It is good and necessary to strive to imitate Jesus and follow the teachings of Jesus, but by themselves these things are not enough. First of all, of course, we know that without some teaching authority to speak definitively on behalf of Jesus on earth, there are inevitably many disagreements about how exactly to follow the teachings of Jesus. In each disagreement, someone will be wrong and thus fail to follow the true teaching of Jesus. Furthermore, and even more importantly, it must be recognized that Jesus came to bring not only teaching, but above all redemption and salvation. No matter how carefully we try to live by his teaching, we cannot save ourselves. Salvation is a supernatural gift, which we can only receive from God through Jesus Christ. For that to occur, we need real contact with Jesus, and that is precisely what we can have through the Church in the sacraments. The Apostles and their successors have passed on the sacramental power given to them by Christ to priests in every generation. Without the Church structure instituted by Christ for this purpose, there would be no more sacraments, and our link to Christ would be lost. In addition, when Jesus offers us salvation through the Church, he offers us more than just external contact with him. One of the traditional terms used for the Church is the "Mystical Body of Christ." This is not just a meaningless pious phrase, but rather expresses a crucial truth. By being part of the Church we are incorporated into a mystical Body with Christ as the Head.