Source: https://divineblessings.wordpress.com/2010/08/27/scriptural-evidence-for-confession/comment-page-1/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 02:58:23+00:00

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According to the RCC, the Sacrament in question is called the Sacrament of RECONCILIATION or PENANCE, not confession, as it is popularly called. Catholics believe that no priest, as an individual man, however pious or learned, has the power to forgive sins apart from God. However, the Priest in the confessional, after having performed the preparation for the Sacrament by reciting the formula of absolution, forgives the sins of the penitent in Persona Christi or the person of Christ, as though we were confessing to Jesus Himself.
Likewise, we see this at Holy Mass, when the Priest blesses the offerings of bread and wine and asks God the Father to accept them and through the Holy Spirit, transform the substance ( NOT the form, therefore, Transubstantiation Miracle) into the Body and Blood of Christ, as Jesus Himself did at the Last Supper, it is no longer him who is performing the miracle of the Transubstantiation, but Christ himself through the Priest.
I. The authority for this is explained in the Scripture.
John 20:21 – before He grants them the authority to forgive sins, Jesus says to the apostles, “as the Father sent me, so I send you.” As Christ was sent by the Father to forgive sins and reconcile men with God, so Christ sends the apostles and their successors as ministers of reconciliantion.
John 20:23 – Jesus says, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” In order for the apostles to exercise this gift of forgiving sins, the penitents must orally confess their sins to them or the apostles would not be able to forgive anyone. The text makes this very clear.
Matt. 9:6; Mark 2:5,10 – Christ forgave sins as man (not God) to convince us that the “Son of man” has authority to forgive sins on earth.
Luke 5:24 – Luke also points out that Jesus’ authority to forgive sins is as the Son of Man. This authority has been transferred from Christ to the apostles and their successors.
Matt. 18:18 – the apostles are given authority to bind and loose. The authority to bind and loose includes administering and removing the temporal penalties due to sin. The Jews understood this since the birth of the Church.
2 Cor. 5:18 – the ministry of reconciliation was given to the ambassadors of the Church. This ministry of reconciliation refers to the sacrament of reconciliation, also called the sacrament of confession or penance.
James 5:15-16 – in verse 15 we see that sins are forgiven by the priests in the sacrament of the sick. This is another example of man’s authority to forgive sins on earth. Then in verse 16, James says “Therefore, confess our sins to one another,” in reference to the men referred to in verse 15, the priests of the Church.
1 Tim. 2:5 – Christ is the only mediator, but He was free to decide how His mediation would be applied to us. The Lord chose to use priests of God to carry out His work of forgiveness, the Church of Christ is one with Christ.
Lev. 5:4-6; 19:21-22 – even under the Old Covenant, God used priests to forgive and atone for the sins of others.
James 5:16 – James clearly teaches us that we must “confess our sins to one another,” not just privately to God. James 5:16 must be read in the context of James 5:14-15, which is referring to the healing power (both physical and spiritual) of the priests of the Church. Hence, when James says “therefore” in verse 16, he must be referring to the men he was writing about in verses 14 and 15 – these men are the ordained priests of the Church, to whom we must confess our sins.
Acts 19:18 – many came to orally confess sins and divulge their sinful practices. Oral confession was the practice of the early Church just as it is today.
Matt. 3:6; Mark 1:5 – again, this shows people confessing their sins before others as an historical practice (here to John the Baptist).
1 Tim. 6:12 – this verse also refers to the historical practice of confessing both faith and sins in the presence of many witnesses.
1 John 1:9 – if we confess are sins, God is faithful to us and forgives us and cleanse us. But we must confess our sins to one another.
Num. 5:7 – this shows the historical practice of publicly confessing sins, and making public restitution.
2 Sam. 12:14 – even though the sin is forgiven, there is punishment due for the forgiven sin. David is forgiven but his child was still taken (the consequence of his sin).
