Jesus is our High Priest. What does it mean? Based on Article 21 of the Belgic Confession this article explains the priesthood of Christ based on the satisfaction He rendered for the payment of our sins. 

Source: The Banner of Truth (NRC), 1979. 4 pages.

The Belgic Confession of Faith Article 21  The Priesthood of Christ, our Only High Priest, for Us

We know that Christ has three offices – Prophet, Priest and King. This article does not speak of His prophetical office, which is to make known the way of salvation, to preach the good tidings to the meek. Neither does it speak of Christ's kingly office, but tells us of His priestly office, which is the foundation of the prophetical and kingly offices. It reads, "We believe that Jesus Christ is ordained with an oath to be an everlasting High Priest, after the order of Melchisedec."

After Adam fell in Paradise there was no priest who could exist before god. Not only must sacrifices be brought to the altar, but the priest must also be clean and holy. Before the fall Adam had been a priest without sin, but after the fall he became unclean in thoughts, words and deeds. Therefore their offerings were also unclean before the Lord.

The Belgic Confession of Faith Art 21   The Priesthood of Christ, our Only High Priest, for UsGod's Word, and also this article, speak about two kinds of priests: one after the order of Melchisedec and the other after the order of Aaron. These two names should be well known to us. Aaron, the brother of Moses, was called by the Lord to be the first priest in Israel. This priesthood was only of the nation of the children of Israel. Accord­ing to the commandment of the Lord, the priests out of the tribe of Levi were about twenty years old when they came to the office. We do not find these restrictions in the priesthood after the order of Melchisedec; no nation, no family, no age is prescribed.

The priestly office in Israel pointed to Christ, Who would come in the fullness of time. The priestly order of Melchisedec excels that of Aaron. As we know, Christ was not born of the tribe of Levi, but of the kingly tribe of Judah. According to the Divine commands, the Lord Jesus could not be a priest in Israel; however, He was a priest, but then after the order of Melchisedec.

Who was Melchisedec? This man was King of Jerusalem and Priest of the Most High (Genesis 14:18). He had received this double office of the Lord in a special way according to God's eternal pleasure. This is the everlasting office which is given to Christ, as we read in Psalm 110:4, "The Lord has sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." It is a great comfort for the church if they may look by faith upon Christ and His sacrifice, which has an eternal value. He merited eternal life for His church, and in Him is the surety for soul and body, for time and eternity. He is unchangeable and faithful. Therefore, in order that Christ may become everything, the Lord brings His church to an end with everything of themselves.

Three types of work were performed by the priests – they brought sacrifices, prayed and blessed. We know that Christ brought the sacrifice of Himself. In Isaiah 53:10 there is written, "When Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand." In our article this is described as follows:

And that He hath presented Himself in our behalf before the Father, to appease His wrath by His full satisfaction, by offering Himself on the tree of the cross, and pouring out His precious blood to purge away our sins.

By transgressing the law and violating the justice of God, a sacrifice was necessary to make restoration in God's communion; His wrath had to be appeased. The wrath of God is not to be compared to the wrath of man; God hates and punishes sin. The Lord is the Lawgiver and requires an obedience to love God above all and our neighbor as ourselves. Only Adam and Eve in Paradise were able to perform this, but after the fall it was no longer possible and we were brought under the curse and wrath of God. Deliverance from the curse of the law is only possible if the law is perfectly kept and the attributes of God restored; it is only in this way that we can return into the communion with God.

The Belgic Confession of Faith Art 21   The Priesthood of Christ, our Only High Priest, for UsThe Old Testament Church was visibly taught to bring sacrifices; animals had to die. In this way a ceremonial satisfaction was given, which had no value for eternity, but it was a shadow of Christ's sacrifice. How did Christ execute His office as Priest? In His once offering up of Himself to satisfy the Divine justice and thus reconcile us with God. His satisfaction consists of two branches, His active and His passive obedience. In His active obedience He fulfilled all righteousness. Christ did everything which the law required. His holy life was a perfect commentary upon the law of God, and He obeyed the law for us.

This article does not speak of Christ's active obedience, but deals with His passive obedience – how He suffered and died. Why was this necessary? It was because we ate of the forbidden fruit, which was to be punished with the threefold death. After this sin was committed, the Lord did not immediately fulfil this punishment upon man; however, the seed of death is already present in man when he is born, and the spiritual death is also there at once. The temporal death will come at the end of our life and, if we are not reconciled with God, then the wrath of God will be fully revealed in our eternal death. A certain number of people out of the human race, known only to the Lord, will be saved by the merits of Christ, which satisfied all God's attributes.

Christ suffered all the days of His life, but especially at the end in Gethsemane and Golgotha. Oh, how He did suffer in soul and body together. It was not a mere appearance of suffering, but He suffered truly. The thought of this suffering, since He knew what would happen, made Christ sweat great drops of blood. Then followed the crucifixion, which is an ignominious, painful and accursed death. Would another death not be of the same effect? No! The crucifixion was a heathen punishment and the most dishonourable known. No Romans, but only slaves and great malefactors received such a punishment. Sometimes it happened in Israel that the body of a person who had been stoned to death was hung on a tree. But before the evening ended, it must be buried, otherwise the curse would rest upon the land.

So Christ became a curse for His people to free them from the curse of the law. He did not suffer for His own sin, but for the sin of His people. The unrighteousness of His people is laid upon Him, but He is clean. As Judah gave himself for Benjamin, so Christ gave Himself for His elect. What a privilege when we may know something of His Mediatorial work for our personal lives. We were and are disobedient, and will it be well, then we need such a perfect and obedient Mediator as Christ was.

