Thus we hear Peter exclaiming, under the inspiration of the Spirit,
"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a
peculiar people."
And again: "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up, a spiritual house,
an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God
by Jesus Christ." Precisely. If we are priests, we must perform the
functions of a priest, and one of these functions is the offering of
sacrifice. What, then, are the sacrifices which are to be offered by
the Christian Priest? Certainly, not any expiatory or meritorious
sacrifices. These are, forever, precluded by the fact that Christ hath
offered one sacrifice for sins forever. Nothing can be added to, and
nothing can be subtracted from, that infinite and all-sufficient
offering.
The first sacrifice to be made by the Christian priest is the surrender
of his own body, with all its appetites, organs and capabilities, to
God. Listen to Paul.
"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.
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