Imagine yourself living in the days of Moses, you're living your life, following this guy that drove you out of slavery, and you have seen God's hand at work. You crossed a parted sea which closed behind you, you have seen bread appear from nothing, and water pour from a dry rock. You have no doubt, God's with your people. So now this prophet goes to mount Sinai, you hear thunder and rain, days passes and no one hears from this guy... food starts lacking, so does water, so you and everyone around pulls together and does what you have learned in Egypt, you make a statue for a God, and you worship it in order to see if you can ease the situation, The God of Abraham,The great I AM seems to have left your side.
Here comes Moses! he finally comes back, he's angry, he's angry at the idol, he tells you that you should have trusted the God of Israel, this so called YHWH. Years pass, your whole society has been restructured, each year, the priests, those that live closer to God according to Moses, offer the Lord a sacrifice, a goat, and then another is cast away into the wilderness carrying the sins of the nation, you are continually worried about not touching impure animals, nor to touch impure substances, however this is almost impossible, so you are constantly living in a ritualistic impure state, being cleansed every so often. This God, The God of Israel protects you and your nation, but no sacrifice seems to be enough, even priests sometimes make mistakes, you wonder, is a life of cleaning rituals and sacrifices all there is? Will this God be ever satisfied?
Fast forwards some more time, you now live in the promise land, you are part of the Kingdom of Judah, your kingdom is better than the Kingdom of Israel (the Northern Kingdom), but you still aren't perfect... your Kings keep the law of Moses, but not perfectly, Prophets spring up now and then... until one day your nation is sent into exile into Babylon as holy punishment for your wickedness, How Can this be?! Have you not offered your Tithe? Have you not been ritually cleaned more times you can count? Have you not offered enough sacrifices? The prophets say that God is taking care of his people, that this punishment wont last, but how can this be?
We are now in Judea, the Roman province, Pontius Pilate reign over the promise land, Centuries have past since Moses first said YHWH was to free the Jews, yet nothing has been further from the truth you think, Prophets have talked of a Messiah, of a Son of David that would free the Jews, you cant believe it, it cant be the truth! How many "Liberations" have to occur until the people of the Lord are going to be truly free?
Then, something changes, you feel something in the air, a crow flocks together, you hear praises, you hear the Tanakh being recited, you hear screams; What is this? you ask to someone running to the crowd: "Its the Nazarene! The King of the Jews! The messiah has come!!" he says this but you dont believe it, you go though, you see him touch lepers and dinning with gentiles, what is this?! The law of Moses forbades such things! But he is not unclean now, the opposite happens, the leper becomes clean! He seems to be the real deal. All is good, until one day he is arrested, he is crucified, the hype dies down.
It happened again you think, another fake messiah, another failed liberation. You traveled with this Nazarene rabbi for 3 years, one day, days after his execution you are with the 12, and something happens, THE NAZARENE LIVES! HE IS ALIVE! He Must be the messiah, you saw him heal lepers, give blind people vision, and over all, you saw him die, and now he walks amongst you, but one thing is different, he says that no sacrifices have to be made anymore, He cleaned your sins forever, He is Lord.
