Who is Your High Priest?

So Which One Is YOUR High Priest?

Hebrews gives the Jewish Christians only two options: put your hope in the obsolete and mortal High Priest of the Jewish Temple or find your true salvation in the perfect High Priest, Jesus Christ. To drive home the point that a man can never adequately perform the true purposes of High Priest, the writer of Hebrews describes the many weaknesses of a mortal High Priest:

  • Must be called by God, as Aaron was. (5:4)
  • Must be a Levite. (7:13-14)
  • Became a priest without an oath. (7:20-22)
  • Is a mortal who loses his priesthood at death. (7:23-24)
  • Is weak and imperfect. (7:28)
  • Serves at an imperfect earthly sanctuary. (8:5, 9:1)
  • Carries the blood of animals as a sin offering. (13:10)
  • Enters the Most Holy Place year after year in which he “stands” and “performs” an imperfect sacrifice. (9:26)

These descriptions of the Jewish High Priest, written around 70 A.D., portray a contemporary version of a functioning High Priest. Since this was an unique period in history when both Jewish temple worship and Christian worship were occurring simultaneously, it is interesting to note that a Christian counterpart to the Jewish High Priest is not mentioned. In fact, the ONLY High Priest that is referred to in the Christian church is Jesus Christ. Obviously, if some sort of High Priesthood were held by men in the Christian church, the writer of Hebrews would have been compelled to mention it. This, however, was not done.

The Christian’s Only Choice

Over and over again, the writer of Hebrews clearly shows us the superiority of the Christian’s one and only true High Priest, Jesus Christ. Notice how Hebrews overwhelms you with the utter perfection and power in which Jesus fulfills the role of High Priest completely:

  • Sympathizes with our weakness, yet without sin. (4:15)
  • Was called by God. (5:5)
  • A priest forever according to the likeness of Melchizedek (5:6) (ed. note: RLDS/CoC church uses Melchisedec)
  • Perfect, the source of eternal salvation. (5:9)
  • Entered the inner sanctuary on our behalf. (6:19-20)
  • Has the power of an indestructible life. (7:15-17)
  • Became a priest with an oath from God. (7:20-22)
  • Lives forever, therefore He has a permanent priesthood. (7:23-24)
  • Saves completely. (7:25)
  • Holy, blameless, pure—set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. (7:26)
  • Sacrificed for sin ONCE. (7:27)
  • Perfect, forever. (7:28)
  • Does not have to offer sacrifice for own sin. (7:26-27)
  • Seated at the right hand of God. (8:1)
  • Ministers in the true place of worship built by God. (8:2)
  • Would not be a priest on earth because the purpose of a priesthood system was now obsolete and unnecessary. (8:4)
  • Superior mediator with new covenant. (8:6)
  • Obtained eternal redemption for us. (9:12)
  • Entered heaven itself to appear for us in God’s presence. (9:24)
  • Opened the veil for us to enter with confidence and allows us to come to God Himself. (10:19-20, 12:23)
  • Mediates the new covenant between God and people. (12:24)

What the Bible Teaches Us

Clearly, the Bible presents only one High Priest in which Christians can obtain mediation with God and eternal salvation: Jesus Christ. Hebrews, the only book in the New Testament that speaks of a “Christian” High Priest, teaches us that man, in his weak and imperfect state, cannot fulfill the purpose of a High Priest like Jesus Christ, who has fulfilled that purpose completely, perfectly and eternally.

Despite Joseph Smith’s attempts in his “Inspired Translation” to change the original text of Hebrews to legitimize the idea of a High Priesthood held by men, the theme of the epistle argues consistently that a temporal, mortal priesthood is obsolete. Just read Hebrews for yourself and see how plainly Jesus Christ is shown to be the only High Priest God recognizes.

Only Jesus provided the perfect and sufficient sacrifice; only Jesus lives forever, and therefore is truly a permanent priest. And only Jesus has entered heaven to appear for us in God’s presence.

Because of His sole authority as our High Priest, Jesus has opened the veil for us so that we, as individual Christians, have “boldness to enter into the holiest” and approach God. (Heb. 10:19) Why, then, do we need another High Priest to mediate between us and God? Doesn’t Jesus, who is living, already provide that constant mediation for every Christian?

For the RLDS/CoC Church to place men and women in the role of High Priest is not only unbiblical, but it creates a redundant position that is already held exclusively by Jesus Christ. For anyone to position himself as High Priest in the church is to usurp Jesus’ authority and reject His eternal work in heaven and on earth.

So who is your High Priest: Man or Jesus?

Can a true Christian acknowledge more than one High Priest?

In the book of Hebrews, a group of Jewish Christians are admonished to stay strong in the Christian faith and not to return to their obsolete Jewish beliefs. The author’s main argument against abandoning Christianity is that the Christian High Priest, Jesus Christ, is superior to the Jewish High Priest, who is only a weak and imperfect mortal who performs a weak and imperfect sacrifice for sin. Jesus, on the other hand, is the perfect High Priest who can save completely. (Heb. 7:25)

The writer of Hebrews, therefore, offers only one High Priest to which a Christian can turn: Jesus Christ! At no time does Hebrews speak of a “third kind” of High Priesthood held by men in the Christian church as is represented by the RLDS/CoC church. Since the Bible clearly reveals Jesus Christ as our perfect High Priest, where exactly does any mortal man have the authority to lay claim to that position? Bottom line: They are taking Christ’s honor for themselves.