The Three-Fold Office of Christian Witness
All Believers Are Witnesses of Christ
Everyone who knows Christ experientially has a calling and passion to make him known. Christian believers desire to testify to everyone everywhere “that which we have heard” and “have seen” and have experienced for themselves to be true about Christ (1 John 1:1). Christian witness is the identity and calling of the church. The risen Christ commissioned his people to be his witnesses (Acts 1:8; cf. Isa. 43:8–13), and the apostle Peter described public witness as an essential task of the church (2 Pet. 2:9–12; cf. Ex. 19:5–6). Furthermore, the following two crucial Reformed doctrines give us a biblically faithful framework to explain the identity and calling of all believers as Christ’s witnesses.
The Priesthood of All Believers
The Protestant Reformers taught that all believers in Christ have received a holy calling and all share in his priestly status. As Calvin wrote, Christ is the perfect office bearer and he “also admits us into this most honorable alliance.” The risen Christ makes all believers “a kingdom, priests to his God and Father” (Rev. 1:6). Indeed, God’s people have always been “a kingdom of priests” among the nations (Ex. 19:6), and his church is still “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” that declares, displays, and defends his gospel light “among the Gentiles” (1 Pet. 2:9–12). This doctrine is not a license for the radical individualism of believers, now common within some expressions of Western Christianity. Yet this Reformed doctrine remains foundational for understanding the official spiritual function of all believers as witnesses of Christ to everyone everywhere.
You Will Be My Witnesses
Brian A. DeVries
You Will Be My Witnesses examines the witness of God’s people within the story of God’s mission, draws insights from the church’s witness since Pentecost, and reflects on practical aspects of contemporary Christian witness.
The Three-Fold Office of Christ
A second doctrine describes Christ’s three-fold office as Prophet, Priest, and King. The European Reformers, following Eusebius and other early church leaders, used this framework to explain Christ’s work and ongoing ministry. The Heidelberg Catechism gives us a classic statement of this teaching:
Question 31: Why is he called “Christ,” meaning “anointed”?
Answer: Because he has been ordained by God the Father and has been anointed with the Holy Spirit to be our chief prophet and teacher . . . our only high priest . . . and our eternal king . . . .”
Christ’s mediatorial ministry as Prophet, Priest, and King is central to Scripture and our faith. His three-fold ministry was anticipated and foreshadowed in the Old Testament. This ministry was perfectly performed on earth in his state of humiliation. Now in his state of exaltation, Christ’s three-fold ministry continues globally, through his word and Spirit, not only within each believer spiritually and individually but also publicly and corporately through the witness of all believers in the world.
Why Are You Called a Christian?
The next question of the Heidelberg Catechism takes us further, personally applying these doctrines to each believer.
Question 32: But why are you called a Christian?
Answer: Because by faith I am a member of Christ and so I share in his anointing. I am anointed to confess his name [prophet], to present myself to him as a living sacrifice of thanks [priest], to strive with a free conscience against sin and the devil in this life, and afterward to reign with Christ over all creation for eternity [king].
This answer overflows with precious and profound truths, synergistically expanding upon each other! Spiritual union in Christ: by faith, all believers are made a “member of Christ” and “have fellowship with him in his graces, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory” (WCF 26.1). Spiritual unction by Christ’s Spirit: all believers “share in his anointing” (cf. 1 John 2:20, 27). As Christ was anointed by the Spirit for ministry, so also all believers in Christ are indwelled and empowered by the Spirit to be witnesses of Christ in the world (Acts 1:8). Spiritual function with Christ: all believers are commissioned to follow in his three-fold office. In Christ, all believers participate in his priesthood, as God’s kingdom of priests among all nations. The church also serves prophetically as Spirit-filled witnesses who declare his glory and “confess his name” publicly, and as Spirit-led kingdom-seekers who fight “against sin and the devil” in this world.