Neh. 9:2-3 – the Israelites stood before the assembly and confessed sins publicly and interceded for each other.
1. Who can forgive sins but God only? (Mark 2).
2. Why did the veil in the temple rip from top to bottom in Matthew 26 after the all-sufficient death of Christ on the cross, if God so designed a system of religion to resew the seams of that veil and deny man’s direct access to God?
But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. 9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
” … Then He breathed onto them and said ‘Receive the Holy Spirit, those whose sins you forgive are forgiven, those whose sins are retained are retained’. (Jn 20:22-23) Please note that Jesus gave the Apostles authority to forgive sins just as He had authority given by the Father to forgive sins on earth as the Son of Man (Matthew 9:6).
Now, is Paul saying that Christ’s sufferings and Sacrifice weren’t enough? Is he “taking away from Christ” by saying that we are to “fill up” those things that are “wanting” in His sufferings? No, of course not. He is saying, though, that we are One Body, that we co-operate with God in profound ways ( I Corinthians 3:9 “For we are God’s coadjutors [co-workers, assistants]…”), and that, in an inscrutable way, our sufferings benefit one another. We actually help Jesus in His redemption of the world by giving to Him our sufferings to build up the Body of Christ.
3- As for abuses. I cannot convict any one priest for abusing the trust they were given in ther position and ministry. The Lord will be their judge as much as He will be the judge of all those, Catholics and non-Catholics who do wrong in this life. Anyhow, if I were you I would not argue along those lines. This would be the same as saying that all teachers are bad or that there should be no more teachers, because some teachers have sexually/physically/emotionally abused their students. Or that marriage should be extinct because of the sin of adultery. Which obviously makes no sense.
Paul also referred to other of his converts in this way: “To Titus, my true child in a common faith: grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior” (Titus 1:4); “I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment” (Philem. 10). Neighter these men were Paul’s literal, biological sons. Rather, Paul is emphasizing his spiritual fatherhood of them.
Would the Holy Spirit lead St. Paul to refer to himself as Spiritual Father if that meant he had to contradict the teachings of Jesus and offend God? There is only one answer: No, He wouldn’t. Therefore, your fundamentalist interpretation of Matt 23:8-9 must be incorret.
Where does it say in the Bible that man cannot confess to man only to God?
The catholich church ayis her catechism that Jesus is the only mediator between men and God. However, the bible also says that Jesus, in His godness also gave power to the apostles not only to baptize in His name, but also to forgive sins: ” those whose sins you forgive are forgiven, those whose sins you retain are retained”…. This, is done in the name of Jesus, not of the priest or the church, through the authority given to the Church by Christ himself.
WHO did Christ give power to forgive sins????? OK!! Are there any divinely inspired Apostles walking the earth today? NO!
Your reasoning seems to assume that Christ was not divinely inteligent as to KNOW that if there was a NEED for an instituted authority on earth at the time of the Apostles there would be an even greater one for AFTER their death.
Have you ever heard of APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION?
There is no teaching in the divinely inspired Word for Apostolic Succession. This is a man made concept. Christ was divinely intelligent enough to know how to instruct His Apostles in establishing the first century church, without any further instruction needed.The acts and beliefs and practices of the Apostles, Christ and first century christians are all there in the Bible. It’s up to us to study it and obey it and not add or take away from it, because that is a sin and will bring curses down on us.
I will not debate whether or not the Catholic Church is the Church of which Christ speaks in Matthew 16, but I would be interested to have your thoughts on the issue of eclesial authority (or lack of it) in the Protestant world.
You claim that there is no Scriptural Teaching on Apostolic Succession, but you seem to accept that there was an Apostolic authority in place at the time of the Apostles. In my previous comment I tried to propmt you to reflect on this when I asked you if you thought that Christ did not foresee a need for a visible authority within the Church beyond the apostolic era. As we know from Scripture, there was a need for one in the time of the Apostles, so what is the difference?
