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NASB | John 20:22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 20:22 And when He said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. [Acts 1:8; 2:1-3] |
Subject: Retain or forgive sins? |
Bible Note: Greetings Tam! Excellent question! I can't give you anything definitive, but I can suggest two possibilities. 1) John 20:22 may have been a foreshadowing of what was going to happen in Acts 2. Perhaps the disciples received here something that the rest of the church would not receive until Acts 2. 2) Or, another possibility, they did not in fact receive the Holy Spirit until Acts 2. Notice that the text of John 20:22 never specifically says that they received the Holy Spirit. Jesus commands them to, but the text does not specifically say that they did. If pressed, I would probably go with option 2. However, Scripture simply doesn't give us enough to answer the question dogmatically. :) Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |