The Forgiveness Of Sins?

Question

John 20:19–23 "On the evening of that day.. ..Jesus said to [the apostles] again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you... ..If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

Did you know that this is just one of the Scriptual reasons for the authority of priests/bishops to forgive sins in the name of Christ? Christ, here, has given this authority to the apostles. This authority was handed down through Apostolic Succession. Notice how in verse 21 Jesus says, "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." In other words, Jesus is giving his apostles the same authority that he received from his Father. Now what authority did Jesus receive from God the Father? We see earlier, in Mark 2:10, that he had the authority to forgive sins. Jesus brought the power of forgiveness from heaven to earth. So now, in John 20:21, he is giving that same authority to his apostles. Very Biblical.

It is also noteworthy to remember that Catholics are not the only ones who believe this. The Eastern Orthodox believe it too, and the Catholic Church recognizes the validity of the Eastern Orthodox sacrament. It is only in the last 500 years out of the 2000 year history of Christianity that this truth was rejected by protestants. Protestant. or "non-denominational" if you prefer, are the only ones who reject this, and they represent less than 20% of all Christians.

During his life, Christ forgave sins, as in the case of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1–11) and the woman who anointed his feet (Luke 7:48). He exercised this power in his human capacity as the Messiah or Son of man, telling us, "the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" (Matt. 9:6), which is why the Gospel writer himself explains that God "had given such authority to men" (Matt. 9:8). Since he would not always be with the Church visibly, Christ gave this power to other men so the Church, which is the continuation of his presence throughout time (Matt. 28:20), would be able to offer forgiveness to future generations. He gave his power to the apostles, and it was a power that could be passed on to their successors and agents, since the apostles wouldn’t always be on earth either, but people would still be sinning.

Comments?

For more scripture verses, go here:
http://www.catholic.com/library/Forgiveness_of_Sins.asp

Answer 1

Its also important to note that this is just one of thousands of doctrinal disagreements by Christians who all read the same book.

It only highlights the fact that the bible cannot be relied upon for truth or to establish the will of God.

Answer 2

How did the apostles understand and apply this? There is no record in the Bible of a single instance in which an apostle listened to a private confession and then pronounced absolution. However, the requirements for being forgiven by God are set out in the Bible. The apostles, under the direction of holy spirit, could discern whether individuals were meeting such requirements and could on this basis declare that God had either forgiven them or not forgiven them. For examples, see Acts 5:1-11, also 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 and 2 Corinthians 2:6-8.

Answer 3

If we need to confess to man then why is there not one example of it in the Bible? Why when Jesus taught the apostles to pray did He tell them to confess to God? Why are we told to come boldly before the throne of grace if we must instead go meekly through a priest? Why was the veil torn making it so we could go directly to God if He was just going to re-institute a priesthood to separate us from Him? Why do I need to go to a priest when Jesus tells me I am a priest? The simple fact is there is absolutely no need to confess our sins to a priest. We can go directly to God through Jesus.

Answer 4

In that story, Jesus is talking to the apostles, not to clergymen. The only two valid ways to look at it are that Jesus means that ONLY the apostles have that power, or he means that everyone does.

Answer 5

You are mistaken.

2 Chronicals 2:39 then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you.

1 John 1:9 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Answer 6

I confess my sins directly to Jesus, the one who paid the price for my sins.

Answer 7

What the hell are you trying to say and WHO CARES??????