_A Summary of the Christian Faith by Henry Eyster Jacobs, D.D., LL.D Copyright, 1905, BY THE BOARD OF PUBLICATION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN NORTH AMERICA. Chapter XIV. Pages 167-179 -------------------- CHAPTER XIV. CHRIST AS PRIEST. I. _What is the Priestly Office of Christ_? That according to which, as our only Priest, He offered Himself as the all-sufficient and only sacrifice for our sins and intercedes with God, that we may be reconciled to Him and enjoy all the blessings of everlasting life. 2. _According to which nature is Christ our Priest_? In all the functions of His Mediatorial Office, He al- ways acts according to both natures (see above, Chapter XI, 50-53). "Christ is our righteousness, neither ac- cording to the divine nature alone, nor according to the human nature alone, but the entire Christ according to both natures, alone in His obedience, which, as God and man, He rendered the Father even to death" (Formula of Concord, 501). 3. _What Old Testament types were there of Christ's priesthood_? Two: the Levitical priesthood, and that of Melchize- dek. The main argument of the Epistle to the Hebrews is to show the inferiority of the Levitical priesthood to that of Christ. The Levitical priests were of the tribe of Levi; Christ was of Judah. The former were mere men; the latter, was also God. The former were sinners, who had to make satisfaction for themselves; the latter was holy and spotless, whose offering is entirely for us. The former differed from the victims they offered; with the latter, priest and victim were one. The former were numerous, because each one could not fulfill all parts of his office; the latter needed no assistant or substitute. The sacri- fices of the former were unable to expiate sin, and, there- fore, had to be frequently repeated; that of the latter was offered once for all. --------------------End of Page 167-------------------- The priesthood of Melchizedek is shown to surpass that of the Levitical order, and to be a better type of that of Christ for the following reasons: The name means "King of righteousness," and he was "King of Salem," i. e., of peace, both of which are united in Christ. His genealogy was not known, thus typifying the eternity of Christ's person. He united, like Christ, kingship and priesthood in the same person. As a superior, he blessed Abraham, the ancestor of Aaron and the Levitical priests. He broke through the line of the regular, external succes- sion, having neither predecessors nor followers in his office. 4. _What are the two functions of this priesthood_? The sacrificial offering and the sacerdotal intercession; or satisfaction and intercession. 5. _Is the term "satisfaction" found in Holy Scripture_? No. It is used to express the thought variously stated in different passages. Is. 53:4-6--"He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows......He was wounded for our transgression, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him......Jehovah hath lain on him the iniquities of us all." Matt. 20:28--"To give his life a ransom for many." 1 Tim. 2-6--"Who gave himself a ransom for all." 1 John 2:2--"He is the propitiation for our sins." 4:10--"He sent his Son, to be the propitia- tion for our sins." Rom. 4:25--"Whom God hath set forth to be a pro- pitiation through faith in his blood." 5:11--"While we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son." Eph. 1:7--"In whom we have redemption through his blood." 2 Cor. 5:21--"Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in him." Gal. 3:13--"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us." 1 Pet. 1:18, 19-- "Knowing that ye were redeemed not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life, handed down from your fathers, but with precious blood as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ." These passages concur in teaching that penalties due men on account of their sins have been endured by Christ; that, as a result, God is reconciled with those who had been beneath His wrath; that, they are delivered from all liability to punishment, and instead thereof, receive the rewards of Christ's perfect obedience to the law. That is, --------------------End of Page 168-------------------- Christ had met all the demands of the Law for man; He has satisfied it. 6. _What other term is synonymous_? Redemption presents one side of satisfaction, viz., the payment of the price by which man is freed from the con- sequences of sin. The word is used in two senses. Some- times it means deliverance or liberation itself, as in Luke 21:28; Rom. 8:23; Eph. 4:30, but generally as in pas- ages above given "the payment of the price of redemp- tion." 7. _Whom did Christ satisfy_? 