Post by beloved on Nov 3, 2006 15:17:05 GMT -5
We have been made priests unto God and every one of us believers (male and female) have only one Priest; one mediator between us and God- Jesus.
NKJV
I. Peter 2:5;9
You also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.... But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Who we are in Christ is always directed to every believer because we are all co-heirs with Christ Jesus and, "there is neither male nor female.. in Christ (Galatians 3:28). Both male and female have been fully redeemed by our Savior, and both male and female share equally in all the authority, position, privileges, rights, and commission of Christ. We are all part of one body of Christ. We are all the clay that the potter molds to make us fit for His use to expand the Kingdom of God.
It has been wrongly taught in the body of Christ that the husband is the priest of the home and therefore the spiritual head as well. This teaching denies women their blood bought right to their own personal access to God and responsibility to follow God's leading in their lives in every area. You CAN NOT find anywhere in the Old Testament or New that declares that the husband is the sole priest of the home, therefore making HIM instead of JESUS the mediator between his wife, children, and God. This teaching is steeped in idolatry, wickedness, and cultish control.
J. Lee Grady in "10 Lies the Church Tells Women"
Under the Old Covenant, before the redemptive work of Christ and the advent of the Holy Spirit, God dealt with people through priests that represented the people of Israel to God. These priests offered sacrifices of animals to symbolically atone for the sins of the people. Their work was only a forsehadowing of our High Priest, Jesus. Jesus is the High Priest of the New Covenant:
Hebrews 8:1-13 (NIV)
The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at he right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man. Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain." But the ministry Jesus has received is a superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said: "The time is coming, declared the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord.' because they will ALL know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
What is the purpose of our priesthood today then?
To offer ourselves as living sacrifices unto God to do what is pleasing and honorable to him; to produce fruit unto good works. We are to offer ourselves, our lives as living sacrifices to God to do whatever HE calls us to do. It is our individual responsibility to heed God's personal call on our lives and sacrifice what we must to do so. The whole of I. Peter is talking about as how we are to make sacrifices in our lives so that the furthering of the work of Christ will be more possible. It is talking about treating others as you would be treated even if they are being cruel, so that they may be won over to the Lord and do right. It's talking about living in such a way that pagans and unbelievers will see your Christ like behavior and good deeds and glorify God.
In 1. Peter 3: 7 we see that women are co-heirs with all the men. Peter reveals here that women are on equal footing, and have equal value and rights with God. "Husbands, in the same way be considerate to your wives..... heirs with you of the gracious gift of life...
Under the Old Testament, God limited His guiding, leading, and anointing to the priests in Israel. In the New Testament ALL believers have been given the Holy Spirit's power, as well as full access to God. (See Ephesians 1:17, NKJV). We do not have to seek out a prophet, priest, pastor, evangelist, teacher, or men to know God's will and direction in our lives, nor to obtain their stamp of approval; instead we have direct access to the throne of grace through our one and ONLY mediator, priest, master, and teacher- Jesus Christ. Jesus has given all believers eternal access into the presence of God and the vail that seperated us from Him has been torn asunder. (See Matthew 27:51).
Now we as priests do not offer sacrifice for our sins to God, but the gift of ourselves upon His holy alter. We cannot offer anyone else upon that alter, nor can they offer us. We are all responsible and will stand personal account before God. Our husbands, wives, children, and pastors will not stand account for us. We alone we stand account for our own selves. And Jesus is our mediator on earth and in heaven; not any man or woman. It is through his shed blood that we can stand in God's presence.
Millions of Christian men today believe their spirituality is measured by the level of firm control they can exert over their wives through "male headship", and they base their beliefs on a wrong interpretation of scripture. J. Lee Grady in "10 Lies the Church Tells Women".
J. Lee Grady in "10 Lies the Church Tells Women.
Ephesians chapter five is not about hierarchy, it is about equality. Only with the help of sinful men have passages about husbands and wives been mistranslated and twisted to meet their arrogant purposes. Ephesians 5 is actually about a husband voluntarily "redeeming" his wife back to a place of equality with him as Eve was with Adam before the fall; Just as Christ has redeemed his bride to equal standing with him by way of shared position, power, rights, and heir.
J. Lee Grady.
God does not segregate us by single/married; white/black; male/female. When a man and woman get married, the woman's ability to hear from God is not disconnected, neither is her rights, position, and authority in Jesus surrendered as she gives vows to her husband.
