I am always interested in how Protestants, ranging from hacks to scholars, interpret "priestly" passages in the New Testament, such as Rom 15:16. In a recent publication, here is one that understands Paul is understanding his "priestly" service in a way that cannot be understood metaphorically, but ties it in some way to "sacrifice" and other "cultic" concepts:
It is quite true that the New Testament authors use the
language of “sacrifice” and “offering” metaphorically in reference to living in
a way that honors God (Rom. 12:1; Eph. 5:2; Phil. 4:18; 2 Tim. 4:16; Heb.
13:15-16; 1 Peter 2:5). It is also true that the word “sacrifice” is not used
explicitly in connection with Christ. However, the absence of the word does
not prove the absence of an idea or concept. Such an argument from
silence, which in this case depends on such a small number of texts in which
God is the recipient of Christians “sacrifice,” is too weak to prove anything.
More telling is the fact that other language descriptive
of sacrificed service is used with Christ as the recipient. As we pointed out
earlier, Revelation calls the redeemed “firstfruits for God and the Lamb” (Rev.
14:4) and says that those in the first resurrection “will be priests of God and
of Christ” (Rev. 20:6).
And then there is Paul’s statement that he is “a minister
[leitourgon] of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service [hierourgounta]
of the gospel of God, so that the offering [prosphora] of the Gentiles
may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:16). Here the
apostle describes himself as a priestly minister of Christ, serving him
in the religious work of bringing Gentiles into the faith. In this context the
“offering of the Gentiles” is what Paul does as Christ’s priestly minister.
Yes, Paul calls the message he takes to the Gentiles “the gospel of God,” but
just a couple of sentences later he calls it “the gospel of Christ” (15:19).
The point, then, is not that Paul served in a priestly fashion for Christ rather
than for God, but that his service would be described as done on behalf of both
Christ and God. The rest of what Paul says in this immediate context makes this
quite clear. He says that his work is for God (15:17), and yet he also says
that his focus is on what Christ is doing through him, in the gospel of Christ,
and on making known the name of Christ (15:18-20). (Robert M. Bowman Jr., and
J. Edward Komoszewski, The Incarnate Christ and His Critics: A Biblical
Defense [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Academic, 2024], 138-39)
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