You Need a Priest, and You Have One
Do you need a priest? Hundreds of millions of people would say yes. They confess their sins to a priest, receive absolution from a priest, and look to a priest to offer the sacrifice of the Mass on their behalf. Others say no, and mean that they need no one at all: no church, no pastor, only God and themselves.
Scripture gives a better answer than either. You do need a priest, and God has given you one: Jesus the Son of God, a great high priest, who has passed into the heavens (Hebrews 4:14). Because He is our Priest, every believer may come to God through Him directly, with no other human go-between. And because we belong to Him, every believer is also made a priest, called to offer spiritual sacrifices and to serve others.
This doctrine shapes how you pray, confess sin, worship, and serve. It is also part of the heritage of Baptists, who have suffered for the conviction that no king, bishop, or council may stand between a soul and God.
Every believer, through Christ the one Mediator and great High Priest, has direct access to God and is himself a priest: free to draw near, called to offer spiritual sacrifices, and sent to declare God's praises (1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 10:19–22; 1 Peter 2:9).
If Christ has opened the way into God's presence for every believer, who else needs to stand between you and God? And are you using the access He bought for you?
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For Deeper Study
- Representing Christ: A Vision for the Priesthood of All BelieversAmazon Uche Anizor and Hank VossA readable evangelical study (2016) that traces the priesthood of believers from Eden to Revelation, with a chapter on Luther and practical chapters on ministry. Written from a Protestant perspective.
- Baptist Distinctives and New Testament Church OrderAmazon Kevin T. BauderA short introduction for church members (2012) by a fundamentalist Baptist. Its chapter on the individual Christian treats the priesthood of believers, and later chapters cover church government and church and state.
- The Baptist Way: Distinctives of a Baptist ChurchAmazon R. Stanton NormanA Southern Baptist theologian's survey of Baptist distinctives, including freedom of conscience, religious liberty, and congregational life.
- Exploring Hebrews: An Expository CommentaryAmazon John PhillipsA warm, outlined exposition, helpful on Christ's priesthood and the open way into the holiest (Hebrews 4 to 10).
- Roger Williams and the Creation of the American SoulAmazon John M. BarryA historian's account (2012) of Williams's struggle for liberty of conscience in old and New England. Barry writes as a historian, not as a Baptist or a theologian.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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Melchizedek
The king of righteousness and king of peace, a priest of the most high God, was a real king-priest whom Scripture presents as made like unto the Son of God, our eternal King and Priest.
Open Doctrine