Our priestly identity as Chr..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. first letter of the Apostle Peter, chapter number 2. And we are going to be addressing the second half of verse 5.

But as we always do, beloved brethren, we're going to be reading the whole section. We have a big mountain to climb, so may the Lord give us grace and understanding in the words that are spoken and the words that are heard. We're going to be addressing the second half of verse five that speaks of Christians as a holy priesthood that offers spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. So I want us to read carefully from chapter 1, verse 10, and let's go all the way through chapter 2 until verse 12, as we always do. I've said this many times, this is a whole section in the mind of the apostle, giving us the context of what he is doing.

So let's read carefully, paying much attention to each one of the words, and with reverent hearts, this is the word of God. Chapter 1, verse 10. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves, but you in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy. And if you call on Him as Father, who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourself with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He, Christ, was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you, who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God." have him purify your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love love one another earnestly from a pure heart since they have been born again not of perishable seed but of imperishable through the living and abiding word of god for all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass the grass withers and the flower falls but the word of the lord remains forever and this Word is the good news that was preached to you.

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk that by it you may grow up into salvation, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. as you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God, chosen and precious, you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. But it stands in scripture. Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.

So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become this cornerstone and a stone of a stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do. But you, are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, They may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. Amen. This is the word of God. And as I said, beloved brethren, we are going to be addressing.

the second half of verse 5, in which the apostle, after he has said that we, as living stones, when we come to Christ, the living stone that has been rejected by men, but is chosen and precious in the sight of God, that we are being built up as a spiritual house, He adds another statement. Not only we are being built up like living stones into this spiritual house, but he says that this is to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices which are acceptable to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now think about the amount of words and concepts that are piled and put together into that simple statement. The apostle, beloved, The Apostle is saying that those who have been born again by grace, through faith of the world, by the Word of God, of the Spirit, that by grace and through faith in Christ have been inserted by the Spirit into His body, that those new creatures, the new creation, that they are not only being built up as a spiritual house, but He calls us priests. He says that we are a holy priesthood and not only a holy priesthood, but that we offer sacrifices.

And those sacrifices are spiritual sacrifices. And not only that, but those spiritual sacrifices are given to God. And God accepts those sacrifices, and that is through the person of Jesus Christ. When Peter was writing his second letter, in chapter 3, he's speaking of the writings of the Apostle Paul. And then he says, of the writings of the Apostle Paul, that they are difficult to understand.

That they are difficult to understand the writings of the Apostle Paul. What he has given us in this statement is taking the old covenant sacrificial system, Exodus and Leviticus, and he has given us the light of the new covenant revelation. Basically, he has taken Exodus and Leviticus, and he has put that together with the book of Hebrews in a single statement. If the writings of the Apostle Paul are difficult to understand, then what he has done here is not less. the author of the book of Hebrews in the end of chapter 5.

Speaking of these things, speaking of these realities, speaking of these doctrines, that the Christians are priests or the priestly system of the Christians, he says that those things are difficult to explain. That the things that pertain to the priestly identity or the priestly vocation of Christians under the new covenant are not only difficult to understand, but also are difficult to explain. My God, give us grace. to climb the mountain that we have before us, beloved brethren, because it is necessary for our souls. And it is also important for us to understand according to what is written.

So how are we going to understand scriptures that we find in the Bible and especially in the New Testament that are bringing revelation or that are giving life from the Old Testament? How are we going to understand the scriptures like this one? Well, Scripture interprets Scripture. And Scripture always gives us the way to understand Scripture. It's not through the imaginations of men.

It is not through the wisdom of men. It is not through the intellectual abilities of men. It is not through the capabilities of the mind of humans that the Bible is to be understood. But it is Scripture interpreting Scripture. So, here we have one of the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ taking truths of the old covenant and explaining or giving us realities that are applied under the new covenant.

From the covenant given to Moses to this covenant of the person of Jesus Christ. How are we going to understand that? The author of the book of Hebrews. gives us an understanding or gives us a tool or gives us a clue on how we are going to understand these doctrines that are revealed to us in the New Testament. And that is by simply, beloved brethren, understanding their relationship of the Old Covenant to the New Covenant.