Firstly, no serious Chistian can assume that the history of the primitive Church finishes in the last page of the book of Acts. Of course not. What we read in Acts is but a summary of the many challenges and difficulties the first Christians had to face. These issues and challanges continued beyond the pages of the book of Acts even in the lifetime of the inspired Apostles. So how could Christ, in His divine wisdom, estabilish a Church and leave His followers without an authoritative hierarchy to instruct them? Lets keep in mind that Jesus never commanded His apostles to write an account of His teachings, but to go and teach and make disciples. This is why that the Bible was not available until much later in the fourth century, and even then – with no printing press when all copies had to be manually produced (which didnt make them cheap or abundant), can we really think that each Chistian could just open the Scriptures and teach themselves their new faith? No, of course not, we know for a fact that was not the case. So, how did they learn the sound doctrines of the Christian faith?
There are countless documents to prove that there was a CRUCIAL need for a teaching office in the Church then as much as there is for one now. I would strongly reccomend that you read some of the early writers such as Esebius (AD 263-339) in his book The History of the Church, which is an account of development of the early church and its many challanges. The documented history of the Church proves that issues such as Schims could never had been succefully overcome if there wasn’t an authoritative teaching office in place.
This command makes little sense in the denominations-are-mere-branches ecclesial view, since a Christian can simply go down the street to the next church agreeing with or tolerating his doctrine or moral conduct. This happens because in the protestant model the Visible Church is a mere pluralism of many churches, each one with its own “doctrines” (some protestants baptize infants others do not, some are accepting of gay marriages other are not, some believe in the trinity others deny Christ’s divinity, etc). There is NO unity in the protestant – evangelical world and I am affraid you cannot deny that fact. Unfortunately, this is not in keeping with the Gospels (Cf John 17, 21) and thus it is contrary to Divine Will, and is a direct result of the protestant rejection of apostolic succession and Church or eclesial authority.
Mark 2 who alone but God can forgive sins anyone who God gives the power to do so do you believe this?
Hello pm, thanks for your comments!
Hi pm! Thanks for clarifying!
This is done by the Power of the Holy Spirit. If He has given them the power and the authority as seen in the Book of John 20:21-23, who are we to question this authority?
Thank you so much for this I had so many questions about this topic and you really helped clear them up. May God bless you and let you speak his word through all that you do. Keep up the great work you do.
Your quoting the bible about John 20:22 and your saying that “the Lord “breathes” on the apostles, and then gives them the power to forgive and retain sins.” In reality John 20:22 only says: “And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Receiving holy spirit does not mean having power to forgive sins. Please do not confuse “Receive the Holy Spirit” with Power to Forgive Sins; forgiving each other for each others mistakes is what everyone does in everyday life but to ask forgiveness for the sins that we make towards God, God is the only one who can forgive those sins.
Also, the priest you ask forgiveness to you call him Father, for what does the Bible say about that?
Many priests add new things to the Bible and take out some things, they basically interpret in a way that pleases their lifestyle. Please do not be fooled and read the Bible more carefully. For at the end, when the judgement day comes, that Priest who forgave your sins wont be the one to decide whether your going to Heaven or Hell. Only God can judge us and forgive us.
says No one comes to the Father except through Jesus Christ, so no priest can have the power to forgive the sins because the Priest himself is a sinner. Jesus Christ is perfect and he did not sin, he took all our sins away.
Please understand this before you claim it to be true.
So….according to the thought process, you have to be a priest in order to have Christ work through you?
what happened to Matthew 16:18-19 18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[a] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[b] will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you BIND on earth will be BOUND in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”?
