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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: Doc, Setting aside the Reformation and apostle-zotting, James 5:14-15 isn't bearing but sharing the weight of Matthew 9:6-8 (authority to "men"); John 20:23 (forgiving and retaining), Matthew 18:18 (binding and loosing). These verses resist the formulation, if I understand your thesis correctly, 'Only God forgives sin, ergo Jesus gave no man such authority." Read together and literally, these passages (John 20:23 especially) indicate the contrary. Where our interpretations coincide is that in either case the Spirit of Christ is the active agent (e.g. John 4:2), be it through His apostles or otherwise. Colin |