All believers in Christ are priests to God. According to the Bible, there are two orders of the priesthood: the holy priesthood (the priesthood according to the order of Aaron) and the royal priesthood (the priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek).
In Heb. 7 we see these two orders and how Christ is a High Priest according to the order of Aaron and even more according to the order of Melchizedek; in 1 Pet. 2:5 and 9 we see that the believers are a holy priesthood and a royal priesthood.
On the one hand we are holy priests, those sanctified unto God and saturated with God as the holy element, and on the other hand we are kingly priests, those who minister God into others for their supply and enjoyment.
Today we want to see more on the matter of the holy priesthood, how we are holy priests to God, and how Christ made propitiation for us once and for all, and now we can just apply Him and believe into Him to be saved from sin!
All Believers are Holy Priests Separated unto God and Saturated with God’s Holy Element
In Exodus 29 we see a detailed account of the process through which Aaron and his sons had to go through in order to be sanctified, made holy, washed from anything common and sinful, and become holy priests to God. The emphasis in the priesthood according to the order of Aaron is being a holy priest separated unto God and saturated with God in order to represent God.
In order for us to be qualified to serve God as priests, we need to be sanctified unto God, set apart by being marked out. The mark that sets us apart and thus sanctifies us is the filling of our hands with the riches of Christ (Exo. 29:24; Eph. 3:8) through our subjective experience of Him as the reality of all the offerings (Heb. 10:5-10).
We need to be sanctified unto God by being washed of our uncleanness, having our nakedness covered by Christ as our priestly garments, dealing with our sinful nature through taking Christ as our sin offering, and feeding on Christ as the peace-offering and offering Christ to God as the burnt offering for His food.
What does it mean to be holy? To be holy is to be separated from the worldly things unto God (1 Pet. 1:16). Holiness is very misunderstood and misapplied today, being equated with a code of conduct, a certain kind of clothing, walking slowly, dressing in white and black, etc. Such improper representations of being holy draws others’ despise and belittling, since it is strange.
Our God is a holy God, and we are the holy people of our holy God. Being holy is not mere sinless perfection but being infused with the holy element of God to be as holy as God is. We need to have God’s holy element dispensed into our very being. As priests to God we must be holy; we cannot serve as priests and yet carry along with us some worldly things and live in worldly ways.
We cannot be common. We were chosen in Christ to be holy (Eph. 1:4), and the will of God is our sanctification (1 Thes. 4:13). God chose us in eternity past for us to be holy! Because God is holy, so we shall be holy (1 Pet. 1:16); this is not just “a recommendation from God” – it is a condition!
We need to pursue peace and sanctification with all men (Heb. 12:14), without which no man shall see the Lord. We need to contact the Lord day by day; as we touch our holy God, we will be set aside for Him and we cannot carry out the worldly things we used to participate in and cherish. Day by day we need to be under the constant dispensing of the Father’s holy nature and we should bear the testimony of holiness in our daily living.
When others see us, visit us, talk to us, or meet us, they should have the feeling that we are people sanctified unto God, people who are not common and the same as the people in the world. As priests we are holy people, those separated from common things unto the divine things and unto the use of the Lord. As holy priests, we are those who are separated to go to God and represent God’s people (1 Pet. 2:5).
God needs to raise up a priesthood, a bridge standing between the holy God and the sinful man, so that sinful man may be brought to the Holy God.
Lord Jesus, thank You for making us a holy priesthood. Praise the Lord, we have been chosen to be holy, and God’s will is our sanctification. Lord, we want to be separated from anything common, sinful, and worldly unto You to be for Your purpose. Dispense Your holy element and nature into our being, and saturate us with Yourself as the Holy One. Lord, keep us contacting You as the holy God to be made holy priests, those who are separated from common things unto the divine things and unto the use of the Lord. Lord, we come to You as holy priests to represent God’s people!
Christ put Away Sin by Offering Himself to God as the one Sacrifice for Sins
The first order of the priesthood – the aspect of the Aaronic priesthood, the holy priesthood – is for the offering of sacrifices to God for our sins (Heb. 10:12); hence, the Aaronic priesthood is mainly concerned with the sin offering.
The priests in the Old Testament mainly had to offer sacrifices for people’s sins and for their own sins. In Heb. 9:28 we see that Christ has been offered once to bear the sins of man (v. 14; 10:12); in God’s eyes, Christ was the unique all-inclusive sacrifice that took care of all the sin of mankind.
