What does it mean? Did God gave authority to his disciples to forgive sins in His name? Is this the reason that some Christians believe that it is necessary for a sinner to confess to a priest? Why some Christians think that there is no need to confess to a priest? Why they think they should only confess directly to God? What should a lost Christian do? Some believe that we must confess to a priest, some others believe that we must not.
John 20:23
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com7fy8
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A short answer > yes confess to God. And it can be good to confess to a person. And if you are a Jesus person, the other person does well to confess to you. Look up and feed on James 5:16. God makes each of us His children able to so help one another, praying for one another to become God's way so we do not continue in our sin problems.
This is my short answer. If you please to get more into this, I offer >
God's way of forgiving has to do with a lot more than only who to confess to >
We need to discover all God's word says about what is sinning. It is not only about some list of practices that are a no-no. But inside ourselves, and in our personal relating, there can be things which are anti-love, but we might not have been told these are sins.
For example arguing and complaining can be very degrading from how Jesus has us loving, and can be so destructive to keep us from sharing intimately with God in His own love > Philippians 2:13-14.
And here is a partial list of wrong spiritual and emotional things, plus how we need to be loving, instead >
"Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." (Ephesians 4:31-32)
So, God wants us to forgive "one another, even as God".
So, this is not only about who does the forgiving, but how Jesus wants us to forgive > "even as God".
In the Bible, I don't see where in the New Testament it says some special human we are supposed to confess to, but it does say how each of us needs to forgive . . . "even as God". So, then, how has God forgiven us? I understand this includes how our Heavenly Father is in love and joy and peace > tenderheartedly and kindly, adopting us as His children when we were first forgiven . . . so that now we are His own family (Romans 8:15). And so likewise we are to be, in forgiving any person > lovingly, kindly, caringly with hope for that person > love "hopes all things" (in 1 Corinthians 13:7). We even are affectionately adoptive in how we forgive, because in becoming forgiving, we received "the Spirit of adoption" (Romans 8:15) who makes us also lovingly adoptive with one another.
Jesus on Calvary's cross so suffered and died for every one of us, with hope for any evil person, at all. So, on the cross, Jesus was ready for love and intimacy with any person. But this is our example, required also of us, how we also need to have hope to share as family with any person we forgive . . . not merely to forgive distantly and impersonally just in order to make sure we are forgiven. Forgiving, then, is not self-centered, but for God . . . in sharing with God in His love.
But, by the way, this does not mean we automatically trust and do not question someone we forgive, but be honest in how we evaluate. Be ready with love, so we are the person's good example to help him or her find out how to love. We confess with the intention and effort to get real correction, and we forgive while also doing all we can to help someone to get real correction, correction which brings us to submit to God and love Him while also finding out how to love instead of doing the sin things we confess.
Jesus has forgiven us, like this. He has so forgiven us, and so lovingly, ready to help us with real correction (Hebrews 12:4-14) which has us share with Him and one another as His own family; and this is our example also required of us! >
"And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma." (Ephesians 5:2)
This is basic, of God's word. This is possible with God who is strong and real and powerful enough to easily have any of us succeed in this. Jesus therefore is our example, not some sort of excuse to keep on doing what is wrong and live horribly and then expect Heaven.
And I notice how Jesus on the cross was "sweet-smelling" in how He made His sacrifice > sweetly pleasing our Father while so suffering and giving Himself for us; so Jesus was about God in how He was forgiving us. Likewise, then, we need to forgive in Christ's way of being sweetly pleasing to our Father, not merely doing some legalistic gesture in order to tell ourselves that we are forgiven because we have forgiven.
So, this is basic, for trusting God in prayer . . . included in what to pray for
This is my short answer. If you please to get more into this, I offer >
God's way of forgiving has to do with a lot more than only who to confess to >
We need to discover all God's word says about what is sinning. It is not only about some list of practices that are a no-no. But inside ourselves, and in our personal relating, there can be things which are anti-love, but we might not have been told these are sins.