Beloved brethren, understanding the relationship of the old covenant given to Moses, to the new covenant given to the person of Jesus Christ. Understanding the relationship of the covenant given at Sinai, with the covenant given at the cross to Jesus Christ, established by the shedding of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, if someone is going to ask you, as disciples of Christ, as followers of the Savior. If someone is going to ask you as a Christian, as a believer, as one who desires to have the commandments of God treasured up in his or her heart, that you may not seen against him as a person who follow the statues of the triune God. If a person is going to ask you, what is the relationship of the old covenant given to Moses to the new covenant given to Christ, Then the book of Hebrews in chapter 8 also gives us the answer to that question and it puts it in a very simple yet very profound way.

There in verse 5 and 6 in chapter 8, the author of Hebrews simply says that the new covenant is a better covenant. That the new covenant is just simply a better covenant. That the old covenant, the covenant of Moses, in the last verse of chapter 8, is a covenant that is obsolete, that is passing away. That is a ministry of condemnation, 2 Corinthians 3. While the new covenant is a ministry of righteousness, 2 Corinthians 3 and 4.

This is the relationship of the old covenant, beloved brethren, with the new covenant. It is simply that the new covenant in Christ is a better covenant by the same person that is asking you to give an answer or defense of the hope that is within you. and asking you, what is the relationship between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant? And if you say, the New Covenant is a better covenant, that person might ask you, but in what sense is the New Covenant a better covenant? Well, the author of Hebrews in the same chapter 8 gives us two important elements of the betterness, if you allow me to use that word, of the New Covenant.

two elements which I want you to have in your mind. He says in verse 5 and 6 that this better covenant, that this covenant is of more excellent degree or extent is a better covenant because the new covenant has been established on a better promise. that this covenant has been established on a better promise. Now, beloved brethren, I said to you that we have a high mountain to climb, and I'm going to be putting concepts in your mind. So please pay attention to all of these things that I'm saying.

This new covenant in Christ is a better covenant than the covenant of Moses. First of all, because it is established on better promises. What are those better promises? Well, the covenant of Moses would say, do these things and live. Do the things of the law and you shall live.

The only problem with that, it is that because of our sinful nature, because of our fallenness before God, we are unable to do the things of the law. So we are unable to obtain the righteousness of the old covenant that is only by doing the things of the law. Then the law becomes a ministry of condemnation to those who are under the law, because no one can obtain righteousness by keeping the law. That was the promise of the Old Covenant. But when Jesus Christ comes...

The promise of this glorious new covenant given to Abraham in chapter 12 in Genesis 15 and 17 is, To thy seed I will give this land. To thy seed, Abraham. And then Paul is explaining this to us in Galatians chapter 3 and 4, saying that the seed of Abraham, which is the heir of the promise given to him, is not multiple, is not plural, but it is Christ alone. because Christ is the heir of the promise of the land of eternal life given to Abraham and those who by grace through faith are united to the heir of the promise they become recipients of this inheritance that is kept and reserved for us In heaven, brothers and sisters, what a glorious, better covenant, that it is not by keeping the things of the law or the commandments of the law that we obtain righteousness, but rather that it is a pure mercy of God the Father who has caused us to be born again, to place our eyes in Christ, and to come to Him who is the heir of the promise that was given even before the law. given to Abraham.

The new covenant, it is a better covenant than the old covenant because it is established on better promises. The Old Covenant, do these things and live. The New Covenant, come to Christ. All of you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Come to me and drink without price.

Come to me, Christ says. I'm the New Covenant. A better covenant. A covenant that according to the author of Hebrews in chapter 7 and 8, it is not established upon legal requirements as the Old Covenant, but is established upon the promise of indestructible life. given before the foundation of the world, according to Titus 1, 2.

A better covenant. Now, brothers and sisters, not only the new covenant is a better covenant than the old covenant because it establishes better promises, but also because the blessings of the new covenant are better and in greater extent than the blessings of the old covenant. The blessings of the new covenant are better and in greater extent than the blessings of the old covenant. And then one may ask, what are the blessings that God gives or bestows upon a covenant? And the answer to that is simply summarized in this question.

