As
the commentators generally agree, Paul is applying cultic and priestly language
to his ministry here. What is debatable is whether Paul views his ministry as
an apostle as priestly in a way different from Christians who are not apostles
and, if he does, whether he views that priestly, apostolic ministry as to be
transferred by him to those whom he ordains as leaders of the church. A
reference to his special calling to preach the gospel to the Gentiles seems likely
since he prefaces this passage with ‘because of the grace given me by God…’ and
in 1:5 states that through Christ ‘we have received grace and apostleship to
bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
…’ However, if Paul is alluding to his peculiar apostleship to the Gentiles
(cf. Ga. 2:7-9), this would probably not be transferable at all. Even if it
were, it would fit itinerant evangelists far better than static church leaders.
On
the other hand, the content of the sacrifice which Paul offers as a priest in
preaching the gospel seems to be ‘Gentile Christians who have been sanctified
by the gift of the Holy Spirit’ (Cranfield, Romans, 2:757). An
alternative interpretation is therefore that he is describing as a priestly
ministry the bringing of non-Christians to faith through the preaching of the
gospel, and not just his own, peculiar calling to preach to the Gentiles. But
the preaching of the gospel to unbelievers, whilst a major part of what the
apostles were called to do, was also a part of what a more static church leader
such as Timothy was told to do (2 Tim. 4:5) and was not seen as confined to
apostles and church leaders. (Colin Bulley, The Priesthood of Some Believers:
Developments from the General to the Special Priesthood in the Christian Literature
of the First Three Centuries [Studies in Christian History and Thought;
Milton Keynes, U.K.: Paternoster, 2000], 23-24)