Chapter 16

The Priestly Life

Paul’s politics consisted of a deep conviction that God ordains secular government; therefore it is proper and good to pray for all who are in authority. He was eminently clear on this issue, understanding the universal proneness to party affiliation. He exhorted Timothy to give thanks for all men since it is the desire of God for all to be saved, indeed, He (Jesus) gave Himself a ransom for all which would become manifest reality in due time.[1] For the followers of Paul, political involvement ended at the point of prayer. Revolution against government was not the mission; in fact, they were known to be Kings and Priests on a mission to restore those who are given to revolution, which includes all men in this present age. God is in control, and the powers that be, He has ordained as part of His plan to display His glory in the culmination of His redemptive judgments.[2] Paul’s radical admonition to Christians is to, stay free of obligations to others, be in no one’s debt nor under the power of anyone, except for one thing  love them, even as you love yourselves. Love does no harm to self or others; in fact, love is the fulfillment of the law.[3] The priesthood of believers is harmless and free, without spot, or wrinkle, or blemish. They are sacrificial lambs, overcoming evil with good, living peaceably with all men, tolerant, allowing for the mean spirit of the world, ministering to enemies, heaping coals of purifying fire on the heads of the opposition.[4] Paul’s gaze is steadfastly trained on the chosen ones of God, variously referred to as the Elect, the Household of God, the Saints, a Holy Temple, the Dwelling Place of God, His Body, Partakers of His Promise, and The Church, among numerous other instructive appellations.[5] The understanding of what God is doing in a more universal or cosmic sense emerges only as the foundational revelation that God is adopting children to inherit His Kingdom is firmly established, this is the mystery of His will which He has made known to us, conceived in the wisdom of God before the foundation of the world, predestined and accomplished according to His almighty power.[6] So He will gather together, in the proper time all things in Christ which are in heaven as well as on earth culminating in unity in Him.[7] But first His Beloved are called out and saved by grace from the judgment to come, redeemed through His blood and forgiven. Since his Damascus Road conversion Paul derives no satisfaction from Pharisaic Judaism rooted in strong nationalistic sentiment, but he never doubted the truth of Israel’s covenant status with God, on the contrary, his appreciation of Israel’s role in the redemptive plan of God became more profound as he fervently sought to reconcile his new vision of a loving, forgiving God with the narrowly exclusive Jewish view of God embodied, in the main, by the Pharisee and Saducee sects. He now claims a ministry of Grace and power, preaching among the Gentiles what he cryptically calls the unsearchable riches of Christ. He exalts in knowing Jesus Christ as the creative agent of God; that same Jesus Christ calling the Gentiles to be joint heirs of the Kingdom with Him through the gospel. This is the purpose of the ages, all completely accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul is careful to mention God’s intention to witness of Jesus Christ to spiritual beings referred to as principalities and powers in the heavenlies.[8] There is the human propensity to measure and mete, to conceive all things, both physical and metaphysical in quantifying terms. Pauls’ God is boundless. He describes God as altogether transcendent. Who God is and what he is doing, for Paul, is perplexing and unfamiliar. He confesses the unknowable strangeness of God and then cries out for God to reveal Himself, if only in action, the particular action of crucifixion and resurrection.[9] The world spirit strives for power, pleasure, prominence, and confronted by the message of Christ crucified it is scandalized while being  self-assured of the worldly wisdom it parades with sneering hubris before the Crucified One. Be sure, Paul does not see himself or the Church as defeated, or on the defense in any sense but triumphant and more than conquerors through Christ.[10] Like the Jewish prophets before him Paul does not demur from the confrontation with enemy forces, on the contrary, he audaciously mocks and derides them as the disarmed public spectacles they are shown to be in light of the Cross.[11] While flaunting the matchless grandeur and majesty of God in the face of principalities Paul comments and encourages the Flock of God who is “killed all the day long and led as sheep to the slaughter”, who for the perplexing moment are afflicted.[12] Indeed, they often appear defeated by those with a darkened view of reality but they are glorious to heavenly onlookers who rejoice when even one is added to their number.[13] To suffer in faith on behalf of Christ is a gift of kindness and favor given to the partakers of the gospel; a glorious opportunity to share the mind and ministry of Christ who humbled Himself and died the torturous death of the Cross, deferring His majestic prerogatives until the appointed time of His universal exaltation.[14]

It is a common interpretive error to claim exaltation in this present day but the Apostle is abundantly clear on this point, for sound doctrine is founded on its clear understanding. He proclaims with force that “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”.[15] The process of completion will surely continue until the day of Jesus Christ, so with joy Paul encourages believers to persevere in trials and hardships, knowing with surety that the Lord’s victory in the battle for His people was secured from the outset. For this time, then, suffering is not something to dread, but rather embrace with an attitude bold and confident and a vision glorious. Paul was not scandalized by the paradox of faith embodied by his very life and experience; he walked in resurrection power while boasting in infirmities and weakness. With a clarion tone of triumph he declares, “For when I am weak, then am I strong”.[16]