The presence of God. The presence of God, beloved brethren, the presence of God, it is the greatest blessing that a creature can have. Access to the presence of God, not being destroyed because of our unrighteousness. It is the greatest blessing that a creature can have. Salvation can be summarized in that, that by Christ, Through the means of the righteousness of Christ, we have access to God the Father and we are not destroyed because of the unrighteousness that once we had, because that unrighteousness was paid upon the cross by the Lord Jesus Christ.

The covenantal blessing or the greatest blessing of a covenant, it is the presence of God Himself. It is the manifestation of God Himself towards His people. Now, beloved brethren, The new covenant is better than the old covenant in terms of this covenantal blessing of the presence of God. Why? Because the presence of God, biblically speaking, in church history or in Bible history, let's call it this way, it is manifested or given to us in two senses.

The first one, it is the place where the presence of God dwells. And the second thing is the manifestation of that presence. Bear with me, please, bear with me. The covenantal blessing that God bestows upon His people throughout the Bible is usually manifested, or is manifested in two things. The place where the presence of God dwells.

And second is the manifestation of that presence. And in that blessing, the new covenant is a better covenant than the old covenant. Why? Because the presence of God, when it pertains to the place where it is manifested, it was in an election within the elected people. The presence of God under the old covenant was not manifested to all the people of Israel, but rather was in the temple, and in the temple there was a selected place where the presence of God will be manifested.

The presence of God did not dwell in fullness among the people of the old covenant, not only in terms of place, but also in terms of manifestation, but in the new covenant. If the people of Israel had a temple with a holy of holies where the princess of God was, the new covenant says, you are the temple of God. God dwells among you, not only individually, but also when you come together. Why? Because the extent of the blessing of the New Covenant is better than the extent of the blessing under the Old Covenant.

The presence of God was limited to only this place. But the second point, brothers, and this is what takes us to what we have in our verse, is the manifestation of the presence of God, because these two aspects, these two covenantal aspects of the presence of God is what Peter is explaining to us in verse 4 and 5. He has spoken about the spiritual house. What? That is the church.

That is the place where God dwells, where God lives. In the Old Testament, that was limited for a particular section in the temple. Under the New Covenant, the people of God are the temple of God. But now the apostle is going to speak of the second element. of the presence of God, and that is the manifestation of the presence of God.

Because just as in the same way in the old covenant, the presence of God was limited to a place, the manifestation of the presence of God was also limited to a group of people within the covenant people. Not all Israel had access to the immediate presence of God. Within Israel, there was a tribe or a group of people that were chosen to serve and to be ministers of the temple. Who? The Levites.

And then from the Levites, there was a group of people that were chosen to minister those things that pertain to the inner places of the temple. Who? Aaron and his descendants, his offspring. So only high priests. Only the high priests within the covenantal people will have access to the manifestation of the immediate presence of God.

Don't you remember when Solomon is praying because of the temple that has just been built and he's given thanks and then the Lord sends fire from heaven to burn the sacrifices. Then the Bible says that the temple was filled with the glory and with the presence of God and the priests who were supposed to be in the Holy of Holies, they could not enter that place because the presence of God was so powerfully manifested in that particular place. So, brothers and sisters, We have a better covenant. We have a better covenant. A covenant that by Christ has made the presence of God available in us and also covenantally as people, but also that in this new covenant The manifested presence of God is not restricted or is not limited to a micro selection of the people of God, but He is given to all.

Because now Paul is saying that all of those who are born again by grace through faith, that they are priests. that they are priests, that we are a holy priesthood, and that as a holy priesthood we offer spiritual sacrifices, and these spiritual sacrifices are acceptable to God if they are offered to Him through the person of Jesus Christ. I don't want you to take this lightly, brothers and sisters. When we speak of spiritual things, because of the carnality of our flesh and the carnality of our minds. We tend to put spiritual things on one side because it is easier for us to understand or to come to those things that can be seen, that can be touched, that can be observed, that can be smelled, that are immediate to our present.