I hope you imagined what I just described, the last scenario, the doubt, the awe, the revolutionary thing to be for no more sacrifices to be needed is exactly what people felt. Throughout history, Jews had been taught that they had to offer sacrifice, Sin had to be atoned with blood, but no offering seemed to last, many had spoken in the name of God, but none seemed to have the authority, all of them were sinners at one point or another, yet this Nazarene that perfectly fits the prophecies, now says HE IS Lord, HE IS King, He calms the storm with his voice, thing that only God can do. And on top of that, He says He is all of the above, and he dies to be the perfect sacrifice, God becoming human, Coming to earth, living among us and then allowing to be put to death, He spills his innocent and sinless blood in name of us, Sinful, guilty, broken people. Then it hits you, the sacrifices of Old, the commandments, the liberators that never delivered, they were not God failing, it was God teaching, teaching that we can't be pure, that we can't live in His presence, not on our own at least, we need to ask Him to forgive us, we need to be atoned for, we need someone to die, so that we might have eternal life in him, and God doesnt want a earthly lamb's blood, He sent his begotten son, Himself, as the perfect lamb, to first teach us, to show us the ways of God, of love, of patience, of peaceful minds and hearts, of thankfulness, and that if we accept God's sacrifice, we are cleaned by His sacrifice. I hope you remember how God calls Abraham to sacrifice his own son, yet he stops him, and offers Abraham a lamb, saying, in this metaphor "The sacrifice will not be human, will not be a mere son of man, but the perfect lamb" This is a direct arrow to Jesus, The son of man for sure, but also the Son of God, Fully God, Fully human, being capable of being temped, and temped indeed when he was the weakest, not baptized, starved for 40 days and 40 nights, yet he never sinned.
This is the true power behind the sacrifice of Jesus, all of the animal sacrifice, all of the temporary atonement were a simply, "Guys, see? no earthly blood will save you, none, MY sacrifice at YOUR hands will though".
Also its powerful, because it also implies "Guys, doing as pagans do wont do you no good"
Galatians 3:19-22 puts it very clearly, Priests, offerings (works) and all of that has been done with, nothing can save you but the faith in Jesus.
Yet, we see Jesus not only say "I forgive your sins" but also reinforce that He is the Lord by instead of saying "Guys, I'm doing as levitical priest do!" He said "well, which is easier to say? You are forgiven or giving a paralytic his legs again?" and then Doing just that. Mark 2:5-12
Finally, also 1 peter Chaper 2 speaks about how we all are holy, about how all are priests to God, to stop evil doing and living in sin because we are God's priests, basically, saying, If you follow Christ, you are his priest, period.
For the text of 1 peter 2:4-5:
Here comes Moses! he finally comes back, he's angry, he's angry at the idol, he tells you that you should have trusted the God of Israel, this so called YHWH. Years pass, your whole society has been restructured, each year, the priests, those that live closer to God according to Moses, offer the Lord a sacrifice, a goat, and then another is cast away into the wilderness carrying the sins of the nation, you are continually worried about not touching impure animals, nor to touch impure substances, however this is almost impossible, so you are constantly living in a ritualistic impure state, being cleansed every so often. This God, The God of Israel protects you and your nation, but no sacrifice seems to be enough, even priests sometimes make mistakes, you wonder, is a life of cleaning rituals and sacrifices all there is? Will this God be ever satisfied?
Fast forwards some more time, you now live in the promise land, you are part of the Kingdom of Judah, your kingdom is better than the Kingdom of Israel (the Northern Kingdom), but you still aren't perfect... your Kings keep the law of Moses, but not perfectly, Prophets spring up now and then... until one day your nation is sent into exile into Babylon as holy punishment for your wickedness, How Can this be?! Have you not offered your Tithe? Have you not been ritually cleaned more times you can count? Have you not offered enough sacrifices? The prophets say that God is taking care of his people, that this punishment wont last, but how can this be?
We are now in Judea, the Roman province, Pontius Pilate reign over the promise land, Centuries have past since Moses first said YHWH was to free the Jews, yet nothing has been further from the truth you think, Prophets have talked of a Messiah, of a Son of David that would free the Jews, you cant believe it, it cant be the truth! How many "Liberations" have to occur until the people of the Lord are going to be truly free?
Then, something changes, you feel something in the air, a crow flocks together, you hear praises, you hear the Tanakh being recited, you hear screams; What is this? you ask to someone running to the crowd: "Its the Nazarene! The King of the Jews! The messiah has come!!" he says this but you dont believe it, you go though, you see him touch lepers and dinning with gentiles, what is this?! The law of Moses forbades such things! But he is not unclean now, the opposite happens, the leper becomes clean! He seems to be the real deal. All is good, until one day he is arrested, he is crucified, the hype dies down.