2 Cor. 5:19, "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself," shows that it was not only the Father, but the entire Trinity that was offended because of sin, and was reconciled; as well as that it was not merely the Son, but the entire Trinity in and through the Son that made the offering for sin. 8. _In what relation did God receive satisfaction_? Not as a mere private creditor, ready at will to exact or relieve from an obligation, but as a most just judge main- taining the absolute inviolability of His law. 9. _But is not the rendering of satisfaction by one from whom it was not demanded a violation of law_? In human courts the bondsman is accountable for the payment of a debt for which he is surety. "In this sense, it is said by theologians, that punishment must necessarily be inflicted _impersonally_ for every sin, but not at once _personally_ upon every sinner, since by peculiar grace God can exempt some from this penalty, when a bondsman is substituted in his place" (Turretin). 10. _Is it not an act of injustice to allow an innocent one to suffer for the guilt of another_? Not when the innocent one, by his own free will, as- sumes the burden (Heb. 10:7), and retains the power, at will, to relinquish it. --------------------End of Page 169-------------------- John 10:18--"No one taketh my life away from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again" Nor when he had the power to bear the penalties to the utmost, and, after exhausting them, to be both free himself and to bring deliverance to others. 11. _What attributes of God are especially prominent in this provision for a satisfaction for sin_? His justice in vindicating the Law, and inexorably de- manding punishment even when His Son occupied the place of the sinner. His holiness in tolerating the sinner only upon the condition of the payment of his debt and the removal of his guilt. Above all His love in providing such a satisfaction for such enemies. Rom. 5:7, 8--"For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; for per- adventure for the good man, some would even dare to die. But God com- mendeth his own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." 12. _For whom was this satisfaction rendered_? For all men. This is proved by: (a) Express declarations that Christ's work was for all. 2 Cor. 5:14, 15--"One died for all." "He died for all." Heb 2:9-- "That, by the grace of God, he should taste of death for every man." Rom. 8:32--"He delivered him up for us all." (b) Statements ascribing it to the world. John 1:29--"Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." 3:16--"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish." 1 John 2:2--"He is the propitiation for the whole world." (c) Declarations that it included even those who ulti- mately perish. Rom. 14:15--"Destroy not with thy meat him for whom Christ died." Heb. 10:29--"Counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sacri- ficed an unholy thing." 1 Cor. 8:11 13. _May not these passages be explained by the saying of Peter Lombard: "Christ died sufficiently, but not effi- ciently for all"_? This would not be consistent with the argument in the context of the passages above cited. Besides no lack of efficacy in the satisfaction can be proved from the fact that this efficacy is not appropriated by all. We can --------------------End of Page 170-------------------- not ascribe a patient's serious illness to a lack of efficacy in the medicine when he fails to take it. 14. _For what sins was this satisfaction rendered_? For all sins, and all their guilt and punishment. "That He might be a sacrifice not only for original guilt, but for all actual sins of men" (Augsburg Confession, Art. III). 1 John 1:7--"The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin." Gal. 3:13--"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having be- come a curse for us."[*] (see also Chapter XII. 34.) 15. _Has any other doctrine ever been widely taught_? Yes, the prevalent view of the scholastics, which has pervaded the teaching and life of Roman Catholics, that -------------------- [*]Thus, in our stead, Luther says in a famous passage, Christ is no longer "an innocent and sinless person, the Son of God born of the virgin, but a sinner, who has and bears the sin of Paul, the blasphemer and persecutor, and of Peter, the denier of his Master, and of David, the adulterer and murderer; in a word, He bears and has all the sins of all men in His body. Not that He has committed these sins, but that being committed by us, He assumed them and transferred them to His own body, in order to render satisfaction for them with his own blood. The general law of Moses, therefore, lays hold of Him, although innocent in His person, because it find Him among sinners and robbers, just as a magistrate holds and pun- ishes as guilty one whom he finds among robbers even though he had never committed anything wrong or worthy of death. Christ, however, was not only found among sinners, but even of His own accord and by the will of the Father wished to be the associate of sinners by assuming the flesh and blood of those who, as sinners and robbers, were sunk into all sins. When the Law, therefore, found Him among robbers, it condemned and killed him as a robber. * * But some one may say: `Is is blasphemous to call the Son of God a sinner and a curse.' I answer: `If you want to deny this, deny also that He suffered, was crucified and died.' It is no less absurd to say that the Son of God was crucified, than that He was a sinner. But it it is not absurd to confess and believe that Christ was crucified between thieves, it is not absurd to say the other. Certainly there is something in the words of Paul: 'Christ became a curse for us.' 