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What is the meaning of: “If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”? (John 20:23 NLT)
Was Jesus giving the Apostles, and/or the original disciples gathered after His resurrection, and/or us today the power and authority to forgive people’s sins like the Catholic priests do at confessional?
No. That is a heresy.
Only God the Father and Jesus the Son can forgive the sins of others.
We, all Christians, only have the authority to forgive the specific sins that are committed against us personally. And even then, that forgiveness is only for that particular sin or sins committed against us and not forgiveness for the offender’s other general sins.
And our forgiveness of the offender still does not exonerate the offender. That forgiveness is between the offender and God and whether they repent of their sin(s) and ask for God’s forgiveness.
“If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that His Word has no place in our hearts.” (1 John 1:8-10 NLT)
No one apart from God the Father and Jesus the Son have the authority and power to forgive the general sins of others.
Charles Spurgeon stated in a sermon: “Divine pardon is the only forgiveness possible; for no one can remit sin but God only, and it matters not whether a Roman Catholic Priest, or any other priest shall say in the name of God, ‘I absolve thee from thy transgressions,’ it is abominable blasphemy. If a man has offended me I can forgive him, but if he has offended God I cannot forgive him. The only discharge possible is pardon by God; but then it is the only pardon necessary”.
As the two Bible verses below show, when a person confesses their sin(s) and repents then God forgives fully and no longer holds a person accountable for that sin(s):
“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions (sins), for My own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” (Isaiah 43:25 NIV)
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12 AMP)
As they proclaimed the Gospel, they could honestly tell people who believed in that message that their sins were forgiven, and they could honestly tell people that did not believe in the message that their sins were not forgiven and that they stand condemned in God’s eyes. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (John 3:36).
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