1 Peter 2:4-5; 9.

4 ¶ Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

      But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light;

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When we come to the time and place where we ask the Lord Jesus to forgive our sins and invite Him into our lives to take control of our lives we are born again into the family of God. God has made us part of the spiritual house He is building and given us a job to do in the building of that house that we call the True Church In these verses we learn how God intends to use those who have turned to the Lord Jesus in repentance and faith to build His Church. They are now a holy priesthood and a royal priesthood.

We are a people separated unto God. (2 Cor 6:16 -18)

“You are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Rom 12:2

The Lord Jesus is our example in this.

For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Heb 7:26

We will not fulfil our role as priesthood if we ignore the requirement to be a holy priesthood.

As you read the New Testament you will see that there is only one person who is called a priest. That is our Great High Priest. Individually, none of us are priests but all of us together as Christians are called to be a priesthood.

The Holy priesthoods’ first responsibility is toward God. The Old Testament priests stood in God’s presence to offer sacrifices for a needy and sinful people. All Christians are the New Testament priesthood and they offer spiritual sacrifices.

Believer-priests offer:

*          Themselves (see Rom 12:1;)

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

*          Their substance (see Rom 12:13 );

Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

They were also called to serve God by standing before the people representing God. They reminded the people of God’s standards. They proclaimed God’s Laws and God’s expectations of how His people should behave themselves in their worship and in their everyday lives. We have a responsibility to proclaim God’s righteousness to a sinful generation.

We are a holy priesthood and a royal priesthood.

Aaron and his sons were consecrated to God and His service in a special ceremony. There is no need to keep on repeating this ceremony. It is recorded in God’s Word for our instruction and learning.

Consecration means to set apart and in this context it means that God had set them apart to serve Him. They did not consecrate themselves; neither did Moses consecrate them; God set them apart for His own use and the ritual was designed to demonstrate, to them and to the people at large, what God had done.

Christian consecration is, first of all, something that comes from God. God has chosen each one who is truly born‑again and has set them apart for His use. We can learn something of what Christian consecration means to the New Testament priesthood from a study of the Old Testament ritual.

Let us look at the principles we find in Exodus 29: 1 -19

CLEANSED (1-3)
A sacrifice had to be offered for their sins. Ritual cleansing required sacrifice. Sacrifice meant offering up another life as a substitute for the sins of the priest in order that he might be cleansed to stand in God's presence. Our sacrifice is the Lord Jesus. His death was on our behalf and our sin is cleansed through faith in Him.

WASHED (4)
Then they had to be washed with water. This represents their need for daily cleansing. We too require this and it is more than a ritual act. We experience this, day by day, through the Word of God.                                                 Ephesians 5:25-27
Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

DRESSED (5-9) 
They were clothed in special garments. 
In our case we do not have special clothes for the outside of our bodies but the Holy Spirit clothes us spiritually. He clothes us with righteousness and peace and joy.

ANOINTED (7)
They were anointed with special oil that gave off a fragrance that identified them as priests of God. No one else was allowed to manufacture or use this special oil. It was reserved for the priests to identify them as priests.
 See 2 Cor 2:14-17; in one of the early editions of Letters to Young Churches J.B Phillips heads this passage, "Do you smell like a Christian".
The Holy Spirit is our anointing. He equips us for each special task that God calls us to perform.

They were anointed with the blood of the sacrifice. (10-12)

They were marked, with the blood:- (20)
On the lobe of the right ear, 
The thumb of the right hand 
The big toe of the right foot.

On the ear to remind them to listen to God.

On the thumb to remind them to work for God.

On the toe to remind them to walk with God and to go where He sends.

In spite of much talk today about Anointed Preaching the Bible says nothing about the mouth being marked with the blood. If we listen to God, do what God tells us to do, and go where He sends our lives will do the talking. Then our preaching will produce real spiritual fruit.