ARE MEMBERS OF THE BODY OF CHRIST PRIESTS?

By Mike Hammond – Out of Tradition Into Truth

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INTRODUCTION

Many sincere believers have been taught that all Christians today are “priests unto God,” forming what they call a “spiritual priesthood.” This doctrine is repeated in songs, sermons, and commentaries across denominational lines. However, this teaching does not come from Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles, but from Israel’s program under the law and prophecy. When we rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15), we find that the Body of Christ is not a priesthood, not a nation of priests, and not a continuation of Israel’s kingdom calling.

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ISRAEL’S PRIESTHOOD UNDER THE LAW

The first mention of a priesthood is found in God’s dealings with Israel. In Exodus 19:5–6, the Lord said to Moses:

“Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.”

This covenant was made with Israel, not with the Body of Christ. The priesthood was tied to their national identity, their law, their temple, and their covenant promises. The Levitical priests offered sacrifices, performed ordinances, and mediated between God and the people. Later, under the new covenant, Israel was again promised to be a kingdom of priests when the Messiah would reign (Isaiah 61:6; Ezekiel 44:15–16).

In prophecy, Israel’s priesthood was central to their role in blessing the nations. Zechariah 8:23 says, “In those days… ten men shall take hold… of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.” Israel’s priests would minister the law and knowledge of God to the Gentiles in the earthly kingdom.

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THE BODY OF CHRIST IS NOT A PRIESTHOOD

When Israel fell in unbelief, God set them aside temporarily (Romans 11:11). He revealed the mystery to Paul the dispensation of grace where there is neither Jew nor Gentile, circumcision nor uncircumcision (Colossians 3:11). In this present dispensation, there is no temple, no altar, no sacrifices, and no priesthood.

Paul never once calls members of the Body of Christ “priests.” Instead, he calls us ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). An ambassador represents a message of reconciliation, not a priestly system of mediation. A priest stands between God and men to offer sacrifices for sin, but an ambassador stands before men to announce that peace has already been made by the blood of Christ.

Paul taught that “through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father” (Ephesians 2:18). Under grace, every believer has direct access to God through the finished work of Christ. There is no need for a priestly mediator, because “there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). Christ is our only High Priest (Hebrews 4:14), and He needs no human assistants.

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MISUSED SCRIPTURES: 1 PETER 2:9

Many people point to 1 Peter 2:9 as proof that believers today are priests:

“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people…”

However, the context clearly shows that Peter is writing to the circumcision, not to the Gentile Body of Christ. The audience of 1 Peter 1:1 is “the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.” These were believing Jews scattered abroad, the remnant of Israel. Peter’s words match Exodus 19:6 word-for-word, proving that he was speaking about Israel’s covenant identity, not Paul’s mystery revelation.

When preachers apply this passage to the Body of Christ, they steal Israel’s promises and misapply prophecy. The Body of Christ is not an “holy nation.” We are a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17), seated in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6), and called with a heavenly vocation, not an earthly priestly one.

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THE PRIESTHOOD ENDED AT THE CROSS

The law required priests to offer continual sacrifices, but Christ offered one perfect sacrifice for sins forever. Hebrews 10:12 says, “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.” That act ended the need for all priestly mediators. Christ’s blood satisfied God’s justice once for all, and His resurrection guarantees eternal redemption.

To claim that we are priests today undermines the finished work of Christ and suggests that more mediators are needed. It also confuses Israel’s covenant program with the Body’s mystery program. The Body of Christ is not a nation with a priesthood; it is a spiritual organism united to its Head, Jesus Christ. We are complete in Him (Colossians 2:10).

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THE TRUE ROLE OF BELIEVERS TODAY

Members of the Body of Christ are not priests, but we do have a ministry. Our ministry is not sacrificial but evangelical, the ministry of reconciliation. Paul wrote, “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18).

This ministry has nothing to do with altars, robes, or rituals. It is about making known the gospel of the grace of God: that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day, and that salvation is by grace through faith alone in His shed blood (1 Corinthians 15:3–4; Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 2:8–9).

We are ambassadors, not priests. We represent heaven’s message of peace to a lost and dying world. We are not mediators between God and men, for Christ alone holds that role. We do not offer sacrifices for sin, because Christ has already paid it all.

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CONCLUSION

No, members of the Body of Christ are not priests. The priesthood belongs to Israel’s prophetic program under the law and the covenants. The Body of Christ belongs to the mystery program under grace and the revelation given to Paul. Israel’s priests ministered on earth; the Body of Christ is seated in heaven. Israel’s priests offered sacrifices; we proclaim reconciliation through the blood of the cross.

To teach that believers today are priests is to confuse prophecy with mystery, law with grace, and Israel with the Body of Christ. We are not a royal priesthood or an earthly nation of ministers. We are members of Christ’s Body, ambassadors of grace, and preachers of peace through His finished work. Our standing before God is not through a priesthood, it is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, who is our only High Priest, Mediator, and Savior.

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