The Priesthood
Text: I Peter 2:5, 9
Series: Restoration Sermons
Date:
Speaker: Ed Rangel
Location: Waupaca Church of Christ
Bible Version: NASB 1995
Sermon Type: Expository
Learning Objectives
By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:
- Explain the difference between priest and prophet in the Old Testament and explain how both roles converge in Christ.
- Identify the structure of the Levitical priesthood — one High Priest, many secondary priests — and show how this structure is replicated under Christ.
- State the four qualifications of the Levitical priest and identify their counterparts in the Christian life.
- Name the three duties of the Levitical priest and identify their counterparts in the Christian's present obligation.
- Identify what sacrifice Christians are to make (Rom. 12:1) and what altar they bring it to (Heb. 13:10).
Thesis
Every Christian is a priest. Not in a metaphorical sense — in the direct biblical sense of I Peter 2:5 and 2:9. The structure of the Levitical priesthood (one High Priest, many secondary priests, qualifications, duties, sacrifices, altar) is replicated exactly in the Christian age: Christ is the High Priest, every Christian is an ordinary priest, the New Testament is the governing law, the body is the sacrifice, and the church is the altar. No Christian is exempt from this priesthood; every Christian who is not serving as one has abandoned a role they were appointed to fill at their baptism.
Burden
In Israel there were three sacred offices — priest, prophet, king — each with distinct functions, each finding its fulfillment in Christ. The priest represented the people to God; the prophet represented God to the people; the king governed the people under God. All three meet in Christ. The sermon develops the priestly dimension: what it meant under the law, what it means under Christ, and what the Christian who has not yet entered it is missing.
Introduction
"You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (I Pet. 2:5). "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" (I Pet. 2:9). The identity Peter assigns to the church is not earned; it is conferred at entry. Every person who enters the church through the new birth is constituted a priest at the moment they enter.
Three sacred offices in Israel: priests, prophets, and kings. The difference between priest and prophet is directional: the priest faces toward God on behalf of the people — he brings the sacrifice, makes intercession, teaches what the law requires; the prophet faces toward the people on behalf of God — he delivers the word, announces the judgment, calls for repentance. Both offices required consecration; both required purity; both carried responsibility for the people's relationship with God. All three offices converge in Christ: he is the High Priest (Heb. 3:1), the Prophet (Acts 3:22), and the King (I Tim. 6:15).
I. Priesthood Under the Law
The structure of the Levitical priesthood was precise and hierarchical.
One High Priest. The High Priest was the representative of all Israel before God — he alone entered the Holy of Holies, and only on the Day of Atonement. His role was singular and unrepeatable in a specific sense: there could only be one High Priest at a time, and he functioned as the point of contact between the nation and God.
Many ordinary or secondary priests (II Kings 23:4; 25:18; Jer. 52:24). Below the High Priest were the ordinary priests — members of the tribe of Levi, the house of Aaron — who served in the daily operations of the sanctuary. They were secondary in rank but essential in function. The altar could not be served by the High Priest alone; the daily sacrifices, the teaching of the law, the maintenance of the sanctuary required many hands.
Laws governing the priests (Lev. 21). The Levitical priests operated under a detailed legal code specifying every aspect of their service — their qualifications, their conduct, their restrictions. The law was not optional; departure from it constituted desecration.
Sacrifices. The priest's central function was sacrificial — the daily offerings, the Sabbath offerings, the offerings for sin and guilt and thanksgiving. The sacrifice was the mechanism of approach to God; the priest was the person appointed to make it.
Altar (holy if you touch the altar, Ex. 29:37). The altar itself had a sanctifying quality: "Whatever touches the altar shall be holy." The physical location of the priestly service was consecrated ground.
II. Qualifications
The Levitical priest was required to meet specific qualifications before he could serve.
Without blemish (Lev. 21:17-21). No physical defect was permitted in a serving priest. The requirement was not punitive — it was symbolic: the priest who represented Israel before a holy God must reflect, in his own person, the completeness and wholeness that holiness requires.