'He made Him to be sin for us, in order that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.' So John the Baptist calls Him the Lamb of God, bearing the sins of the world, John 1:29. He Himself is innocent, because the Lamb of God without spot or blemish, but since He bears the sins of the world, His innocency is weighed down by the sins and guilt of the whole world. What- ever sins I and you have done have become the sins of Christ, as though He himself had committed them. Isa. 53:6 says: `The Lord hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.' These words we ought not to extenuate, but to give them their proper force." On Gal. 3:13. --------------------End of Page 171-------------------- the satisfaction of Christ availed for sins which men have committed before baptism, and that for those committed since then, it avails only so as to compensate for guilt, but not for punishment, except by commuting it, through the administration of the Power of the Keys, from that which is infinite and eternal, to that which the believing can off- set, partly in this world and partly in the world to come, in Purgatory, by their own satisfactions. It was on this point that the Protestant Reformation of the Sixteenth Century began. 16. _What is the consequence of the doctrine that the satisfaction of Christ is complete only with the respect to sins committed before baptism_? Only one part of the work of redemption is ascribed to Christ, while another, which may readily be interpreted as the greater part, is left to men. According to this theory, what Christ has begun, man has to complete. 17. _What are the various punishments of sins, and how has Christ redeemed from each_? The curse of the law (Gal. 3:13). (See above, 14.) The dominion of Satan. Heb. 2:14--"Since the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death he might bring to naught him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." The wrath of God. 1 Thess. 1:10--"Jesus who delivereth us from the wrath to come." Death. Heb 2:14--(See above). 1 Cor. 15:55--"O death, where is thy victory? O death where is thy sting?" Eternal condemnation. Rom. 8:1--"There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." 18. _By what means was the satisfaction of Christ rendered_? By His obedience to the law. Rom. 5:19--"For as through the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous." --------------------End of Page 172-------------------- 19. _How has this been confessionally stated_? "His obedience, not only in suffering and dying, but also that he in our stead was voluntarily subject to the Law, and fulfilled it by His obedience, is imputed to us for righteousness, so that, on account of this complete obedience, which, by deed and by suffering, in life and in death, He rendered His heavenly Father for us, God forgives our sins, regards us godly and righteous, and eternally saves us" (Formula of Concord, 572). 20. _What two factors are comprised in this obedience_? It has been divided into the Active and the Passive Obedience. 21. _What is the Active Obedience_? Christ's perfect compliance with all the requirements of the Law, Moral, Ceremonial and Forensic, prescribed as the condition of eternal life and its rewards. Matt. 5:17--"I came not to destroy, but to fulfil." Gal. 4:4, 5--"Born under the law, that he might redeem them that were under the law." Rom. 10:4--"Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness to every one that believeth." This can be illustrated by a careful study of the history of His life in the Gospels, in which He will be seen to have done fully all that the law demanded, and to have abstained entirely from all that it prohibited. 22. _What is the result of such complete conformity to the law_? The acquiring of the merit and rewards promised obe- dience. Matt. 3:15--"It becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." Rom. 10:4-- "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness." 1 Cor. 1:30--"Christ Jesus who was made unto us wisdom from God and righteousness." 23. _Was this subjection to the Law rendered in order that He might Himself win the rewards_? No. For personally He not only was Lord of the Law, but already possessed all things. Personally He could not acquire righteousness for Himself; as He already had --------------------End of Page 173-------------------- it. All the merit and reward belongs, therefore, to those, for whom He was vicariously under the law. Phil. 3:9--"And he found in him, not having a righteousness of mine own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ." Rom. 1:17--"For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith." 24. _What is the Passive Obedience_? The bearing of the guilt and the payment of the pen- alties due the violated law because of men's sin. For proofs, see above under 12, 14, 17, and 1 Peter 1:18, 19; 2: 24; Heb. 9:28; Is. 53; 2 Cor. 5:21. 