The grace of God which Christ proclaimed as the divine Prophet He Himself secured as the divine Priest of men. Hence those who deny, or pervert the Biblical doctrine of, the sacerdotal office of our Savior, must deny and pervert also His prophetic office. Rationalists of every type who reject the vicarious atonement of Christ (satisfactio vicaria) cannot regard Him as the true Prophet of grace and forgiveness, but must consider Him merely a Teacher of morality, who came into the world to induce men to secure salvation by their own works and righteousness. In short, if Christ is not the divine Priest, neither is He the divine Prophet in the Biblical sense.
The sacerdotal office of Christ, who is called Priest ins, (כהן לעולם, ἱερεὺς μέγας, ἀρχιερεύς) both in the Old and in the New Testament (Ps.110, 4; Zech.6, 13; Heb.5, 6; 8, 4; 10, 21; etc.), is that work of the God-man by which He reconciled the world unto God, 2 Cor. 5, 19. Holy Scripture describes both the manner (modus reconciliationis) and the means (medium reconciliationis) by which this gracious work was accomplished. Its consistent testimony is that Christ offered Himself, or laid down His life, as a ransom for the sins of the world, John 17, 19; 1 Tim. 2, 6; 1 John 2, 2; John 1, 29. which will be considered later. A complete definition of Christ's sacerdotal office is given by Quenstedt, who writes: “The priestly office of Christ is composed of two parts, satisfaction and intercession. For, in the first place. He made an absolutely perfect satisfaction for all the sins of the whole world and earned salvation. In the second place, He anxiously interceded, and still intercedes and mediates, on behalf of all, for the application of the acquired salvation. That the Messiah would perform these functions of a priest is clearly predicted, Is. 53,12.” (Doctr . Theol., p. 347.)
In particular, the purchase-price for our sins (pretium, λύτρον) was Christ’s blood shed on Calvary, 1 John 1, 7; Heb. 10, 29; 13, 20. Of this Luther writes: “The blood which flowed from the side of our Lord Jesus is the treasure of our redemption, the payment and atonement for our sins. For through His innocent suffering and death and through His holy and precious blood, shed upon the cross, our dear Lord Jesus Christ paid our entire debt of eternal death and damnation, in which we all are because of our sins. The same blood of Christ intercedes for us before God and cries to God without ceasing: Grace ! Grace ! Forgive ! Forgive 1 Indulgence! Indulgence ! Father! Father! and secures for us divine grace, forgiveness of sins, righteousness, and salvation. Thus the blood of Jesus Christ, our only Mediator and Advocate, cries forever and ever without ceasing, so that God the Father regards such crying and interceding of His beloved Son and is gracious ta us poor, miserable sinners, Zech. 9, 11.” (Expl. of John 19, 34; St. L., VIII, 965 ff.)
In the Old Testament the priests offered lambs and goats for the sins of the people, Heb. 10, 4; Christ, however, the great High Priest, Heb. 7, 26. 27, sacrificed Himself, He being both Priest and Sacrifice in one person, Heb. 9, 12—14; Eph. 5, 2. (Christus semetipsum sacrificavit.) This is the golden theme of the whole Bible: the astounding message of reconciliation (íλασμός) through the holy blood of the divine Victim Jesus Christ, Acts 10, 43; Luke- 24, 25—27.
Christ executed His sacerdotal office by rendering perfect obedience to His Father, who out of pure love offered up His only- begotten Son for the redemption of the world, John 3,16; 1,29. Scripture accordingly describes Christ’s redemptive work as obedience to God (obedientia). The vicarious obedience of Christ comprises: a) His active obedience (obedientia activa), by which our divine Substitute placed Himself under the obligation of the divine Law, fulfilling it in our stead by His perfectly holy life. Gal. 4, 4. 5; Rom. 5, 19; Matt. 3, 15, and b) His passive obedience (obedieniia passiva), by which He placed Himself under the curse of the Law and suffered and died for the sins of the world, Heb. 9,12; Eph. 5, 2; Is. 53, 4—6. Thus by His holy life and His innocent death Christ secured for us that divine merit (meritum Christi) which is our righteousness before God unto salvation, Rom. 3, 22—25; 2 Cor. 5, 19—21.
The prepositions ἀντὶ, ὑπέρ (Matt. 20, 28; 2 Cor. 5, 14), translated in our Authorized Version with “for,” do not merely mean “for the benefit of,” but rather: “in place of.” They express the fact that Christ suffered and died in our stead, or as our true Substitute. Luther rightly says: “Christ suffered death, malediction, and damnation, just as if He Himself had broken the whole Law and deserved every sentence pronounced by the Law on criminals.” (St. L., XII, 236.)
