Applied Theology

Under The old Covenant preists were mediators between God and man.

I Timothy 2:5

For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

Hebrews 8:6
6But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.

Hebrews 9:15
15For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

Hebrews 12:24 24to

Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Jesus is our High priest and a priest is a mediater between God and man.

Ephesians 5:30-32
30for we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.

Christ and his Church are one.

As Christ and Twe The Church are one, because he is a preist we in The Church are priests.

I Peter 2:5
you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

I Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Hebrews 7:24
but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.

Christs priesthood is eternal. As he is eternal so is his Cchurch for they are one.

As Christ is a priest we in his church are priieststs and a priest is a mediater between God and man.

How does The Church mediate between God and man?

James 1:26-27
26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

This is applied theology. The New Covenant Priesthood mediates between God and man by applied theology.

This would trouble some evangelicals because of a split amongst them at the beginning of last century. The split was between those for social justice and those for getting people saved.

Go and preach the gospel and if you have to use words. :- Saint Francis of Assisi.

Evangelical 'conservatives' have forgotten how to live it while evangelical 'liberals' have forgotten how to preach it.

Applied theology comes by recognising a need within society, working out how to meet that need, meeting it and as a result multitudes come to Christ.

Therefore we as evangelical Christians must see the needs and meet them.

A prostitute doesn't know she needs Christ but she does know she needs to get off narcotics.

A homless person doesn't know he needs Christ or needs to get off the booze but he knows he need to get off the streets.

Somebody ruined with debtt knows they need to get out of debt.

Somebody so drunk they can't stand knows they need to sober up.

What we do to the least of these we do to Jesus himself.

Mark 1:40-45
A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." 41Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" 42Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. 43Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44"See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." 45Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

No where in the torah does it say that lepers can not be touched. How were the priests going to examine them without touching them?

By touching the leper Jesus was coming against the religion of the day. He never broke the law but still did things that angered the Pharisees.

Because of his healing the leper told many of the good things God had done for him.

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."