25. _Can the Active and Passive Obedience be sep- arated_? Only in thought. They are the positive and negative sides of the same thing. Man could have no righteous- ness with the guilt of sin reckoned to him and its penalties impending. By His passive obedience Christ transfers all the penalties to Himself and endures them; by His active obedience, a righteousness is provided in which the guilt of sin disappears as night flees before the rising of the sun, or man's shame and nakedness are covered by a spotless robe. 26. _Does righteousness, however, consist in deeds and sufferings_? As righteous deeds and sufferings are the revelation and proofs of an inner righteousness which has preceded, so the Active and Passive Obediences testify to what the Son of God, in His incarnate person, is for those for whom He lived and labored and toiled and cared. What Christ did and suffered is the revelation of what Christ was, and is, and forever will be. Rom. 5:8--"God commendeth his own love towards us, that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." John 15:13--"Greater love hath no man that this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." As the life and death of Christ were the revelation of God's gracious will towards man, the resurrection and --------------------End of Page 174-------------------- ascension were the pledges of the power at the service of this love (Phil. 3:9), and the unassailable character of the righteousness provided through His satisfaction. His satisfaction, however, culminates, centers, is concentrated in his self-surrender to all our conditions and sufferings. 27. _How then did Christ's sacrifice differ from that of the Old Testament sacrifices_? They were not true and real, but only figurative sacri- fices: as the essence of the sacrifice lies in the cheerful self-surrender of the victim. Paul has laid down the principle underlying reward when he says (1 Cor. 9:17), "If I do this of mine own will" (or "willingly," A. V.), "I have a reward." The sacrifice of Christ, therefore, was the entire state or condition of obedience, to the law, in which He voluntarily surrendered Himself for man's sin, and for the purchase of life and salvation. 28. _When was the satisfaction rendered_? It comprised the entire State of Humiliation, in all its acts and sufferings. For all were part or expressions of His meritorious obedience. 29. _Does the resurrection belong to His satisfaction_? It was not part of the satisfaction, because the law im- posed no obligation upon man to rise from the dead, as both godly and wicked will do, at Christ's call, at the last day. But it is the most powerful proof that Christ com- pleted the work which he undertook, and that full satis- faction has been afforded. Beyond this, it declares that all the power through which Christ rose from the dead is at the service of those to whom this satisfaction is applied. 30. _What is the second function of the Priesthood of Christ_? The Intercession, or that by which, as High Priest, He prays to God for those whom He has redeemed. 31. _How is this Intercession to be distinguished as to its stages and its objects_? --------------------End of Page 175-------------------- (a) As to stages, into Preparatory and Glorious. The former occurred during the State of Humiliation, viz., in His Sacerdotal Prayer (John 17), in His prayer for Peter (Luke 22:32), for His murderers (Luke 23:34), and the promise of the Comforter (John 14:16). The latter occurs in the State of Exaltation. Rom. 8:32--"Who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh inter- cession for us." Heb. 4:14-16--"Having then a great high priest, who hath passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we have not an priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us, therefore, draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and find grace to help us in time of need." 7:25--"Wherefore he is able to save unto the utter- most them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." 9:24--"For Christ entered into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us." 1 John 2:2--"If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous." (b) As to objects, it is distinguished into General and Special. The General is for all men, even while they care nothing for His grace, as He prayed for his cruci- fiers (Luke 23:34). The Special is for believers. In this sense, He says (John 17:9), "I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me." 32. _But does He pray for the two classes of objects in the same way_? For the former, He prays that they may be brought to repentance and faith (Luke 13:8; 23:34). For the latter, that they may be kept firm in faith (John 17:11) and in union with one another (John 17:21), be sancti- fied (John 17:17), and enjoy His eternal glory (John 17:24) The Intercesssory Prayer of John 17 was doubt- less spoken by Jesus in the hearing of His disciples, in order that the general subjects of His intercession for His people might be known to the Church on earth. 