Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20050130.htm

APPLYING OUR CHURCH'S STATEMENT OF BIBLICAL FAITH
Article III, Part X Of The Nepaug Bible Church Bylaws: The Priesthood Of The Believer
(Acts 4:12; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 Peter 2:9; Romans 12:1-2; Acts 5:29)
  1. Introduction
    1. Some in Christendom assert God established a hierarchy in the Church where some believers are part of a priesthood that mediates between a "laity" and God; the members of this priesthood allegedly can remit the sins of the laity as God when laymen confess their sins to them in the confessional, and that even if the moral character of the priest involved is woefully lacking, L. Boettner, Roman Catholicism, p. 43-54.
    2. In contrast to this view, Article III, Part X of our Church Bylaws reads: "We believe that each believer is equal with every other believer in his spiritual position in Jesus Christ so that his sole mediator with God on all matters of faith and practice is the Lord Jesus Christ. As believer-priests, we believe that the Bible is the sole authority of the believer's faith and practice so that any and all other entities are subject to the authority of the Word of God. As believer-priests, we are called to proclaim to the world the excellencies of God's salvation." We view Scripture passages from which this statement of faith has been formulated:
  2. The Priesthood Of The Believer, Acts 4:12; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 Peter 2:9; Romans 12:1-2; Acts 5:29.
    1. On the one hand, God has established elders and pastors in the local church for the sake of order and the ministry of the Church as it holds forth the Word of God, Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 5:1-4; 2 Timothy 4:1-2.
    2. However, no human being is a mediator for any other human before God when it comes to matters of sin and forgiveness in faith and practice; that office belongs to Jesus Christ alone, 1 Timothy 2:5; Acts 4:12.
    3. For this reason, each believer finds God forgives sins he performs after salvation by his own confession of those sins in private prayer to God through his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, 1 John 1:9 with 2:1-2.
    4. Indeed, every believer is a priest and king unto God, so there is no "laity" class (1 Peter 2:9; Rev. 1:4-6), and every believer is responsible to obey God over all religious authorities to the contrary, Acts 5:27-29:
      1. When God set up the office of Israel's high priest, the holder of this office represented Israel before God in the holiest of holies that the nation's sins might be forgiven, cf. Lev. 16:21,29-32; Heb . 9:25.
      2. Yet, when the high priest himself and the Sanhedrin, Israel's highest religious body, told the Apostles to cease teaching about Christ, the Apostles said they had to obey God instead of them, Acts 5:27-29.
      3. That they took this stand shows each Christian is to obey God in all matters of faith and practice over all other religious leaders to the contrary when his own conscience under the Holy Spirit's leading in accord with God's Word indicates what he must do.
    5. Thus, every believer is to offer up to God the sacrifice of his body to be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God for matters of Christian life and service, Romans 12:1-2, 3-8.
    6. We then answer the opposing claim that Matthew 16:19; 18:18 and John 20:23 allegedly show Christ set up a priestly hierarchy in His Church that is to remit or retain sins of other people (as follows):
      1. We know from Mark 2:7 that only God can forgive sins; thus, these passages can not contradict this.
      2. Thus, we view claims raised to the contrary by references to Matthew 16:19; 18:18 and John 20:23:
        1. The words "shall be bound . . . shall be loosed" in Matthew 16:19 are better rendered "shall have been bound . . . shall have been loosed," so "Heaven, not the apostles, initiates all binding and loosing," cf. Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, footnote to Matthew 16:19.
        2. The same kind of re-translation is necessary for the words similarly rendered in Matthew 18:18, cf. English Standard Version footnotes and Ibid., Ryrie, footnote to Matthew 18:18.
        3. The verbs "remitted" and "retained" (KJV) in John 20:23 ["forgiven" and "not forgiven" NIV] are perfect passives in form (U.B.S. Grk. N.T., p. 409), meaning the disciples would (similarly) merely reflect the decisions God had already made on these matters, Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to John 20:23.
        4. So, the Apostles were not given power to forgive or retain sins, but to herald God's will about them!
Lesson: God did NOT establish a spiritual hierarchy in the Church: every believer has as his SOLE Mediator before God on ALL matters of faith and practice the Lord Jesus Christ. Each believer is then to offer up himself as a holy sacrifice in godly living and service to God, heeding human overseers God raises up in the Church for the sake of order on earth as Scripture dictates, but IN ACCORD with his OWN conscience under the LEADING of the Holy Spirit as he understands the Word of God.