Are you married? Do you have a wife/husband?
Now, if not, pretend with me for a second. If you love your spouse, arn’t you going to want to learn EVERYTHING there is to know about him/her? Uh, yes.
Absolutely. That’s why Peter says to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Only when one grows in the knowledge of such GRACE does one’s relationship become more intimate with Christ.
The more we love Christ, the more grace he pours out upon us.
You have stated a contradiction. Divine “
grace” by definition is unmerited, unrecompensed and undeserved favor. It is not
conditioned upon any amount of love we have, or exercise, toward Christ. But it is unconditional and infinite toward all who have personally believed the message concerning His Son whom He sent and delivered up to be a
propitiation for our sins:1 John 4:10 “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son {to be} the propitiation for our sins.”
Priests marry the bride of Christ. It is a complete relationship. If a priest makes it to ordination and doesn’t have an overwhelming relationship with Christ and His Church, he wasn’t paying attention in ANY of his classes. Nor was he praying and actively trying to have one.
In fact, i’m not sure why he stuck around. Priests get pitiful pay. It is a life made up completely of service to Jesus Christ.
Obviously he wasn’t in it for the pay, but as a Catholic he considered a way to serve. But he came a point in his life when he fully understood that it begins not with what he does for Christ, but believing what Christ did for him,
once for all. And for the first time he entered, by faith, into a salvation relationship with Christ. He understood the full redemptive power of the cross - that he was bought with a price, redeemed by His shed blood (1 Pet. 1:18-19).
He came to the realization, through regeneration, that as a priest he has no power to reconcile anyone to God, but that God HAS reconciled to Himself all who have come to Him through faith in Christ alone2 Cor 5:18-19 “Now all {these} things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”
He came to the realization that he, as a priest, cannot forgive anyone’s sins, but through Christ, and for His name’s sake, the believer’s sins ARE forgiven:1 John 2:12 “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake.”
Acts 10:43 “Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”
Acts 13:38 “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,” He went into the priesthood because he believed these were the function of a “priest.” He left because he came to the understanding, through a personal faith in Christ, that these have already been perfectly accomplished through the sacrifice of Christ, and all he really needs to do (like Peter and Paul) is proclaim them. This does not require a separate “priesthood,” but only a man’s willingness to be used by his Lord.
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