But the Bible is speaking of a spiritual reality that by being spiritual is not less reality than the things that we touch or the things that we see. We are priests. Now, beloved brethren, how are we going to understand this? How are we going to understand? Because that was the introduction.

How are we going to understand this? I said to you, we have a big mountain to climb. The need in my heart, or the intention of my heart, is always not just simply to put concepts in your mind, but that you come closer to Christ. And I want you to see these things as they are given to us in Scripture. There is no necessity of speaking big words if they do not do anything in your hearts.

The important thing is that we come closer to the person of Jesus Christ. Now, brothers and sisters, the priestly office, the priestly office, it is not something that is unique for the covenant given to Israel and the covenant given to Jesus Christ. but the priestly office is something that was instituted back into the garden. The office of a priest was instituted way back into the garden. So there is an eternality, I hope that that word exists, or there is an aspect that is eternal of this priestly office.

Something that was before eternity and something that goes after eternity. So then these two old covenants and the new covenant just simply manifestations in time of what's going to happen. So we're going to answer a couple of questions just to make it very simple. How are we going to understand our priestly identity or vocation as Christians? How are we going to understand that priestly identity?

And not only that, but how are we going to understand this thing that as priests under the new covenant that we offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God? This is the only thing that I want to do, brothers and sisters, just to answer to your minds and to your souls. How are we to understand that if you are in Christ, that if you have been born again, that you have a priestly, not only identity, but vocation, and that by being a priest under the new covenant, that you offer spiritual sacrifices. Brothers and sisters, a priest is a person that has been appointed by God. He's appointed by God with the purpose of ensuring and making sure that the relationship between God and the people continues.

A priest is a person that has been appointed, that has been called by God with the purpose of insurance, by obedience to what he's required to do, that the relationship between God and his people continues in the sense of communion. So basically what a priest is in charge of is by obedience to those things that have been instructed to him to make sure that the dwelling place of God remains with the people of God and God. That's why I told you that the priest office goes back to the garden because Adam was the first priest. He was commanded or he was appointed by God to preserve the dwelling place of God, the Garden of Eden, which is a type, is a shadow of the temple and then of the church. He was to preserve and he was to keep that place so that God will remain in communion and in fellowship with his people.

Chapter 2 verse 16 says that once the Lord had planted the garden, he said to him, you are going to work and then you're going to keep the garden. You're going to work and you're going to protect the garden. You're going to work and you're going to guard the garden. Then Moses, when he's writing his laws for the priest in Numbers chapter 7, he's going to use exactly these two same words to speak of the office of the priest when he pertains to the temple. Because The priest is supposed, beloved brethren, the priest is supposed to make sure that by obedience to that which he has been called to do, that he preserves the relationship between God and his people in terms of fellowship.

Now, bear with me, because, beloved brethren, this is exactly what the priest of the Old Testament would do. They were in charge of offering sacrifices so that the presence of God will remain with the covenant people. If a person was not accepted through the sacrifices, they needed to go outside of the presence of God. The major covenantal blessing that can be given to a human being is the presence of God. And in order to accomplish that, God has instituted priests.

Now, I'm going to submit to you that the only way by which we are going to understand our priestly identity and the sacrifices that we offer is if we understand. And this is the main point. Please pay attention to this. that the relationship between the Levitical system and Christ as the High Priest will show us what Christ has accomplished. And once we understand what Christ has accomplished, we will understand our identity as priests.

Our identity as priests is not derived from the priestly system of the Old Covenant, but rather our priestly identity is derived from the accomplishment that which Christ accomplished as the High Priest in a reflection or in a consummation of the priestly system that was given to Israel. And bear with me. Go to Hebrews, please, chapter 5. In Hebrews chapter 5, you will see, beloved brethren, there, The purpose of the priests under the old covenant. You will see the purpose of the priest under the old covenant.

