I was wondering if many people who accepted Jesus and decided to follow him joined the priesthood. My question is: Is becoming a priest the only way to follow Jesus and go to Heaven? Why do people choose the priesthood when they want to follow Jesus? And what is the difference between becoming a priest or a good Christian husband? Can a husband become a priest as well?<\/p>\n\t
“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 marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy<\/em>” (I Peter 2:4-5, 9-10).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Under the Law of Moses, there was a separate priesthood from the common people, but under the Law of Christ, there is no separate priesthood. All Christians are priests; that is, they have the right and privilege to approach God with their prayers directly without another man coming between them and God. Since there is no other way to God, but through Jesus Christ (John 14:6), in this age, it is only by being a follower of Christ — a Christian — that a person can go to heaven.<\/p>\n
All Christians are allowed to marry. “Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband<\/em>” (I Corinthians 7:2).<\/p>\n
The concept of a celibate priesthood is a product of the Roman Catholic Church. It is man-made and not God-given. Their priesthood results in some men being considered greater than others, instead of the Christian view that all are equal. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus<\/em>” (Galatians 3:28). The idea of required celibacy contradicts what Paul stated: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth<\/em>” (I Timothy 4:1-3).<\/p>\n\t
Response:<\/h2>\n
Thank you, Jeffrey.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I was wondering if many people who accepted Jesus and decided to follow him joined the priesthood. My question is: Is becoming a priest the only way to follow Jesus and go to Heaven? Why do people choose the priesthood when they want to follow Jesus? And what is the difference between becoming a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[277,1599],"class_list":["post-45029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-priests","tag-roman-catholic-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12592,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-does-the-bible-say-the-priesthood-is-given-to-all-men\/","url_meta":{"origin":45029,"position":0},"title":"Where does the Bible say the priesthood is given to all men?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 26, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have seen the Scripture in the Old or New Testament which states that the priesthood is to be given to all men. \u00a0However, I don't remember where I found it. Would you please help us to locate it? Answer: \"Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54979,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/all-christians-are-priests\/","url_meta":{"origin":45029,"position":1},"title":"All Christians Are Priests","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by David J. Riggs from\u00a0Catholic Teaching Examined A study of the New Testament reveals that all Christians are priests. Peter said, \"You too are living stones, built as an edifice of spirit, into a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ\" (I Peter 2:5; The New\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66606,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-the-great-high-priest\/","url_meta":{"origin":45029,"position":2},"title":"Jesus, the Great High Priest","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer When God brought Israel out of Egypt and established a covenant, He also established a priesthood through the levitical family of Aaron. Aaron and his sons were anointed and consecrated through sacrifice, with Aaron as the first High Priest. The tent of meeting was made so that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49772,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-i-need-to-prepare-myself-as-a-priest-to-fit-into-the-kingdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":45029,"position":3},"title":"Do I need to prepare myself as a priest to fit into the kingdom?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question regarding the practical application of royal priesthood in the upcoming kingdom of God. Recently I got to know one of the elders and preacher in the church. According to him, we are a royal priesthood (referring to I Peter 2:9) and the role of priest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28835,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-the-levitical-priesthood-replace-the-priesthood-of-melchizedek\/","url_meta":{"origin":45029,"position":4},"title":"Did the Levitical priesthood replace the priesthood of Melchizedek?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 5, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: \"For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law\" (Hebrews 7:12). Did the Levitical priesthood replace the priesthood of Melchizedek? Answer: Under the Old Law of Moses, priests came from the tribe of Levi and, starting with David, kings came from the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38409,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/king-and-high-priest-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":45029,"position":5},"title":"King and High Priest Now","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Premillennial thinking is that Jesus was not able to set up His kingdom in the first century like He planned, postponed that plan, and will come back again later to set up His kingdom on earth and reign for 1000 years. That is a mistaken view.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45029\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}