The High Priesthood of Jesus
For consideration; in an attempt to satisfy Scripture’s declaration and undercurrents regarding the perseverance of the believer in Jesus (under God’s grace alone, despite our freedoms in our will), the warnings of damnation for apostates, and while under the viewpoint of Jesus’ Priesthood, see this:
Our Mediator
Christ our Salvation, as the Mediator between God and these of the fallen flesh, taking possession of us in our representation before the Throne;
Our Lifeline
as we are surely here in this violent kingdom under Satan’s temporary dominion, while yet too we do cling to the unbreakable Lifeline of our Saviour, Who sustains us and makes us useful in service to Him while we remain here;
Our High Priest, of which the Moses’ faithful work was modeled
that this Life Line was presented, no, lashed to us at our Regeneration, and now remains as our sure Hope because of His office of Most High Priest in the Most Holy Sanctuary at God’s right hand. This Priesthood demands our understanding and recognition if we are to have any hope of successfully navigating our walk, or have any measure of the holiness we are commanded to embody. This Priesthood is the perfect truth upon which Moses was to fashion Israel’s foundations as servants of God – the earthly Sanctuary; the Aaronic priesthood; the sacrifices; the Law – these have not been put away, but instead have been fully established and now realized in the Work and Person of Jesus, the Son of God, made manifest as one of us. The Priesthood continues yet today through Jesus alone, and we must realize this and live accordingly if we are to stand as holy before God.
Our continual need for a Priest
Thus, we shall not fall away, yet we also must not ignorantly rest in our sin (rendering ineffective our walk and good service) but instead cling to our High Priest and seek continual restoration through active recognition, confession, and repentance of our sin, made possible through the perpetually sufficient Sacrifice of Jesus’ Blood.
To stand before God effectively, we must be purified again and again of our continuing sin
It is true that God Almighty cannot look upon sin – ‘His eyes are too pure’ – and so it is yet today in this Age of Redemption. Is it dangerous to believe that once we have received Christ that all sin is now forgiven, and thus we can stand in assurance of our righteousness before our Holy God? No, I don’t believe so. True, we have forgiveness through Christ’s forgiveness, but remember that we are yet sinful in this flesh, and tomorrow, yes, even today, we will likely commit sin.
Confession and belief is the beginning, but utilizing our Priest is the rest of the issue
However, we are still burdened with our sin until we turn back to Jesus every time, to recognize, confess, repent from our sin, and thus have the righteousness through our faith in His response. Thus, we must renew our righteousness over and over again in order to be seen as so before God, not just resting in our simple confession in Christ! Unless we continually shed our sin through His forgiveness, through the Office and Function of His High Priesthood, we cannot expect to stand before God and be blessed and be heard in our prayer. We must first, again, be made right to God through His High Priest, our Salvation, Jesus.
The works we were Saved for require our good preparation to approach God, in the name of our Priest’s Salvation
To say that we are made righteous to stand before God for now and forever through our confession in Christ is only a half-truth, and does not agree with the Mighty Declaration of the Scriptures. Instead, we need to see Jesus the Priest, as did the Jews to whom He came as their Answer. And in seeing Him so, we must continually utilize the gift of the reconciliation through the Work of our Priest, Who today and forever stands as our Bridge to God. We must be slaves in service to the God Who loved us first. To do so, we must be flush in His Spirit’s edification and power, also utilizing the means He has granted us, His children, as we may now stand before His Throne in appeal. And in order to do this, we must be clean. This is the reason for Jesus, and the reason we worship Him. He is the Means we have received to carry out our central purpose – our joyful, useful bond slavery to the benevolent God of all Creation, not just the revel of our escape from Hell, and His love for us. Our view of Salvation and its purpose must be God-centered, not stopping on the benefits it conveys to us.