Beloved brethren, a priest is a person that has been appointed by God. with the purpose to preserve the continuity or the ongoingness, if you want, of the relationship between God and his covenant people. How does the priest accomplish that? By obedience to that which God has instituted as his role. So then, the priests under the old covenant, they were going to keep the communion between God and His people through the offering of sacrifices.

Chapter 5, verse 1. For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God to offer gifts and sacrifices for sin. Exactly what I have just said. Every high priest is chosen from among men and is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God to offer gifts and sacrifices for sin. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness.

Because of this, he is obligated to offer sacrifices for his own sins, just as he does for those of the people. And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God. Every priest is appointed by God to make sure that the relationship between the people of God continue by means of obedience to that which God has instituted. For the priests of the Old Testament, they were supposed to present gifts and sacrifices in the temple so that the presence of God will remain among the people and the people may be able to present themselves before the presence of God. And then the author of Hebrews, he will continue speaking of this priestly system or condition, comparing it with Jesus Christ.

And then he says, so also Christ. did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, you are my son, today I have begotten you. As he says also in another place, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And this is the point in which I know that we could spend weeks speaking of these things, but then I need to focus on the point that I need to communicate. Brothers and sisters, a priest was a person that was appointed by God with the purpose of making sure that the relationship between God and the people will continue.

The Old Covenant failed. The Old Covenant is a ministry of condemnation, according to 2 Corinthians 3. Why? Because the more the sacrifices were offered every time that a priest would offer sacrifices, the more need of continuing doing so. Why?

Because people will continue remaining in their sins. So it pleased the Lord to use the old covenant as a servant of the better covenant that was to come and make this old system, not a system by which the sins of the people will be purified and will be cleansed, but rather as a testimony or as a shadow of the one that was to come. It was impossible for the blood of animals to do remission of sins. So, they became simply shadows of the necessity of a better covenant. This is what happened.

In eternity past, God promised to His Son that He was going to give Him a people. And then after that sin entered into the world and then the sacrificial system was instituted, first of all, to preserve the purity of the people of Israel, but more importantly, and eschatologically and typologically, to speak of the coming of the person of Jesus Christ. He pleased God, according to Hebrews 7, verse 28, He pleads God, beloved brethren, he pleads God, chapter 7 verse 28, that for the law, he says, the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests. The law of the Old Covenant appoints priests, appoints men in their weakness as high priests. But the word of the oath which came later than the law upon a savior has been made perfect forever.

What is the word of the oath or the oath that came after the law? This is simply the promise that was given to David. Psalm 110 is speaking of a priest that it is not according to the line of the Levites. It's speaking of a priest that it is not according to the order that was given to Israel, but of a priest that was according to a different order. And the author of the book of Hebrews will call it, according to the order of Melchizedek, the priest that appeared in Genesis chapter 17, this priest of the most high, The Old Covenant was serving just as a shadow of a better covenant that will come.

And these priests under the Old Covenant were just simply serving as a testimony of, we need someone that comes and that makes atonement for the sins of the people once for all, because the shedding of the blood of the animals will never ensure that the presence of God is going to remain in communion with the people. A better atoning sacrifice is needed. And thanks to God that he provided the means. Thanks to God that he provided the means, brothers and sisters, because it is by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that this fullness of the atoning sacrifice is obtained. And then the remaining of the presence of God with His people, it is sealed for eternity.

Please come with me just to make my point to chapter 10 in the book of Hebrews. Chapter 10 in the book of Hebrews. Verse eight. When he said above chapter 10, verse eight, when he said above, you have neither desire nor taking pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and offerings, these are offering according to the law. Then he added, behold, Christ, I have come to do your will.

He does away with the first in order to establish a second covenant. Now, pay attention to verse 10. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Now, by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Jesus Christ, beloved brethren, was sent from heaven into this earth, the incarnate Son of God, to war against sin and death.

And when he returned to heaven, he returned victorious. He returned as a victor. No need of a second fight. No need of a second sacrifice. The sacrifice of Christ The giving of the body of Christ has accomplished under the new covenant what the sacrifices in the old covenant could not accomplish.