Hallelujah, we all must declare that sin was put away by Christ who offered Himself to God as sacrifice! He did not need to offer a sacrifice for Himself first (as the priests had to); He simply offered Himself for sins once for all, and on His cross Christ solved the problem of sin! Now He is sitting on the throne to carry out His priesthood forever!
Christ was the real sin offering, and the offering for our sins has been made; today we simply need to confess our sins and take Christ as our sin offering, and we are forgiven by God! Hallelujah! From the foundation of the world, Christ was the unique sin offering (Rev. 13:8), and as such a One He offered Himself to God for our sins.
We all must declare and announce the good tidings that the problem of sin has been solved. We should not listen to lies. Even our experience is a lie. Sin is no longer here. We all must declare that sin has been taken away. Christ’s offering of Himself put away sin. Thus, John 1:29 says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Witness Lee, Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3755)
Even if we have a failure or a defeat, we should not believe Satan but turn to the Lord, stand on His word, and take Christ as our sin offering, firmly believing that He has taken away our sin. We should forget our experiences and even what we are, and trust in the Lord’s word, apply Christ as the sin offering, and declare to the enemy and even to the whole universe that sin has been taken away!
Hallelujah, sin has nothing to do with us any longer because Christ offered Himself to God to take it away! Christ in His incarnation was the High Priest according to the order of Aaron, and He offered Himself as the one unique sacrifice for sins once and for all; then, He sat down at the right hand of God. Praise the Lord!
We should not focus on our sins or listen to the enemy’s accusation but believe God’s word, take Christ as our sin offering, and be the holy priests of God!
The Aaronic priesthood was not part of God’s initial intention but was added later because of the problem of sin (see Heb. 1:3; John 1:29; Rom. 8:3). What God desires is the priests according to the order of Melchizedek, those who minister the processed God into people, but because of sin, the Aaronic priesthood has been temporarily inserted.
Lord Jesus, we praise You for being the unique offering for sin: You came as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world! Hallelujah, our sin has been removed, dealt with, and terminated! We can now confess our sins, take Christ as our sin offering, and forget about our sin. Lord Jesus, we believe Your holy word which says that sin has been taken away, and we refuse to believe Satan (the liar) or our experience. We come forward to You, stand on Your word, apply Your blood, and go on to enjoy You, be filled with You, be saturated with You, and minister You to others!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. James Lee’s sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1969, vol. 1, “To Serve in the Human Spirit,” chs. 6-7, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Recovery of the Priesthood or God’s Building, week 5 / msg 5, The Two Orders of the Priesthood.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
# The priest’s position holy is; / He sacrifices e’er to God, / Beholds His beauty, incense burns / Of prayer before the Lord. (Hymns #971)
# Holy, happy separation! / They alone are truly blest / Who from all besides retiring, / And Himself alone desiring / Find in Jesus only rest, / Find in Jesus only rest. (Hymns #440)
# God has not overlooked our sin, / But judged it once for all; / His righteous fury, not on us, / But on His Lamb did fall. / A new and living way is made— / We stand on legal ground; / Our Surety and our Substitute / Has pardon for us found. (Hymns #1126)
About aGodMan
We all must declare and announce the good tidings that the problem of sin has been solved. We should not listen to lies. Even our experience is a lie. Sin is no longer here. We all must declare that sin has been taken away. Christ’s offering of Himself put away sin. Thus, John 1:29 says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” However, many Christians do not realize or believe that sin has been taken away. We should believe that sin has been taken away. Even if we have a failure or defeat, we must tell Satan that we do not believe him and that we believe the holy Word, which says that sin has been taken away. We must forget our experiences and what we are, strongly take the Lord’s word, and declare to the enemy and to the whole universe that sin has been taken away and that sin has nothing to do with us any longer because Christ offered Himself to God to take it away. (Witness Lee, The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3754-3755)
Oh Lord Jesus forgive me I need Your most precious blood to cleanse my whole being from negatives elements within me. And wash me with your most precious blood before I come to Your word. I’m sinful dirty and dusty. I need You Lord as my real holy. I’m still on this earth my surrounding full of Satan temptation worldly amusement. I can’t overcome with out your devine life added into my being cause me to exercise and walk and stay in my mingled spirit 24 hours a day very difficult Lord. But I trust You nothing impossible with You! You can do it for me. . All things under Your feet. ..grant us more grace everyday to the church your body the living organism. And thank You for enterceding and for us. . We love you Lord . amen