We must address who is Jesus speaking to here? Is He saying this to all followers, including non apostles and women for instance, or is he speaking to only the apostles? Catholics say that the apostles were here commissioned to forgive sins. Non-Catholics will say that non-apostles are included here, and is really only a commission to all people to preach the gospel. Here in the passage itself, John does not say either way in an explicit manner to whom this is addressed. He says to forgive sins. he says nothing about just preaching the gospel. But here in John 20:19-30 there does seem to be a focus on only the apostles. The focus on who was not there is only Thomas (and not on the Mother of Jesus or other non-apostles), so the apparent outlook is of the apostles only. Thus, there is no mention of any non-apostles in this appearance. In v. 24, immediately after this appearance, John writes that Thomas, one of the twelve, was not there, indicating that this prior commission involves the apostles only.
Again, after breathing the Holy Spirit on the apostles, prior to Pentecost, Jesus tells them that if you forgive the sins of any, their sins are forgiven, if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. The plain reading of the Scripture is that the apostles specifically are given the power to forgive or retain sins. An important part of Jesus’ commission was to forgive sins. This commission is passed on to the apostles. The commission here is not to preach the gospel and baptize, which is given in Mk. 16:16, or Mt. 28:18-20, where they are told to preach everything he taught and baptize. Instead, the commission is for the apostles (you) to forgive sins. How can they forgive sins, unless individuals tell them what their sins were? There is thus, for those who want to be forgiven sins, a necessity of declaring their sins to the apostles, and it is up to the apostles, to either forgive or retain their sins. That is what the sacrament of confession does. This passage is explicit in telling us that the apostles have the authority to forgive sins.
He breathed on them: This is a parable in action, a sign, a sacrament, to indicate the conferring of the Spirit (pneuma – breath, spirit; cf. 3:8). Jn uses the same verb as in the Greek text of Gn. 2:7 to describe this new creation. receive the Holy Spirit. Raymond Brown, Joseph Fitzmyer, The Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1967, 177 p. 464.
New life giving power, such as was given to given life to man, is also given to the apostles to forgive sins. The use of this language by Jesus, and John who is relaying his words, show of vast importance the words that follow. New life is to be given to those who have the authority to forgive sins, which will in fact give new life to those who need to get their sins forgiven. The apostles are Jesus’ instruments in forgiving sins.
Jesus says, “If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven.” He sends the apostles with Jesus’ own authority, to forgive sins. That is a very clear passage. If you forgive, then they are forgiven. If one is in Christ, one wants to be part of ‘they are forgiven’. If one is not a part of ‘their‘, their sins are not forgiven, because they are retained. So Jesus himself decides that the way he mediates to get the forgiveness of sins, is by giving the apostles authority to forgive those sins. The only way that they can get those sins forgiven, is if those authorized are made aware of those sins that one commits. That is the basis for confession. So confessing sins, the Jesus way, is through those given authority to forgive sins. This authority was given from Jesus himself, and has been passed on since the time of Jesus. That is what the priest does in confession. You can’t say, well, I am going directly to Jesus, yet ignore the way that he said he would mediate the forgiveness of sins!!!
What if someone argues the following: ‘No where will it tell ME to confess my sins to a priest…you may read a verse and try to apply it to meet your doctrine but nowhere does it tell me this clearly and concisely’.
I would respond by saying: I don’t know how Jesus himself could have been any clearer than what he was in John 20:21-23. ‘As the Father sends me, so I send you.’ Verse 21. Clear. Right at that time, he sends (breathes, creates new life) the Holy Spirit on the apostles for this great commission, clear. Verse 22. ‘If you forgiven sins, of any they are forgiven.’ Verse 23. Clear. That seems pretty clear and concise to me. Any applies to all people who follow Jesus. I am a part of ‘any‘. If you are a follower of Jesus, you want to become part of ‘any‘. So it is explicit for all followers of Christ.
