We shall now discuss a crucial phase in our understanding of the priesthood of Christ in relation to which the discussion so far could be termed preliminary. In this connection, the need of our awareness of the institution of the Church and its importance in the history of salvation cannot be minimized. With the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, the prominence of the Church came to the fore since it was the Church that was duty-bound to proclaim his resurrection and continue his mission on earth. With the institution of the Church, the priesthood of Christ took a very concrete and visible form to stand as testimony to the real import of the exercise of his priesthood. Throughout the ages this exercise was performed with the aid of various religions, intermingled with abuses and excesses, which were but a temporary phase to be renovated in due course of time Jesus Christ showed us the way how to be genuine priests in accordance with the ordinance of God to perpetuate which the Church was instituted. It does not mean that all other modes of priesthood in all other religions should be discarded or abolished as they too serve purposes acceptable to God and therefore to be respected by all of us. The need for reform and renovation is present not only in other religions and their priesthood, but also and especially in the Church and its priesthood claiming to be a model fashioned from the reality of Jesus Christ. Although this section deals with the priesthood of Christ from the perspective of his resurrection, in line with our thesis that there should not be a separation between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith, we are forced to discuss the institution of the Church and its priesthood from the time of its public ministry.
Just like the economy of salvation that has a history and is gradually realized in time so also the institution of the Church was a gradual process. Where do we pinpoint its beginnings? It depends on our concept of the Church, whether we want to believe in its beginnings from eternity or with the Incarnation of Jesus or with his public ministry or after his resurrection, etc. Clearly each moment has its importance since Jesus Christ himself has different manifestations as the Lamb of God, the Word of God, the Jesus of history, the Christ of faith, etc. The Church herself has a broad view of her beginnings going beyond to eternity from which perspective alone the immaculate conception of Mary, for example, could be defended. For, it was in view of the birth of Christ from her that she was declared to be immaculately conceived, being the first fruit of Christ's work of salvation, Mary herself being an exemplar of God's graces showered on all the just from the very beginning of the world. Thus we may say that Mary is the first member of the Church not only after Pentecost but also from eternity in virtue of her association with the Lamb of God so constituted by God.
God justifies man or counts him as justified not by anything he does or does not do, but merely by his faith in the God Who is the God of all to whatever religion one belongs. The fundamental reason for this is that there is only one God (Romans, 3: 27-31). In the same spirit as Paul who did not think that he was undermining the Law of Moses by his insistence on faith that actually put the Law on a firmer footing , we may say that faith in God as the fundamental requirement of our salvation keeps the Church on a firmer footing to fulfill its mission. Where does the role of Jesus Christ come in, if faith in God alone is sufficient for salvation? It is the 'raison d'etre of the Church to convince the world that Jesus Christ is God Himself, faith in whom is sufficient for salvation. Anyone ho has seen Jesus has seen the Father (John, 14:9) and therefore believing in Jesus is the same as believing in God the Father (More about it when we deal with the Divinity of Jesus Christ). This means that the Church to be worthy of her name has to present herself to the world in such a way that seeing her one should be able to see Jesus Christ himself. If the world is unable to see this, it means that the Church has not succeeded in its mission in spite of (or because of?) so many items of spectacle marshaled by her before the disbelieving world.
Just like the economy of salvation that has a history and is gradually realized in time so also the institution of the Church was a gradual process. Where do we pinpoint its beginnings? It depends on our concept of the Church, whether we want to believe in its beginnings from eternity or with the Incarnation of Jesus or with his public ministry or after his resurrection, etc. Clearly each moment has its importance since Jesus Christ himself has different manifestations as the Lamb of God, the Word of God, the Jesus of history, the Christ of faith, etc. The Church herself has a broad view of her beginnings going beyond to eternity from which perspective alone the immaculate conception of Mary, for example, could be defended. For, it was in view of the birth of Christ from her that she was declared to be immaculately conceived, being the first fruit of Christ's work of salvation, Mary herself being an exemplar of God's graces showered on all the just from the very beginning of the world. Thus we may say that Mary is the first member of the Church not only after Pentecost but also from eternity in virtue of her association with the Lamb of God so constituted by God.
God justifies man or counts him as justified not by anything he does or does not do, but merely by his faith in the God Who is the God of all to whatever religion one belongs. The fundamental reason for this is that there is only one God (Romans, 3: 27-31). In the same spirit as Paul who did not think that he was undermining the Law of Moses by his insistence on faith that actually put the Law on a firmer footing , we may say that faith in God as the fundamental requirement of our salvation keeps the Church on a firmer footing to fulfill its mission. Where does the role of Jesus Christ come in, if faith in God alone is sufficient for salvation? It is the 'raison d'etre of the Church to convince the world that Jesus Christ is God Himself, faith in whom is sufficient for salvation. Anyone ho has seen Jesus has seen the Father (John, 14:9) and therefore believing in Jesus is the same as believing in God the Father (More about it when we deal with the Divinity of Jesus Christ). This means that the Church to be worthy of her name has to present herself to the world in such a way that seeing her one should be able to see Jesus Christ himself. If the world is unable to see this, it means that the Church has not succeeded in its mission in spite of (or because of?) so many items of spectacle marshaled by her before the disbelieving world.
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