For example arguing and complaining can be very degrading from how Jesus has us loving, and can be so destructive to keep us from sharing intimately with God in His own love > Philippians 2:13-14.
And here is a partial list of wrong spiritual and emotional things, plus how we need to be loving, instead >
"Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." (Ephesians 4:31-32)
So, God wants us to forgive "one another, even as God".
So, this is not only about who does the forgiving, but how Jesus wants us to forgive > "even as God".
In the Bible, I don't see where in the New Testament it says some special human we are supposed to confess to, but it does say how each of us needs to forgive . . . "even as God". So, then, how has God forgiven us? I understand this includes how our Heavenly Father is in love and joy and peace > tenderheartedly and kindly, adopting us as His children when we were first forgiven . . . so that now we are His own family (Romans 8:15). And so likewise we are to be, in forgiving any person > lovingly, kindly, caringly with hope for that person > love "hopes all things" (in 1 Corinthians 13:7). We even are affectionately adoptive in how we forgive, because in becoming forgiving, we received "the Spirit of adoption" (Romans 8:15) who makes us also lovingly adoptive with one another.
Jesus on Calvary's cross so suffered and died for every one of us, with hope for any evil person, at all. So, on the cross, Jesus was ready for love and intimacy with any person. But this is our example, required also of us, how we also need to have hope to share as family with any person we forgive . . . not merely to forgive distantly and impersonally just in order to make sure we are forgiven. Forgiving, then, is not self-centered, but for God . . . in sharing with God in His love.
But, by the way, this does not mean we automatically trust and do not question someone we forgive, but be honest in how we evaluate. Be ready with love, so we are the person's good example to help him or her find out how to love. We confess with the intention and effort to get real correction, and we forgive while also doing all we can to help someone to get real correction, correction which brings us to submit to God and love Him while also finding out how to love instead of doing the sin things we confess.
Jesus has forgiven us, like this. He has so forgiven us, and so lovingly, ready to help us with real correction (Hebrews 12:4-14) which has us share with Him and one another as His own family; and this is our example also required of us! >
"And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma." (Ephesians 5:2)
This is basic, of God's word. This is possible with God who is strong and real and powerful enough to easily have any of us succeed in this. Jesus therefore is our example, not some sort of excuse to keep on doing what is wrong and live horribly and then expect Heaven.
And I notice how Jesus on the cross was "sweet-smelling" in how He made His sacrifice > sweetly pleasing our Father while so suffering and giving Himself for us; so Jesus was about God in how He was forgiving us. Likewise, then, we need to forgive in Christ's way of being sweetly pleasing to our Father, not merely doing some legalistic gesture in order to tell ourselves that we are forgiven because we have forgiven.
So, this is basic, for trusting God in prayer . . . included in what to pray for
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longwait
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We cannot forgive someone's sins. Only God can do that. However we can forgive someone for having done us wrong. That's a personal thing. Nowadays there are cases where priests have used what someone had confessed to them and blackmailed them using it. That shows that no human can be trusted with our private secrets.
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Guojing
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So how come the 12 had the power to forgive or to retain the sins of others then?
Did Jesus meant what he said to them in that verse?
As an example from scripture, could Peter have saved Ananias and Sapphira from their deaths in Acts 5, if he did exercised that power to forgive their sins?
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I believe this is talking about sins people commit against us, if we forgive some one God will forgive them too.
John 20:23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
I don't believe we have the ability to just, with no thought about it, say "your sins are forgiven". It is much deeper than that. It is a deep inner searching of the motives of the person.
A way it "may work", is like this. Say some one at work is promoting a sin "maybe they are promoting gay relationships through the work social media account". Before God I have to make a choice, do I forgive that sin, or do I demand that God change the person. I don't feel in that situation I could forgive it outright, I would have to ask God to bring change.
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