Grasping the significance of having Christ as our mediator is vital for realizing how blessed we are as Christians. A mediator is someone who reconciles two sides who are involved in a disagreement. The scenario for all mankind is this; all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), God must punish wickedness (Ps. 145:20), and we are enemies of God if we remain in sin (Col. 1:21-23). One day we will stand before the Father and give an account of our deeds (Rom. 14:10-12). Without Christ, how would you fair? What do you think would be the outcome of God’s judgment without Christ’s blood to cover our sins (1 John 1:7-10)?

            Mankind has always needed a mediator and in the Old Testament there were a few. Job was a mediator for his sons when he arose and sacrificed on their behalf (Job 1:5). What we see in the patriarchal time is that the head of a house was the mediator for their families. Noah sacrificed to the Lord for his family when they got off the ark (Gen. 8:20), Abraham created a covenant with God for his family (Gen. 15:1-17), Isaac continued that covenant after Abraham’s death (Gen. 26:24-25), and Jacob mediated between God and his children when they held on to their idols (Gen. 35:1-7). While the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they asked Moses to mediate between them and God because they feared they would die (Deut. 5:22-33). Similarly, Samuel was a mediator between God and His people. Jeremiah wrote concerning the Jewish people of his time, “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Even if Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My mind would not be favorable toward this people. Cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth’” (Jer. 15:1). What Jeremiah is saying is if Moses and Samuel were to attempt to mediate for the people of Jeremiah’s day, he would not change His decision of their coming destruction. Even though Scripture does not explicitly say Samuel was a mediator, it clearly shows by example that he was (1 Sam. 7:5-8). Although these men were all mediators, the problem is they were men. Sin was a problem in their lives as it is for every man and they could not live forever. Once they died, the people again yearned for someone to stand on their behalf before God.

            Certainly, there were mediators at times; but there were also times when none could be found. Job longed for a mediator when he suffered and was afflicted. Job said, “Nor is there any mediator between us, who may lay his hand on us both. Let Him take His rod away from me, and do not let dread of Him terrify me” (Job. 9:33-34). God desired for a mediator to arise during the time of Ezekiel, but there were none to stand in the gap. The priests, princes, and prophets should have been the bridge; yet, they had turned to wickedness and caused others to sin against God. For this, God brought indignation and wrath upon His people (Ezek. 22:23-31).

            Christ has bridged the gap for all mankind, for all times (1 Tim. 2:5). With Christ as our mediator we live under a better covenant with better promises (Heb. 8:6). If one desires to have Jesus as their mediator, they must be a part of His Church (Heb. 12:23-24). Those who refuse the gospel also refuse to have Jesus as their mediator on the day of Judgment (2 Thes. 1:8-10). Will Jesus Christ bridge the gap between yourself and God when all mankind must appear before His judgment seat (2 Cor. 5:10)? Or will Jesus’ words stand as a prosecuting attorney against you because you ignored them (John 12:47-50)?

-Brandon Foresha

A mediator is sometimes needed to help two parties in conflict reach an agreement. When a brother in Christ has sinned against me and will not listen to me alone, Jesus instructed me to get one or two more to arbitrate in the matter (Mt. 18:16). 

The book of Philemon presents an occasion where Paul functioned as a mediator between Onesimus, a slave, and his master, Philemon, so that their relationship would be that of beloved brothers (v. 16). Onesimus had not left Philemon’s house on good terms; he was an “unprofitable” servant (v. 11) and may have wronged his master or stolen from him in some additional way (v. 17). Leaving Philemon, Onesimus eventually came in contact with Paul in prison. Paul converted Onesimus to Christ, and then sent him back to Philemon with this letter preserved for us in the New Testament in which Paul appealed to Philemon to receive Onesimus back (vv. 10-12). Paul wanted Onesimus to stay with him, but desired Philemon’s consent first (vv. 13-14). Paul had confidence that Philemon would not only receive Onesimus—which would be fitting in obedience to apostolic teaching in regard to the forgiveness of sins—but would do even more than what Paul had said (vv. 8, 21). Perhaps the greatest expression of Paul’s mediation is his statement in verses 17-19 of the epistle, “If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me. But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account. I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay—not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides.” Paul was so desirous of peace between the two that he puts the debts of Onesimus on his own account and promises to repay, even though he could have demanded that Philemon owed him.

