Louis Berkhof on 1 Timothy 2:5 and the mediatorship of Jesus

It is common for some critics of the Church to appeal to 1 Tim 2:5 as proof that there is no need for an ordained priesthood under the New Covenant (in spite of the biblical problems with this) and modern prophets/apostles. However, what critics ignore is that the term "mediator" (μεσιτες), in 1 Tim 2:5 is used in a more technical/salvific sense, as one who inaugurates a new covenant and mediates the grace thereof (cf. Heb 7:24-25; 1 John 2:1-2, etc).

As I write in response to "God Loves Mormons" in a paper entitled, "Yes, We Need Modern Prophets: Responding to Godlovesmormons.com":

εἷς γὰρ θεός, εἷς καὶ μεσίτης θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων, ἄνθρωπος Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς.

There is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ (my translation)

The term translated as “mediator” is μεσιτης, and is used in the New Testament corpus to refer to an individual who inaugurates a covenant, which is what Jesus did:

Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator [Moses] (μεσιτης). Now a mediator is not a mediator (μεσιτης) of one, but God is one. (Gal 3:19-20)

But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator (μεσιτης) of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. (Heb 8:6)

And for this cause he is the mediator (μεσιτης) of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. (Heb 9:15)

And to Jesus the mediator (μεσιτης) of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. (Heb 12:24)

Louw and Nida (op cit.) offers the following definition of the term:

μεσίτης, ου m: (derivative of μεσιτεύω 'to bring about an agreement,' 31.21) one who causes or helps parties to come to an agreement, with the implication of guaranteeing the certainty of the arrangement - 'go between, mediator.' διαταγεὶς δι᾽ ἀγγέλων ἐν χειρὶ μεσίτου '(the Law) was put into effect through angels by a mediator'

What Evangelicals wants to read into this verse is that there is no need for human instruments helping people come closer to God, similar to Luther’s claims in 1520 in The Babylonian Captivity of the Church against the sacerdotal priesthood of Roman Catholicism, and continuing to the present in many Protestant circles. The problem is that the New Testament evidences the use of such instrumentality, consistent with the LDS concept of priesthood (e.g., Matt 16:16-19; 18:18; John 20:23; also, note the rather potent words of Paul in 1 Cor 4:15, "For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel"), and there are a plethora of Old Testament prophecies about the New Covenant having an ordained, ministerial priesthood (e.g., Isa 66:18-22; Jer 33:17-22, as discussed in my paper on the NT evidence of a New Covenant priesthood). The author is in the unenviable position of having to reject an ordained, ministerial priesthood as part of the New Covenant which would mean if he was consistent, his rejecting Isaiah, Jeremiah, and other Old Testament prophets as false prophets.

Interestingly, this understanding of "mediator," used of Jesus in 1 Tim 2:5, is supported by Reformed theologians themselves, and not "pop" apologists like those at God Loves Mormons. The American-Dutch Reformed theologian, Louis Berkhof (1873-1957) wrote the following:

The Relation of Christ to the Covenant of Grace

Christ is represented in Scripture as the Mediator of the covenant. The Greek word mesites is not found in classical Greek, but does occur in Philo and in later Greek authors. In the Septuagint it is found but once, Job 9:33. The English word “Mediator,” as well as the Holland “Middelaar” and the German “Mittler,” might lead us to think that it (mesites) simply designates one who arbitrates between two parties between two parties, and intermediary in the general sense of the word. It should be borne in mind, however, that the Scriptural idea is far more profound. Christ is Mediator in more than one sense. He intervenes between God and man, not merely to sue for peace and to persuade to it, but as armed with plenipotentiary power, do to all that is necessary to establish peace. The use of the word mesites in the New Testament justifies our speaking of a twofold Mediatorship of Christ, namely, that of surety and of access (Gr. Prosagoge, Rom. 5:2). In most of the passages in which the word is found in the New Testament, it is equal to egguos, and therefore points to Christ as one who, by taking upon Himself the guilt of sinners, terminated their penal relation to the law and restored them to the right legal relationship to God.

This is the meaning of the word in Heb. 8:6; 9:15, and 12:24. In Heb. 7:22 the term egguos itself is applied to Christ. There is one passage, however, in which the word mesites has a meaning that is more in accord with the ordinary two parties and to reconcile them, namely, 1 Tim 2:5. Here Christ is represented as Mediator in the sense that, on the basis of His sacrifice He brings God and man together. The work of Christ, as indicated by the word mesites, man, in the objective legal sphere, and in the subjective moral sphere. In the former He propitiates the just displeasure of God by expiating the guilty of sin, makes intercession for those whom the Father has given Him, and actually makes their persons and services acceptable to God and their relation to Him with the conditions of acceptable service, persuades and enables them to receive the truth, and directs and sustains them in all circumstances of life, so as to perfect their deliverance. In doing this work He employs the ministry of men, II Cor. 5:20. (Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology [Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1958], 282-83)