Consecrated to God — holy. The priest's life was set apart for the service of God. He did not simply perform sacred functions; he was himself dedicated, separated from ordinary use for God's specific purpose. Consecration was not a condition he achieved but a status he was appointed to.
Clothed with holy garments. The priestly vestments were not ceremonial accessories — they were part of the priestly identity. To put on the garments was to assume the role. The high priest's garments bore the names of the tribes; he carried Israel on his shoulders and over his heart when he entered the sanctuary.
Mary a virgin (Lev. 21:13-14). The High Priest was required to marry a virgin — a requirement that protected the purity of the priestly line and symbolized the undivided dedication that the High Priest's role required.
III. Duties of Priests
Three primary duties defined the Levitical priest's service.
Teach the people (II Chron. 15:3; Micah 3:11). "For a long time Israel was without the true God and without a teaching priest and without law" (II Chron. 15:3). The teaching function was constitutive — without it, Israel lost its orientation. The priest who did not teach had failed at one of the primary reasons for his existence.
Make sacrifices (Lev. 4:5, 6, 26). The sacrificial function was the priest's most distinctive and most essential duty. Every approach to God required an offering; every offering required a priest to bring it. The sacrifice was not self-administering; it required the mediating presence of the consecrated person.
Encourage the people to worship. The priest's pastoral function was to orient the people toward the God who had called them. Not merely to perform rituals that the people observed — but to lead them into the posture of worship that the rituals were designed to produce.
No priest excused. The duties were not optional for any member of the priesthood. The priest who claimed exemption from teaching, from sacrifice, from encouraging worship had abandoned the role to which he had been appointed.
IV. Priesthood Under Christ
The Levitical structure is replicated exactly in the Christian age, with one difference in the ratio: instead of the tribe of Levi as priests and the rest of Israel as laity, under Christ every member of the church is a priest.
One High Priest — Christ (Heb. 3:1). "Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession." Christ functions as the singular High Priest — the one who, by his own blood, entered not the earthly sanctuary but the heavenly one (Heb. 9:11-12), making the once-for-all sacrifice that the Levitical priests could only symbolize annually.
Many ordinary — all Christians (I Pet. 2:5; Rev. 1:6). The democratization of the priesthood is one of the New Testament's most striking structural changes: "To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood — and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father" (Rev. 1:5-6). The restriction to a single tribe is abolished; every person who enters Christ through the new birth becomes a priest.
Law governing them — New Testament. The Levitical priests operated under Leviticus; Christian priests operate under the New Testament. The regulations that govern the Christian priesthood — what the sacrifice is, where it is brought, what the priest's qualifications and duties are — are found in the apostolic writings.
Sacrifices — our bodies (Rom. 12:1; Heb. 13:16). "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship" (Rom. 12:1). The sacrifice of the Christian priest is not an animal brought to an altar — it is the priest himself. "Do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased" (Heb. 13:16).
The altar — the church (Heb. 13:10). "We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat." The altar of the Christian priesthood is the church — the assembly of those who have been consecrated to God through Christ. Every act of service, worship, and sacrifice offered within the fellowship of the church is offered on this altar.
Application
Two applications follow from the parallel structure:
The qualifications of the Christian priest mirror those of the Levitical priest. Without blemish — not physical perfection but the pursuit of holiness: "Without holiness no one will see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14). Consecrated to God — the baptism that constitutes the Christian as a priest is also the act of consecration: "You are not your own, for you were bought with a price" (I Cor. 6:19-20). Clothed with holy garments — "put on the Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 13:14); "put on the whole armor of God" (Eph. 6:11).
The duties of the Christian priest mirror those of the Levitical priest. Teach the people — "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, teaching them" (Matt. 28:19). Make sacrifices — present your body daily (Rom. 12:1); offer praise continually (Heb. 13:15). Encourage the people to worship — "not forsaking our own assembling together" (Heb. 10:25), actively building up the body (Eph. 4:16).
No priest excused. The Levitical priest's duty was mandatory; the Christian priest's duty is no less so.
