Lesson for February 13, 2022
The Uniqueness of the Church Age
Lesson 3
Royal Priesthood
As members of the Royal Family of God, every believer in the Church Age is appointed as a royal priest. This appointment is a grace function and therefore does not depend on spiritual growth. All believers, male, female, old, young, spiritually mature, or spiritually immature are members of the Royal Priesthood. However, this does not mean that all priests are equal. It means that they have equal privilege to perform the duties of a priest. (I Peter 2:5-9; Revelation 1:6)
As believer-priests, we represent ourselves before God. We do not need to confess our sins to a member of the clergy; we confess our sins directly to God. This is to be done in private. We do not need someone else to offer our prayers for us, we communicate directly to God. As priests, we are to come boldly before God and offer prayer for ourselves. Unlike the Levitical priesthood in Israel, which was based on physical birth, the priesthood of believers is based on the “new birth” (salvation). We are actually members of Christ’s priesthood because we are in union with Him, our High Priest. (Hebrews 3:1; 4:16)
Since we represent ourselves before God, it is our individual responsibility to grow spiritually through the study and application of Bible doctrine. Your spiritual life is your unseen relationship with God and functions as a part of your Royal Priesthood. (Ephesians 4:12-15; II Peter 3:18)
One aspect of our function as priests is worship. Often misconstrued as some form of emotionalism, true worship is always based on the filling of the Holy Spirit and Bible doctrine. True worship is bringing praise and glory to God by studying, learning and applying God’s Word while filled with the Holy Spirit. (John 4:24) Worship may be in the form of ritual, such as the Communion service or a non-ritual activity such as singing songs. Whatever the form of worship, it must always be doctrinally correct, if it is to honor God. (Romans 12:1; Ephesians 5:16; I Timothy 4:12-16)
Any activity that draws attention away from God, such as “jumping up and down, waving your hands, or performing,” and towards self, is a form of arrogance and is not worshipping God. Sincerity is not a substitute for truth. A person may be sincere in their attempt to worship God and be sincerely wrong. True worship must always be done God’s way to be honoring to Him. When self, others, or overt activities (including singing) are elevated above learning Bible doctrine, worship is distorted into religion, and both are the enemies of Christianity.
The true function of a believer-priest’s spiritual life is the development of a relationship with God. This relationship is our unseen, private life with God. Only we alone know what that relationship is like. Attempting to act “spiritual” or “holy” is not the spiritual life and does not reflect a relationship with God based on accurate Bible doctrine in a person’s soul. (I Corinthians 2:9-16)
There are many counterfeits to the spiritual life. It is therefore extremely important for each of us to learn, understand, and live the true spiritual life as taught in the Word of God. Without a correct understanding of the Biblical spiritual life, we will go through life living under some form of legalism that will lead to spiritual weakness, misery, and unhappiness. The true spiritual life is invisible!
The true spiritual life of believers is based on having the integrity of God (His character) working in their lives. God’s character must be developed. The Bible is God’s instruction book on how to develop the true spiritual life. The answer to all spiritual questions can be found only in God’s Word. Therefore, the study of His Word gives us the answer to any question regarding the true spiritual life. (Hebrews 4:12)
We must understand that there is a difference between our function as priests and our function as ambassadors. As priests, we represent ourselves before God, which is invisible, but as ambassadors we represent God before others, which is visible. Before we can be effective representatives for God, we must have a maturing relationship with God, which develops the character of God in our souls.
