The work that is carried out by the New Testament priests of the gospel on sinners is complete with three major sections. The first section is to lead sinners to repent and believe in the Lord that their sins may be forgiven and that they may be regenerated in their spirit. This is also the first step of God’s salvation. The second section is to lead the repentant, regenerated ones to be gradually transformed in their soul. Romans 12:2 says, “Be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” Our mind is the leading part of our soul, so the renewing of our mind is the transformation of our soul. We are regenerated in our spirit in an instant, but afterward we need to be transformed for a long period of time. This process of transformation allows Christ to spread into every part of our inner being-into our mind, emotion, and will. As the Lord transforms us by spreading into every inward part, we grow in Him. The third section is that when we grow in the Lord unto maturity, eventually at the Lord’s coming back our body will be transfigured and fully redeemed (Phil. 3:21). Thus, our whole being-spirit, soul, and body-will be filled and saturated with the Lord and mingled with the Lord within and without. In this way, He becomes us and we become Him; He is in us as our life, and we are His outward expression. This is God’s salvation in its entirety, and this is also the complete gospel preached by the apostles. Hence, God’s New Testament gospel is for us to be regenerated in our spirit, transformed in our soul, and eventually redeemed in our body so that our whole being-spirit, soul, and body-is saved. These are the three steps which the New Testament priests of the gospel of God carry out in men.
The Epistle to the Romans, written by the apostle Paul, concerns the gospel of God, and it begins with sinners. Paul tells us how sinners can be saved and justified by believing in the Lord, how they advance in Christ by being sanctified and transformed, and how they present themselves to God as living sacrifices that they may become members of the Body of Christ to live the church life, expressing Christ corporately and awaiting the Lord’s coming. Paul did not only speak in this way concerning the gospel of God; he also served as such a priest of the gospel. He was sent by God from one place to another to preach the gospel, and he offered the saved ones as sacrifices to God (Rom. 15:16; 1 Pet. 2:9). Then he continued to work on the saved ones by nourishing and cherishing them that he might lead them to present themselves to God as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1). As such, Paul was a pattern of the priesthood of the gospel. He took care of the new believers in Christ that they might grow by the word of God and that thereby the fruits of the gospel would remain. Furthermore, he carried out the work of teaching and perfecting in the saints, working individually and directly on them daily, that they might be perfected in their gifts. Thus, like him, they could do the work of the building of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:12), and they could all become the New Testament priests of the gospel.
According to the revelation of the Bible, every believer in Christ is a priest of the gospel, and like the apostle Paul, every one should go out to preach the gospel for others to be saved, baptizing them into the Triune God and offering them to God as sacrifices. This is the beginning of the work of the New Testament priests of the gospel. After this, we should nourish the saved ones. Preaching the gospel to lead people to believe in the Lord is a spiritual begetting (1 Cor. 4:15); this is to regenerate people with the Lord’s word and life. Through baptism they become newborn babes in Christ. Then we have to nourish and cherish them properly that they may grow in life. Furthermore, as the apostle Paul did, we need to teach them, on the one hand, as a nursing mother, cherishing them as our own children (1 Thes. 2:7), and on the other hand, care for them as an exhorting father (v. 11).
The apostle Paul stayed in Ephesus for three years, during which time he taught the saints there from house to house and did not cease admonishing each one night and day with tears, not shrinking from declaring to them all the counsel of God (Acts 20:31, 20, 27). Likewise, today we should teach and perfect the brothers and sisters by following Paul’s example. Whatever he did, we also can do. Moreover, after we have learned, we should also teach and perfect others that they also may be able to do as we do. Thus, every saint can become a ministering priest of the gospel, and everyone can do the work of God’s complete salvation on sinners: preaching the gospel that people may be regenerated, nourishing the new believers that they may grow, teaching the saints that they may be perfected, and cultivating them to prophesy, to speak for the Lord, that they may arrive at the building up of the Body of Christ.
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