Although Christ was without sin, He yet had to suffer as Mediator for His people. God the Father, as Judge, had to punish sin, and the wrath of God was laid upon Christ. Of His innocence He Himself spoke, saying, "Who convinces Me of sin?" Five people testified that Christ was crucified without cause; these five included Pontius Pilate and his wife, the centurion near the cross, the thief on the cross, and Judas who had betrayed Him.

How heavy Christ's suffering on the cross was in all senses. His eyes beheld two sad objects – His enemies insulting Him and His mother weeping. His ears were filled with the mocking of the people, who said, "He saved others, but He cannot save Himself." His taste was spoiled by gall and vinegar. How true it was that He suffered in the body, because His body was as one great wound – His head wounded by the thorns, His hands and feet by the ails, and His back by the scourging. This white lily is colored by His own purple blood. Did the spouse not say, "He is white and ruddy"? Here it was fulfilled.

We may not forget the suffering of His soul. Already in Gethsemane He was pressed in the winepress of His Father's wrath, but then especially at Golgotha where, during the three hours of darkness, He cried out, "My God, My God, why has Thou forsaken Me?" There upon the cross Christ suffered a double eclipse – the sun was not shining, but a heavier burden was that His Father was hiding His countenance from Him. How bitter His agony was there; it is inexpressible. In the gospel we find three expressions – He began to be amazed, He began to faint, and to be exceeding sorrowful. Christ felt the pain of hell in His soul.

On Golgotha God's wrath burned against Him. If the Divine nature had not supported His human nature, Christ would surely have sunk beneath the burden of God's infinite wrath. Willingly He went in that path, and He also finished it when He cried out, "It is finished!" With this obedience and sacrifice He did all that was necessary to the restoration of the Father's attributes and to the salvation of the church. Thus He restored that which He took not away, as it is written in this article of our confession: "Wherefore we justly say with the apostle Paul: that we know nothing, but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified; we count all things but loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord, in whose wounds we find all manner of consolation." In Him there is a fulness which cannot be emptied, when it pleases the Lord to show this.

The Belgic Confession of Faith Art 21   The Priesthood of Christ, our Only High Priest, for UsHowever, the question is, "For whom did Christ merit all these benefits for time and eternity?" The Reformed churches are the only ones which teach that Christ suffered and died for the elect, but in our days there is also a difference among the Reformed churches. Many have gone a path which cannot be defended with the Bible, but which are the interpretations of man. In most churches today the doctrine of universal redemption is brought forth, which they say is proved with the Bible and explained as they desire it. They quote 1 John 2:2, "He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sin of the whole world."

When we look upon the merits of Christ, it is sufficient to save the whole world, but it was the intention of God to give it out of free grace only to the elect. It is clearly written in God's Word, "Many are called, but few are chosen." Also He speaks of His people, His sheep, His body, His brothers, the given of the Father, etc. There is not one place in the Bible where we can read that Christ died for all people. When God's Word speaks to us about how that Christ merited salvation, it is never separated from the application of salvation. There is no ground for free will, notwithstanding that some texts seem to speak of it. We think especially of the texts which contain the word "world", but this does not always have the same meaning. It must be determined from the context.

The sacrifices of Christ are closely connected with the prayer and intercession of Christ. The Arminians are inconsequent (illogical) when they say that Christ paid for all men, but prayed only for some. Their doctrine of universal redemption brings about a disagreement between the three Divine Persons – God the Father wanting the salvation of all men, Christ meriting salvation for all men, but the Holy Ghost not applying it in each and every one of them. Many don't speak about the Holy Spirit any more, leaving it up to men to be saved or not. How foolish! According to His Word the Lord has set the number of the elect, and they only will be partakers of the merits of Christ.

Adam represented all the in­habitants of the world in the Covenant of Works, and Christ represented all the elect in the Covenant of Grace. All those that are or will be incorporated in the Covenant of Grace will be saved. If we speak of free will and universal redemption, then we deny the state of death of man, in which we have brought ourselves. Against this false doctrine we confess that Christ made satisfaction for His elect only.

Thus we have seen that it was necessary for Christ to lay down His life as a sacrifice for these three purposes – (1) to fulfill the Scripture, (2) to bring His church into favor with God again, (by His death the testament became legal), and (3) that the cross of Christ be the ladder by which we draw nigh unto God. In this bloody sacrifice of Christ we can see the terrible nature of sin; therefore let us not parley or join with sin, but hate it and flee from it.

The Belgic Confession of Faith Art 21   The Priesthood of Christ, our Only High Priest, for UsFor each personally the question remains, Is Christ also our Priest? Did He bring a sacrifice for me? Augustine said that the cross was a pulpit in which Christ preached His love for the world. He died for enemies of free grace, enemies of God and of themselves. But just as the balm tree weeps out its precious balm to heal those that cut it, so Christ shed His blood to heal those who crucified Him. It is an infinite, amazing love of Christ which passes knowledge. If King Saul was so affected with David's kindness in sparing his life, how should God's people be affected with Christ's kindness in parting with His life for them. When He died, the rocks rent. Not to be affected with Christ's love shows that our hearts are harder than a rock.

How true it is as written in this article of our confession that we don't have to seek any other foundation to be reconciled with God than that which is laid by Christ. The justice of God is maintained, the truth of God is fulfilled, the majesty of God is glorified, sin, Satan and all enemies are overcome, and the punishment is borne. And so it is possible for a poor sinner to obtain peace with God by the blood of Christ. It is only by the discovering work of the Holy Spirit that we become poor sinners, of which the woman in the house of Simon was an example. It is a dearer blessing if we are not longer able to help ourselves, and that we may, by the instruction of the Holy Spirit through the Word, flee to Him Who is a perfect Mediator. He has merited salvation, but He will also apply it to His children.

What a wonder it becomes if we may receive this blessing in our life, a blessing which has more value than all the gold of this world. Do you believe it?

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