God’s character is never compromised by what people do or do not do. Therefore, developing God’s character is not accomplished through overt activity, but through thinking divine viewpoint, which is accurate Bible doctrine. We cannot think God’s truth unless God’s truth is in our souls as a spiritual frame of reference and spiritual vocabulary. God is absolute truth and never compromises it. It is His truth that we are commanded to know and stay loyal to. (Romans 12:1-2; Philippians 2:5-13)
Royal Ambassadorship
Every Christian is an ambassador for Jesus Christ. The Greek word for ambassador is “presbeuo” and means “eldership, aged or rank.” This makes perfect sense for Christians since no one can properly represent Jesus Christ if they are not advancing in the Christian Way of Life. (II Corinthians 5:20; Ephesians 6:20)
The Royal Ambassadorship of believers is their visible relationship with others and is the result of (not the means of) their spiritual life (your invisible relationship with God). Just like secular ambassadors, there are effective ambassadors and non-effective ambassadors. As believers, we take our precedence from Jesus Christ. Christ was God’s ambassador on earth. Since Christ has ascended to Heaven, we are now God’s representatives on earth. With Christ as our standard, we follow His lead, guided by the Holy Spirit, as He was, to become effective ambassadors for God. (Hebrews 1:1-9)
An effective ambassador is a blessing to others. God blesses us when we have developed capacity to receive His blessings. Capacity is developed by believer-priests as they build their relationship with God. This means that the primary responsibility of Royal Ambassadors is applying Bible doctrine. Before we can be effective ambassadors for Christ, we must have developed a spiritual life. If we get the “cart before the horse,” by attempting to representative Christ before we learn how to do so properly, our representation becomes legalism or Christian activism (trying to reform the devil’s world). (Matthew 6:33)
It must be pointed out that the Royal Priesthood and the Royal Ambassadorship work in harmony in order to bring honor to God. Simply having a “so-called Christian life” without knowing and applying Bible doctrine is not a spiritual life and is a waste of time for a believer. If we are going to execute the Christian Way of Life effectively, we must do things God’s way. This does not mean that we will always do things the right way. However, it does mean that we are using the resources outlined in God’s Word.
The function of a royal ambassador results in divine production. (Romans 12:11) Commonly called “Christian service,” true divine production is radically different from what most people think. Divine production can be visible or invisible. For example, prayer is invisible divine production. Sharing the Gospel is visible divine production. Certain categories of divine production are common to all believers, and some are fulfilled through the function of our spiritual gifts. (Romans 12:6-8)
As ambassadors for Christ, we have been given the responsibility and the privilege of sharing the good news of the Gospel with others. Using false doctrine, ministers often apply extreme pressure on believers to force them into a certain routine of witnessing. The most common of false doctrines says that people will go to Hell if you fail to share the Gospel with them. This is not true. God will not let a person go to Hell who wants to know truth, whether we speak to that person about salvation or not. God will provide someone else to share the Gospel with this person if we fail in our responsibility to do so. (II Corinthians 5:18-20)
Sharing the Gospel of Christ should be natural and easy without pressure from any source. Our love for God should be all the motivation necessary. God does not want religious nuts running around getting in people’s faces and talking about “Jesus.” More harm than good has been done, in the name of Christ, by misguided and misinformed Christians. If we want to be effective witnesses for Christ (and we should), we need to learn how to share the Gospel effectively.
Being an effective witness for Christ begins with being an effective Christian. Since we are each the best Christian that someone knows, it should motivate us to set an example of Christ-like attitudes and Christ-like actions. Failure to do so will limit our effectiveness as witnesses for Christ. However, no one ever accepted Christ as Savior by observation. It is therefore our responsibility to verbally share the Gospel when the opportunity presents itself. The Bible says that we are to be ready always to give reason for the hope that is in us. (Romans 14:21; I Corinthians 6:12, 8:13; Galatians 5:13; I Thessalonians 5:22; Titus 3:8)
When presenting the Gospel, we need to stay with what the Bible says. Verses like John 3:16 and Ephesians 2:8-9 clearly explain the Gospel. They teach us that salvation and eternal life are gifts from God’s grace based on a person’s faith alone in Christ alone and not on any form of human merit. A clear presentation of the Gospel is our responsibility as ambassadors for Christ. Once the Gospel has been presented clearly, the Holy Spirit will do the rest!!!