It is evil sent straight from hell to hold women under tyrant control, insisting on your own way and calling it God. According to 2. Cor. 13 God's love NEVER insists on its own way. Christ's body is not divided into male and female, but works as a whole to accomplish God's will and callings on earth. Husband and wife are to be ONE. They can not be one and be divided into master and slave; leader and follower; head and heel; superior and subordinate. The man is not the head of Christ's body (Jesus is) and the woman is not Jesus' sole of his foot.
When it comes to a woman's life in general, or in her spiritual life, no husband has the right to stand in his wives way and bully her into submission. Wives, you are responsible to heed God's call and will for your life. Don't you dare excuse yourself or disobey God because you have been told that your husband is your god.
It is not your husband that you will answer to in heaven; it is your Savior and Lord. Only HE is your Lord. In your life it is important to treat your husband's opinion with careful consideration and respect, but when it comes to spiritual things you must follow God alone. Jesus is the mediator between you and the Father, not your husband.
J. Lee Grady
It also happens when we place others judgment of what we are to do for God above God's call for us. We need women now who are consumed with God's purposes; women who will not allow anyone or anything stop them from obeying their Heavenly Father. If you must choose between man and God, you best choose God. If He is telling you to do something, he is not going to wait for man's approval of His will for you. How astoundingly arrogant of men to assume such a role to usurp God's will and relegate their own in it's stead.
I suggest that both men and women that read this study the lives of 16th century Teresa of Avila; 19th century missionary Amanda Smith; Madame Jeanne Guyon (a French catholic); of Quaker leader Margaret Fell (1614- 1702); and Methodist evangelist Sarah Crosby. In today's times Christ's ministry to the world without women like Marilyn Hickey, Katherine Khulman, and Joyce Meyers would be incomplete. Be on the lookout and pray for Billy Graham's daughter to step into the place God has called her to.
We are all priests unto God, with a holy purpose. Seek that calling out and step out on faith to fulfill it.
NKJV
I. Peter 2:5;9
You also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.... But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Who we are in Christ is always directed to every believer because we are all co-heirs with Christ Jesus and, "there is neither male nor female.. in Christ (Galatians 3:28). Both male and female have been fully redeemed by our Savior, and both male and female share equally in all the authority, position, privileges, rights, and commission of Christ. We are all part of one body of Christ. We are all the clay that the potter molds to make us fit for His use to expand the Kingdom of God.
It has been wrongly taught in the body of Christ that the husband is the priest of the home and therefore the spiritual head as well. This teaching denies women their blood bought right to their own personal access to God and responsibility to follow God's leading in their lives in every area. You CAN NOT find anywhere in the Old Testament or New that declares that the husband is the sole priest of the home, therefore making HIM instead of JESUS the mediator between his wife, children, and God. This teaching is steeped in idolatry, wickedness, and cultish control.
To believe that husbands function as representatives of their wives before God is to believe that women need a mediator other than Christ- and that is the very heresy that sparked the Protestant Reformation!
Under the Old Covenant, before the redemptive work of Christ and the advent of the Holy Spirit, God dealt with people through priests that represented the people of Israel to God. These priests offered sacrifices of animals to symbolically atone for the sins of the people. Their work was only a forsehadowing of our High Priest, Jesus. Jesus is the High Priest of the New Covenant:
Hebrews 8:1-13 (NIV)
The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at he right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man. Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain." But the ministry Jesus has received is a superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said: "The time is coming, declared the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord.' because they will ALL know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
What is the purpose of our priesthood today then?
To offer ourselves as living sacrifices unto God to do what is pleasing and honorable to him; to produce fruit unto good works. We are to offer ourselves, our lives as living sacrifices to God to do whatever HE calls us to do. It is our individual responsibility to heed God's personal call on our lives and sacrifice what we must to do so. The whole of I. Peter is talking about as how we are to make sacrifices in our lives so that the furthering of the work of Christ will be more possible. It is talking about treating others as you would be treated even if they are being cruel, so that they may be won over to the Lord and do right. It's talking about living in such a way that pagans and unbelievers will see your Christ like behavior and good deeds and glorify God.
In 1. Peter 3: 7 we see that women are co-heirs with all the men. Peter reveals here that women are on equal footing, and have equal value and rights with God. "Husbands, in the same way be considerate to your wives..... heirs with you of the gracious gift of life...