15 If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 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.
Here Jesus is speaking to the apostles. Here we see in the background, sin the issue. If someone sins, take it to the brother in Christ. If the sin is a sin that persists, and the person refuses to change his ways, he must be taken to the Church. Therefore, there are people assigned by the Church who are to be listened to. The sinner must repent to the Church, and if he does not repent of his sins, his sins are in effect still bound. Whatever they (the apostles) bind on earth is bound in heaven, and whatever is loosed on earth is bound in heaven. The context is a dealing with sin. So this passage not only speaks to the apostles having authority to bind truth, as that which is in heaven, but more directly if sins are committed, the church on earth has authority to either bind or loose in heaven. This reflects a similarity to John 20:22-23, when either the sins are remitted or not remitted.
17 Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
Now, in Christ one is a new creation (v. 17). Now in 1 Corinthians, what transformed them into new creation was belief and the washing of baptism, see 1 Cor. 6:9, 12:13. Paul says in Gal. 3:26-27 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.’ But it does not end there in 2 Cor. 5:17 when Paul speaks of a new creation. After putting on Christ, as we all know, we are still subject to temptation and sin. Then immediately after the passage of v. 17, Paul then speaks to the fact that through God, Paul and others have been given the ministry of reconciliation. Thus, Paul is part of a ministry of reconciliation (v. 18) that is still necessary after baptism. This is the apostolic ministry given by Jesus to the apostles. He then speaks about the message of reconciliation (v. 19). So Christ makes his appeal through the ambassadors of Christ (the specific people appointed by Jesus and passed on from the apostles forward) to have people reconciled. He tells people, who have already been new creations, on the necessity of continuing to go to that ministry. He says ‘be reconciled to Christ’. This shows that conversion, and confession of sins, is ongoing. Paul and the apostles (and their successors) are the ambassadors who fulfill the function of getting people’s sins forgiven.
Here we see the sacrament of the sick, where there are prayers of the elders for the sick, where their sins will be forgiven, with the laying on of hands of the elders. As the Dhouay Rheims translations says, the priests, in the RSV translated ’elders.’ How much this speaks to that sacrament is a whole other discussion. But we must then go to v. 16. It says in v. 16 that we must confess our sins to each other. Now, here it is not merely speaking about just everybody confessing their sins to everybody in church. Why do I say that, because v. 16 starts with the word ‘Therefore’. This links us back to the prior verses which says that the sick man goes to the elders, or priests of the church. Thus, the confessing to one another points to the confession to the elders (or Catholics would term priests). Only then will the sins be forgiven, just as through the laying of the hands on the sick will one’s be sins forgiven, through the elders (v. 14). Through the prayer of the elders, as v. 16 says, we will be healed, spiritually.
So when the others forgave, it was nice that they forgave. But when speaking about the person who had sinned, when Paul gave that forgiveness, what Paul did was give it in the person of Christ. Paul was acting in the person of Christ when he gave forgiveness. That is exactly what the sacrament of confession does: The priest acts in the person of Christ in forgiving sins. This passage reflects Paul acting as John 20:22-23 says.
Even if the less literal translation, ‘presence’ where it speaks of Christ’s presence, Paul says that when he forgave, Christ’s presence there was unique in giving that presence through Paul, Christ‘s instrument.
24: When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person prosopon: see ye to it.
The word ‘prosopon’, is used right here when Pilate used the word translated person. Jesus is a just ‘person’, not a just ‘presence’. Now, it is true that the word ‘prosopon’ is sometimes translated as presence, but it is translated as person (or persons) in the following instances, 9 times , (In the KJV) (Mt. 22:16, 27:24, Mk. 12:14, Lk. 20:21, 1 Cor. 5:13, 2 Cor. 1:11, 2 Cor. 2:10, Gal. 2:6, Jude16). Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. It is translated as ‘presence’ 7 times (Acts 3:13, 19, 5:41, 2 Cor. 10:1, 1 Thes. 2:17, 2 Thes. 1:9, Heb. 1:9) (KJV) by James Strong, MacDonald Publishing Company, Mclean VA, pp. 786, 806. In one of the examples, the time that 1 Thes. 2:17 is translated as ’presence’ in the KJV, it is translated as ‘person’ in the RSV.
13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person prosopon.