The Office of Christian Witness
All believers collectively, as Christ’s church on earth, have been appointed and anointed to continue Christ’s ongoing global ministry by serving within this world as his prophets, priests, and kings. This three-fold office is more than merely the personal spirituality of believers or the inward-facing ministries of the church. It includes the outward-facing ministry of the church. Together with the Holy Spirit, the church is God’s official agent within society, commissioned to bear witness to gospel truth in all places (John 15:26–27; Acts 5:32). Christian witness, as the identity and calling of all believers, is a personal application flowing from these two doctrines: the priesthood of all believers and the three-fold office of Christ. Furthermore, these crucial Reformed doctrines give us the framework for a practical application of these truths.
In Christ, all believers participate in his priesthood, as God’s kingdom of priests among all nations.
A Holy Company of Prophets
The church is appointed and anointed to be a prophetic witness to everyone everywhere. We do not need new revelations, since God’s final word has already been spoken and the inspiration of Scripture has ceased (Heb. 1:2; Rev. 22:18–19). Yet God’s people are still at times filled with his Spirit to speak his word with clarity and boldness (Acts 4:29–31). Like the Old Testament prophets, we declare God’s glory among the nations and defend God’s truth among rebellious peoples, “whether they hear or refuse to hear” (Ezek. 2:1–8). Like the New Testament apostles, we proclaim the gospel to all nations, empowered by Christ’s Spirit to make disciples and plant his church in each area (Luke 24:47; Acts 14:22–23). Like the long line of faithful martyrs, we are willing to suffer and even to die for the cause of public gospel proclamation.
A Holy Community of Priests
The church is appointed and anointed to be a priestly blessing among all nations (Gen. 12:3; Gal. 3:8). We are called to be a showcase community, living within the world while being kept holy and separate from sinful society, in order to be a contextualized countercultural witness of gospel blessing to all peoples in each community. All believers are invited to consecrate themselves “as a living sacrifice” that is dedicated to “the priestly service of the gospel” (Rom. 12:1; 15:16). As Christ’s kingdom of priests today, the church is empowered by Christ’s Spirit to be a public demonstration of God’s love, forgiveness, reconciliation, and peace to all people. The church offers “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings” for all people (1 Tim. 2:1–8). The church displays Christ’s tender compassion to everyone, not only to prove the genuineness of the Christian faith, but also as further confirmation of the gospel’s authenticity (Mark 16:20). The church imitates God’s goodness and demonstrates his grace within all societies so that the world might praise God when they see the church’s good deeds (1 Pet. 2:12, 15).
A Holy Lineage of Princes
The church is appointed and anointed to be the kingly authority of Christ within this rebellious world. Not yet, however, do we reign with Christ in glory. For now, the church’s regal presence in the world is best described as that of a prince or princess. By faith, we confess our spiritual lineage, even though our true identity is not yet fully realized nor recognized by the deluded world in which we live. We are princes and princesses in Christ’s kingdom, but presently we live in a world that rages against God and his anointed one. Scripture often describes God’s people as a minority group in a hostile environment; they are sojourners and foreigners (1 Pet. 2:11) who, like the Apostle Paul, must bear witness to Christ from positions of sociocultural weakness.
In this context, the church engages in spiritual warfare, both by fighting against internal “passions of the flesh” and by apologetically refuting “arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God” (1 Pet. 2:11; 2 Cor. 10:5). In this environment, the church serves as “ambassadors for Christ,” pleading with sinners “on behalf of Christ” to be reconciled with God (2 Cor. 5:20). Despite opposition, the church announces a message of eternal hope in a dying world, living with the expectation of a better country (Heb. 11:10, 13–16) while seeking the welfare of the society in which, by God’s providence, they are placed (Jer. 29:4–7; Matt. 6:33).
We All Are Witnesses of Christ
All believers share in this three-fold office of Christian witness. This function is not limited to a special class of people in the church. There are, of course, those who have a special calling to serve as missionaries, evangelists, church planters, apologists, or in related vocations. But every believer, in spiritual union with Christ, has been appointed to be a gospel witness. Every believer, indwelled by the Spirit of Christ, is being anointed with gifts and graces in order to serve, together with the whole church, as Christ’s prophets, priests, and princes in the world today. Bearing witness to Christ in this way is the identity and calling of all believers. We all have the profound privilege and responsibility to share in Christ’s three-fold ministry of Christian witness.
Brian A. DeVries is the author of You Will Be My Witnesses: Theology for God’s Church Serving in God’s Mission.
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