As we shall see, only God can make someone a king or a priest, and the gifts of an apostle, pastor, teacher, evangelist, or bishop is also God-given. Because of this, man has no reason to boast if God makes them a king or priest and endows them with a spiritual gift. Shame on any believer in Christ who would resort to boasting! I won’t respond to your question about a man being a “lord” or “a god,” for these are manmade titles that men may give to themselves, and they are indeed the fruit of PRIDE.

In Revelation 1:5-6 we read, “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and had MADE US KINGS AND PRIESTS to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Here we read that Jesus Christ is the one who has “made us (sinners who have been washed from their sins in His blood) kings and priest.” We have no reason to boast in ourselves, for as we see in verse 6 He alone deserves the glory. In Galatians 6:14 the Apostle Paul said, “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul knew that it was through Christ and His death on the cross that we have been washed from our sins and given eternal life. He also spoke of how wrong it is to boast of anything we do in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that NOT OF YOURSELVES; it is the gift of God, NOT OF WORKS, LEST ANYONE SHOULD BOAST.” All the believers have salvation, eternal life, a home in heaven, and the position we have as “kings and priests” are all freely given to us by God based on the death of our Lord Jesus Christ.

You may be thinking, “What does it means that believers are ‘kings and priests to God?’” Regarding “kings,” one day we are going to REIGN WITH CHRIST over the earth for 1,000 years. Revelation 5:10 says, “And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.” Christ will come to this earth one day as the “King of kings, and Lord of lords” and we will come with Him as His bride to share in His dominion (see Revelation 19:6-16 and 20:1-6). Regarding “priests,” even now we (believers) are “a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). And in heaven our priesthood will continue forever, for we will always be worshiping God the Father and the Lord Jesus (see Revelation 5:6-14).

Now let’s look at Ephesians 4:7-8, 11-13. “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: ‘When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and GAVE GIFTS TO MEN…And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Here we learn that after Christ ascended to heaven (after His death and resurrection), He gave spiritual gifts to believers. The apostles and prophets laid the “foundation of the church” (Ephesians 2:19-22). The evangelist preaches the gospel to lost sinners so they can be saved (Acts 21:8 and 8-13, 26-40). Pastors (similar to bishops/elders) shepherd the flock of God (Acts 20:17, 28 with 1 Peter 5:1-4). And teachers establish believers in the truth by expounding unto them the scriptures (Acts 11:19-26 and 18:9-11). These “public gifts” were given to “equip the saints for the work of the ministry;” in other words, to establish the saints to prepare them for the service God has for them to do. When the Lord comes to take believers (the “church of God”) home to heaven, these gifts will no longer be needed, for at that time we will have “come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,” which means we will all have perfect knowledge of Christ and be united in the faith. There will be NO DISAGREEMENTS in heaven for we will all see EYE-TO-EYE on every truth!  (DO)  (627.1)