Heb. 9:24 – For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence prosopon of God for us..
We see that Christ enters the sanctuary on our behalf and truly appears before God, interceding on our behalf in God’s presence. This presence is not some nice, feel good presence, but a true presence of God. Remember Jesus is at God’s right hand and in perfect communion with God the Father. So, even when the word presence is used, as Paul used when speaking of Christ’s presence in his forgiveness that he gave in 2 Cor. 2:10, it is a true presence of Christ that was given through him. Jesus truly appears in God’s presence. Thus, Paul truly has the real authority to forgive with Christ‘s authority, even with that translation.
17 And this became known to all residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; and fear fell upon them all; and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Many also of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all; and they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.
The context is of Jewish priests who had tried to cast out demons in the name of Jesus, and recognizing Paul. Paul had performed many miracles in Jesus’ name and also had cast out demons (Acts 19:8-12). However, the Jewish priests were not believers in Jesus, and had no apostolic authority to cast out demons, and the demons overpowered the sons of a Jewish chief priest (Acts 19:13-16). The Jewish priests had attempted to use Jesus’ name, but they were not given apostolic authority to do so, as they actually were unbelievers. It was as though they were trying to use this power as magic. First, the effect of this on the unbelievers was that true fear came upon them, both Jew and Greek. Next, of the many who were now believers, when they heard of this, they then came forth to confess their sins. They specifically spelled out sins (by confessing) to those properly authorized to hear these sins (v. 18), to get those sins forgiven. Apparently magical practices were still practiced even after they had come to faith in Christ. Magic had been so ingrained even among Christians, they had not immediately given all their practices up. The combination of Paul having the authority to cast out demons, and the recognition that only those with apostolic authority had such authority to deal in such spiritual matters, had them totally give up their magic that they had apparently continued to practice. The fact that Luke says they confessed and divulged their practices shows that those sins were confessed to specific individuals authorized to hear such confessions. Then they totally destroyed all those possessions and books that prompted magic (v. 19).
4: Or if any one utters with his lips a rash oath to do evil or to do good, any sort of rash oath that men swear, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it he shall in any of these be guilty. 5: When a man is guilty in any of these, he shall confess the sin he has committed, 6: and he shall bring his guilt offering to the LORD for the sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.
20: “If a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave, betrothed to another man and not yet ransomed or given her freedom, an inquiry shall be held. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free; 21: but he shall bring a guilt offering for himself to the LORD, to the door of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering. 22: And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the LORD for his sin which he has committed; and the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.
We see in the above passages that in the Old Testament Priests are given authority to forgive sins. The people must confess their sins to a priest. The Levites were the ones who were priests. The sins are treated differently, according to the manner and degree. Some sins are treated in one fashion, and another a different way. Different penances are given. But what is specific, is that sins are made known to the priests. Thus, confession is made to the priests and priests forgive sins. The priest then offers atonement for sins. Thus, the precedent of forgiving sins given to us by Jesus himself in the New Testament exists in the Old Testament.
So we see here that even during Jesus’ time, before the commission of the apostles themselves to forgive sins, after curing the leper, he specifically said ‘go show yourself to the priest’. He recognized an Old Covenant law, where the leper had to be ritually cleansed. This takes us back to Leviticus 14. In Leviticus 14 it says that on the day of his cleansing, He shall be brought to the priest, Lev. 14:1-3.
19: The priest shall offer the sin offering, to make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. And afterward he shall kill the burnt offering; 20: and the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the cereal offering on the altar. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
So we see here that the specific offering that Jesus himself referred to when he said, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priest’, showed that not only did God (Leviticus 14 is God speaking to Moses) recognize the cleansing from leprosy through a priest, but He also recognized a sin offering which is for the atonement for sin through that same priest.
St. John Chrysostom, the great Church Father noted the great advantage the new covenant priests had compared to the old covenant priests.
