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<\/em>” (I Peter 2:5; The New Catholic Translation). Thus, all Christians are of that holy priesthood and can offer unto God spiritual sacrifices. All have the right to go directly to God through Jesus Christ, our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16).<\/p>\n Peter continued, “You, however, are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people he claims for his own to proclaim the glorious works of the One who called you from darkness into his marvelous light<\/em>” (I Peter 2:9). Revelation 1:6 says, “…Who has made us a royal nation of priests in the service of his God and Father.<\/em>” Consequently, the New Testament repeatedly teaches that all Christians are priests. When one obeys the gospel of Christ, he is added to the body of Christ and is thereby part of God’s holy priesthood. As priests, all can offer up spiritual sacrifices and draw nigh to God through the mediatorship of Jesus.<\/p>\n A sacrificing priesthood of men was indeed appointed under the law of Moses, but the animal sacrifices offered by the priests of the Old Testament were mere types and shadows of the one sacrifice made by Christ. By the one sacrifice made by Jesus, He put an end both to the Levitical priesthood and the Old Testament law. (See Hebrews 7:23-25; Colossians 2:14-17).<\/p>\n Jesus is now at the right hand of God and ever lives to make intercession for His people (Hebrews 7:25; 9:24). Through the one sacrifice of Himself, He became the sole mediator through which men have access to God (I Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:26-27; 9:24-28; Ephesians 2:18). He is the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him (Hebrews 5:8-9).<\/p>\n There is no priesthood on earth that has the right to forbid each Christian to go directly to God through Christ or to assume the authority to administer graces and obtain mercy for others. All Christians are of that royal priesthood of God and have but one great High Priest, Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 Catholic Translation). Thus, all Christians…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[450,277,1599],"class_list":["post-54979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-christians","tag-priests","tag-roman-catholic-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":45029,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-people-choose-the-priesthood-when-they-want-to-follow-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":54979,"position":0},"title":"Why do people choose the priesthood when they want to follow Jesus?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"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\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":12592,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-does-the-bible-say-the-priesthood-is-given-to-all-men\/","url_meta":{"origin":54979,"position":1},"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":84605,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/may-women-serve-as-priests\/","url_meta":{"origin":54979,"position":2},"title":"May Women Serve as Priests?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Floyd Chappalear via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 13, No. 4, December 31, 1987 The priesthood of the Mosaical dispensation was a special priesthood limited by the Law to certain males of the tribe of Levi. These ordained representatives of God had the exclusive right to offer sacrifices on behalf of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/considering-300x200.avif","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":56644,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-the-stone-of-stumbling\/","url_meta":{"origin":54979,"position":3},"title":"Jesus, the Stone of Stumbling","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer \"But the LORD (Yahweh) of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/stumbling-stone-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":55194,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-bible-condemns-catholic-doctrine\/","url_meta":{"origin":54979,"position":4},"title":"The Bible Condemns Catholic Doctrine","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 12, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by David J. Riggs from\u00a0Catholic Teaching Examined Why would Catholics want to defeat the Bible as the only authority? The answer is: it is their way of trying to justify their own traditions. How else would they justify them? Furthermore, the reason Catholics try to discredit the Bible as the\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":23298,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-have-concerns-about-the-catholic-churchs-teachings-on-celibacy-for-priests-womens-status-in-the-church-and-the-condemnation-of-homosexuality\/","url_meta":{"origin":54979,"position":5},"title":"I have concerns about the Catholic church’s teachings on celibacy for priests, women’s status in the church, and the condemnation of homosexuality","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 7, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Perhaps I can ask you about one more thing that troubles me.\u00a0 I have always been rooted in the mercy of Jesus and his compassion toward others.\u00a0 I will call attention to behaviors but do not pass judgment on others.\u00a0 That said,\u00a0I recently came back to more fully embracing\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\/54979","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=54979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54979\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}