Under the Old Testament, God limited His guiding, leading, and anointing to the priests in Israel. In the New Testament ALL believers have been given the Holy Spirit's power, as well as full access to God. (See Ephesians 1:17, NKJV). We do not have to seek out a prophet, priest, pastor, evangelist, teacher, or men to know God's will and direction in our lives, nor to obtain their stamp of approval; instead we have direct access to the throne of grace through our one and ONLY mediator, priest, master, and teacher- Jesus Christ. Jesus has given all believers eternal access into the presence of God and the vail that seperated us from Him has been torn asunder. (See Matthew 27:51).
Now we as priests do not offer sacrifice for our sins to God, but the gift of ourselves upon His holy alter. We cannot offer anyone else upon that alter, nor can they offer us. We are all responsible and will stand personal account before God. Our husbands, wives, children, and pastors will not stand account for us. We alone we stand account for our own selves. And Jesus is our mediator on earth and in heaven; not any man or woman. It is through his shed blood that we can stand in God's presence.
Millions of Christian men today believe their spirituality is measured by the level of firm control they can exert over their wives through "male headship", and they base their beliefs on a wrong interpretation of scripture.
The rigid, partriarchal view of the Christian family says that men have been placed in the God-ordained role of full-time boss and provider. The husband's role, according to the conservative religious model, is to lead and protect his wife, while her role is to trust him and submit to his authority at all times without question. Since he is supposedly smarter, stronger and more spiritually capable, the woman has no option but to accept her inferior status.
Ephesians chapter five is not about hierarchy, it is about equality. Only with the help of sinful men have passages about husbands and wives been mistranslated and twisted to meet their arrogant purposes. Ephesians 5 is actually about a husband voluntarily "redeeming" his wife back to a place of equality with him as Eve was with Adam before the fall; Just as Christ has redeemed his bride to equal standing with him by way of shared position, power, rights, and heir.
Many traditionalists act as if only the husband has full access to God's presence. How ridiculous and arrogant!
J. Lee Grady.
God does not segregate us by single/married; white/black; male/female. When a man and woman get married, the woman's ability to hear from God is not disconnected, neither is her rights, position, and authority in Jesus surrendered as she gives vows to her husband.
It is evil sent straight from hell to hold women under tyrant control, insisting on your own way and calling it God. According to 2. Cor. 13 God's love NEVER insists on its own way. Christ's body is not divided into male and female, but works as a whole to accomplish God's will and callings on earth. Husband and wife are to be ONE. They can not be one and be divided into master and slave; leader and follower; head and heel; superior and subordinate. The man is not the head of Christ's body (Jesus is) and the woman is not Jesus' sole of his foot.
When it comes to a woman's life in general, or in her spiritual life, no husband has the right to stand in his wives way and bully her into submission. Wives, you are responsible to heed God's call and will for your life. Don't you dare excuse yourself or disobey God because you have been told that your husband is your god.
It is not your husband that you will answer to in heaven; it is your Savior and Lord. Only HE is your Lord. In your life it is important to treat your husband's opinion with careful consideration and respect, but when it comes to spiritual things you must follow God alone. Jesus is the mediator between you and the Father, not your husband.
It sounds so spiritual! But although it is admirable for a woman to love and trust her husband, submissiveness can actually become a form of idolatry. This happens any time we place a human relationship above our relationship with God.
It also happens when we place others judgment of what we are to do for God above God's call for us. We need women now who are consumed with God's purposes; women who will not allow anyone or anything stop them from obeying their Heavenly Father. If you must choose between man and God, you best choose God. If He is telling you to do something, he is not going to wait for man's approval of His will for you. How astoundingly arrogant of men to assume such a role to usurp God's will and relegate their own in it's stead.
I suggest that both men and women that read this study the lives of 16th century Teresa of Avila; 19th century missionary Amanda Smith; Madame Jeanne Guyon (a French catholic); of Quaker leader Margaret Fell (1614- 1702); and Methodist evangelist Sarah Crosby. In today's times Christ's ministry to the world without women like Marilyn Hickey, Katherine Khulman, and Joyce Meyers would be incomplete. Be on the lookout and pray for Billy Graham's daughter to step into the place God has called her to.
We are all priests unto God, with a holy purpose. Seek that calling out and step out on faith to fulfill it.
