Jesus; in the Garden of Eden, he being the liar and the original father of the lie, effectively called God Himself a liar when he told Adam and Eve, “You surely will not die if you eat of the forbidden fruit, and God is trying to withhold something good from you.” Yet in spite of all the interferences in the world and at the level of spiritual wickedness in high places, the place of Jesus and the One and Only Authorized Mediator between God and man stands eternally and immutability firm according to the Word of God-- I Timothy 2:5,6 “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all...” (I Timothy 2:5,6) You can hardly tell it by the bad behavior, pomp and circumstances of Roman Catholic Vatican leadership with great power over millions but Jesus as of the first century and continuing until now is the only HIGH PRIEST, and the only MINISTER of the true tabernacle, the true total house of God, a tabernacle pitched, organized and built by the LORD God and not any man. Jesus now has a MORE EXCELLENT MINISTRY of any in OT times or any today of NT times Jesus is the MEDIATOR OF A BETTER COVENANT. Many like the Vatican and Judaism and even Messianic Judaism and the Mormons strive to hold on to aspects of the old covenant and priests and pope; however this better covenant between God and man is established on better promises than the old covenant. The promise of righteousness through a new heart and a new spirit that takes away the stony heart. “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man...But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.”(Hebrews 8:1-2,6) Jealousy of the ONE JESUS MEDIATOR. 1. Jewish leaders like the Sanhedrin, and today the Vatican, a state as well as a religious organization were afraid of losing their place of rule and control in the Roman Empire. Of course, today the Vatican is afraid of losing that little piece of property in Rome Italy which is the very unique state within a state, and their political, social, economic, and religious control of millions, just like Judaism was fearful. What influence would the POPE and cardinals of the Roman Vatican have over you, in spite of the constant raping of your children and women, if they did not claim to be the only church of salvation, if they did not claim to be the way of confession and forgiveness of sins, if they did not also falsely claim the cup and the bread as salvation, and if they did not try to usurp Jesus as providing in last rites the victory over death and the grace which instead was a victory provided by Jesus. Oh, and yes if the Pope and his cohorts did not claim to be the only priests capable of understanding and interpretation of the Bible, which they have to do in order to add all these other Christian fables of unsound doctrine; while Bible readers know and understand the “Priesthood of all believers” through also the one mediator Jesus. Isn't that amazing dear catholic brethren or any believers, that through the One Mediator Jesus we stand side by side with Him being called brethren, so that virtue of our priesthood with Him and through Him we have direct access to God with the caveat that He being the High Priest is “at the right hand of God ever making intercession for our sins”, also we just must mention and preparing to come back again to get us for the great gathering in the sky as the dead in Christ rise first and those of us who are alive and remain are caught up with them to meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the air. a. The only High Priesthood of Jesus which by the way the Popes have tried to take upon themselves as the highest of priests of the Vatican. “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.” (Hebrews 7:26,27) b. The Priesthood of all Believers. “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” I Peter 2:9 3. On Baptist Distinctives online comes the following quote about the Priesthood of Believers. {http://www.baptistdistinctives. org/resources/articles/the-priesthood-of-the-believer-or-of-believers/} “The priesthood of each believer in Baptist thought is tied closely to another concept, that of soul competency. Each person has a God-given competence to know and follow God’s will. A decision to follow Christ as Lord and Savior is an individual decision; no one can make it for another. Being a believer priest is a gift from God, not a human achievement; it comes with salvation. Each believer priest is responsible for his or her own actions. Individual believers can go directly to God without the aid of any intermediary. Individuals can and should read and interpret the Bible for themselves without religious officials dictating to them what to believe. Believer priests are all equal to one another in Christ (Galatians 3:26-28). There is only one High Priest, that is Jesus Christ (Hebrews 7:23-8:13). Each believer priest has a responsibility to be committed to Christ and to share Christ through word and deed. As Peter stated it: to “declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9 NIV). Therefore, a church does not have only one priest. Potentially it has many who communicate the love and forgiveness of God and demonstrate concern and compassion of one believer for another." 4. Martin Luther wrote on the subject. That the pope or bishop anoints, makes tonsures, ordains, consecrates, or dresses differently from the laity, may make a hypocrite or an idolatrous oil-painted icon, but it in no way makes a Christian or spiritual human being. In fact, we are all consecrated priests through Baptism, as St. Peter in 1 Peter 2[:9] says, "You are a royal priesthood and a priestly kingdom," and Revelation [5:10], "Through your blood you have made us into priests and kings." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_priesthood_(doctrine) |