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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: John is not saying that the apostles or anyone else has the power to "forgive" sins in a priestly confessional, as Rome teaches. Instead, the apostle is teaching that when we go out and preach the gospel, as Jesus commanded us to, we are doing exactly what His Father sent Him to do. If men accept the gospel, then we have the right to inform them on the basis of the promises of Jesus, "Your sins are forgiven because you have placed your trust in Jesus Christ." If men reject the gospel, we also have the right to inform them on the same basis, "Your sins are not forgiven; they cannot be forgiven until you believe in Jesus Christ." The apostle John is actually teaching that all Christians have this declaratory power, not just Catholic priests. In other words, every Christian- great and small- has the right to tell a new believer on the basis of Christ's promises that his sins have already been forgiven him by Jesus Christ. The Bible does not state that any priest has the exclusive right to forgive sins on Christ's behalf. This is a prerogative of all believers which comes under the biblical teaching of the universal priesthood of believers- the fact that every believer in Christ is "a priest unto God" (1 Peter 2:5,9). Protestants, therefore, do not believe that it is necessary for a person to confess his sins to a priest before God will forgive him. Protestants assert that all believers have been given the right of access to God through Christ and are able to go directly to God in prayer. 1 Timothy 2:5 declares, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." If Christ is the true mediator between God and man, as the Bible plainly says, then men should confess their sins to Him, not to a priest. Biblically, there is no necessity for the often humiliating experience of the confessional if Jesus Christ alone has already forgiven us the full divine penalty for our sins. There is no fear that someone will not perform the acts of penance properly before God will grant forgiveness. There is no reason to be concerned about obligations to the Church, no need for confusion over whether or not one's sins are truly forgiven, and no reason to be terrified of purgatory for errors committed in this life. |