Salvation and Truth

I often have people who try to impose the modern traditional "new birth" doctrines on me or on someone who is under my care in the Lord. Of course I'm talking about "getting saved," "accepting the Lord as your personal savior," and "confessing Jesus as Lord;" with the latter having somewhat swallowed up the first two these days. Whenever someone is trying to pull this, I always ask them this question: When did the priesthood of Christ begin? Everyone whom I have asked this question has just been totally clueless. I get either a blank stare or a concession of "Well, I don't know." The significance of knowing this should be obvious to any thinking person who claims to be a believer and follower of Jesus. The born again experience is the act of having our sins remitted, or taken away, and thereby becoming "a new creature" in Christ (Acts 3:19; II Cor.5:17). Now we know that Jesus said he came to this world to "fulfill the law," and we know that he is the new testament high priest of the heavenly sanctuary (Mat. 5:17; Heb. 8:1,2). And under the law, only the high priest could intercede for the remission of the people's sins, and that on the day of atonement, when he went into the most holy place behind the second veil in the tabernacle (Heb. 9:7). So in fulfilling the law of the priesthood, that means that Jesus had to enter into the most holy place in heaven in order to obtain the true, new testament remission of sins for those who believe on him. The apostle Paul clarified this scriptural fact for us: "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, [in order to] obtain eternal redemption for us" (Heb. 9:11,12). And according to Jesus, the new testament is all about the remission of sins for those who truly believe (Mat. 26:28). And according to the scriptures Jesus could not be a priest while he was on earth, because there were already priests according to the law for as long as he was here (Heb. 8:4). So what we have now is the scriptural fact that Jesus could not be the high priest of the new covenant, and therefore could not obtain the new testament remission of sins, UNTIL he went back to heaven. That is exactly what we have seen set forth to us here from the scriptures. If you don't realize that, then go back, read slowly, and read the scripture references carefully also. And now we can start getting a grasp on WHEN Jesus became the high priest of the heavenly tabernacle. And remember, he was fulfilling the law the entire time, so we need to reference the law to see exactly how and when this happened. Under the law there was a "feast day" known as the "feast of weeks," which was so called because it was numbered seven weeks after the morrow following the feast of the Passover (Exd. 34:22; Lev. 23:15,16). This feast of weeks eventually came to be known in the Jewish community as the feast of Pentecost.

So here is the answer to the question that I often ask: Jesus was crucified on the morning after the Passover, as we know; and rose again on the third day. After he was risen the scripture informs us that he remained here on earth for forty more days, "teaching the things that pertain to the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3). That gives us forty three days after the Passover that are accounted for, so that leaves seven days between Jesus going back to heaven, and the feast of Pentecost. Just before Jesus left the earth he told his followers to "wait in Jerusalem" for the baptism of the holy Ghost, which he told them they would receive "not many days hence" (Acts 1:4,5). We know that the baptism of the Spirit came upon those first, waiting souls of about a hundred and twenty, on the day of Pentecost after Jesus had ascended back to heaven (Acts 1:15; Acts 2:1-4). And again, that accounts for the fifty days between the two feasts, and it also means that there were seven days between the ascension of Jesus and the day of Pentecost. And why did he go back to heaven? "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, [in order to] obtain eternal redemption for us: (Heb, 9:12). And again: "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God" (Heb. 10:12). Yes, he went back to heaven to act as the high priest, offering the merits of his own sacrifice to God, in order to purge, or purify the hearts of those who believe on him. But before driving the final nail of this glorious truth in, let's find out why it took seven days for the holy Ghost to be sent back, and in so doing we will see exactly WHAT the new testament remission of sins is. Again, under the law, when the priesthood was first established in Leviticus 8, Aaron and his sons were anointed for their work, but they were required to abide inside the door of the tabernacle for SEVEN DAYS before they could begin offering atoning sacrifices (Lev. 8:33-35). And those seven days account for the seven days after Jesus went back to heaven before the Spirit came back on the day of Pentecost. It was Jesus still fulfilling the letter of the law, abiding seven days in the heavenly tabernacle after becoming the high priest of this covenant, until he sent back THE ATONEMENT for the remission of sins under the new covenant. So what this means is that the baptism of the Spirit with the inseparable sign of speaking in tongues IS the new testament remission of sins, to which the apostle Paul agreed fully: "For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more" (Heb. 10:14,15). So baptizing with the holy Ghost, according to the scriptures, is THE operation of the priesthood of Christ, and that means that no one has true remission of sins unless and until they have received this same experience that comes by faith in Jesus and repentance from sin. And that ties in perfectly with why Jesus was not a priest while on earth, because he wasn't a BAPTIZER while he was on earth either (Jn. 4:2). And this powerful biblical reality nullifies the modern Christian inventions of how someone is supposedly born again, which is the reason I always ask someone about the priesthood of Christ when they are trying to forward one of these doctrines my way. Amen.