Upon the ushering in of the New Testament dispensation, the Old Testament priesthood was on its way out. To finalize that Old Testament office, divine providence had it that Titus would march into Jerusalem, the temple would be destroyed and animal sacrifice suspended, thus bringing an end to the Old Testament priesthood.
From the beginning of the New Testament era, its church leaders were not referred to as priests, but were indiscriminately called bishops, presbyters, or elders. There were good reasons for this. The Old Testament Priest offered up sacrifices for the people, and in that sense became a mediator between them and God. After the ultimate sacrifice of our great High Priest, New Testament believers began to regard themselves as priests that offered sacrifices through Jesus Christ.
Over time there developed a break-down in the understanding of the role of our eternal High Priest and the equal access of believers to God. There developed an unscriptural distinction between the clergy and the laity, with the former being known as "sacertotes" who exercised a priestly function. This, in time lead to the priestly character of the higher clergy, and the sacrificial character of the mass.
God, in His wisdom and mercy, reached Martin Luther’s intellect, then his soul, and through him brought about the great reformation. One of the most basic tenants of that reformation was the teaching of the Universal Priesthood of the Believer. The Protestant Church has maintained this belief ever since. Though she has not wavered from this teaching, some branches of the modern-day church have begun to stray in practice from the fundamentals of that doctrine.
To better understand the implications of that doctrine, it is important to note that in the Bible we find that there is both a visible and invisible Church. The invisible church is made up of those who have placed their faith in Jesus our High Priest, and through divine power have passed from death unto life and from the power of Satan unto God. It is an invisible Church, because its legitimacy is based upon an inward relationship with Jesus Christ which is not visible to the human eye.
The visible church, on the other hand, though it should, does not always consist of the same. It is that structured body of worshipers that is made up of prophets, teachers, evangelists , layman, etc. It does not of necessity have a civil entity, but it is structured as a body of worshipers generally under the leadership of a shepherd, but always under the headship of Jesus Christ and His written Word.
Where some of us have again begun to stray from Scripture and the fundamentals of the reformation is in the assumption that the visible church has a divinely-ascribed legislative authority. This is precisely where the old Roman Church went astray. Actually it went astray on two pivotal points: the mediatorial role that the high clergy took upon itself, and the attribution of legislative authority to the visible Church. Let there be no misunderstanding. There is a place for the outlining of what we believe to be taught in God’s Word as was done in both the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed, but the time for legislation is past, the Biblical Canon in complete.
Is there any reason for us to believe that by building upon the same false foundation as did the Roman church, our structure will be any more true than her’s? Those two false premises have lead that church far from God and truth, and it threatens to do the same to us as well. The doctrine of the Universal Priesthood of the Believer is clearly supported by Scripture, and has proven to be a safe haven for that visible church of the past, leaving no good reason for it’s abandonment now. If the study of history is to mean more to us than mere entertainment, it should be that we learn from the mistakes of the past and not repeat them.