In regard to our relationship to God, the Bible clearly teaches, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,” (1 Tim. 2:5-6). Our sins cause us to be at odds with God (Isa. 53:1-2; Rom. 3:23). Jesus is the mediator who is both God and man; He understands both parties (Jn. 1:1-3, 14; Phil. 2:5-7; Heb. 2:14; 4:16; 5:1-2). The debt we owe to God because we have wronged Him with our sins was placed on Jesus’ account at the cross (1 Pet. 2:24). Similar to how Abraham offered up Isaac in his heart before the act was ever carried out (Gen. 22:10-12; Heb. 11:17-19), God has allowed man to be reconciled to Him throughout time based on the fact that in His mind sins would be placed on Jesus’ account (Rom. 3:24-26; Gal. 3:13). The preaching of Christ as this great mediator was “testified in due time” when the apostles proclaimed it at the inauguration of the Christian era. No doubt Paul had learned to seek reconciliation with those at enmity because of the great love He saw in God bringing man back to Himself through Christ: “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18-19). Jesus, as the Mediator of the New Testament (Heb. 8:6; 9:15; 12:24) continues to function as the go-between to continually give us peace with God through His blood so that we are on speaking terms with the Father. That God’s love has provided such mediation in Jesus should compel us to live righteously, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

–Mark Day

To the young Thessalonian congregation, recently planted by Paul, he wrote, “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21). The grouping of these brief exhortations show that they primarily concern the exercise of miraculous gifts in the first-century church.

While one can quench the Spirit’s influence by pursuing a lifestyle that is contrary to God’s word—by hardening one’s heart with sin (Hebrews 3:13)—the context in 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 seems to indicate they were smothering the miraculous activity of the Spirit; the next exhortation against despising prophecies refers to the Spirit’s working in a miraculous context. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul addresses these miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit; one was prophecy (v.10), a gift that some, but not all, had in the first-century church (vv. 28-29; cf. 14:2-5). Prophecy was the means by which God revealed His message and served to edify her members (1 Corinthians 14:29-33). To first-century congregations such as Thessalonica, who did not yet have a complete, written New Testament, prophets foretold the message of God (the mystery of the Gospel of Christ) that had been hitherto kept secret (Ephesians 3:3-7). Sometimes a prophet of God would foretell events to come (Acts 11:27-28). 

However, there were also false prophets who claimed to have messages from God, but were liars (Acts 13:6; 2 Peter 2:1; 2 Corinthians 11:13; Revelation 2:2). When Paul was with the Thessalonians, he warned them about false prophets who would try to deceive them leading to a great apostasy from the faith (2 Thessalonians 2:3-5). With false teachers running amok, it is possible that some in Thessalonica had the tendency of putting all who claimed to be prophets of God in the same pigeon hole as false teachers and thus despised some true prophets of God. Do we not see people who have a similar attitude in regard to religious groups today? There are those who think that all religious groups advocate abandoning reason, manipulate emotions, and prey on the gullible to make lots of money. There are individuals who, upon hearing I am a preacher, have said to me, “Oh, your all about getting money out of people.” It is similar to Nathanael’s initial criticism concerning Jesus’ hometown, when he said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). Jesus was the exception. Likewise, though there were false prophets, that did not mean there were no true prophets.

Since there are both true and false prophets, the proper response Paul advocates is to, “Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). This is much like the admonition of 1 John 4:1, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

It seems that Paul had to leave the congregation at Thessalonica after only three weeks (Acts 17:2, 10). His two letters to them soon after his departure, which we have preserved for us in the New Testament, were written to more fully instruct them and encourage them to grow in Christ. Those who had the miraculous gift of prophecy in the infant church of the first century would aid new congregations like Thessalonica by messages from God just as Paul’s letters aided them.

While the miraculous gift of prophecy is no longer extant in the church today since we have the entire Bible: the complete revelation of God (1 Corinthians 13:8-10; James 1:25), we must still examine what a preacher says to determine whether it is true or false according to God’s revealed word. The teaching that is good should be embraced and practiced rather than despised and discarded.

-Mark Day