And what is that that he accomplished? It accomplished many things, but the things that pertain to the question that we're trying to answer are these. The first one, it is the ultimate once for all justification of those who by grace through faith believe in Jesus Christ. And the second important thing, it is the perfecting of those who have faith in Him. Read there, verse 10, "...

and by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Christ Jesus once for all." Now continue reading in verse 12, And you will see what I'm talking about. And every priest stands daily as the service offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had over for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemy should be made a footstool for his feet. Pay attention now to verse 14.

"...for by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." This is when I'm going to take it to another great level of complexity, brothers. Come to 1 Peter and bear with me. Bear with me, please.

This is the only thing that I'm just trying to say to your souls, beloved brethren. This is the only thing that with the limitations of my explanation and my words, I'm trying to say to you that when Christ died upon the cross, that when Christ's blood was shed upon the cross, the fulfillment of God's righteousness was to that extent fullness and completeness. that we were not only justified, yes, we were justified once we have faith, faith is the means by which the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, but also we were positionally sanctified, we were set apart once for all as saints of Christ. When Peter is writing his letter, and he's starting to write these things, he starts saying, you can read it, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, in verse 1, and then he says, to those who are elect, exiles of the dispersion, in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, This election of these people is according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. And then he says, "...

in the sanctification of the Spirit." What? For obedience to Jesus Christ. And here it comes, the covenantal term, "...and with sprinkling with His blood."

Once we have faith in Jesus Christ, God is sprinkling in us with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we are set apart for Him once for all. And there is nothing that can remove us, not only from our legal state of justification, but also from our once for all state of sanctification. That's why in verse 20, in the same chapter one, the apostle is going to say a very strong term. having purified your souls by obedience to the truth. Those who have come to Christ have purified their souls."

Now, brothers and sisters, of course, I'm not talking about progressing sanctification. I'm not talking about sanctification that happens one day after the other, our conformity to Christ. I'm talking about something that is called positional sanctification, that by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have been set apart as holy. And you know what that means? That means that we do not need the ceremonial rituals of the Old Covenant to approach the presence of God.

the priestly identity of the Christian, beloved brethren, the priestly identity of the Christian, because we have been cleansed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, because we have been perfected, because we have been justified. When I say perfected, of course, you understand that I'm talking about this sanctification once for all. Not that we are sinless and perfect, but this setting apart of His people for Himself, that we can do what the author of Hebrews is going to say in chapter 10 after what we read. This is the whole application of what I'm trying to say, beloved brethren, that by the effects of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, our priestly identity is not defined in the sense that our sacrifices appease the wrath of God. The wrath of God has been appeased once for all.

So how are we then priests? The author of Hebrews will answer it in verse 19 in chapter 10. He says, Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new living way that he opened for us through the curtain that is through his flesh, and since we have a great high priest over the throne, over the house of God, Let us draw near. These are the only two words that I want you to have in your mind. That by what Christ has accomplished, our priestly vocation and our priestly identity, beloved brethren, is that we can draw near to the throne of grace.

Under the old covenant, the anti-type, which is the mercy seat, And the new covenant, we have the throne of grace. The mercy seat under the old covenant has had to be approached with fear and with trembling and with ceremonies and with much care, because if you did not have that care, you would have died. But under this new throne of grace, Christians are welcome to come and to draw near to the presence of God with boldness. Christ has given us access, beloved brethren, to God with boldness. Paul will say in Romans chapter 5, since you have been justified by faith, you have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

And not only peace you have through the Lord Jesus Christ, but you also have access to the Father. And in that grace you extend. There is a reconciliation that has been accomplished by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So then the author of Hebrews can give comfort to the Christian in times of tribulation and in times of need, not by saying any human thing, but by saying, come and draw near to the throne of grace. Go to Hebrews chapter 4.

You've read this many times. You've read this many times. Many times you've read this. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 14, he says, Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Let us then with confidence. draw near to the throne of grace. You do not understand this because you are Gentiles. You don't see the light of these things because we are Gentiles, beloved brethren. Priests would have lost their lives if they approached the mercy seat, the presence of God in an unworthy manner.