33. _What is the ground of His intercession_? Not simply His personal relation with the Father, but that which He bears because of the completion of His --------------------End of Page 176-------------------- mediatorial work. The intercession presupposes the sat- isfaction or propitiation and its merits. John 17:4--"I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." See especially Heb. 5:25-27, where the ground of the intercession is stated as the offering which he made "once for all, when he offered up himself." Also 1 John 2:2, where the fact that "he is the propitiation for our sins" is the ground for his being "Advocate with the Father," v. 1. Cf. Heb. 5:12. 34. _What is the mode_? Real, not figurative. It is more, therefore, than the efficacy of the satisfaction as this continues to be opera- tive. But as to how the Ascended Son addresses the Father, we need not inquire. It is another mystery, like that referred to above (Chapter XII, 43). This much only can we affirm, viz., that it is in a manner corres- ponding to the Right Hand of God, and not, as in Heb. 5:7, "in the form of a servant," which has been laid aside (Phil. 2:7-10). 35. _How long does the Intercession continue_? Throughout eternity. Heb. 7:25--"He ever liveth to make intercession for them." In Heb. 9:24-27, Christ is referred to as continuing in the holy place where he has once entered, unlike other priests who entered thither once every year. In Heb. 5:6; 7:17, he is called "a priest forever," in Heb. 3:3, "a priest con- tinually," and in 7:24, as having "an unchangeable priesthood." 36. _But how can this Intercession profit those who are beyond the possibility of a fall, and partake of com- pleted salvation_? All their security and bliss in the world to come are inseparable from their relation to Christ. It is His eter- nal intercession that sustains them. 37. _But is not this explanation contrary to John 16:26, 27_? The passage referred to is: "I say not unto you that I will pray the Father for you; for the Father himself loveth you." It does not mean that Christ will ever cease to pray for His people, but that He will no longer pray for them alone, for they also, because of their access to the Father, --------------------End of Page 177-------------------- who is now reconciled and loves them through Christ, will pray with Him. The intercession is not removed by the love of the Father, but the true mode of prayer in the name of Christ is here taught the disciples. 38. _What explanation can be given of the various Moral Theories of the Atonement, i. e., those which find the efficacy of Christ's work solely in the appeal which they make to us_? They spring from a very superficial view of the guilt of sin and all that this implies. The more sin is minimized the less need is felt of any satisfaction. The result at last is that, with the native goodness of human nature exalted, nothing is left for which a satisfaction is deemed necessary, and the entire life of Christ on earth, ending with His heroic death is made simply an incentive to evoke virtue in men, and especially to enkindle love to God and all that is godlike. Such theories perish, as straw at the touch of the flame, before such arraignments of this much vaunted human nature, as are found in Holy Scripture, particularly in the opening chapters of the Epistle to the Romans. "It will not be possible to recognize the benefits of Christ, unless we understand our evils" (Apology, 83). Hence the Law must be first taught in all its rigor and depth, before the Gospel can be properly applied. 39. _But are such theories entirely without foundation_? They are, as a rule, partial and one-sided statements of truth. While there is no appeal made to the consciences of men so forcible and impressive as that which comes from the holy life and the self-sacrificing love of Christ, it is doing violence to scripture to regard these the only ends of Christ's mission, and, on this basis to pass by all the declarations concerning the need of a ransom, and His vicarious satisfaction. 40. _But why, then, is reconciliation said to be, as in --------------------End of Page 178-------------------- 2 Cor. 5:18-20, a reconciliation of men to God instead of God to men_? The passage referred to is not a full treatment of the entire doctrine of the provisions of divine grace, but only a practical exhortation to men to appropriate and use that reconciliation which in verses 14, 15, God had provided for men in Christ. The doctrine clearly taught in many Scripture passages underlies this statement also, that God's love for sinful man always precedes man's feeblest desire for a return to God. Man is potentially justified in the satisfaction made through Christ, but this poten- tiality is actualized only when by faith he makes it his. God, in other words, has done everything on his part that reconciliation be effected; it is for men to avail him- self of such reconciliation, upon the terms under which it is now offered. --------------------End of Chapter on Page 179-------------------- This text was converted to ascii format for Project Wittenberg by William Alan Larson and is in the public domain. You may freely distribute, copy or print this text. Please direct any comments or suggestions to: Rev. Robert E. Smith of the Walther Library at Concordia Theological Seminary. E-mail: smithre@mail.ctsfw.edu Surface Mail: 6600 N. Clinton St., Ft. Wayne, IN 46825 USA Phone: (260) 452-2123 Fax: (260) 452-2126