It happened again you think, another fake messiah, another failed liberation. You traveled with this Nazarene rabbi for 3 years, one day, days after his execution you are with the 12, and something happens, THE NAZARENE LIVES! HE IS ALIVE! He Must be the messiah, you saw him heal lepers, give blind people vision, and over all, you saw him die, and now he walks amongst you, but one thing is different, he says that no sacrifices have to be made anymore, He cleaned your sins forever, He is Lord.
I hope you imagined what I just described, the last scenario, the doubt, the awe, the revolutionary thing to be for no more sacrifices to be needed is exactly what people felt. Throughout history, Jews had been taught that they had to offer sacrifice, Sin had to be atoned with blood, but no offering seemed to last, many had spoken in the name of God, but none seemed to have the authority, all of them were sinners at one point or another, yet this Nazarene that perfectly fits the prophecies, now says HE IS Lord, HE IS King, He calms the storm with his voice, thing that only God can do. And on top of that, He says He is all of the above, and he dies to be the perfect sacrifice, God becoming human, Coming to earth, living among us and then allowing to be put to death, He spills his innocent and sinless blood in name of us, Sinful, guilty, broken people. Then it hits you, the sacrifices of Old, the commandments, the liberators that never delivered, they were not God failing, it was God teaching, teaching that we can't be pure, that we can't live in His presence, not on our own at least, we need to ask Him to forgive us, we need to be atoned for, we need someone to die, so that we might have eternal life in him, and God doesnt want a earthly lamb's blood, He sent his begotten son, Himself, as the perfect lamb, to first teach us, to show us the ways of God, of love, of patience, of peaceful minds and hearts, of thankfulness, and that if we accept God's sacrifice, we are cleaned by His sacrifice. I hope you remember how God calls Abraham to sacrifice his own son, yet he stops him, and offers Abraham a lamb, saying, in this metaphor "The sacrifice will not be human, will not be a mere son of man, but the perfect lamb" This is a direct arrow to Jesus, The son of man for sure, but also the Son of God, Fully God, Fully human, being capable of being temped, and temped indeed when he was the weakest, not baptized, starved for 40 days and 40 nights, yet he never sinned.
This is the true power behind the sacrifice of Jesus, all of the animal sacrifice, all of the temporary atonement were a simply, "Guys, see? no earthly blood will save you, none, MY sacrifice at YOUR hands will though".
Also its powerful, because it also implies "Guys, doing as pagans do wont do you no good"
Galatians 3:19-22 puts it very clearly, Priests, offerings (works) and all of that has been done with, nothing can save you but the faith in Jesus.
"Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.
(20) Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.
(21) Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.
(22) But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
Isnt it clear then? Sacrifices, priests, those were arrows pointing at Jesus, showing that we can't be saved alone, the Israelites had direct signs of God, from being guided by a cloud touching earth, to bread that would appear in the morning, and completely rot at night. Yet they couldn't stay in a state of cleanliness for too long, however, Jesus came, God came down, as John 1 says "In the beginning there was the Word, and the Word as with God, and the Word was God" and the in John 1:14 says "And the word became flesh, and came and dwelt among us".
Today, Sacrifices are futile, are nothing more than pagan doing, God gave his only begotten son up, Jesus, Son of God, Son of Man, fully Human and Fully God, spilled his blood, He is the perfect sacrifice, and through him we are cleansed, that's also why Priests like the priests of old are no longer needed, we are all capable of living in the presence of God, thanks to Jesus' sacrifice. Like it says the law was put and kept by intermediaries, but Jesus came to fulfill such law, to give the ultimate sacrifice, to be the ultimate priest, to not follow the law, but to fulfill it, literally check each checkbox not as an ongoing ritual that must be performed each year or each time you become impure, but to do it once and forever.