The Jewish priests had authority to release the body from leprosy, or, rather, not to release it but only to examine those who were already released, and you know how much the office of priest was contended for at that time. But our priests have received authority to deal, not with bodily leprosy, but spiritual uncleanness-not to pronounce it removed after examination, but actually and absolutely to take it away. Wherefore they who despise these priests would be far more accursed than Dathan and his company, and deserve more severe punishment. St. John Chrysostom, Treatise on the Priesthood, book 3, 6, p. pp. 47-48, Schaff, Philip, and Wace, Henry, Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, Series I, Vol. 9, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts, 1995.
There is precedent in the Old Covenant, for sin removal through the Old Covenant priests, but in the New Covenant, the priests, acting in the person of Christ, take away sin more effectively. The application of what Jesus did on the cross, is done through the priests of the new covenant.
4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
The people literally confessed their sins to John the Baptist. Although John the Baptist was not a Levite, the outward confession of sins to the prophet was practiced immediately preceding Jesus’ mission getting started. This gives a hint that in the new system, the priesthood would no longer be dependent upon one being a Levite. Jesus would now set it up not through the Levitical priesthood but the priesthood of the apostles, which would also be passed on.
With all the passages we have seen, how can this fact be reconciled with the passages in John 20, James 5, 2 Cor. 2, Mt. 18, 2 Cor. 5, Acts 19? Well, Jesus is in fact the mediator between God and man. As he himself is the mediator, he himself decides how he is to mediate. Of course while on earth he gave forgiveness of sins directly to individuals. However, after his resurrection, he himself decided how he was going to mediate the forgiveness of sins. He did this in John 20:22-23. There he proclaimed to the apostles that they had a ministry to forgive sins. Since he gave them the ministry to forgive sins, that is the way he decided to mediate forgiveness of sins. That ministry that he gave to the apostles would also be passed on to all generations. That is because he said he would be with us until the end of the age (Mt. 28:18-20). The authority that he gave the apostles must then be for succeeding generations as well. As that is the way that he decided that to be, if we want our post baptismal sins to be forgiven, that is the way we should get our sins forgiven. Thus, if he decided that is the way sins are to be forgiven, and we go on our own and ignore this ministry that he himself created, we are not truly having him as our mediator.
He gave the apostles the authority to forgive sins. That is the basis for confession. When he writes this in 1 Jn.1:9, John is keeping in mind what he heard Jesus himself say. So this passage does reflect belief in the sacrament of confession. It is not explicitly stated as such, but the readers of this passage of course know of this commission that John himself heard and wrote in the gospel. When he writes ‘if you confess’, the first century Christian readers of this passage knows exactly what he is speaking of. This is when they confess their sins in the sacrament that Jesus himself established.
Now, doesn’t God only forgive sins? In one sense yes, and in one sense no. When it comes judgment time, it is true, we are not going to face our priest or any mediator besides God himself. However, it is also true that the one and only mediator decided himself how to mediate between God and man, and he gave apostles and their successors as having authority to get our sins forgiven. Does that mean that we don’t confess to God directly our sins? Of course we should directly confess our sins to God, (although we also get remission of venial sins through the sacrament of the Eucharist (Mt. 26:28, Heb. 9:22-23, see http://matt1618.freeyellow.com/sacrifice.html) but in order for them to get mortal sins forgiven (just as sins were treated differently in the Old Testament) in the eyes of God (for example, some mortal sins were punished by death in the Old Testament), we must go to those authorized to get out sins validly forgiven. We must also be truly sorry for our sins or we commit a sacrilege.
