DisplacedMaritimer (Bert) wrote:
Wayne,
In confession, the Priest is not acting as a mediator between the confessor and God. Jesus gave the authority to forgive sins (John 16:22-23). However, just as with Peter healing the sick (Acts 3:6-7), it is not by the Priest’s own power that he is forgiving sins; it is by Jesus’ power that the sins are forgiven. To be perfectly accurate, I am not confessing my sins to the Priest but to Jesus.....

In John 20:23 when Jesus was speaking to his disciples, he was speaking metaphorically. It refers to sins forgiven by believing the gospel.

If you examine other verses concerning remission of sins, you see it is something which is received when a person believes in Christ as Lord and Saviour. Acts 10:43 for example. If your interpretation of John 20:23 were correct there would be two ways of receiving remission of sins:- one by confession to a priest (RC) and another by believing in Christ as in Acts 10:43 and various other verses.

What about the account of the Pharisee and the publican which Jesus spoke about? After the Pharisee stood up and prayed to God and said he was not as other men are (extortioners, unjust, adulterers, etc), the scriptures record:

"And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other:" Luke 18:13

Here we see the publican went directly to God. Jesus said he went down to his house justified. (vs14) Why should anyone confess their sins to a priest when the scriptures declare:

"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" 1 Timothy 2:5

Why is there no account in the New Testament of anyone confessing their sins to an earthly priest? Since it is such a big part of Catholicism, one would think there would be something about it in the New Testament or an example on a number of occasions, but it is silent about it.

John UK has said "Hello Bert. I'm not sure where you get 'priests' from in these verses. Every believer is called to be a witness in this world, and some are called to be evangelists and pastors who preach the gospel. But all have authority from God to dispense the truth, because all are priests, according to the new testament."

If we examine the RC New American Bible in John ch.20 we see Jesus was speaking to his disciples, not priests. (vs19, 20) In speaking to them he made a simple statement which we talked about. You believe he was giving them the power to go around to hear confessions and dispense absolution (remit sins). This is not the correct interpretation. This forgiveness Jesus was speaking about comes through the preaching of the gospel to those who believe it. Again, the Greek word in that verse was aphiemi which means leave or left behind. Those who believe have their sins left behind. Not because a priest has any power to remit sins, but because Jesus paid the price for the believer's sins and Jesus has removed them. Check Acts 10:42,43 again.

"Yes, sins are forgiven through the name of Jesus. But, as Acts 3:19 states, you must first repent."

You raised several subjects and space is limited. Will deal with the others later.

Yes repentance is necessary. When a person believes in Jesus as Saviour, he should also believe in him as Lord. That is why we often hear the phrase Lord and Saviour. As Lord, that mean Jesus becomes Lord of my life. When we receive him as Lord or when he saves us we must have an attitude of turning away from sin, which is repentance. Since he is now Lord of our lives we should have the mind of Christ. That means we should abhor sin and avoid it at all costs. We should be willing to study his Word and follow Him.

We should remember there are babes in Christ and various levels of spiritual maturity and christian growth. Becoming a christian doesn't mean we suddenly become perfect and completely without sin. One would have to be God to do that. We still have a sinful nature and often struggle against temptation and sin.

DisplacedMaritimer (Bert) wrote:
SmallTownGuy,
....the Word of God is for everyone, not just those who possess a superior intellect"

I gave a few verses from acts to show that remission of sins is tied to faith in Christ; in other words when one believes in Christ and what he did on the cross applies to him personally, he receives remission of sins. This is the message the apostles were to deliver. Take a look at those verses in Acts.

"And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." Acts 10:42, 43

"Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." (John 20:23)

This has been one of the most misused (or exploited) verses in the Bible. The meaning can be better understood by going back to the original Greek. I do not know Greek, but I have read that the Greek word for remit (RC Bible translates it "forgiven" was APHIEMI. This word actually means to leave or take. You can verify this by looking at other uses of the Greek word "aphiemi" in Matthew 5:40; Matt. 27:50; John 14:27; Mark 12.

Jesus was actually saying Whose soever sins ye remit (leave or leave behind) they are remitted unto them (or left behind them). This remittance of sins was accomplished by Christ at the cross when he shed his blood for a complete remission of sins of his people (believers). The verse is actually referring to the preaching of the gospel and those who believe received remission of sins.

The second part of the verse says "whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained" KJV 1611 Bible. The word "sins" in the second part is in italics in the KJV Bible which means it was not in the original text. Some writers say the retaining is referring to retaining people not sins.

Mr. Dispy wrote:
Consider what happened to that brass serpent: The children of Israel made an idol of it. King Hezekiah destroyed it. Ascribing worth to anything but God is false worship.
2 Kings 18:4
"He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan."

""Do priests have the power to remit (or forgive) sins? Yes – John 20:21-23; Matt 16:18-19" on the CBC forum."

The answer is unequivically no. They do not have the power to remit sins. The RC Bible says "Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you, As the Father has sent me, so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." John 20:21,22

Two points.
Jesus was sent by the Father to die for the remission of sins. Jesus accomplished the work of remitting sins.

Then Jesus sent his apostles to declare that sins are forgiven by the work fully completed by Jesus Christ on the cross. Only Jesus, who was both God and man, could forgive sins. It is wrong to say men (priests) have the power to forgive sins.

In these two verses Christ was commissioning his apostles to declare (preach) the gospel to everyone. They were to preach that forgiveness was available to anyone who believed the gospel that Jesus was the Saviour (who would soon die) to pay the price for their sins.

DisplacedMaritimer wrote:
Thanks, SmallTownGuy
Catholics do not, under any circumstances, venerate anything as a god except the one true God. Consider Moses and the bronze serpent (Num 21:8). When Moses fashioned the serpent, did he create a new god? If not, why were the Israelites healed by simply looking at it?

The brass serpent on a pole described in Exodus ch.21 was a special instruction given to Moses. In fact, if you examine it, God or Moses is not saying to venerate or worship the serpent. Only to look at it and live.

"Do priests have the power to remit (or forgive) sins? Yes – John 20:21-23; Matt 16:18-19" on the CBC forum.

In the New Testament and since Christ came, there is no more earthly "priesthood". In Old Testament times, Israel had a priesthood which offered sacrifices for sins. This was a picture of the coming Saviour, Jesus, who would sacrifice himself for our sins. The New Testament makes it clear there is no more priesthood (except the priesthood of believers, which is different). There is no more sacrifice for sins. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews makes this clear.

"By the which will we are sactified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God: From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." Hebrews Ch 10 vs.10 to 14.