Only Priests Can Offer Absolution
2 Corinthians 5:20: So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
John 20:21-23: Jesus said to them again, "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."
Matthew 18:18: "Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
2 Corinthians 5:18-20: All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
The power to forgive sins is reserved to priests. As long as there is a need for the forgiveness of sins, the priests of the Catholic Church will continue to possess this power from Christ. Christ would not abandon his Church. As long as his Church exists, so will his mercy. The tragedy today is that may opt to remain in their sins. One of the greatest spiritual powers of every priest is neglected. The graces of this sacrament cannot be exaggerated.
posted by Father Joe Jenkins | 9:09 PM
1 Comments:
2 Corinthians 5:20: So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
You should read it in context. This is not authority solely given over to Roman Catholic priests. The letter is addressed to the church at Corinth (see chapter 1). He is addressing it to all believers.
"17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
Verse 19 shows God gives the peoples of this world the chance to be saved. Salvation is a free gift. A Christian has a part in that we have been "given the ministry of reconciliation" (vs 18), and "the word of reconciliation" (vs 19) has been "committed unto us." The "us" has nothing to do with the Roman Catholic religion.
At Calvary Christ made it all possible to reconcile sinful man to God. He returned to Heaven and left all of us the task of telling the world how to be reconciled to God. That is why we are called "ambassadors for Christ."
Reconciliation is made between man and God when man believes the gospel of Christ. Once a man places his trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins because of what Christ did on the cross for him, he has the righteousness of God "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Cor. 5:21) What that verse actually means is that when Jesus Christ died on the cross, our sins were credited to Him. He took our sins, and in exchange He gives us His righteousness. Look at the picture just below and you will see how the transfer works.
Righteousness refers to the perfections of God, and He gives that to us, and He gives that to us as a FREE GIFT. What it actually boils down to is that Jesus got what He did not deserve, our sins, and we get what we don't deserve, His righteousness.
The Bible says, "But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification" (Romans 4:24,25).
So justification doesn't simply mean, "Just as if I never sinned," it means more than that. It means just as if I lived a complete life of obedience and holiness. This is only because Jesus Christ is my substitute, and He meets all the requirements of God's requirements for me.
Remember that picture above? When you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, a transaction takes place. God is crediting (imputing) to you what you don't deserve, and therefore it is a "free gift." Remember, Jesus got what He didn't deserve, our sins, and we get what we don't deserve, His righteousness.
Now, I, as an ambassador for Christ, have just demonstrated the verse in 2 Cor. 5. When I got saved, I became a new creature in Christ. As a Christian I have been given the ministry of reconciliation and the word of reconciliation. My duty is to show you that you can be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.
John 20:21-23: Jesus said to them again, "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."
This is where the Roman Catholic Church uses this passage as authority for its erroneous teaching that only Roman Catholic priests have the power to forgive sins. I will compare Scripture with Scripture to show how absurd this private interpretation really is.
Scripture with Scripture yield the following cross references:
"......and without shedding of blood is no remission." (Heb. 9:22)
"Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins" (Heb. 10:18, 11)
"....through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." (Acts 13:38-39)
"In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins." (Col. 1:14)
"For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." (Matt. 26:28).
"Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." (Acts 2:38)
".....Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past..." (Rom. 3:24-25).
Just by comparing Scripture with Scripture, the following conclusions are:
Remission of sins is by shed blood of Jesus Christ.
No priest was ever able to remit anyones sins.
Remission of sins lies in the atonement of Jesus Christ (Heb. 10:1-12 also states that this atonement is a ONCE-and-for-all act, which means it never has to be repeated.)
The blood is shed because God forgave sin, not in order to get it forgiven. "note: "sins that are past," exactly as in Hebrews 9:15. God forgave throughout the Old Testament (Exodus 34:7), but could not clear the guilty until Matthew 26:28. Compare Hebrews 10:4).
Also note that the John 20:21-23 is not given to the Apostles only. The Bible says there were "disciples" in that room along with the eleven Apostles (John 20:19-20) when that command was given. Proof? See Luke 24:33, "And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,"
In the very beginning of your letter to me you complained about others saying, "The misuse of the Scriptures, twisting verses into contrived apologetical schemes for purposes of refutation or to shore up dubious opinions is increasingly common." You do the same of what you accuse others of doing!
In spite of the evidence I just presented to you, I hope you don't continue to reject God's word.
Now to continue with the same passage. As far as "Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained," Paul, who was not present in the room, has the same authority. Note his statements to this effect, "To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ;"
In Acts 13:38,39, this authority is illustrated where every Christian has the right to tell any man that he is forgiven or not forgiven, on the bases of what he does with Jesus Christ. "Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses."
In the Bible all born again believers are said to be "priests," and called to offer spiritual sacrifices (Heb. 3:1; 13:15; 1 Peter 2:1-5). There is no other priesthood except a priesthood of born again believers (1 Peter 2), so the entire system of the Roman Catholic priests is purely non-Scriptural.
Matthew 18:18: "Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
2 Corinthians 5:18-20: All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."
See above.
SANDY HOOPER
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