Mt 9:2-8. 2 And behold, they brought to him a paralytic, lying on his bed; and when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins” –he then said to the paralytic–“Rise, take up your bed and go home.” 7 And he rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
Here, we see parallel passages that show several things. This is most likely the same event. Here, we see a paralytic getting his sins forgiven by Jesus. The scribes, who are Jesus’ opponents, give us the theology of the Protestant who rejects the sacrament of confession. In Mk. 2:7 the scribes say, ‘who can forgive sins but God alone’? in the same way that Protestants say that only God can forgive sins. Jesus shows that he as ‘Son of Man’ has authority to forgive sins. Yes, Jesus is God, but it is he as ‘Son of Man’ who has authority to forgive sins (Mk. 2:10-11, 9:6-7). And this authority is given to while he was on earth. He did not say “I’m God, and that is the authority I use to get this man’s sins forgiven.” It is shown that Matthew acknowledges that the crowds glorified God because the authority to forgive sins was given to men. The authority was not just for one man, Jesus Christ, but it was given plural, ‘to men’. Matthew does not dispute the crowds recognition of such authority. Thus, this is another recognition in the Scriptures that authority was given to men to forgive sins.
But isn’t only Jesus a high priest? Yes there is a high priesthood that is in the New Testament, that is Jesus is High Priest, just as Aaron and his successors were high priests in the Old Testament. Of course Jesus accomplishes much more than Aaron does. There was also a ministerial priesthood in the Old Testament, Ex. 32:29, just as there is a ministerial priesthood in the New Testament (Jn 20:22-23, 2 Cor. 5:18, Mt. 18:15-18). In 1 Pet 2:9-10, where it is quoting from the Old Testament, Ex 19:5-6, shows that there is a priesthood of all believers, which the Catholic Church also accepts, which would not exclude a ministerial priesthood. This is just as in Exodus 19 the priesthood of all believers did not exclude a ministerial priesthood later given to the Levites. Jesus himself commissioned the apostles to forgive sins in John 20:22-23. If we want our sins forgiven, that is the Jesus way to forgive sins (Also reflected in James 5:13-16, 2 Cor. 2:10, Acts 19:18). If that is the way that people would be forgiven sins then, this authority would be passed on to succeeding generations as well.
Every example you list in order to show that God and Jesus gave mere man the power to forgive others of their sins is derived from the passage where Jesus gives His power to forgive man’s sins to His apostles. The apostles are a highly select group of humans that have been given 12 thrones in Heaven to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. They, and only they, are seated to the left and right of God and Jesus. This was the beginning of the church and the apostles were given the job of getting the church going. In order to do so they had to have the power to forgive others. It DOES NOT say anywhere that said power would be extended to ALL men. I, nor any one else, do not need a priest to forgive me of my sins: that job belongs to the Father and the Son only.
The rules for the Catholic church were made up by a Roman Emperor who knew the church was getting to big to handle so he gathered together a number of the wealthiest and most powerful men who had the title of Priest, preacher or however you wish to say it, to take the parts of the Bible that would give them the biggest power, and they disposed the remaining parts that they did not agree with. To me they were nothing more than Pharisees. I glorify NO man and pray to NO woman; that right is reserved for my Father and my Savior.
Why people argue..because they know not the truth(Jesus) or have chosen to ignore the truth.. Christ .Gift and promise..Gift..something given freely Promise a declaration someone (God) will do something..arguing is vomit to Jesus’s ears..he is the way..nothing of the body only of the spirit will save us…you can confess to man how you sinned against them..Jesus accepts their forgiveness as forgiveness ..but you HAVE to confess to Jesus ..confession to each other..not priest (although you may) is good for the body..confession To Jesus is good for the soul.Jesus is of the spirit so Everthing we do for salvation must be of the spirit too..the rest is just extra,what we feel we need to do to back up Jesus’s blood..it’s good to declare our love and faith in Jesus..hence water baptism..he said to confess before all he is our Lord …when you are baptized by the Holy Spirit you know the truth and Jesus saves..not human rituals.
And for the love of God have Faith he did all this and is your only salvation.
Truth! Thank you Jesus!I love you too!!
Oh and a big one I forgot to mention (thanks for the reminder Holy Spirit ) PRAY ask Jesus everything..stay in constant contact with him so you don’t stray from his light.

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