Today, Sacrifices are futile, are nothing more than pagan doing, God gave his only begotten son up, Jesus, Son of God, Son of Man, fully Human and Fully God, spilled his blood, He is the perfect sacrifice, and through him we are cleansed, that's also why Priests like the priests of old are no longer needed, we are all capable of living in the presence of God, thanks to Jesus' sacrifice. Like it says the law was put and kept by intermediaries, but Jesus came to fulfill such law, to give the ultimate sacrifice, to be the ultimate priest, to not follow the law, but to fulfill it, literally check each checkbox not as an ongoing ritual that must be performed each year or each time you become impure, but to do it once and forever.
Many will say "We still need priests" this are either Catholics, Mormons, or some protestants. To this, I ask why? Having been a catholic for 10 years, I can answer the regular catholic answer, and having also almost been a Mormon I can Kinda deduce their answer, and those protestant denominations that still employ priest usually use the same arguments as Catholics
Catholics will say "We need Priesthood to bless mass, to represent Christ and God on earth, to absolve sin, and many more things, after all, Jesus Gave authority to the apostles, and then they gave it to others, and so on through the lineage of Catholic priests"
Mormons will probably say "We need Priesthood as to allow the holy spirit to enter us through them, to be an intermediary between the "Unclean" believer and God, God's presence is so full of goodness that its just too much for us, that is even why non Mormons cant go in the temple! its just too holy. Priests represent God on earth."
To you guys, I first say, by no means I condemn you, as I have previously say, we are all brothers and we serve to the best of our ability. But I wanna illustrate the idea of anyone, mormon or not, catholic or not, that believes that priesthood is needed that one thing is very clear for me at least, Priests are not needed anymore.
In 1 Corinthians 3:11:
Mormons will probably say "We need Priesthood as to allow the holy spirit to enter us through them, to be an intermediary between the "Unclean" believer and God, God's presence is so full of goodness that its just too much for us, that is even why non Mormons cant go in the temple! its just too holy. Priests represent God on earth."
To you guys, I first say, by no means I condemn you, as I have previously say, we are all brothers and we serve to the best of our ability. But I wanna illustrate the idea of anyone, mormon or not, catholic or not, that believes that priesthood is needed that one thing is very clear for me at least, Priests are not needed anymore.
In 1 Corinthians 3:11:
"And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."
Also, only God can forgive sins as said in Isiah 43:35:
"I, I am he
who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins"
And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
(6) Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts,
(7)“Why does this man speak like that?
He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
(8) And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them,
“Why do you question these things in your hearts?
(9) Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’?
(10) But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”
—he said to the paralytic—
(11) “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.”
(12) And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all [...]
Finally, also 1 peter Chaper 2 speaks about how we all are holy, about how all are priests to God, to stop evil doing and living in sin because we are God's priests, basically, saying, If you follow Christ, you are his priest, period.
For the text of 1 peter 2:4-5:
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, (5) 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.
My brothers and sisters, what Good news the bible brings! We are sanctified, justified (which justified in the greek text is also Pardoned, cleaned from wrongdoing) We are ALL Sanctified, not just the ones of us who are ordained, not only priests. All of us. Jesus is the perfect priest, the perfect sacrifice as well. We are forgiven, we are cleaned, we already have the human that can forgive sins (the only one that can do such thing), we already have the person that has lived a life devoted to God and to be Sinless, He's a Nazarene by the Name of Jesus Christ. The only one that forgives us, the only one that can. No sacrifice, Priest or Work can Save you But Faith in Jesus Christ.
One thing needs to be said explicitly, Priesthood is not a bad thing per se, I'm not saying having priests is necessary either, but only that they have no special closeness to God, so a pastor is no different that the congregation, except that he leads the church, has met certain criteria to lead the church if it is an established
denomination or religion like lets say Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Catholics, Mormons, etc.
But in case of lets say you, my reader, living in a small 5000 people town, and no churches already there, no ordained pastor in town or anything, and you wish to form your own, you form a congregation and eventually batize someone yourself, is as much a baptism at the Eyes of God as a Priest-led baptism for the above passages in the scripture.
May God Bless y'all
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