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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: Protestants also assert that 1 John 1:9 denies the Catholic view of priestly confession because it speaks of confession only to God, never even mentioning a priest. While the Bible does teach that we are to "confess (our) sins to one another" (James 5:16 NASB); it never mentions confession to a priest. Priestly confession is a teaching that has evolved from Catholic tradition. The reason why Protestants confess their sins to one another and not to a priest has nothing to do with the issues of the ultimate forgiveness of sins before God. Rather, it has to do with individual reconciliation among true believers in Christ. Again, there is no reason to confess our mortal sins to a priest if Christ's death on the cross has already paid for their full divine penalty. |