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Powerball:
Only God can forgive your sins. Why do you confess sins to a priest?

In John 20:21-23, we find Jesus saying the following to his apostles: "'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.' And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.'"
These verses refer to what Catholics call Confession or the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Those who object to the Catholic view of this passage usually contend that Jesus was simply speaking about believers forgiving those who have wronged them. Such a view is impossible for two reasons. The first reason is that Jesus qualifies His statement. He starts off by saying, "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." This raises the question, in what manner was Jesus sent to forgive? Mark 2:5-12 gives us the answer:

And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven." Now some of the Scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, "Why does this man speak thus? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" Jesus, knowing what they were thinking, said in part, "But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins," -- He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home." And he rose, and immediately took up the pallet and went out before them all.
Jesus didn't need to perform a miracle to show that He could forgive someone of a personal offense. The forgiveness spoken of is the forgiveness that makes salvation possible.

The second reason that John 20:21-23 does not refer to believers forgiving others who have wronged them, is that we are not given the option of retaining anyone's sins. In fact, our own forgiveness is dependent on our forgiving others. Jesus tells us this very thing in Matthew 6:14-15: "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

The only time sins would be retained, is when there is an obvious lack of repentance. The fact that they could forgive or retain means that they would have to know what the sins were, and the disposition of the person in question. That could only happen if the person were to tell or confess his sins to the apostle. Furthermore, if this function were necessary in the first century it would be equally important today.

Can only those confessing to a priest be forgiven? Certainly not. Confession is the normal means but not the only means. If someone were to die suddenly without confessing to a priest, all would not necessarily be lost. If the person died truly sorry for his or her sins and desired God's forgiveness, forgiveness would be granted. So why bother with Confession? Well for one because Jesus says so. But also because of the graces that we receive when we are absolved, - graces that help us avoid sin in the future.

It is easy to understand why someone might not want to go to Confession. While we don't mind admitting that we are not perfect, we often have a problem admitting to specific faults. Admitting them to our pastor is even less desirable. But we need not fear, for he is also a sinner. Let us remember also, that God is there to help us. As the scripture says, He gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5).

10 comments:

~Mark said...

"If the person died truly sorry for his or her sins and desired God's forgiveness, forgiveness would be granted."

~So what about the sin of which they aren't aware? We are told to confess our faults (sins) to one another, and that is not to guarantee God's forgiveness because we can go straight to Him for that. (James 5:16) Our sins are to be confessed to God because only He can forgive them. There is a difference between sins and faults, especially in the heart of the confessor. If you look up this and other examples of confessing sin in the original Greek, I guarantee you'll find some surprises.

Confessing to one another is for the sake of the Body and for the condition of the relationship between believer and Christ.

Confessing sin to God is the only true erasing of that sin no matter what we confess to any man.

Anonymous said...

Why is it then that Jesus gave the authority to forgive sins to his apostles, the apostles passed on their authority to forgive sins to the bishops.

The priest represents Jesus, plus he is able to counsel and encourage the penitent or pray with the person.

Also, read Jn 20: 22-23, if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.

~Mark said...

Again, what about the sins of which we aren't aware?

What about being told to confess to one another?

Since the Holy Spirit lives in us, and we are a Holy Priesthood ourselves, why does someone need to "represent Jesus" to us?

In reference forgiving others, it is still God who does the actual eliminating of that sin from our ledger. If we had the power of atonement for others, we'd not need to repent before God.

Anonymous said...

If you read those passages closely (in a more accurate translation from the original Greek), you'll notice that Christ gave them the power to PROCLAIM sins forgiven, not to forgive them. Just a point of information.

Anonymous said...

If you only confess your sins only to God, what about the sins that you aren't aware of, are they still forgiven, I feel that the priest is the mediator, he counsels the person confessing, and guide them, he's not forgiving the sin, only God can do that, and I beg to differ with the person who said that Christ gave them the power to Proclaim sins, I understand it to read he gave them the power to forgive sins.

Anonymous said...

Jesus gave the apostles an authority to bind and loose or to forgive anyone's sins in Gods name.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone care to comment on the fact that marriage or the word marriage is being taken out of California?

~Mark said...

"I feel that the priest is the mediator, "

~Please understand the spirit in which I ask this: what is more important, what you feel or finding out what is?

"I beg to differ with the person who said that Christ gave them the power to Proclaim sins, I understand it to read he gave them the power to forgive sins."

~How can you read the original and still come to that conclusion?

Anonymous said...

Because it did read that Christ gave them the power to forgive sins
Jesus gave the apostles the Holy Spirit as the source of authority to forgive sins Mt. 6:14 Mt. 18:21-22; lk 17-3-4But Jesus also gave his apostles a special authority to bind and loose or to forgive sins in God's name.

Anonymous said...

If one can't lose their salvation why is there Hell,