Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
The doctrine of election, Part 20. The equal privilege of election manifested by the universal priesthood of every Church-age believer.
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Point 10. The Equal Privilege of Election Manifested by the Universal Priesthood of Every Church-age Believer.
GAL 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all equal in Christ Jesus.
Never before the Church-age and never after the Rapture is there ever another universal priesthood; it is only for us in the Church-age –
the dispensation of personal responsibility.
A priest is a human being who represents people before God. In the Church-age, since every believer is a priest, every believer represents himself before God.
You are responsible for: every thought you think,
every motive you have,
every good decision you make,
and every action you take, good or bad.
He made you a priest so that you could represent yourself before Him.
Acts 20:35 – God derives more pleasure from “giving to us” than He does from “receiving from us.”
MAT 23:9 “And do not call {anyone} on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.”
Peter was the first to teach the doctrine of the royal priesthood of the believer around 65 AD, 1PE 2:5,9.
As a royal priest, every believer has a direct line to God, which means he represents himself before God, he evaluates himself, and he offers prayer for himself.
To learn Bible doctrine under the principle of perception requires a tremendous amount of objectivity.
JOH 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
ROM 12:5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
HEB 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory,
“His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure,” EPH 1:5.
He identifies Himself in family terms: Father, Son, and Spirit.
He did not need a family – He desired one, so He devised a plan to create us, bring us into His family, and share with us all He has.
The moment you were spiritually born into God’s family, you were given some astounding birthday gifts: the family name, the family likeness, family privileges, family intimate access, and the family inheritance.
GAL 4:7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
EPH 1:18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
1. We will get to be with God forever.
2. We will be completely changed to be like Christ.
3. We will be freed from all pain, death, and suffering.
4. We will be rewarded and reassigned positions of service.
5. We will get to share in Christ’s glory.
The believer-priest cannot account for his thoughts, motives, decisions, or actions in undefinable terms.
Under the privacy of your priesthood, you must be able to define your life in terms of the PPOG – you must learn the technical language and vocabulary.
The royal priest’s self-improvement is based on the function of perception of doctrine, not upon the advice and counsel of others.
No believer can think, apply doctrine, or solve problems through the mind or the personality of another Christian.
To the extent that we seek counsel or advice, we are not getting enough doctrine or we are not using our own doctrine.
Under the privacy of your priesthood, you have the right to assemble with other believers in a group, where your privacy is respected, to learn doctrine from your pastor-teacher.