Since Christ by His most perfect obedience has paid the penalty of our sin and expiated our guilt, He has freed us also from the dreadful consequences which sin, both original and actual, has brought upon us, such as a) death, 2 Tim. 1,10; b) the power of the devil, Heb. 2,14; c) the dominion of sin, Titus 2,14; etc. All these infinite spiritual blessings are comprised in the expression “the redemption of the human race,” which Hollaz defines as “the spiritual, judicial, and most costly deliverance of all men, bound in the chains of sin, from guilt, from the wrath of God, and from temporal and eternal punishment, accomplished by Christ, the God- man, through His active and passive obedience, which God, the most righteous Judge, graciously received as a most perfect ransom (λύτρον), so that the human race, introduced into spiritual liberty, may live forever with God.” (Doctr. Theol., p. 346.)
Objections to the Scriptural doctrine of the redemption of lost mankind through the perfect obedience of Christ (active and passive) have always been raised by the proud, self-righteous carnal heart of man, 1 Cor. 1, 23. While some critics denied the necessity and validity of Christ’s active obedience (“As a man Christ obeyed the divine Law for His own good”; Anselm, Aepinus), others violently attacked the necessity and validity of His passive obedience (Rationalism, Unitarianism, Modernism). In the interest of denying Christ’s vicarious satisfaction it has been claimed: a) that the term redemption (άπολντρωοις) means simply liberation and not the purchasing of sinners by the payment of an adequate ransom; b) that the idea of satisfaction conflicts with the gratuitous remission of sins; c) that God cannot transfer the crime of one to another and punish an innocent Substitute for guilty man, etc.
All these objections contradict the clear doctrines of Scripture, which teaches: a) that Christ's redemption was indeed effected by the payment of the price of His blood, 1 Cor. 6, 20; 1 Pet. 1, 18.19; Gal. 3,13; Eph. 1, 7; Titus 2,14; Heb. 9,12.15; Rev. 5,9; b) that the mercy of God in remitting sin is indeed gratuitous in the sense that no satisfaction is required of us; but it is not gratuitous absolutely , since it required the satisfaction of Christ, Rom. 3, 24; Eph. 1, 7; and c) that God indeed transferred the sins of man upon Christ and punished Him in our stead, Is. 53, 4—6; John 1, 29; Gal. 3,13.
Gerhard very exhaustively classifies the Scriptural statements which describe Christ’s sacerdotal work and in particular His vicarious satisfaction as follows: a) Christ is our Mediator, 1 Tim. 2, 5; Heb. 8, 6; 9,15; 12, 24; b) Christ is our Redeemer, Is. 53, 4—6; Luke 1, 68; Rom. 3, 24; 1 Cor. 1, 30; Eph. 1, 7; Col. 1,14; 1 Tim. 2, 6; Heb. 9, 12.15; c) Christ is the Propitiation (íλασμός) for our sins, 1 John 2, 2; 4,10; Rom. 3, 24. 25; d) by Him we are reconciled to God, Rom. 5, 10. 11; 2 Cor. 5, 18. 19; Eph. 2, 16; Col. 1, 20; e) Christ gave His life as λύτρον καί άντίλντρον for us, Matt. 20, 28; Mark 10, 45; Titus 2, 14; 1 Pet. 1, 18.19; Heb. 9, 15; f) Christ was made sin for us, 2 Cor. 5, 21; Rom. 8, 3; g) Christ became a curse for us, Gal. 3, 13; h) Christ took upon Himself our sins and their punishment. Is. 53, 4—6; John 1, 29; 1 Pet. 2, 24; i) Christ shed His blood for our sins, Matt. 26, 28; 1 John 1, 7; Heb. 9, 12; j) Christ blotted out the indictment against us. Col. 2, 14; k) Christ freed us from the curse of the Law, Gal. 3, 13; 4, 5; 1) Christ freed us from the wrath of God, 1 Thess. 1, 10; m) Christ freed us from eternal condemnation, 1 Thess. 5, 9.10; n) in Christ we are righteous and beloved, 2 Cor. 5, 21. (Doctr.Theol p.357.)
Hence, if any one denies the vicarious satisfaction which Christ, as the divinely appointed High Priest, made for the sins of the world, he denies the very heart of the Biblical message of redemption. Remove from the Bible the atoning work of Christ, and nothing of the Gospel is left. It is for this reason that Christ’s sacerdotal office constitutes the very core of Christian theology.