Christians are called to come to the presence of God with confidence and without fear. draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. That is our priestly identity, brothers and sisters. And then the sacrifices, bear with me five minutes and we finish, please. The spiritual sacrifices that we give them as priests under the new covenant are not the same sacrifices that are given under the Old Covenant.

The Old Covenant are sacrifices that were given with the purpose of appeasing the wrath of God or the justice of God. So what are we going to say now about the sacrifices of New Testament believers? And what I said to you, we have to understand the relationship between the priest in the Old Covenant with Christ as the High Priest, and that which Christ has accomplished on our behalf, so then we understand our identity and vocation as priests. Because what was the offering that Christ gave as a High Priest? His body.

This is what we read in Hebrews chapter 10. He gave his body as a sacrifice, as the high priest, he gave his body. And then those who are united to him, the Bible calls us to give ourselves entirely in our bodies as a sacrifice. Have you not read Romans 12? Romans 12.

But in Romans 12, then the apostle is going to give us now the purpose, brothers and sisters, of the spiritual sacrifices. I appeal to you, Paul says, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies just as Christ present his body as the high priest of this new covenant. That's my parenthetical comment, not in the Bible. As a living sacrifice. holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

The spiritual sacrifices of the believer now are worship unto God. They are not sacrifices atoning wrath or trying to establish a system, a judicial system that would allow the presence of God to remain with us because Christ has accomplished that once for all. Brothers and sisters, the spiritual sacrifices that believers give under the new covenant are worship and gratitude for the things that the high priest has accomplished. spiritual sacrifices. Now this is very important because what the Apostle is calling us to give as a sacrifice is not money, it is not time, it is not whatever thing that might come into your mind.

What he's calling us to give as a spiritual sacrifice It is ourselves entirely to Him. And then he contrasts that in verse 2. He says what we should do, and then he says what we should not do. He says, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you might discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Brothers and sisters, you know what it comes down to?

This is spiritual sacrifices. It comes down to walk in the spirit and not to walk in the flesh because you walk In the Spirit, you walk according to Jesus Christ. Have you not read Philippians chapter 1 verse 10 and 11? That the fruits of righteousness are in Christ for the glory, or through Christ for the glory of the Father, God the Father. The fruits of righteousness are only found in Christ.

These are the same fruits of the Spirit that are contained in Galatians chapter 5. Beloved brethren, When you read and when you listen sermons about this portion of Scripture in Peter, they will come and say that the spiritual sacrifices that we offer are our praises from our lips, are our prayers, is the money that we give, is the things that we share one with the other, that it is even the evangelism. All of that is true. All of that is true. Hebrews 13 verse 16 speaks of the spiritual sacrifice that we give from our lips when we worship, it speaks of the sacrifices that we when we share together with our brothers, it speaks of the spiritual sacrifices that when we do good works, Romans 15 verse 15 also speaks of the spiritual sacrifices when we do evangelism.

Revelation chapter 1, 5 and 10 speaks of the prayers of the saints as incense that come before the presence of God. It's speaking of spiritual sacrifices and all of that is true. But the substantial, the root of the sacrifice that we give unto God, it is our being entirely. Because each one of those things that we do individually and as a community, when we sing, when we praise, when we pray together, when we do evangelism, all of those things are sacrificial, spiritual sacrifices given unto God. But they have to be rooted in the giving of ourselves entirely to God.

in deciding to be taken entirely by Him. That when the world opposes our faith in Christ, that we are willing, because of Him, to follow Him. That when we come with the saints, and when we speak with the saints, and when we pray with the saints, and when we worship with the saints, what we care is about the life of the saints, so that they may become more like Jesus Christ, not about us. because we're given entirely ourselves to Christ, just as Christ gave Himself for the Church. Would you give yourself to Him, the One who gave His life for you, to give you eternal life, so that you may dwell in the eternal presence of God?

Would you give your life, your entire being to Him and not being conformed to the world? Because that is the spiritual sacrifice, brothers and sisters, that is acceptable to God, the one that is in Christ Jesus. May He give us grace. Amen.