Conclusion
"No excuse for us; must keep ourselves holy as priests under Christ our High Priest or be condemned." The conclusion is precise. The Christian priesthood is not an optional role — it is the identity conferred at baptism. The Christian who is not teaching, not offering the sacrifice of their body in service, not encouraging the assembly to worship has abandoned the priesthood to which they were consecrated. The High Priest who represents them before God has fulfilled his role fully and finally. The question is whether the ordinary priest will fulfill theirs.
Invitation
"Come to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God; and you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house" (I Pet. 2:4-5). The invitation is to come — to enter the spiritual house being built; to become a living stone in it; to be constituted a priest within it. The entry is through the new birth.
Believe in Jesus Christ as the High Priest who entered the heavenly sanctuary with his own blood (Heb. 9:12). Repent. Confess his name. Be baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38). And receive the priesthood — the calling to offer yourself as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.
Word Study
| English Term | Greek Term | Basic Meaning | Usage in This Sermon | Sermon Significance | Key Texts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal priesthood | basileion hierateuma | A priesthood that is kingly; a kingly body that is priestly. | Used for the Christian identity in I Pet. 2:9 — the church as a body that is both priestly and royal. | In Israel the two offices were strictly separate; Uzziah was struck with leprosy for attempting to function as a priest while being king (II Chron. 26:16-21). In Christ both offices unite; every Christian participates in the priestly and kingly dignity of the one in whom both converge. | I Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:5-6 |
| Spiritual sacrifices | pneumatikas thysias | Offerings that are spiritual in nature, not material. | Used for the sacrifices the Christian priest offers — the body (Rom. 12:1), praise (Heb. 13:15), doing good and sharing (Heb. 13:16). | The sacrifice is no less real than the Levitical one, but its medium differs: the self, praise, and acts of service replace the animal offerings of the old covenant. | I Pet. 2:5; Rom. 12:1; Heb. 13:15-16 |
| Living stones | lithoi zōntes | Stones that are alive — combining permanence with organic vitality. | Used for members of the church being built up as a spiritual house. | The church is not a monument but a living structure; every member who enters through the new birth becomes a building material in a house still being built. | I Pet. 2:5; Eph. 2:19-22 |
| Altar | thysiastērion | Place of sacrifice. | Used of the Christian altar in Heb. 13:10 — identified as real, not merely metaphorical. | Those who still serve the tabernacle (the Levitical system) have no right to eat from the Christian altar; it is exclusive to those who have entered the new covenant through Christ. | Heb. 13:10 |
Scripture Interlock Table
| Theme | Boles' Outline | Supporting Scripture |
|---|---|---|
| Christians as holy priesthood | Text | I Pet. 2:5, 9 |
| Christ the one High Priest | IV.1 | Heb. 3:1; Heb. 9:11-12 |
| All Christians are priests | IV.2 | I Pet. 2:5; Rev. 1:5-6 |
| "Without a teaching priest" — priest's duty to teach | III.1 | II Chron. 15:3; Micah 3:11 |
| "Present your bodies a living sacrifice" | IV.4 | Rom. 12:1 |
| "With such sacrifices God is pleased" — doing good | IV.4 | Heb. 13:16 |
| "We have an altar" — the church | IV.5 | Heb. 13:10 |
| "Without holiness no one will see the Lord" — qualification | App. | Heb. 12:14 |
| "Not forsaking our assembling" — priestly duty | App. | Heb. 10:25 |
| Baptism for remission — entry into the priesthood | Invit. | Acts 2:38 |
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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 130. Primary texts: Rom. 12:1-2; I Pet. 2:5, 9 (stated by Boles). OCR corrections: "INTRODUCTI ON" → "INTRODUCTION"; "II Kings. 23:4" → "II Kings 23:4"; "lll." → "III."; "lV." → "IV." Doctrinal audit: the universal priesthood of believers (I Pet. 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:5-6) developed without clerical hierarchy; the Christian's sacrifice is the body (Rom. 12:1) and acts of service (Heb. 13:15-16); the altar is the church (Heb. 13:10); no sacerdotalism — Christ is the one mediating High Priest (Heb. 3:1); the Christian priest performs real priestly functions, not symbolic ones; invitation retains full obedient response (Acts 2:38).
