Priesthood of the Believer, Unstained by the World

If you think that you can walk in holiness without keeping up perpetual fellowship with Christ, you have made a great mistake.  If you would be holy, you must live close to Jesus.  --Charles Haddon Spurgeon

THESIS:  Priests must be holy before God and men (Leviticus 21:7).  "For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens." (Hebrews 7:26). We are all priests, called to stand between men and God.  "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." (1 Peter 2:9).

ANTITHESIS:  Even though we are "a royal priesthood," we are not without sin.  "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.... If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." (1 John 1:8, 10). "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)

SYNTHESIS: God admonishes us to keep His word, to stay close to him.

"And now this admonition is for you, O priests.  If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my name," says the Lord Almighty, "I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings.  Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor me." --Malachi 2:1-2

Part of our job as priests is to give blessings to the people.  But if our blessings are cursed, then we are just snake-oil salesmen.  Our churches are no different than a civic club--worse, because we are proclaiming a lie.

"For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction--because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty.  But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi," says the Lord Almighty.  "So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law." --Malachi 2:7-9.

If we stop proclaiming the truth of God, or if we start watering it down with worldly compromise, then we will be despised among the very people to whom we are sent.  We cannot water down the message because we think it too harsh, or that people won't stomach it.

"Another thing you do: You flood the Lord's altar with tears.  You weep and wail because He no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.  You ask, 'Why?'  It is because the Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.  Has not the Lord made them one?  In flesh and spirit they are His.  And why one?  Because He was seeking godly offspring.  So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.  I hate divorce," says the Lord God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the Lord. --Malachi 2:13-16.

Sexual imagery is everywhere.  Violent images are everywhere.  It is almost impossible to escape.  We have numbed ourselves to it.  We see it all around us in the world, and in the church.  We are not shocked by it.  We even see it in the entertainment choices we make.  Is it any wonder that there are more divorced people in America than married people?

"So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith." (Malachi 2:16b).  Be the priest, the mediator between God and man, that you were created for, that is the proof of your calling.  

We sing a chorus in our Bible study group that goes like this:

Holiness, holiness..is what i long for
Holiness is what i need
Holiness, holiness 
Is what you want from me

[Chorus:]
Take my life and form it
Take my mind transform it
Take my will conform it
To yours, to yours, oh lord

Righteousness, righteousness is what i long for
Righteousness is what i need
Righteousness, righteousness
Is what you want from me

[Chorus:]
Purity, purity..is what i long for
Purity is what i need
Purity, purity 
Is what you want from me