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NASB | John 20:23 "If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 20:23 "If you forgive the sins of anyone they are forgiven [because of their faith]; if you retain the sins of anyone, they are retained [and remain unforgiven because of their unbelief]." |
Bible Question:
In John 20:21-23, it appears to me that Jesus gave the authority to forgive sins to men acting in His name. Also, in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, it appears that this refers to the forgiveness of sins granted by Christ thru his ministers. St. Peter received from Christ this binding and loosing authority separately from and before the other disciples (see Matt 16:18,19 and Matt 18:18). |
Bible Answer: I will have to partially and respectfully disagree. See my post to ID 230111 ; another question about John 20:21-23. As for 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, Paul spoke of the ministry of reconciliation. Being reconciled (i.e. rebuild the broken relationship bridge) to God requires we become holy (hebrews 12:14; Matthew 5:48). As I look closely at the Gospels, what Jesus taught about him establishing his kingdom and making disciples, I see Jesus came to teach us to live a different kind of life, a selfless life, by obeying his teachings. This changes our hearts and behaviors reversing the damage our selfishness has done. Quite simply, we are selfish by nature. We do not "Love one another as we love ourself" (Matt 19:19, 22:39, Mark 12:31,33, Luke 10:27, Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14, James 2:8). Jesus lived a selfless life and calls us to do the same showing ourselves to be his disciples (1 John 2:3-6). As for Matthew 18:18, I encourage you to look closer. This is often taken out of context. From verse 15 to 19, Jesus is talking about reconciliation again just as Paul did above, but instead of with God, it is with each other. When a problem exists between brothers in Christ, they must reconcile first. Bind and loosening is the relationship between the two of you with eternal consequences. Verse 19 is saying that when two or more reconcile and are in harmony, then his Holy Spirit will be with them. This is shown in 1 Corinthians 13 where unity is shown with these characteristics. All love and unity come from God, hatred and division is not (1 Corinthians 1:10-17). |