Christian Priesthood Defined s8wministries.org/lesson.php?id=64&lesson=why-faith-needs-an-altar- Why Faith Needs An Altar For faith to be acceptable to God it must be practiced at the altar of Christ. When a person’s faith is not made complete at the altar of Christ they have to take up their faith in another way that does not make their faith complete. This is why there are over 30,000 different Christian denominations in the world today. God was never a denomination God, He was always a God of covenant, and the covenant requires an altar. It is at the altar where a person experiences a true and lasting relationship with God. When faith is not made complete in Christ in covenant with Him at His altar, the soul continues to live the reality of sin. The wounds, marks, and remembrances of sin does not bring the soul rest, but constant frustration and weariness, struggling against sin. This is the battle of the mind. Instead of allowing Christ to do a work in them through their Christian priesthood at His altar, believers try to confront their problems at this false altar of tears and repentance. By this we can see that when the altar of Christ is abandoned the battle of the mind is lost again and again. This is why we often hear people say, “God knows my heart,” claiming that as long as the heart is in a state of repentance God will accept it. But, it is the heart of faith that God desires, not the uncircumcised heart. It is Christ that God is looking for and accepts, not sin. 2 Chronicles.15:3 states, “Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. The church today is in the same condition as Israel in the days of King Asa. The children of Israel abandoned the altar as the result of the absence of a teaching priest who instructed them in the purpose of God’s law and how to worship Him at an altar with sacrifice. In Bible times, the people were in a state of constant war and destruction because they abandoned the altar of God. From these scriptures we are also to understand that God sent His prophet Oded to bring the people back to proper worship. God wants us to know that He instructs the church through human vessels, and by that instruction His people know how to separate their faith to His altar. The Spirit of the Lord also lifts out to us that the first step to renewing the altar of Jesus Christ is to put away the idols one collected while in the False Religious System (the House of Baal). These are the traditions of man that gained acceptance into faith in the absence of true apostles. The New Covenant altar is constructed of knowledge (truth). As Jesus was pointing to Himself as the new altar, the new place of worship, He was describing the stones of the altar—His truth. This is why Jesus said, “I am truth,” (John 14:6) and why the Bible says He is our new altar, “We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle,” (Hebrews 13:10). Jesus Christ is the tether of our faith and therefore He is our altar. The true worshippers shall worship the Farther in Spirit and with His truth at His altar. What does an altar of truth look like? The altar of Christ is made up of the 12 Elements of the Gospel: grace, faith, righteousness, justification, sanctification, holiness, peace, rest, charity, truth, regeneration, and the renewing of the mind. Each element is a “stone” in the spiritual altar of Christ. The Word of God is the language of the Spirit by which we commune with Him. The altar joins us to God in fellowship of His knowledge. At the altar of His knowledge we practice Christ. He is our tradition. Jesus is the frame of our thoughts. The altar is necessary for God to direct our thoughts in Christ. The face of Christ is identified in His knowledge. The testimony of His likeness in us comes forth as each stone is prepared by grace and set in our understanding.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 03:43:55 +0000
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