Priests

Priests

You can in fact speak of only two kinds of priests.

1) The priests of the old covenant. They were Jews and came only from the tribe of Levi. Heb. 7:11, 14. They were priests according to the law of a fleshly commandment. They, and no one else, were entitled to the priesthood. Ex. 29:9. The dispensation of the old covenant passed away a long time ago. We can only speak about such priests in an historical context. What we are left with is only one kind of priest:

2) The priests of the new covenant. Just as the priests of the old covenant—the Levitical priests—were employed according to the law of a fleshly commandment, so the priests of the new covenant are “employed” in the same way as the High Priest of the new covenant, Christ, according to the power of an endless life. Heb. 7:16.

There is no specific lineage, human doctrine, or random human or fleshly law or precept that can make anyone a priest or hinder anyone from becoming a priest. Only the power of an endless life, the power of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, God’s mighty work in our inner man, can make us a true priest of God, and we become that without asking any man for permission or recognition.

We become priests according to the order of Melchizedek! Heb. 7. This means that without any further explanation, you suddenly appear as a king or priest as it is written: in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Rev. 5:10; 1 Cor. 2:4. It is blessed to meet such priests: those who are kings over themselves and their inclinations and who are priests for God in order to help others to the same life!

In his pastoral letter, Luther writes that you cannot be anointed to be a priest, because you have to be born as a priest. When you are appointed as a priest, you thereby acknowledge that you were previously not a priest which (Luther says) is totally wrong if you really are a Christian. Everyone who is a Christian in truth and spirit is a priest in the strict sense of the Word. There is no other priesthood in the new covenant.

This is stated, as Luther also mentions, with all desirable clarity in 1 Peter 2:9-10: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises [virtues] of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God . . . .”

Everything that is called “priest” and goes beyond this is of the evil. It is outside the doctrine of Christ and of the apostles; it is outside the Scriptures and is purely a fabrication of man. It is neither Lutheran nor biblical. Terms such as “State Church priest” or “Methodist priest” are unknown in the Scriptures. It is a strong reminder of the practice of idolatry. Such priests are not priests according to the laws of the old covenant or according to the laws of the new covenant; they are human fabrications.

The brother who calls such a person “priest” says thereby that he himself is not a priest, which is to say that he has failed his holy calling. Quit that! The power, the authority to rule and the honor that such a so-called priest enjoys, is appropriated and is ungodly according to God’s laws, even though it was justly gained according to the precepts of man.

If such a so-called priest became devoted to God and faithful in all things, he would also become enlightened; consequently, he would refuse to be called priest any more than the rest of the brothers are called priests, and he would resign.

All in all, we do not need any titles, whether it be priest or pastor, whether it be shepherd or teacher. We shall not let others call us anything (we are all brothers), but only be what we are in spirit and in truth, and we shall be that faithfully.