The Royal Priesthood possesses access to the truth of Scripture through the sacraments in a manner analogous to how the Son and the Spirit proceed from the Father. Just as the persons of the Trinity contain the same divine ousia, so likewise the Bible, the Lord’s Supper, and baptism all contain the same gospel message. Similarly, just as there is a Son and a Spirit as self-communications of the Father, so too there is a sacrament of the Spirit (baptism) and a sacrament of the Son (the Eucharist). Likewise, just as the Father is the fount of divinity and therefore the source of the Son and the Spirit from all eternity and as well as the sender of Son and Spirit in their missions within time, so too, the Bible authorizes baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Finally, just as the Son and the Spirit are the exegetes of the Father in eternity and in the history of redemption recorded in Scripture, they also serve as exegetes for the Royal Priesthood gathered around Word and Sacrament.
In baptism, the Spirit gives the Triune Name to believers so that they might call on the Lord in faith and repentance. Such faith and repentance invariably leads the believer to the Son and his work. Because the believer has called upon the Name of the Lord given in baptism for repentance, he now gains access to the Son’s sacrificed body and blood given in the Eucharist for the forgiveness of sins. Hence, faith and an encounter with Christ in the unilateral promise of the gospel through the public ministry of the Church gives the Royal Priesthood of believers an accurate perspective from which to read and understand the Bible. It also therefore provides a means of testing all teachers and ministers in the Church.1
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